Health Check

Ranking history

About the show

Latest episodes

• Should we be worried about the plague?

  October 7, 2026 · 26 min

  This week, Claudia is joined in the studio by Clare Wilson, Science writer at The i Paper. After a 28-young woman who was studying infectious diseases in a lab in Siberia has died from pneumonia, Health Check takes an in-depth look at the…

• Do men and women receive different medical treatment?

  September 30, 2026 · 26 min

  Men and women are frequently treated differently by healthcare systems according to a review of global research published in the journal, PLOS One. Women with the same medical conditions as men are less likely to be offered the medical…

• Could AI improve healthcare in low-income communities?

  September 23, 2026 · 27 min

  Health Check discusses the role of AI in healthcare after the announcement that the Gates Foundation will put hundreds of millions of US dollars towards AI access in low-income communities, with an emphasis on integration in healthcare…

• Expanding reproductive choice in women's sports

  September 16, 2026 · 26 min

  The Spanish Football Association has announced a new programme that will make fertility treatments such as IVF and egg freezing available to female players and referees, but what difference will it make and how does this move compare to…

• Addressing the risks of period pain in childhood

  September 9, 2026 · 26 min

  There is still a lot unknown about why period pain can be so intense for some and not others. To find out more, Claudia Hammond speaks with Dr Melissa Lenert, research scientist at the University of Michigan in the Chronic Pain and Fatigue…

• Vaccinating against skin cancer

  September 2, 2026 · 28 min

  Usually when we think about vaccines, we imagine preventing viruses, but could mRNA vaccine technology also be used to reduce skin cancer recurrence? Claudia Hammond discusses the latest trials of this technology with Dr Matthew Fox…

• Understanding OCD

  August 26, 2026 · 27 min

  Everyone experiences unwanted thoughts from time to time. But how does it feel to be trapped in a constant cycle of intrusive thoughts and repetitive behaviours? This is the reality of life for many people with obsessive compulsive…

• The health threat of rising temperatures

  August 19, 2026 · 26 min

  With recent heat waves in many regions of the world, including parts of Asia, Europe and North America, Claudia Hammond speaks to Eran Bendavid, Professor of Medicine and Health Policy at Stanford University, about his global study which…