Supported projects

BRUSSELS/DUBLIN - For decades, European consumers have been warned about the dangers of smoking. Yet wine and beer still carry no clear health warnings, even though alcohol is one of the leading preventable causes of cancer. This investigation reveals how the European alcohol industry has fought to keep it that way.

AMSTERDAM / BRUSSELS - The dietary supplement market is growing explosively, but transparency about the production process and actual accessibility for new entrepreneurs is often lacking. This study provides insight into the reality behind the promises.

AMSTERDAM - On the eve of the annual World Antibiotic Awareness Week, De sluipende pandemie (The Sneaking Pandemic) was published on November 12, 2025. This new book by Rinke van den Brink explores the rise of antibiotic resistance, the failures of healthcare systems, and the urgent need for global cooperation. The Sneaking Pandemic is the follow-up to Het einde van de antibiotica. Hoe bacteriën winnen van een wondermiddel (The End of Antibiotics: How Bacteria Are Beating a Miracle Drug), published in 2013, and describes what has happened in this field since then.

BRUSSELS - Spring and mineral waters from the Ardennes, the High Fens and East Flanders contain traces of ultra short PFAS. Analyses ordered by Apache show that TFA has seeped deep into the natural water veins.

AMSTERDAM - What images are associated with fertility, masculinity and fatherhood in society? In 'Mannen die zwijgen' (Men Who Remain Silent), Tomas Vanheste explores the stigma attached to male fertility issues, examining possible causes and treatments.

ANTWERP - With the help of thousands of women, the microbiology lab at the University of Antwerp is going on a voyage of discovery into the underside of the female body: what microorganisms are found in the vagina, what are they doing there and what can we learn from them? The social relevance of this pioneering work is beyond question....

ANTWERP - Take a morning-after pill every day for two years. That was long the doctor's advice to girls who were 'too big'. The side effects, such as reduced fertility, were hardly taken seriously.

CHURCHILL/DULUTH/NUUK - Some places in the world, due to their strategic location, are proving to be unexpected havens in the face of the relentless onslaught of climate change.

COBQUECURA - 4.3 babies are born every second in the world. For a woman, childbirth is one of the most profound physical and emotional events in her life. Yet childbirth, like the female body in general, remains undervalued and under-researched.

ANTWERPEN - Valère, Veerle Duflou's partner, chose to donate his body to science. Ten years after his death, Veerle wants to know what happens to those bodies. She goes to the Antwerp University anatomy lab and follows the people to whom these bodies end up.

SUCRE - You cannot escape the smoke when driving through Bolivia during the dry season. Left and right, people burn their garbage and their fields. As such, fire has been used as an agricultural technique here for centuries - and increasingly out of control. 

BHOPAL - Rural regions in India suffer a high suicide rate among farmers.

COLOMBO - A Sri Lankan scientist, also a young mother, is trying to map the patterns of migrating coral larvae to protect the future of coral reefs and her people.

BRUSSELS - First and foremost, Under the Surface is a portrait of Anneke, a young woman of 33 with ASD who wants to live an independent life and escapes into a fantasy world.

BRUSSELS - Two young people are growing up in a world that is destroying itself. They each seek their own path and test how far they are willing to go in their actions.

TOKIO - In Japan, when people disappear overnight because of social pressure, financial, domestic or mental problems, they call it jōhatsu. Literally, it means evaporation. This phenomenon is not recognised in Japan, so it remains under the radar. Robbe Van der Vloet and Arend Bucher travelled to Japan to investigate jōhatsu.

Pelvic pain is an umbrella term for pain in the tailbone, hips, buttock region, joints around the sacrum and pubic bone, but also embraces pain and discomfort in the vagina, vulva, perineum, uterus, ovaries, bladder, bowels and pelvic floor muscles.

KIEV - Foreign journalists report plenty about the war in Ukraine, and that is dangerous enough. But they're helped by local journalists, "fixers," and they can't just avoid the situation in their country. What does that nonstop work do to these people?

BRUSSELS/AMSTERDAM - Scientific publications, leaked company data and government data suggest that industry is doing everything possible to deliberately put up a fog curtain around these ultra short PFAS.

ANTWERPEN - Of course you already know that ultra-processed food is not the healthiest choice. Yet you probably eat it far more often than you think (yes, even that healthy-looking jar of humus is ultra-processed), and that may be becoming a problem. After all, scientific research is increasingly convincingly linking ultra-processed food and drink to all sorts of serious health problems, from cardiovascular disease to mental disorders.

BRUSSELS - Twenty years ago, the first SARS outbreak sounded the alarm. But Europe failed to prepare for the Covid-19 pandemic due to a lack of funding for drug research, and may still be unprepared for the next one, argue several prominent scientists interviewed by Stefano Valentino and Gian Paolo Accardo.

BRUSSELS - How do you get declared insanity in Belgium? Journalist Thomas Detombe looked into it and came across serious shortcomings. The decision is made by the judge, who bases it on a psychiatric expert's report. A psychiatrist draws up the report; the judge almost always follows it.

BELGIUM - The mythical wolf is back in Belgium. So are the eagle owl and the raven. The seal and the beaver. The tropical tree frog. Even the mysterious lynx. And who knows, soon the iconic brown bear? The list is impressive.

BRUSSELS - What prevents a woman with FGM from going to the doctor? While there are more and more survivors of female genital mutilation (FGM) living in Belgium, strikingly very few visit the healthcare centres for women with FGM in the country. Through an in-depth investigation, this project aims to better understand the reasons and meanings of this discrepancy as well as it brings the needs and experiences of these women to the centre of the conversation.

BRUSSELS – ‘Once upon a time there was a man...’ Thus begins the story I was told as a little girl. In the podcast ‘Monsters don’t exist’ I revisit that story together with my contemporaries who grew up in 1990s turbulent Belgium, just like me. While we were busy with homework and playing in the streets, unsettling images and news reports seeped into our young lives and reshaped our understanding of the world forever.

BRUSSELS - The flip side of pharmaceutical companies' staggering profit figures is that the marketing for their products is incredibly important. Dutch research shows that pharma even spends twice as much money on this than on the development of new drugs. In this study we examine to what extent and in what way health information in the professional media is influenced by the pharmaceutical industry.

BRUSSELS - Experienced staff are being fired, volunteers are dropping out and losses are piling up. Meanwhile, external consultants earn up to €20,000 a month. What is going on at Action Damien?

COPENHAGEN - By 2050, the earth will have 10 billion inhabitants. At the same time, the area of available agricultural land per person is shrinking. As climate disrupts, classical farming systems are colliding with their limits.

GHENT - At 16, Sofie developed symptoms of what later turned out to be anxiety and depressive disorder. On social media, it seems like every young person struggles with it. Wouldn't it be nice to start a club? Based on her own experiences, Sofie Steenhaut talks to club members and experts. Welcome to Club Anxiety!

KABWE - One of the largest lead mines in the world closes in 1994. Local people in Kabwe, a metropolis in Zambia, see jobs disappear. They are left uninvited with a mountain of harmful mining waste and residential areas polluted by lead.