Governments increased funding and international cooperation to limit the spread of avian flu. But the unpredictability of a potential pandemic raises concerns over global preparedness.

Laurie Garrett, CFR senior fellow for global health, says the world is in a better position to handle a potential avian flu pandemic than it was two years ago. But she warns that we still don't have "a toolkit that can stop this virus from circulating" if it evolves to allow easy human-to-human transmission.

New York University's Law School issues a research guide on International Health Law, which provides information about general trends in global diseases and their legal implications.

Pope Benedict XVI has requested a report on the use of condoms in cases involving HIV. The issue divides church traditionalists and pragmatists, and could signify the first major crossroads of Benedict's papacy.

Twenty years ago, an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear plant, which spread radioactivity over Europe, seemed to be the death knell of the industry. But a renaissance of interest in nuclear power is underway, driven by higher energy prices, global warming, new technologies, and, some argue, short memories.

AIDS in Africa: Three scenarios to 2025 presents three possible case studies for how the AIDS epidemic in Africa could evolve over the next 20 years based on policy decisions taken today by African leaders and the rest of the world. The scenarios set out to answer one central question: 'Over the next 20 years, what factors will drive Africa's and the world's responses to the AIDS epidemic, and what kind of future will there be for the next generation?'...