At the end of the Iran-Iraq War, Iraq was close to bankruptcy because of President Saddam Hussein’s military spending and his attempts to build nuclear weapons. As an oil-rich country, Hussein tried to refill his coffers by selling oil at the highest possible price, but he blamed the Emir of Kuwait of flooding the market with cheap oil, lowering prices and hastening Iraq’s descent into economic crisis. The Iraqi foreign minister, Tariq Aziz, said...

The U.S. Navy provides medical relief to poor countries around the world. We filmed aboard the USNS Comfort as it brought medical and surgical care to local communities in Guatemala. USNS Comfort is over 270 meters long, thirty-two meters wide and as tall as a ten-story building. The former oil tanker has 12 operating rooms and half a million doses of medicine. Its primary role is to provide medical support for the U.S. military in times of war. Throughout...

The people of Niger, one of the poorest countries in the world, suffer from a host of forgotten, parasitic diseases. Schistosomiasis and Lymphatic Filariasis blight the lives of millions creating an infant morality rate among the worst in the world. Yet the drugs which can cure these and other neglected diseases are cheap and safe to use. Now there is an ambitious goal - to eliminate five neglected diseases in just five years. We tell the heart-rending...

Tackling bacterial diseases requires rapid, accurate diagnosis and prompt treatment with antibiotics. But many countries lack the skills and experience needed. The Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam has developed a special camera which takes high resolution photos of bacteria samples. Doctors at the Vietnamese Hospital for Tropical Diseases are now able to send photos and discuss cases with Dutch experts over a video link.

Homes offer more than just shelter for middle class and rich families; they are assets that can be used as collateral, to build wealth. But what is the value of shacks and shanty town houses? Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto argues that one way to bring the poor into the mainstream economy is to liberate the collateral in their homes by giving them proper, legal titles. We travel to Peru to talk to assess the impact of de Soto's ideas. We meet...

Reverberations from the 2008 financial crisis are still being felt around the world. We travel to the Philippines to see if measures introduced after the Asian financial crash in the 1990s are helping during the current global recession. Asia, more than any other part of the world, is feeling the true implications of the downturn. We also hear from business leaders in the Philippines and government ministers about whether a social services system...

Trematodes are tiny parasites that live for years in the liver, the lungs and even the brains of at least 40 million people worldwide. We get infected by eating freshwater fish and shellfish--and it's very hard to detect and cure. Millions of dollars a year are wasted on treating the wrong disease. We travel to Vietnam to see how this disease is easily transmitted, especially to children.

Child abuse is a massive issue throughout the whole of Africa. It happens on a daily basis and for far too many children it is an accepted part of daily life. This film follows the story of Chandiga Swamad, who was so badly abused by his stepfather he left home when he was only 12 to live on the streets of Kampala. More violence and brutality ensued. He was caught up in vicious battles between rival gangs and often the police, who simply wanted the...

It is estimated that by 2030 the vast majority of humankind will be living in an urban environment, putting an immense strain on the planet's natural resources. Using Freiburg, in Germany, as an example of a model eco-city that has proved its sustainability over time, this program reimagines the urban development process. (25 minutes)

This is the extraordinary story of the struggle for survival among dairy farmers in Latin America! Javier Aguayo has a small herd of cows in Guayas, a lowland area of Ecuador. He is up at the crack of dawn on his horse, rounding up his animals for milking. It's a tough life. The hours are long, transport is a problem, and his customers often want their deliveries very early. He often has a lot of milk is left over which he makes into cheese, which...