WHO News

El Salvador validated by WHO as having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem

The World Health Organization (WHO) has validated El Salvador as having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem. Trachoma is the world's leading infectious cause of blindness.

health  Jul 13, 2026

The Guardian Health

‘No matter how bad, it is always fixable’: how Bea Elton cleans up the houses – and lives – of desperate people

She has built an unlikely career in mould, maggots and excrement, cleaning for those who most need it. It can take months building trust with a stranger, before she and her boyfriend go in and transform everything‘There might be a dead bird in the box room. We think it has been there for a couple of years,” says Bea Elton, raising her voice to be heard through her respirator. It is particularly robust, as she has a dust and cat hair allergy. “Not ideal,” in her line of work, the 28-year-old conc

health  Jul 13, 2026

The Guardian Health

Flawed disciplinary hearings at work cost UK economy £28.5bn a year, doctors say

Poorly handled investigations should be treated as threat to public health and damage not just staff involved, report saysWorkers are being left burnt out by “poorly executed” disciplinary investigations at work that cost the UK economy £28.5bn a year, public health doctors have said.Badly handled disciplinary proceedings damage not just the staff involved but also their colleagues and the organisation that employs them, according to the UK Faculty of Public Health (FPH).In the UK and Ireland, S

health  Jul 12, 2026

The Guardian Health

Guide dog owners face everyday ignorance | Letter

Too many people with assistance dogs are routinely denied access to businesses and services, writes Eleanor BriggsJoanne Hewitson from Hartlepool only wanted to enjoy breakfast at her local pub, accompanied by her guide dog, Rosie. Instead, a member of staff wrongly and repeatedly demanded identification for her guide dog, making her feel so unwelcome that she felt she had to leave (Blind woman ‘livid’ after Wetherspoon’s pub asks for guide dog’s ID, 7 July).Joanne’s experience is not unique. Gu

health  Jul 12, 2026

The Guardian Health

‘I’m not afraid of dying any more’: comedian Eric Lampaert on his amnesia – and the memories he was happy to lose

In 2019 Lampaert woke up unable to recognise his friends, his parents, even his own name. After decades of anxiety, abandonment and bullying, was his mind just trying to shield him from his past?On the day his life changed, Eric Lampaert woke up and saw his hands. What amazed him was that they were moving in front of him, and he appeared to be the person in control of them. We’re drinking coffee in the Groucho Club in London, and at this point he lets go of his cup and wriggles his fingers. Lamp

health  Jul 12, 2026

The Guardian Health

Fitness influencers linked to wellness brand helping run illegal steroid market on Telegram

Ambassadors for Gencore Global directed followers to Telegram channels promoting steroids, prescription medicines and experimental peptides‘I felt dizzy’: body builder recalls how drug abuse caught up with himUK becoming ‘wild west’ for experimental peptides, expert warnsFitness influencers who publicly represent a global wellness brand are involved in running an illegal steroid market on social media, the Guardian can reveal.Gencore Global presents itself as a UK-based health and wellness compa

health  Jul 12, 2026

The Guardian Health

Guggenheim museum in New York City tests positive for legionnaires’ disease

Famed art museum, one of 31 buildings to test positive, has already completed remediation, health department saysNew York City’s famed Solomon R Guggenheim Museum was among a number of Manhattan buildings that recently tested positive for the bacteria that causes legionnaires’ disease.The city health department on Friday released a list of 31 buildings on the Upper East Side that have been ordered to clean and disinfect their cooling towers as the city deals with the latest outbreak of the disea

health  Jul 11, 2026

The Guardian Health

‘A new consumer’: how weight-loss drugs are shaking up clothes shopping

As they slim down, UK and US users of GLP-1 jabs and pills are changing their spending habits – and their wardrobesTell us: what does the new weight-loss pill mean for you?“I’m now at a point where I’m going to buy even more clothes,” says Hayley Grice, 50, from Shropshire, who has dropped seven sizes after starting on the GLP-1 weight loss jab Mounjaro two years ago. “I’m very happy with my physique right now.”Grice, the financial director of a business she set up with her husband, tried gastri

health  Jul 11, 2026

The Guardian Health

Visualised: how conflict, aid cuts and health-worker attacks are helping Ebola spread in DRC

The rapid spread of the virus has been intensified by misinformation and violence towards volunteers and treatment centresNearly two months after the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) confirmed an Ebola outbreak in one province, the virus is continuing to spread rapidly, reaching more parts of the country and infecting more people.According to government data from 8 July, 1,759 cases and 600 deaths have been recorded. The virus has also spread to Uganda, where there have been 20 confirmed c

health  Jul 10, 2026

The Guardian Health

UK swelters in third heatwave of the year as western Europe counts cost of hottest-ever June

Britain expands heat alerts while estimates suggest last month’s death toll could surpass 20,000 across continentThe UK is sweltering through the peak of its third heatwave of the year as countries around Europe struggle to recover from an early onslaught of baking summer heat.Punishing temperatures pushed higher by fossil fuel pollution have broken records across the continent in recent weeks. Western Europe experienced its hottest June on record, scientists confirmed on Thursday, accompanied b

health  Jul 9, 2026

The Guardian Health

New York sues 3M, DuPont and others over 'forever chemicals' in consumer goods

State says companies hid environmental and health risks of Pfas for decades even as they began phasing them outSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email New ⁠York sued 3M, DuPont and other companies ⁠on Thursday ⁠for ​causing a public nuisance by selling “forever ⁠chemicals” that they knew were toxic for use ⁠in consumer products.The ​state’s attorney ‌general, ‌Letitia James, accused the companies ‌of hiding the chemicals’ environmental and health risks from consumers for decades, even

health  Jul 9, 2026

The Guardian Health

Legionnaires’ outbreak rocks New York as experts warn of rising climate threat

Officials say climate crisis ‘worsening our exposure’ to bacteria as at least 28 people sickened in ManhattanA New York outbreak of legionnaires’ disease, a rare but severe form of pneumonia, highlights the microbe’s growing and disproportionate impacts in a warming climate.At least 28 people have been sickened in an outbreak on the Upper East Side, a wealthy neighborhood between Central Park and the East River in Manhattan. Health department officials, seeking to stop the outbreak, have sampled

health  Jul 9, 2026

The Guardian Health

MPs urge Labour to ditch £330m Palantir software contract with NHS

Cross-party group backs call last month from science and technology committee to look at alternative optionsA second parliamentary committee has urged Labour to scrap Palantir’s £330m contract with the NHS, increasing pressure on the next prime minister over government deals with the controversial US tech company.MPs on the health and social care select committee want the NHS to cut ties with Palantir and find a replacement for its system, which is supposed to unify and analyse huge amounts of o

health  Jul 9, 2026

The Guardian Health

As parents, we’re struggling to support our children who are not working or studying | Letters

Readers respond to a letter about the challenges facing families where their adult children are not able to lead independent lives I was moved by the letter (3 July) from a parent whose child is not in employment, education or training (Neet). As a parent of a neurodivergent late-teenager who struggles with social communication and with making relationships beyond the family, I have found the prospect of his entry into adulthood a daunting, unsettling one.As your correspondent makes clear, it’s

health  Jul 8, 2026

The Guardian Health

‘You don’t know what they’re touching’: how to properly disinfect your home after a bout of flu

Germs can stay on hard surfaces for up to two days, and a proper clean down can prevent the spread to othersMake cleaning easier with these 13 favorites for scrubbing, cleaning and tidyingSign up for the Filter US newsletter, your weekly guide to buying fewer, better thingsRecently, I suffered from a nasty bout of the flu. As I emerged from my sickness-induced haze, I made a to-do list: restock my fridge, catch up on emails and most importantly, disinfect my apartment.There’s nothing worse than

health  Jul 8, 2026

The Guardian Health

Progress against cancer not shared by poorer countries, WHO report finds

‘Persistent’ inequities found to exist in access to prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care, annual global review says Remarkable scientific progress against cancer has changed very little for millions of patients globally, who face devastating physical, emotional and financial consequences after diagnosis, a new World Health Organization report has warned.One person in five will develop cancer, according to WHO estimates, and the disease will touch 92% of people, either through their own diag

health  Jul 8, 2026

WHO News

WHO calls for urgent action as new cancer cases are projected to nearly double by 2050

Millions of people are facing physical, emotional and financial toll of cancer, a disease that claims more than 26 000 lives every day, according to a report released today by the World Health Organization (WHO). With an estimated 20.6 million new cases and close to 10 million deaths annually, cancer remains the second leading cause of death globally, after cardiovascular disease.

health  Jul 8, 2026

The Guardian Health

My patients use ChatGPT for therapy. Now I use it too | Sarah Dargouth

I can’t blame my patients for turning to its straightforward assessments. But it has real risks – and care may require human messiness“Chat told me I should break up with him.”I instructed my face to remain therapist-neutral, but I must have smirked. The truth is, I was annoyed. We had been discussing the viability of this relationship for weeks, and in an instant AI had brought the answer. “How do you feel about it?” She said this had been her gut feeling all along. The following session, her r

health  Jul 8, 2026

The Guardian Health

The rise of blue-space therapy: how the sea is helping people deal with trauma, anxiety and addiction

‘Sea cures’ are not new but the idea that exposure to oceans, rivers and lakes can be medicine for the brain is gaining tractionWatching the waves break across the vast, roaring ocean in front of him, Dave Phillips felt out of options standing on the cliff’s edge in Cornwall several years ago. The former British army corporal had lost a number of loved ones in quick succession, and the compounding effects of untreated post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from his military tours had become all-c

health  Jul 8, 2026

The Guardian Health

Thousands of women could be spared painful cancer exam by new NHS AI blood test

The test, which is being trialled by two NHS trusts, could replace the transvaginal ultrasound scan in some casesThousands of women could be spared having a painful intrusive exam for suspected cancer thanks to a new AI-powered blood test being trialled by the NHS.Around 90,000 postmenopausal women a year in England are referred by their GP to be investigated for possible womb cancer because they are bleeding a lot. Continue reading...

health  Jul 7, 2026