Opening up access to its materials for millions more people, WiRED International just took a major technological leap forward. Its innovative Health Module Access Program (HealthMAP) can now deliver free health education training material to underserved communities in the world’s most distant locations, many of which exist offline.

The media are awash with pointers about how to live a healthy life: eat well, exercise, don’t smoke, watch how much alcohol you drink. A recitation of heath tips becomes a mantra that we know so well . . . and tend to ignore. But if these pointers help you feel better, look better and avoid some diseases, maybe it’s worth giving a few of them a try.

Mark your calendars for two important health observances this week. Thursday, March 22, is World Water Day, and Saturday, March 24, is World TB (tuberculosis) Day.

Birth defects affect millions of families worldwide every year. About one in every 33 babies is born with a birth defect caused by genetics or by maternal exposure to environmental agents.

Brazilian health workers are racing to vaccinate urban populations against the yellow fever virus in order to prevent a pandemic in its largest cities. In previous years, yellow fever has been confined to forest areas of the Amazon basin; if it spreads into city slums, the consequences to public health could be catastrophic.

Hillary Fiona Owuor values WiRED’s health training program. This young woman studies WiRED’s health education modules at the Kisumu Urban Apostolate Programmes (KUAP) Pandipieri Center in Kisumu, an underserved region in Western Kenya.