Category: Health

Minister for Mental Health and Government Chief Whip, Mary Butler TD, has welcomed a key commitment from the Health Service Executive (HSE) to offer permanent contracts to all 2025 graduate mental health nurses. The announcement, confirmed by HSE CEO Bernard Gloster, ensures that employment offers will be issued by 19 September 2025. Minister Butler described […]

At his home in Jalalabad, roughly 50 kilometres away from the epicentre, Dr. Sahak and his wife stormed out of their bedroom to find their eight children already in the hallway. “I immediately thought about Herat,” the Afghan physician in his late forties told me, referring to the earthquakes that devastated the country’s western province […]

Why would a suicidal teenager choose to live? It’s not the kind of question most of us ever want to ask. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among 15-29 year olds worldwide. Much of the research and media coverage still focuses on why teens might want to die. Far less often do we […]

Have you ever visited your GP for something specific – perhaps a sprained ankle or a routine check-up – only to find yourself receiving unsolicited advice about your weight, drinking habits or smoking? Sometimes this guidance feels supportive and timely. Other times it can feel intrusive, judgmental or irrelevant to why you’re there. These increasingly […]

Why do health stories about food and cancer grab so much attention? Because they offer an enticing promise: that a single item on your plate, or even a sudden change in what you crave, might hold the key to spotting disease early. It’s a compelling idea, but in reality the science of appetite, taste, and […]

A dangerous new drug adulterant is spreading through America’s illicit opioid supply, and it’s making overdoses significantly harder to reverse. Medetomidine, a veterinary sedative normally used to sedate pets, is increasingly being mixed with heroin and fentanyl, creating a cocktail that experts warn could be far deadlier than previous street drug combinations. Known as “flysky” […]

As a cardiologist, I frequently meet patients who have stopped taking medicines that could keep them alive. Often it’s because they’ve seen a dramatic headline or a worrying TV report about a drug they rely on. But sometimes, patients are right to pay attention: new studies really can overturn decades of medical practice. Few drugs […]

“Air quality respects no boundaries,” said Lorenzo Labrador, Scientific Officer at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). “The smoke and the pollution that issues from the wildfires in this record-breaking season in the Iberian Peninsula has been detected over Western Europe already [and]…can travel basically throughout the rest of the European continent.” Presenting the latest WMO Air […]

3 September 2025, Cairo, Egypt – In response to the urgent – and  growing ­– threat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses to global health, development and security, the World Health Organization (WHO) is developing a new Global Action Plan on AMR (AMR GAP 2.0) in line with Resolution WHA77.6 and the 2024 UN Political Declaration on AMR. […]

There were 45,000 fewer hours of physical education (PE) delivered in UK schools during the last academic year compared to 15 years ago. This is concerning, given how important PE and physical activity are not only for children’s physical health, but their cognitive health too. As the new school year begins, it’s essential that PE […]