Public health
fromAxios
4 hours agoFinish Line: The quiet rise of "prescribing connection"
Social prescribing addresses health crises and broader issues like social isolation through diverse community programs and activities.
The freezer is filled with blue-lidded tubes of cows' blood, ready to be defrosted and used to feed the colony of mosquitoes. Nombuso Princess Bhembe tends the mosquitoes at Eswatini's national insectary, part of the southern African country's push to eliminate malaria.
Most people leave doctor visits with prescriptions, but still feel unsure—instructions make sense, but no one asks about their life. In contrast, when a provider knows your name, remembers your story, and explains care in a way that fits you, the experience feels different—and that difference matters.
NHS figures show that there were 100 hospital admissions in 2025 linked to spider bites - up from 47 in 2015. Experts are blaming the trend on a sharp increase in the noble false widow spider, which has been described as 'the most dangerous spider breeding in Britain.'
Alpha-gal syndrome is an emerging public health concern in Massachusetts, driven by the northward spread of the lone star tick, which is most commonly associated with the condition.
The U.S. is no longer part of the World Health Organization. After the Trump administration declared its intention to pull the country out of the global public health agency one year ago, on Thursday it formally followed through, ending its commitment to the organization after 78 years. Withdrawing the U.S. from the WHO was one of Trump's day one priorities. Now, after the required one year notice period, the deed is done.
I am open-minded; I believe in integrative practices, and I agree that the medical establishment can be arrogant and unduly influenced by the pharmaceutical industry, which now funds so much of medical research. But I fully understand Scherer's frustration with his interminable discussions with Kennedy about scientific articles.
Risks of outbreaks with pandemic potential rise with increasing land-use change, biodiversity loss and climate change. The Pandemic Agreement adopted by the World Health Assembly in 2025 marks a historic shift that establishes the One Health approach as a legally binding obligation for pandemic prevention.
Between March 2020 and March 2022, over 100 million telemedicine services were delivered to approximately 17 million Australians. The Australian government invested $409 million to make telehealth permanent, whilst the UK announced £600 million for digital health infrastructure in April 2025. Patient adoption is equally impressive: 60% find telemedicine more convenient than in-person appointments, 55% report higher satisfaction with teleconsultations, and 74% of millennials prefer virtual appointments for routine care. These aren't temporary shifts; they represent a fundamental transformation in healthcare delivery.
If you're based in the United States, you've probably gotten used to government bodies issuing nationwide alerts - including ones that relate to public health. These have, historically, been good ways for health-conscious people to know what to look out for and for regional public health experts to develop strategies to help keep potential outbreaks contained.Unfortunately, now both individuals and institutions are reckoning with a big question: what to do when those warnings are much smaller in number?
Public health consultant Dr Ross Keat said supporting people earlier to make small preventative changes would make "a big difference later on". Some 3,500 people in the north of the island within that age bracket are eligible for the checks. The checks will be carried out by two pre-existing nurses that support GP staff and would not replace GP appointments, Keat explained, adding that the cost would be minimal and absorbed by Ramsey Group Practice.
You get sick from staying inside, breathing the same germ-filled air. Open your windows, even for five minutes, to circulate the old air out and let in fresh air. Also, if you're taking your child to the doctor, don't wait to treat their fever because you want 'the provider to see the fever.' Your child might wait two hours to be seen, meanwhile their temperature goes up, and they might have a seizure. If you say they've been having fevers, we believe you.
Has your resilience ever been fractured? Do you yearn to express solidarity in a pragmatic way? Have you signed an MOU? (Or even heard of an MOU?) These sentences contain some of the buzzwords likely to be relevant in the world of global health and development in 2026 according to our informal survey of 20 experts who work in the field.
In many ways, public health can't afford to ignore gamification. Addiction is already gamified-and it's winning. As one example, "smart" vapes now feature screens, rewards, animations, and puff tracking. These high-tech devices have become top-selling products, with 32% of youth and 33% of young adults reporting using vapes with screens, games, or Bluetooth connectivity in the past month. These products are applying the same engagement strategies used in consumer tech to drive repeat use and ultimately sustain addictive behavior.
Being overweight doesn't just make people more susceptible to chronic illnesses such as heart disease and diabetesit might also increase their risk of severe influenza and other infections, a new study confirms. The study, published today in the Lancet, suggests that people with obesity may be more susceptible to death and hospitalization from a variety of infections caused by viruses, fungi, parasites and bacteria.