Joanne Silberner interviews Haitian physician Dr. Ruth Damuse while covering a story about cancer in developing countries. Photo by Ansel Herz.

Almost a year ago, freelance public radio reporter and artist-in-residence Joanne Silberner was awarded a $12,000 grant by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting to investigate how cancer is affecting people in developing countries. A veteran health reporter, Silberner used her nearly 20 years of experience covering health policy, global health and other health-related issues for NPR to report on those fighting cancer against tremendous odds in Uganda, India and Haiti.

Joanne Silberner at work in Mirebalais, Haiti. Photo by Ansel Herz.

She kept a blog that was published on the Common Language Project website to write about personal experiences along the way. Five of Silberner’s stories will air on the PRI/BBC/WGBH radio program “The World” in a series airing Dec. 3-7. The scheduling is as follows:

• Dec. 3: Profile of a Ugandan oncologist
• Dec. 4: Fighting breast cancer in Haiti
• Dec. 5: Testing for cervical cancer
• Dec. 6: Cancer and infectious diseases
• Dec. 7: Treating cancer pain

Silberner’s story, “Seattle Doctor Takes Cancer Treatment To Developing World,” is also airing on KUOW’s “Morning Edition,” “All Things Considered,” and “The Conversation”. She will be interviewed on “Weekday” with Steve Scher on December 14, to talk about the challenges faced by this Fred Hutchinson oncologist, working in Uganda.

More people die from cancer than from HIV, TB and malaria combined worldwide, but the disease was, until recently, ignored by health groups and governments in developing countries. Tune in to these programs to find out more about this issue.