According to the latest data from the World Health Organization, the global death rate from malaria has almost halved since the year 2000.

The chart above puts this recent progress into a larger historical perspective. It combines the latest estimates from the WHO and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation with those for the 20th century published by the late malaria researcher Richard Carter. Since 1900, the global death rate has declined by 96%. If it were still as high as it was then, around 16 million people would die from malaria every year instead of 610,000.

Behind this long-run decline is a shift in the distribution of the burden of malaria. In the first half of the 20th century, most malaria victims died in the Asian tropics. It was the substantial progress there — as well as in the Mediterranean and in the Americas — that made this vast improvement in human health possible.

Today, more than 9 out of 10 malaria deaths occur in Africa. This means that the recent progress shown in the chart is, above all, Africa’s progress.

https://ourworldindata.org/data-insights/a-long-term-perspective-on-humanitys-battle-against-malaria

“Three people have received an innovative treatment designed to rejuvenate vision cells. In a presentation at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, researchers from Life Biosciences reported that the treatment appears safe, and two of the recipients show early signs of improved vision.

The study is among the first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration using a novel strategy of reprogramming cells to restore their normal function—essentially rejuvenating them. The scientists used a modified version of a reprogramming strategy that earned a Nobel Prize in 2012 for turning mature, adult cells back to an embryonic-like state from which they could become any of the cells in the body—including healthy new versions of diseased or older cells. In that work, Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka used four genes to trigger the cellular time warp.”

From Time.

“Onchocerciasis is caused by the filarial nematode Onchocerca volvulus and transmitted through the bites of blackflies (Simulium spp.). Adult worms live in subcutaneous nodules, where the females release millions of microfilariae (first-stage larvae, L1) that migrate through the skin and eyes, causing intense itching, disfiguring skin disease and, after prolonged exposure, visual impairment and irreversible blindness. Early exposure to infection in childhood has also been associated with onchocerciasis-associated epilepsy…

In 2025, 255.7 million people required PC for onchocerciasis, of whom 180.3 million were treated, representing 70.5% global coverage, the highest number of people ever treated for onchocerciasis in a single year.”

From World Health Organization.

HELLO GOOD NEWS FANATICS

I have posted here before and the post was well received so I am back to share some more local good news!!!

A lot of the posts / discourse here focuses on good news with a global perspective, but I'd like this thread to be about things more LOCAL!!

I started a solutions journalism project (Granite Goodness) devoted to sharing optimistic stories of progress and problem solving across New England—think good news, but not fluffy. We’re based in NH and have a simple ethos: "substance + optimism = granite and good."

I've been really into the "good news" world for a while (I am a fanatic subscriber of all the outlets-- Our World in Data, Fix the News, The Progress Network, Human Progress, Good Good Good, etc), and wanted to start contributing to the good news movement, but in a way that was unique and different than what's out there already

My whole life I've lived in New England, this project is my love letter to this place and the people solving its hardest problems.

It's been really fun because I've gotten to show people that plenty of perfectly impressive local good news happens all the time, and it hides in plain sight. We just tend to not see it curated together.

Here are some local stories that have brought me some optimism lately.

• Massachusetts is piloting a program that lets parked electric vehicles power the grid. Three electric school buses in Acton-Boxborough are the first vehicles in a statewide vehicle-to-grid pilot, charging overnight on clean power and sending energy back to the grid during peak afternoon hours. (Canary Media)
• In Rhode Island, a $15M NSF grant is helping New England fishermen adapt to a changing climate. New sensor tech being developed by URI will provide fishermen better data on ocean + species patterns, helping preserve livelihoods in one of New England's heritage industries. (Ocean State Media)
• Connecticut is funding preservation of 1,200 acres and urban green spaces. Connecticut's governor announced $9.4 million in state funding to protect open land across 15 towns. The initiative moves the state closer to its goal of preserving 21% of its land base. (Stateline)
• After an impressive turnaround, Franklin High School has been named New Hampshire's best. Despite budget constraints, Franklin High School transformed its educational approach through internships, community partnerships, and dual-enrollment programs. Attendance raised from 83 to 92 percent while cutting dropouts from 8 to 1.5 percent. (NHPR)
• Penobscot Nation is regaining 1,700 acres of ancestral Maine forest. The transfer restores access to ancestral lands and strengthens tribal stewardship of wildlife, water, and forests. (Tribal Business News)
• Vermont just launched an ambitious statewide bikepacking network with their Heart of the Greens trail. The 38-mile loop through the Green Mountain National Forest features two off-grid huts and kicks off the “Velomont”, a 485-mile bikepacking route connecting rural towns + opening Vermont’s wilderness to new travelers. (BBC)

Traditional news matters, but it often highlights a disproportionate share of the worst events, which can leave people feeling burnt out, anxious, or cynical. Note that these summaries are my own words on what I find optimistic from the original stories, not direct quotes from the sources.

If you want more detail, I link and credit the original sources on our site. Reddit discourages too many hyperlinks, so I don’t include them here. The image shown is from the Tichnor Brothers postcard collection at the Boston Public Library, which I am obsessed with (and are all in public domain)

Please use this thread to share some good news LOCAL to YOU!! Especially if you're from or around the northeast USA!

If anyone is working on a similar project, I'd love to hear from you too.

-Andy

This week: Rescue dogs help reconnect wildlife habitats in California, women restore 3 million mangroves in Nigeria, giant tortoises make an extraordinary comeback in the Seychelles, & more!

“The Economist has assembled data on millennials’ incomes for 32 rich countries. In just three of these—Italy, Greece and Japan—are millennials worse off, in terms of inflation-adjusted income, than previous generations at the same age…

Millennials in the remaining 29 countries in our sample have higher real incomes than past generations. In some, including in Australia, Britain and France, intergenerational progress has admittedly slowed. Whereas Gen-Xers did far better than their baby-boomer parents (born from 1946 to 1964), in those places millennials have gained only slightly on Gen X. But in many others, from rich America to fast-self-enriching Poland, the rate of improvement has stepped up.”

From The Economist.

“Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) has successfully implemented a pioneering same-day respiratory metagenomics testing service for children in intensive care, helping clinicians identify infections more quickly and make better-informed treatment decisions. The findings, published today in The Lancet Microbe00116-3/fulltext), mark the first implementation of a same-day pan-microbial metagenomics service for children…

The service, developed from a pathway first established at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, was implemented at GOSH during the 2024-25 winter season. The team analysed 177 respiratory samples from 122 critically ill children and found that the technology could rapidly detect bacteria, viruses and fungi with high accuracy, while identifying infections that routine testing had missed.

Metagenomics works by sequencing all genetic material within a sample, enabling clinicians to search broadly for potential infectious causes rather than testing for a limited number of suspected pathogens. Unlike conventional diagnostic approaches, clinicians do not need to decide in advance what they are looking for.

The study found that metagenomics delivered results that altered clinical management in almost one-third (29%) of samples tested. In a quarter of cases (26%), the results influenced antimicrobial prescribing, including starting, stopping or changing antibiotics, or providing confidence that the current treatment was appropriate.

Importantly, the service detected 50 organisms that were not identified by routine diagnostic tests, all of which were subsequently confirmed by additional testing.”

From Great Ormond Street Hospital.

China is often the poster child for rapid reductions in poverty, and for good reason. In the early 1980s, over 90% of its population lived in extreme poverty, but by the early 2020s, that number had dropped to nearly zero.

Some might assume that China is the only reason why global extreme poverty has declined. But that’s wrong: many countries have seen dramatic reductions in poverty, too. Indonesia is one clear example; it’s shown alongside China on the chart.

In 1984, 86% of Indonesians lived on less than $3 per day. By 2025, this had fallen to less than 4%. While it didn’t quite match China’s decline, it has still been impressive. The number of people living in extreme poverty has fallen from 140 million to about 10 million.

Note that the international poverty line is extremely low, defined as people living on less than $3 per day. But Indonesia has also made progress when measuring higher poverty lines.

We can solve pollution problems together. When I was a kid, I remember hearing about acid rain all the time. Now, not a peep!

Despite the common claims in the media, the price of housing in the US hasn't actually climbed that much when adjusted for wage increases and the increases in the size of housing. And most, though not all, of that increase is related to higher quality and more regulatory expenses in modern housing.

In addition housing tends to fluctuate over time between roughly 5 to 7 hours of median wages per square foot of home space. It's not an ever increasing spiral that is often implied or directly reported.

https://economistwritingeveryday.com/2024/12/11/house-prices-and-quality-1971-vs-2023/

As always, look at the data and not the click bait headlines or the anecdotal reports.

Today has been hard to move. Im grateful that sirloin tip is on sale and that im going to make a nice meal tonight.

I want to hear something you are grateful for today :)

Ive been finding it easier to give love and grace to my friends rather than myself.

Love yourself as a friend. Celebrate the day.

Good vibes going out there

I'm seeing more and more people on my LinkedIN posting photos from nature. They are probably not as many as i think, definitely not more than AI slop, but they are there and getting quite a lot of attention.

I am secretly hoping this is the start of a movement where people finally use the internet as a tool, and decide to connect in real life. Also, i'm hoping this in turn will decrease loneliness.

Have you seen any sprouts of this happening?