Category: Health

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was addressing the World Health Organization (WHO) Executive Board when he said that “several outstanding issues” still needed to be resolved by governments and that time was “very short” to find consensus. “A failure to deliver the pandemic agreement and the International Health Regulations amendments will be a missed opportunity for which […]

It wasn’t just the virus that spread during the pandemic – anxiety, depression and other mental health concerns saw a worrying rise as well. But new research from my colleagues and I confirms there had already been a substantial increase in emotional problems among young people even before COVID-19. Adolescence is an age when people […]

Less than half of UK motorists surveyed by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) know they must be able to read a number plate from 20 metres away in order to drive safely. As a vision test, it’s quick and easy. It’s not difficult to find a number plate to conduct the eyesight test […]

Delivering his first message of the new year, Dr. Hans Kluge stressed that without vaccines, the death toll on the continent “could have been around four million, possibly even higher.” More than 2.5 million COVID-19 deaths, and 277 million confirmed cases, were reported in the vast WHO European Region, which comprises 53 countries stretching from […]

Placebos have been studied more than any treatment in the history of medicine, yet they remain mysterious. I’ve been studying placebos for 20 years and I’ve done some of the key studies that have advanced the scientific knowledge in this area. Here are six facts about this strange effect that still fascinate me. 1. Placebos […]

Reiterating urgent international calls for a ceasefire, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that there have been nearly 20,000 births since the start of widespread Israeli bombardment, in response to Hamas-led attacks in Israel that left some 1,200 dead and approximately 250 taken hostage. Chronic aid access problems have meant that Caesarean sections have been […]