Brain Matters: Equity in the Age of Cognitive Health

06/04/2026 Elaine Ruth Fletcher

DAVOS – In this snow-covered Alpine town where the world’s rich, powerful and elite met in January for the World Economic Forum, a quiet but consequential shift in thinking about dementia research crystallized – one with the potential to shape political engagements and research investments for the coming decade. Long treated as a disease primarily […] Continue reading ->

More Countries Refer to Refugees in Health Policies, but Access and Data Gaps Persist

30/03/2026 Stefan Anderson

More than 60 countries now include refugees and migrants in their national health policies, according to a new World Health Organization (WHO) report tracking progress on commitments first set out by the World Health Assembly in 2019. The finding, drawn from a survey of 93 member states, is the first systematic count of how countries […] Continue reading ->

Available Cervical Cancer Vaccines Fail to Cover the HPV 35 Genotype Common in Africa

26/03/2026 Elaine Ruth Fletcher

The Human papillomavirus (HPV35), globally associated with only 2% of invasive cervical cancers (ICC), has a disproportionately higher prevalence in sub‐Saharan Africa, reaching rates of 22-30% in some countries among women with ICC lesions, according to a new study. Recently, a high-level panel called for redoubled efforts in HPV vaccination, screening and treatment to meet […] Continue reading ->

Meta Liable for Harming Kids; Soda and Alcohol Companies ‘Flood’ Social Media

26/03/2026 Kerry Cullinan

Social media giants are liable for harming young users, according to two landmark court rulings in the United States this week that order Meta and YouTube to pay millions in damages. On Wednesday, a Los Angeles jury found that Meta (parent company of Facebook and Instagram) and YouTube were liable for creating addictive products that […] Continue reading ->

Talks Deadlock: Should Pandemic Agreement Annex Go to a Vote?

25/03/2026 Kerry Cullinan

A snail would have a faster passage than the Pandemic Agreement talks currently underway in Geneva, according to a briefing on Wednesday by civil society observers – some of whom mooted the possibility of World Health Organization (WHO) member states voting on the outstanding annex to break the deadlock. Only one portion of a single […] Continue reading ->

Devastating Sudan Hospital Attack Disrupts Medical Care, Deepens Humanitarian Crisis

25/03/2026 Felix Sassmannshausen

Millions of civilians in Sudan have lost their primary access to medical care following a lethal drone attack on the Al Daein Teaching Hospital in East Darfur on the evening of Eid al-Fitr. The death toll from the 20 March assault has risen to 70, with 146 people now documented as injured, according to the […] Continue reading ->

Undetected Tuberculosis Crisis Plagues Europe; WHO Rolls Out New Diagnostic Tools

24/03/2026 Felix Sassmannshausen

Widespread undetected tuberculosis is leaving one in five patients across the European region without crucial care, as health services fail to identify a vast number of infections. This critical diagnostic gap was highlighted in a joint surveillance report published by the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and […] Continue reading ->

World Athletics Expands Air Quality Monitoring, But Can Sports Fill Global South’s Data Void?

24/03/2026 Kate Okorie

On a Saturday morning in Lagos, several volunteers in white “Run Lagos” t-shirts gathered for an air pollution awareness walk. They split into small groups and filed through the narrow streets, placards in hand. One read, “Air Is Free But Polluted Air Leads To Health And Climate Change Expenses.” The walk coordinators carried portable air […] Continue reading ->

Air Quality Worsens Globally – Share of Cities Meeting WHO Guidelines Declines

24/03/2026 Chetan Bhattacharji

Pakistan had the most polluted air in the world overall in 2025, and Delhi was the most polluted capital for the seventh time in the last eight years of reporting by the Swiss-based IQAir. A town bordering India’s capital is the world’s most polluted place. Despite covering nearly 9,500 cities, pollution data gaps leave millions […] Continue reading ->

Tense Start to Final Pandemic Agreement Talks as Africa Rejects New Draft Text

23/03/2026 Kerry Cullinan

Tension was palpable at the start of the sixth – and supposedly final – round of talks on an annex to the Pandemic Agreement, with the African region rejecting the latest draft PABS Annex text. Pakistan also asserted that an agreement on the Pathogen Access and Benefit-sharing (PABS) annex should not be rushed simply […] Continue reading ->