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Millions of people are facing physical, emotional and financial toll of cancer, finds latest WHO report. By 2050 there will be 35 million cancer cases annually – a 66.7% increase in incidence from 2024. That is, unless urgent action is taken to improve prevention and access to early diagnosis and treatment, according to a report released Wednesday by the World Health Organization (WHO). Currently, cancer kills 26,000 people daily and is the second leading cause of death after cardiovascular disease. Fewer than one in three countries include cancer care in their universal health coverage (UHC) packages. Presently, there are an estimated 20.6 million…
Hadiza Barwa, a Community Health Extension Worker trained under the TSTS project, checks on the progress of a pregnancy in Gwale Primary Healthcare Centre in a suburb of Kano, Nigeria. A Task Shifting/Task Sharing investment in Kano State in Nigeria is empowering community health workers and improving maternal and newborn outcomes KANO, Nigeria – It is antenatal day at Gwale Primary Health Care Centre (PHC) in the suburbs of Kano, the capital of the state by the same name and the second biggest city in Nigeria. Hadiza Barwa, a Community Health Extension Worker (CHEW), is in a small consulting room…
The Global Fund has helped to save more than 70 million lives suffering from AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria across the globe. The election of the new executive director for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will move forward on schedule, according to a statement released by the organisation on Tuesday, 7 July. This announcement follows rumours that the nomination process might be restarted after the names of several US candidates were who were reportedly shortlisted had been revealed to Health Policy Watch The roster reportedly omitted a German-backed applicant, sparking frustration in European countries, particularly in Germany,…
The head of the NHS has today issued a stark warning to staff that they face the sack or even prison if they access patient records without a legitimate reason, as part of a new crackdown by the health service. Sir Jim Mackey today said that staff looking at medical records for personal reasons or out of curiosity was “wholly unacceptable, a disgraceful breach of patient trust and against the law”, and would not be tolerated by the NHS. Sir Jim’s warning comes as the NHS today launched a new campaign to remind staff what constitutes unlawful access, the potential impacts on patients and what the…
By the time Derion Blackman collapsed in front of a Dollar General in Kissimmee, Florida, in March, he had been waiting two months to regain access to some of the vital medications he’d been taking since undergoing a heart transplant two years ago. “He was on a nasty, dirty ground in front of a store,” recalled Sonja Smith, who is enraged about the circumstances that led to her husband’s heart failure. “He didn’t deserve to die like that.” Problems started last year when the couple learned the monthly premium payment for their Federal Employees Health Benefits plan would more than…
For the second year in a row, many Affordable Care Act insurers are proposing double-digit premium increases, driven by rising medical costs as well as policy changes by Congress and the Trump administration. In preliminary filings with state regulators, insurers are seeking a median rate increase of 14% for 2027, according to an analysis of filings in 16 states and the District of Columbia by the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker. If those rates are ultimately approved, it would be the second-highest increase since 2018. That would be a “triple whammy“ for consumers, said Cynthia Cox, a senior vice president and…
ACA Marketplace insurers are proposing a median premium increase of 14% for 2027— indicating a likely second consecutive year of double-digit increases, according to a new analysis of preliminary rate filings in 16 states and DC. If these increases hold, typical premiums for insurers participating in the ACA Marketplaces would jump by more than one-third between 2025 and 2027. Across the 77 ACA Marketplace insurers in the 16 states and DC that have submitted rate filings so far, most are requesting premium increases of between 10% and 20% for 2027, with 20 insurers requesting premium increases of more than 20%.…
The Status of Abortion-related State Ballot Initiatives Since Dobbs Last updated on July 5, 2026 Since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, overturning Roe v. Wade, voters in 17 states have weighed in on ballot measures regarding abortion– some more than once. In November 2026, voters in Missouri, Nevada, and Virginia will weigh in on abortion measures that could change the legal status of abortion in their state. In addition, measures in Idaho and Nebraska are in the process of collecting signatures. In 2024, 10 states voted on abortion measures that sought to affirm that the state constitution protects the right to abortion. Nebraska voted on two measures: one seeking to protect abortion and the other seeking to ban abortion after the first trimester. Measures…
As an increasing share of older adults have adopted digital health technologies over the past several years, and with most expressing interest in using them to manage their health care, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has introduced several initiatives to expand the use of digital health technologies in Medicare. Broadly speaking, these technologies include health-related applications (“apps”), online patient portals, and connected devices such as smartphones and wearable devices that can be used to measure or track health data. A central component of CMS’s efforts in this area is the Health Tech Ecosystem, launched in 2025,…
Delhi’s chief minister, Rekha Gupta (centre) at the announcement of the new EV policy late last month. After years of stonewalling, the city is finally acknowledging the public health risks of air pollution – launching a series of radical moves aimed firstly at cleaning up vehicle emissions as well as stronger emission curbs on waste, construction and traffic during winter-time pollution peaks. The most radical measures include: banning new fossil fuel 2 & 3-wheelers and small trucks, ending support for hybrid cars in favor of “pure” electric only. Can the measures finally trigger real change? NEW DELHI – Air pollution…
In a conversation focused on the technology underlying AI in health care, Chip is joined by Seema Verma, former administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and now Executive Vice President and General Manager at Oracle Health and Life Sciences, the second largest electronic health records (EHR) platform in the U.S. Seema shares her insights on the evolution of EHRs and why it’s necessary to redesign these systems to better integrate AI capabilities and improve the quality of care.Other Health,Artificial Intelligence,Care Coordination,Delivery System,Health I.T.,Health System Performance,Health Workforce,Hospitals,Medical Technology,Physicians,TreatmentArtificial Intelligence,Care Coordination,Delivery System,Health I.T.,Health System Performance,Health Workforce,Hospitals,Medical Technology,Physicians,Treatment#Rewiring #Machine1783440271
Climate-linked migration and displacement affect health in multiple pathways. A new WHO research initiative in the Western Pacific Region aims to find out more. WHO’s Western Pacific region, the agency’s most populous, is home to nearly two billion people, including some small island nations like Fiji, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands whose very existence is threatened by climate change. And yet, no one really knows how many people are on the move due to climate-related extreme weather events that are eroding coastlines, encroaching on communities and curbing traditional economic activities, triggering displacement and migration in small island states and beyond.…
For 16 years, Larry Gruber, a fitness coach from Wilton Manors, Florida, received a coupon card to help him pay for a psoriatic arthritis medication he needs that costs more than $7,700 a month. Each year, Amgen, which makes the drug, called Enbrel, sent the coupon card worth thousands of dollars, and that counted toward Gruber’s health insurance deductible and out-of-pocket maximum. Using the card, Gruber usually met that maximum by February, leaving his health insurance to fully cover his in-network medical costs and reducing his cost for the drug to $0 for the rest of the year. But this…
In a conversation focused on the technology underlying AI in health care, Chip is joined by Seema Verma, former administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and now Executive Vice President and General Manager at Oracle Health and Life Sciences, the second largest electronic health records (EHR) platform in the U.S. Seema shares her insights on the evolution of EHRs and why it’s necessary to redesign these systems to better integrate AI capabilities and improve the quality of care.Other Health,Artificial Intelligence,Care Coordination,Delivery System,Health I.T.,Health System Performance,Health Workforce,Hospitals,Medical Technology,Physicians,TreatmentArtificial Intelligence,Care Coordination,Delivery System,Health I.T.,Health System Performance,Health Workforce,Hospitals,Medical Technology,Physicians,Treatment#Rewiring #Machine1783418206
Jude Pare and his partner, Diane Tix, live in rural Minnesota until temperatures dip below freezing, when they take refuge in Arizona for the winter. While away, their mail is forwarded. But Pare, 77, said he didn’t receive any warning from his Medicare prescription drug plan that his $0 monthly premium was about to increase. So he didn’t know he had a bill to pay. After he and Tix returned home to Minnesota in April, they got a letter from Wellcare, the insurer that provided his drug plan, saying his coverage had been terminated after three months of unpaid premiums…
Around a million families are being urged to protect their children against the spread of measles and other potentially deadly childhood illnesses, as part of a new NHS vaccination drive. Children aged from 12-months to 11 years old who have missed one or both doses of the vaccine, will be invited as part of the NHS England’s campaign which runs until March next year. In addition to measles, mumps and rubella (MMR/V), the vaccine will also include protection against chickenpox (Varicella). Parents of children aged under 6 will be contacted by their local GP; while families with children aged between…