Drug testing takes off in the Laurentians — even dealers are doing it

In many poor countries, counterfeit medicines are an enormous problem. A quarter-million malaria deaths each year might be prevented if the patients were treated with real drugs instead of fake ones.

Naloxone could be the secret to curing New England's heroin consumption. Trying to expand access to the life-saving overdose antidote is the real obstacle.

Bangladesh has often struggled maintaining safety in the workplace. But a new effort ensures that Bangladeshi workers are trained about how to better follow security and safety restrictions to create a safer working environment.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug overdoses are the leading cause of injury-related mortality. Naxolone, a drug used to revive overdose victims, is only available by prescription. However, private organizations have distributed Naxolone kits nationally, showing that the drug can save lives when it is more readily accessible.

The biggest killer of children in Bangladesh is drowning, especially among low income families. The injury prevention center, CIPRB, has started swimming education programs and teaching young kids rescue techniques.

New York City suffered from fires that erupted in overcrowded, run-down apartments. Then the city sleuthed through residential records and found that landlords who foreclosed let their properties fall apart and ignored safety-code violations. Greater Toronto wants to expand upon New York City’s method by using transportation surveys, census data and computer data to build transit lines.

A school in New Zealand took the rules out of recess. They found that when the kids were mentally engaged during play time activities they were less likely to have problems, such as bullying within the classroom.

An epidemic of opioid use in Massachusetts resulted in more than 1,200 fatal overdoses last year. Authorities turned to Vivitrol injections, which make a drug-induced high impossible, to cut rates of both addiction and incarceration.

For decades, the only good option for alcoholics seeking recovery was an abstinence-based 12-step program called Alcoholics Anonymous. John David Sinclair, an American neuroscientist, has developed a new method, where an alcoholic takes naltrexone one hour before drinking. The naltrexone blocks the brain's opioid receptors and prevents an alcoholics strong synaptic reward response from occurring, which allows their craving for alcohol to eventually subside.

In Vermont, a judge and a family services organization created RapidReferal – a process which offers addicts treatment immediately and has lowered recidivism. Funded by Medicaid, the program has had demonstrable impact, namely, a decrease in recidivism.