Paper Exonerating Herbicide is Retracted; Bayer Gets Trump’s Help to Avoid Claims from Cancer Patients

04/12/2025 Kerry Cullinan

A scientific paper written 25 years ago, claiming that the herbicide glyphosate posed little risk to people, has finally been withdrawn after it was found that the authors relied solely on Monsanto studies and did not acknowledge that Monsanto staff had assisted in writing the paper. Monsanto makes the glyphosate-based Roundup, used as a weedkiller […] Continue reading ->

WHO Issues First-Ever Guidelines for GLP-1 Drugs – Including Obesity

04/12/2025 Sophia Samantaroy

First-ever WHO guidelines recommending the use of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) therapies for the treatment of obesity in adults has been issued by the World Health Organization – in what the global health agency said is a “conditional” sign of approval for the cutting edge medications that have become widely popular. The new WHO recommendations go […] Continue reading ->

Global Malaria Threat Deepens as Drug Resistance Rises

04/12/2025 Arsalan Bukhari

Global malaria programmes have helped to save an estimated 14 million lives between 2000 and 2024, but growing drug resistance is threatening to undermine years of hard-won gains, a new World Health Organization (WHO) report has shown. Last year, the world recorded 282 million malaria cases and more than 600,000 deaths, with Africa accounting for […] Continue reading ->

How South Africa Got Chronic Medicine to Millions of Patients and Why It’s Now at Risk

03/12/2025 Kerry Cullinan

Over 3.7 million South Africans on monthly chronic medication can now get their medicine faster and closer to home, thanks to a vast network involving government officials, private companies and couriers – some on bicycles. But cuts to aid for global health will leave a hole in the programme that will be hard to fill. […] Continue reading ->

Children’s IQ Plummets by Almost 20 Points in Indian State with High Air Pollution

02/12/2025 Chetan Bhattacharji

Air pollution not only affects lung health but also brain development in children, according to two studies presented at the World Conference on Lung Health (WCLH) held in Denmark recently. One study from India found that children living in highly polluted areas scored nearly 20 points lower on the intelligence quotient (IQ) than their peers […] Continue reading ->

Regional Investment in Health is Key for Sustainable Development

02/12/2025 Michael Weinstein & Mehdi Jomaa

As the world navigates a pivotal moment in global health and development, one of the most critical pathways to sustainable development is through regional public health. Investing in regional health systems and production capacity of public health goods isn’t just a moral responsibility; it is an economic imperative. A 2020 McKinsey & Company report revealed […] Continue reading ->

Africa is Stuck Between Global Pathogen-Sharing Talks and Conflicting US Bilateral Agreements

01/12/2025 Kerry Cullinan

African countries affirmed their commitment to a global agreement to share information about pathogens that may cause pandemics on Monday – yet several of these countries are also in talks with the United States to conclude conflicting bilateral deals on pathogen access in exchange for the resumption of US health aid. The onerous US demands […] Continue reading ->

Infertility is One of the Most Overlooked Public Health Challenges: WHO

28/11/2025 Kerry Cullinan

One in six people of reproductive age will be affected by infertility, yet health services to address this are “severely limited” and largely funded out-of-pocket, according to the first ever global guideline on the issue by the World Health Organization (WHO). “In some settings, even a single round of in vitro fertilization (IVF) can cost […] Continue reading ->

Measles is Surging as Vaccination Coverage Dips Below 95%

28/11/2025 Kerry Cullinan

Although global immunisation efforts have led to an 88% drop in measles deaths in the past 25 years, measles cases are surging worldwide, according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO). Last year, 59 countries reported large or disruptive measles outbreaks – almost triple that in 2021 and the highest since the […] Continue reading ->

New Diplomatic Effort Underway to Reduce the Costs of Menstrual Products

27/11/2025 Kerry Cullinan

Millions of girls miss school each month when they menstruate, as their families cannot afford sanitary pads or tampons – something that a Geneva-based diplomatic effort is seeking to address. Ambassador Matthew Wilson of Barbados described improving access to menstrual as a “global moral imperative” at a meeting of diplomats this week. “[Caribbean] surveys show […] Continue reading ->