Category: Health

A new global report from the World Health Organization (WHO) highlights how social determinants of health—such as housing, education, and job opportunities—are drastically reducing life expectancy worldwide. The 2025 World Report on Social Determinants of Health Equity reveals that people in the lowest-ranked country for life expectancy live, on average, 33 years shorter than those […]

The Department of Health has announced a new locum support programme set to begin in Summer 2025, aimed at assisting 239 General Practitioners (GPs) working in rural and remote areas across Ireland. The initiative was unveiled by Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill as part of the 2023 GP Agreement, designed to strengthen access to […]

But despite their critical role, UN support for midwifery is under serious threat due to severe funding cuts. Each year, three-quarters of all maternal deaths occur in just 25 countries, the majority of them located in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, according to the UN reproductive health agency, UNFPA.  Midwives are often the first and […]

Neurodivergent individuals—those with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and other cognitive differences—represent a skills-based marginalized group whose unique abilities can drive creativity, innovation, and business success. Yet, traditional business processes and hiring practices often fail to accommodate their strengths, leading to missed opportunities for both employers, employees and the business sector as a whole. The Power of […]

“Every time this happens, people lose access to health services – and sometimes, to hope,” said Dr Humphrey Karamagi, the UN World Health Organization (WHO)’s Representative in South Sudan. “Health is the last safety net. If it fails, everything else will also fall.” The apparent airstrike on the hospital run by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) […]

The study by the World Health Organization (WHO) reveals that they can be responsible for a dramatic reduction in life expectancy in both rich and poor countries alike. For example, people living in the country with the highest life expectancy will on average live 33 years longer than those born in the country with the […]

FMD is a highly contagious viral disease affecting cloven-hoofed animals, including cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, and various wild species.  Europe is currently facing its worst outbreak so far this century at the same time as an exotic viral strain has been introduced in Iraq and other countries in the Near East. Concern for potential spread […]

If you or someone you love finds it difficult to stand up from the toilet without using your hands, it might seem like a small issue. But in health and ageing, this movement – known as the “sit-to-stand” – can be a red flag. It’s one of the strongest indicators of frailty, a condition that […]

“We are living through the greatest disruption to global health financing in memory,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. He cautioned that abrupt withdrawals of funding are jeopardising hard-won medical progress, including efforts to combat tropical diseases, which are now re-emerging in some regions. “This is just the tip of the iceberg,” he told […]

The NHS in England has launched a new injectable form of the immunotherapy drug nivolumab (Opdivo), capable of treating 15 different types of cancer, including skin, bladder, and oesophageal cancers. This “super-jab” significantly reduces treatment time from up to an hour of intravenous therapy to just three to five minutes via an under-the-skin injection. Approximately […]