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Global Health 2005: Heroes

Many kinds of leaders--doctors, nurses, inventors, volunteers, teachers--are making a difference for the world's poorest people. All of them have big hearts and big ideas.

He Put Grandmas to Work
The power of grandmothers all across Nepal has been harnessed by international-health specialist Ram Shrestha. Babies in the Asian country were dying because of a lack of vitamin A in their diet. His idea: Enlist grandmothers to help. Today, there are about 49,000 grandmas distributing vitamin A pills to Nepalese children each year. Why does Shrestha do it? "As a Nepali, it was my duty," he told TIME.

A Race to Save Lives
Andrea and Barry Coleman run Riders for Health, a charity that trains health workers in six African nations to drive and repair motorcycles. Riders is helping deliver lifesaving supplies to Africans living in hard- to-reach areas. Motorbikes "are made to deal with heat and dust," Barry told TIME. In Zimbabwe, deaths from malaria fell 20% after Riders began delivering mosquito nets. Some mosquitoes carry the disease.

Can a Vaccine Prevent Malaria?
Deaths from malaria have doubled in the past decade in parts of Africa. But a doctor named Pedro Alonso offers hope to a poor, rural town in Mozambique. Alonso has been testing a vaccine to prevent malaria, and it seems to be working. In a test, the vaccine dramatically reduced the risk of getting the deadly disease in children younger than 2. "This is a breakthrough," Alonso told TIME. He hopes to have an approved vaccine by 2010.

Big Rewards for Growing Strong
Thanks to Vicky Alvarado, kids in Honduras are rewarded for growing well. Nearly 40% of Honduran kids under age 5 suffer from malnutrition. The problem is even worse in poor villages. Alvarado, a teacher and nurse, began a national program to award pins to healthy kids. "The mothers can see the goal," Alvarado told TIME. In the Central American country, 2,000 villages have nutrition programs. Like the kids, that number keeps growing.

Next: Global Health 2005: Yes, We Can Help