HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr makes good on promise to reduce the number of recommended vaccines. US health officials announced Monday an overhauled version of the vaccines recommended to infants and adolescents, shrinking the number of diseases for which vaccines should be administered from 17 to 11. The decision follows a December 5, 2025 […] Continue reading ->
Senior United Nations officials and humanitarian leaders have urged Israel to reverse plans to withhold registration from more three-dozen international NGOs providing humanitarian relief in war-torn Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank – warning that the move would severely undermine life-saving aid in a moment of acute humanitarian need. Israel said last Thursday that some […] Continue reading ->
The US Environmental Protection Agency has dismissed a recent finding that atrazine, the second most widely-used herbicide in the United States, is “probably carcinogenic to humans” by the World Health Organization’s cancer review agency. Atrazine is used extensively in the US on crops like corn, sorghum, and sugarcane. However, over 60 countries have banned the […] Continue reading ->
The latest ten-year data shows almost no change. Can the momentum of outrage finally push officials to take high-impact measures to lower pollution this year? It’s Delhi 2026. Since 2016, there’s been near-zero improvement in the city’s air pollution during the annual peak pollution period of October to December, a new analysis by the Center […] Continue reading ->
This has been a brutal year for global health, with shock cuts in development aid to countries most in need; a knock-on budget crisis for United Nations (UN) agencies; widespread humanitarian crises, extensive disease outbreaks, and mounting climate-related health challenges. Health Policy Watch (HPW) has provided daily coverage of developments, and our reporters were often […] Continue reading ->
Sudden fever, a severe cough and acute respiratory distress are the familiar onset symptoms of seasonal flu, which has affected WHO’s European Region with unusual intensity and speed this year. As the Northern Hemisphere enters winter, health systems are struggling to manage an epidemic driven by an aggressive, genetically mutated influenza strain A(H3N2) subclade K. […] Continue reading ->
MUMBAI, India – Cervical cancer kills more than 75,000 women in India each year, according to figures recently disclosed in Parliament – yet it is one of the most preventable cancers. In India, low human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination coverage, limited access to routine screening and deep-rooted social behaviours – such as early marriage and […] Continue reading ->
This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian. Just a few months into his new term, President Peter Mutharika is grappling with a triple crisis: a deep-seated food emergency, diminishing aid, and soaring debt. With over four million Malawians – 22% of the population – facing the threat of acute malnutrition until the next […] Continue reading ->
Two more senior WHO officials, Bruce Aylward and Ailan Li, who were among those dropped from WHO’s Senior Leadership Team during the first phase of an Agency shake-up, have now been appointed to leading roles elsewhere in the organisation, according to a memo from Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Li, a Chinese national and […] Continue reading ->
The United Nations (UN) General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour of a political declaration to combat non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and promote mental health on Monday, with 175 member states voting in favour, only the United States and Argentina voting against, and Paraguay as the only abstention. The declaration was due to have been adopted by […] Continue reading ->