Loneliness, Social Isolation Linked to 871,000 Annual Deaths, WHO Finds

04/07/2025 Stefan Anderson

A three-year investigation by the World Health Organization found that loneliness and social isolation contribute to 871,000 deaths worldwide every year, a death toll researchers said places social health in a tier “as damaging as other public health risks” such as air pollution, tobacco and alcohol. The landmark report by the WHO Commission on […] Continue reading ->

WHO Launches Initiative To Raise $1 Trillion Through Higher ‘Sin Taxes’ on Tobacco, Alcohol and Sugary Drinks

03/07/2025 Elaine Ruth Fletcher

Low-income countries could confront the massive health finance crisis they are facing after the withdrawal of most US-based aid through a 50% increase in the price of tobacco, alcohol and sugary drinks – saving 50 million lives and raising some $1 trillion dollars in vital revenue for strapped health systems, says WHO. The ambitious WHO […] Continue reading ->

The UN’s NCD Declaration Overlooks a Preventable Killer: Air Pollution

02/07/2025 Nina Renshaw & Alison Cox

Air pollution is barely acknowledged in the draft political declaration for the upcoming fourth UN High-Level Meeting on Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) and Mental Health. The omission of the world’s leading contributor to disease threatens global progress in tackling heart disease, respiratory diseases, stroke, cancer, and other chronic illnesses. Since the last UN General Assembly High-Level […] Continue reading ->

USAID Formally Shut Down – Days After Scientists Warn Closure Will Kill 2.4 Million People Every Year

02/07/2025 Stefan Anderson

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the official end of USAID, eliminating the world’s largest humanitarian aid agency just days after a landmark study warned the closure would cause 2.4 million preventable deaths every year. The study published 30 June in The Lancet found USAID-supported programs saved 92 million lives in low- and middle-income countries […] Continue reading ->

EXCLUSIVE: WHO Chief Names New Team of Directors – Mostly Familiar Faces

01/07/2025 Elaine Ruth Fletcher

World Health Organization Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced his new team of 36 directors at headquarters on Tuesday, according to an internal message to WHO staff, seen by Health Policy Watch. Nine of the appointments, including key positions heading the Departments of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health, and the newly-combined Department of Environment, […] Continue reading ->

MAHA Says Its Focus Is Chronic Diseases – Kennedy and Trump Actions Show Otherwise

30/06/2025 Stefan Anderson

Since Robert F. Kennedy Jr suspended an independent presidential run to back Donald Trump’s bid for the White House, his laser-focus has been on one mission: “Make America Healthy Again” by attacking the threat of chronic disease. Now sitting atop the United States health system, the anti-vaccine scion of the Kennedy dynasty released a major […] Continue reading ->

Mike Ryan Steps Down as WHO Emergency Chief After Eight Years

27/06/2025 Stefan Anderson

Dr Mike Ryan, director of the World Health Organization’s emergency response division, held his final press conference Friday in Geneva after eight years leading the UN health agency’s response to global health crises from war and famine to disease outbreaks. In his farewell remarks, Ryan warned of an “era of collapsed funding” following the Trump […] Continue reading ->

Animal Source Most Likely Origin of SARS-CoV2 but Missing Chinese Data Leave Findings Inconclusive: WHO Expert Group

27/06/2025 Elaine Ruth Fletcher & Stefan Anderson

A four year WHO-sponsored investigation of the origins of the COVID pandemic by an international group of experts has concluded that “most scientific data and accessible published scientific evidence” support the hypothesis that the novel SARS-CoV2 virus first entered the human population either directly from virus-carrying bats, or from bats to humans via intermediate hosts. […] Continue reading ->

Israel Halts Gaza Aid Deliveries as UN Appeals to Israeli Military to ‘Stop Shooting People Trying to Get Food’

26/06/2025 Stefan Anderson & Elaine Ruth Fletcher

This story was updated to reflect new developments on Friday, 27 June. Israel ordered a near-total halt to food and humanitarian aid deliveries to over two million Gazans facing a territory-wide threat of famine on Thursday after an AFP video surfaced showing dozens of armed men riding atop a convoy of flatbed trucks loaded with […] Continue reading ->

World is Off Track to Achieve Universal Energy Access by 2030

25/06/2025 Kerry Cullinan

While almost 92% of the world’s population now has basic access to electricity – an improvement since 2022 – over 666 million people remain without access, and the world is off track to reach universal access by 2030, according to the Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report 2025 released on Wednesday. “Clean cooking access […] Continue reading ->