Economic reports estimate 12 billion working days are lost annually to mental health conditions. An emerging framework stipulates that proactive investments in employee well-being and brain health could increase global GDP by up to 12%, unlocking $11.7 trillion in economic value.

Last year, more than half of the world's conflict-based attacks on health care were reported in the Middle East. Insecurity Insight’s Tim Bishop explains how the fallout will reverberate for years.

Governments are tasked with improving pandemic preparedness before the next infectious threat emerges. A World Health Assembly roundtable showed how artificial intelligence can improve health communication, fill information gaps, and optimize resources.

In Indonesia, the province of Papua accounts for 93% of the country’s malaria cases. Learn how this burden led Indonesia to recently join the WHO’s Western Pacific Region—as part of a bid to achieve malaria-free status by 2030.

The International Court of Justice has ruled that nations can be held accountable for climate-harming practices even if they have not signed onto the Paris Agreement. Read how this decision could change global health and climate politics.

A new study from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimates the links between consuming processed meats, sugary drinks, and trans fats and developing chronic diseases. The authors say without sustained interventions, these trends will worsen health outcomes globally.

This year, Chihuahua, Mexico has confirmed nearly 4,000 measles cases—the highest tally for any North American state or province by a large margin. @ginarivers90.bsky.social reports on how vaccine hesitancy and underspending on health care fueled the outbreak.

From the Cough of Perinthus in ancient Greece to Long COVID in the modern world, societies have toiled under post-viral illnesses. @emendenhall.bsky.social and Phil Fink describe the history of these conditions, which have struggled to breach mainstream policy.

The Ganges water-sharing treaty is set to expire in 2026. Diplomat Zakaria Bin Amjad urges Bangladesh and India to give the 30-year treaty a planetary health makeover to restore a damaged ecosystem and build peace in South Asia.

In India, air pollution is linked to 1.5 million premature deaths annually. Learn how an emissions trading scheme in western India allowed factories to reduce air pollution and save on abatement costs.

In July, Colombia opened its second safe injection site in nearly as many years. @greennoise.bsky.social reports on how these organizations foster trust to ensure client safety, paving the way for a new approach to overdose prevention in Latin America.

Amid cuts to its aid, Africa is at a crossroads as it seeks to end tuberculosis (TB) by 2030. Read how regional governments can seize this moment to build resilient TB responses that don’t hinge upon foreign goodwill.

Nearly six months after the United States announced sweeping cuts to development assistance for health, researchers are beginning to decipher how the move is reshaping governance and health programs. TGH's @allisonkrugman offers a breakdown:

Advertisements recruiting college students for egg donations offer anywhere from $10,000 to $120,00 for a donation. Although this procedure is considered low risk, there is limited research on the long-term consequences.

Each year, more than 720,000 people die worldwide by suicide. By leveraging interpretable machine learning, artificial intelligence can analyze patient data and help clinicians create targeted interventions for those at high risk of suicide.

Summertime departures have left the White House without a senior official for pandemic preparedness. Former deputy director of the White House’s pandemic office @nikkiromanik.bsky.social explains how the consequences extend beyond domestic biosecurity and biodefense.

As Pope Leo XIV completes the first 100 days of his papacy, leaders and policy experts speculate how his roots in supporting vulnerable communities could inform his leadership on public health initiatives.

Action plans for aging populations have expanded globally, creating opportunities to innovate approaches that combat ageism, create age-friendly environments, and ensure access to long-term care.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has officially ceased implementing foreign aid. Columbia University Professor Thoai D. Ngo uses data and interviews with health and development professionals to chart the toll of USAID's withdrawal from Colombia, Kenya, and Nepal.

As global health budgets tighten, national blood transfusion services in low- or middle-income countries (LMICs) face dire consequences. New initiatives offer hope that fresh funding could alleviate some constraints.

Former U.S. Coordinator for Global Health Security Stephanie Psaki describes how the United States can preserve its soft power within an “America First” foreign policy by focusing on saving lives and promoting economic growth to advance strategic interests.

Syrian American social scientist Diana Rayes explores intergenerational trauma and the complexities of epigenetics through her family’s migration following the 1982 Hama massacre.

How Not to Die (Too Soon), a new book by @profdevisridhar.bsky.social‬, explores how governments should be held accountable for decisions that influence life expectancy, such as policies on gun control, clean water, and mental health.

As African countries move from aid dependency, Nigeria is demonstrating how political will, smart investment, and regulatory reform can begin to reshape the health manufacturing landscape.

"U.S. leadership has been a cornerstone of science diplomacy for decades," writes Joshua Glasser, a former foreign affairs officer at the U.S. State Department. Recent funding cuts to programs that safeguard public health will threaten that position.

Hospitals receive protections under international law. Yet violent strikes in the Gaza Strip and Israel raise questions of what is considered a war crime, as attacks on health care become more frequent. @ferozesidhwa.org and @lenrubenstein.bsky.social explain:

The U.S. Senate has passed the "One Big, Beautiful Bill". Rachel Nuwer speaks with cancer patients and health practitioners, analyzing how the bill's cuts to Medicaid could reduce access to life-saving screenings and treatments for millions of people.

In Canada, supervised consumption sites have fallen under political attack due to concerns about their potential to attract violent crime, but findings from a recent study in The Lancet dismiss that connection.

Girija Sankar, head of neglected tropical diseases at Christian Blind Mission, reflects on her 24-year career in global health by confronting the popular public health belief that “our job is to work ourselves out of a job."

Zimbabwe’s Minister of Finance Mthuli Ncube explains why Africa should enhance investments in their health systems to maintain progress even in times of high public debt and foreign aid cuts.

More than 60% of low-income countries face sanctions. A new study in The Lancet addresses the absence of coordinated monitoring that tracks how any type of sanction harms health globally.

Former U.S. CDC Director @drtomfrieden.bsky.social and medical student Yuexuan Chen refute Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s recent claim that the agency's advisory panel on vaccines withheld conflicts of interests to profit from their recommendations. #ACIP

In Canada, supervised consumption sites can effectively prevent overdose deaths. Yet unfounded concerns remain about their negative influence on crime rates. New findings from Toronto undermine these stereotypes.

Bicycling is climate-positive transportation that benefits physical and mental health. Yet more than 60,000 cyclists die annually in traffic crashes worldwide. To guarantee safety, cities could take cues from the Netherlands.

Netflix's series 'Adolescence' has sparked a global dialogue about toxic masculinity and violence. UNICEF's Amber Peterman, Alessandra Guedes, and Christine Kolbe-Stuart explore how this type of "edutainment" could be a powerful tool to promote social behavior change.

One of America’s largest egg producers—Hickman's Family Farms in Arizona—has lost 95% of its hens due to an #H5N1 outbreak. Its CEO says the farm will lay off hundreds and need two years to restore its flock. This and more from our bird flu timeline:

🎯If you read one thing about the Pandemic Treaty, let it be this by Ebere Okereke @thinkglobalhealth.org www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/pand...

A lack of robust, high-quality data hinders efforts to address gender-based violence in many low- or middle-income countries. Artificial intelligence (AI) could fill data gaps made worse by U.S. foreign aid cuts.

The Pandemic Agreement was adopted at the World Health Assembly. @pritipatnaik.bsky.social‬ explains how this victory marks a milestone on provisions like prevention and sustainable production, but member states still need to cooperate to address health challenges.

U.S. cuts to scientific research stem from the Donald Trump administration supporting the theory that COVID-19 started as a lab leak. @ggronvall.bsky.social‬ outlines how this funding purge puts lifesaving studies and people at risk.

Nearly 100 days ago, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. committed to Make America Healthy Again. Read a report card on the pledges Kennedy and his top health officials made during their respective confirmation hearings and the actions taken since.

“A misleading narrative is that the collapse of #USAID has caused a proportional collapse in provision of antiretrovirals.” Author Emily Bass visits Tanzania and Uganda to interview people living with HIV and peer navigators as they face #PEPFAR interruptions.

The advertising industry uses gender stereotypes to market harmful products such as tobacco and alcohol. Kent Buse, Jeni Klugman, and Elhadj As Sy explain how using taxes on these products to fund gender justice initiatives could improve health equity.

This week, the World Health Assembly has deliberated on the Pandemic Agreement. Ebere Okereke outlines how nations are also negotiating the meaning of global solidarity in an era of nationalism, anti-globalization sentiment, and financial retrenchment.

The World Health Assembly has adopted the Pandemic Agreement, but the treaty won't be open for ratification and enforcement until the most contentious matter is resolved: pathogen access and benefit-sharing (PABS). Seven complex choices exemplify the impasse that member states face over PABS.

CFR Senior Fellow @prof-yadav.bsky.social analyzes how the White House's executive order to lower drug prices by invoking a most-favored-nation clause could have cascading effects on medicine access in low-income countries.

Researchers from @ihmeuw.bsky.social have created a computer simulation to estimate the impacts foreign aid cuts will have on nutrition programs. If left untreated, 50% of children with severe acute malnutrition die, but with proper care, that number drops to 5%.

In a new book, The Elephant in the Room: How to Stop Making Ourselves and Other Animals Sick, science writer Liz Kalaugher combs history to expose how humans have contributed to the rise and spread of infectious diseases among nonhuman animals.

Bucking the global trend, women in Mexico are diagnosed for diabetes at higher rates than men, driven by deep-rooted gender inequalities, limited access to health care, poverty, and the import of unhealthy foods, writes Corina Martínez Sánchez of @projecthopeorg.bsky.social.

The creation of an independent bio-responsibility authority could provide oversight on gain-of-function research that could help unlock the benefits of bioengineering while mitigating the risks to gain public trust, explains Ben Snyder of the Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs.