Can you stop malaria crossing borders? One nation’s bid to wipe out the disease Informal migration, plus climate change and rising numbers of cases globally, are complicating the tireless efforts of the landlocked African country to eradicate the killer disease

Can you stop malaria crossing borders? One nation’s bid to wipe out the disease

‘No more than a drop in the ocean’: this drug could end new HIV infections in Eswatini – why isn’t there enough? The southern Africa country has the world’s highest prevalence of HIV but the amount of lenacapavir reaching it is too small to reach all those at risk

‘No more than a drop in the ocean’: this drug could end new HIV infections in Eswatini – why isn’t there enough?

Polio virus detected in London days before ministers cut global eradication funding Campaigner criticises ‘shortsighted and self-defeating’ decision and says it increases risk to the UK public The polio virus was detected in London sewage for the second time this year, days before ministers withdrew funding for global polio eradication efforts. Its detection reveals the spending cuts to be “shortsighted and self-defeating”, campaigners said. Polio is an extremely infectious viral disease, which typically affects young children under-five. It can cause paralysis by damaging nerves in the spine and base of the brain, and can be life-threatening if it affects muscles used for breathing. Continue reading...

Polio virus detected in London days before ministers cut global eradication funding

WHO warns of health crisis ‘unfolding in real time’ across Middle East Hostilities should halt and healthcare facilities must be treated as ‘safe havens’, WHO’s regional chief has said * Middle East crisis – live updates A total stop to hostilities in the Middle East is needed to halt a “health crisis unfolding in real time”, the World Health Organization’s chief in the region has said. Hospitals and other healthcare facilities must be treated as “safe havens”, urged Dr Hanan Balkhy, the WHO’s regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean. Continue reading...

WHO warns of health crisis ‘unfolding in real time’ across Middle East

Aid cuts in a Senegalese town risk taking away control from its ‘warrior’ women Being able to space out their babies is essential to the life and health chances of women in Joal. But now international aid cuts threaten to take away the few choices they have left

Here's what the programme has meant to women in one Senegalese town www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

MSI Reproductive Choices say UK aid cuts include a 23% funding reduction for the Women’s Integrated Sexual Health programme in West and Central Africa. They predict an additional 410k unintended pregnancies, 1k maternal deaths and 110k unsafe abortions as a result.

The Myanmar nurses dodging drones to graduate from a secret jungle school This week, the first students completed a three-year degree course, ready to treat displaced people and pro-democracy fighters unable to risk government-run hospitals

The Myanmar nurses dodging drones to graduate from a secret jungle school

UK government axes flagship global health project Programme which supports schemes in six African countries was previously hailed as vital protection for Britain against future pandemics

It was Gordon Brown who launched the #HealthPartnerships approach in 2007, harnessing #NHS expertise to drive #UHC delivery in #LMICs. It is this Labour Govt which is ending this work, 18 years later. A sad moment. #UKGlobalHealthSummit @katlay.bsky.social.
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Experts fear ‘unethical’ vaccine trial in Africa is ‘prototype’ for US studies under RFK Jr Danish researchers whose work on effects of vaccines has been called into question are at center of US vaccine policy

“We are fearful that this is a prototype for other studies,” said @cdelawalla.bsky.social. My latest on the unlikely researchers at the heart of US vaccine policy:
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Weight-loss jab could be made for $3 a month, study finds Cheap semaglutide, the drug in Ozempic and Wegovy, could help millions with diabetes and obesity in 160 countries Weight-loss jabs such as Wegovy and Ozempic could be made for just $3 a month, according to new analysis, potentially making the treatment available to millions in poorer countries as patents expire. More than a billion people live with obesity worldwide, with rates rising fast in lower-income nations as they shift to westernised diets and more sedentary lifestyles. Continue reading...

Weight-loss jab could be made for $3 a month, study finds

Rising anger over ‘lop-sided’ and ‘immoral’ US health funding pacts with African countries Zimbabwe refuses to sign agreement and Kenya faces a court case over data sharing as new aid deals come under scrutiny

Rising anger over ‘lop-sided’ and ‘immoral’ US health funding pacts with African countries

US accused of ‘shameless exploitation’ over proposed Zambian health aid deal Leaked draft of $1bn memorandum of understanding reveals mandatory targets, sharing of data, and reported access to mining concessions

For @theguardian.com, I gained access to a leaked draft of America's $1bn memorandum of understanding with Zambia that features mandatory targets, sharing of data, and requires access to mining concessions: www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Traditional food could help reverse Nepal’s ‘diabetes epidemic’, studies suggest With medication largely unaffordable in the country, experts hope community support and a change in diet could reduce soaring type 2 diabetes rates

Traditional food could help reverse Nepal’s ‘diabetes epidemic’, studies suggest

Aid cuts could cause 22m avoidable deaths by 2030, study finds Modelling suggests 5.4m children under five among those who could die if budgets of donor countries such as UK and US continue to be slashed

Aid cuts could cause 22m avoidable deaths by 2030, study finds

Ultra-processed foods should be treated more like cigarettes than food – study UPFs are made to encourage addiction and consumption and should be regulated like tobacco, say researchers

Ultra-processed foods should be treated more like cigarettes than food – study

Death of Nigerian singer after snakebite highlights crisis of ‘preventable’ fatalities Ifunanya Nwangene died in hospital after being bitten in her Abuja home, raising questions about the availability of effective antivenoms

Death of Nigerian singer after snakebite highlights crisis of ‘preventable’ fatalities

‘It’s the sovereignty of the country’: Guinea-Bissau says US vaccine study suspended Despite US pushback, officials in west Africa say controversial hepatitis B study on pause amid ethics concerns

U.S. health officials insisted it was still on. African health leaders said it was cancelled. A hotly debated study on hepatitis B in Guinea-Bissau is indeed halted, as I reported last week. Here's my latest:
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Global midwife shortage raises rates of maternity intervention, report warns World is short of a million midwives, report finds, with adequate access potentially saving 4.3m lives a year

Global midwife shortage raises rates of maternity intervention, report warns

Cloth wraps treated with ‘dirt cheap’ insecticide cut malaria cases in babies Soaking fabrics in a commonly used insect repellent is a simple and effective tool as mosquito bites become more common during daytime, study shows

Cloth wraps treated with ‘dirt cheap’ insecticide cut malaria cases in babies

Controversial US study on hepatitis B vaccines in Africa is cancelled $1.6m project drew outrage over ethical questions about withholding vaccines proven to prevent disease

BREAKING: The controversial hepatitis B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau has been *cancelled,* I can now report. A senior official with Africa CDC confirmed the cancellation and said GB officials are working to make sure any research is conducted ethically:
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Face masks ‘inadequate’ and should be swapped for respirators, WHO advised Experts are urging guideline changes on what health professionals should wear to protect against flu-like illnesses including Covid

Doctors and nurses should be wearing respirator-grade masks rather than "inadequate" surgical masks or no face covering at all when in front of patients, a group of experts has said, urging WHO guideline changes www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

‘We were sitting with our calculator saying “we can afford that!”’ Joy for families as cystic fibrosis drug prices fall within reach The cost of medication was too high for thousands of CF sufferers around the world. Now a Bangladeshi company is making a generic version that will change lives

‘We were sitting with our calculator saying “we can afford that!”’ Joy for families as cystic fibrosis drug prices fall within reach

Five big global health wins in 2025 that will save millions of lives From HIV to TB, scientists and doctors made breakthroughs in treatment and prevention of some of the world’s deadliest diseases

Five big global health wins in 2025 that will save millions of lives

‘A potential treasure trove’: World Health Organization to explore benefits of traditional medicines UN body to study possibility of integrating centuries-old practices into mainstream healthcare From herbalists in Africa gathering plants to use as poultices to acupuncturists in China using needles to cure migraines, or Indian yogis practising meditation, traditional remedies have increasingly being shown to work, and deserve more attention and research, according to a World Health Organization official. A historical lack of evidence, which has seen traditional practices dismissed by many, could change with more investment and the use of modern technology, according to Dr Shyama Kuruvilla, who leads the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Centre. Continue reading...

‘A potential treasure trove’: World Health Organization to explore benefits of traditional medicines

US plan for $1.6m hepatitis B vaccine study in Africa called ‘highly unethical’ Experts decry ‘neocolonialist’ Guinea-Bissau study after Trump administration changed advice for US babies

The CDC just announced a new study on hepatitis B vaccination on newborns in Guinea-Bissau – a move that researchers call “highly unethical” and “extremely risky”. Happy to team up with @katlay.bsky.social on this story:
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Figures reveal stark reality of US funding cuts as 1,394 family planning clinics shut Survey by world’s largest network for sexual and reproductive health shows devastation to services, particularly in Africa and the Middle East, and amplification of anti-rights voices

Figures reveal stark reality of US funding cuts as 1,394 family planning clinics shut

New antibiotics hailed as ‘turning point’ in treating drug-resistant gonorrhoea First new treatments for sexually transmitted disease in decades approved by US Food and Drug Administration as number of cases worldwide surge to 82m The first new treatments for gonorrhoea in decades could be a “huge turning point” in efforts to combat the rise of superbug strains of the bacteria, researchers have said. Gonorrhoea is on the rise around the world, with more than 82m infections globally each year and particularly high rates in Africa and countries in the World Health Organization’s Western Pacific region, which reaches from Mongolia and China to New Zealand. Cases in England are at a record high, and rates in Europe were three times higher in 2023 than in 2014. Continue reading...

New antibiotics hailed as ‘turning point’ in treating drug-resistant gonorrhoea

How the cuts have shaken HIV/Aids care to its core and will mean millions more infections ahead Reports highlight devastating impact of slashed funding, especially in parts of Africa, that could lead to 3.3m new HIV infections by 2030

How the cuts have shaken HIV/Aids care to its core and will mean millions more infections ahead

Control of HIV, TB and malaria at risk after global health fund donations fall Leading past donors including France, Japan and European Commission fail to contribute at pledging summit Control of the deadly infectious diseases HIV, tuberculosis and malaria “hangs in the balance” after a shortfall in donations to a leading global health fund, advocates have warned. Only $11.3bn of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria’s $18bn (£14bn) targeted budget for 2026 to 2028 has been confirmed so far. Continue reading...

Control of HIV, TB and malaria at risk after global health fund donations fall

New drug could be a breakthrough in treatment for killer TB, trial suggests Sorfequiline shows stronger action than existing treatments against illness that killed 1.23 million last year

New drug could be a breakthrough in treatment for killer TB, trial suggests