Drug-related deaths in Scotland increased by 11% to 1,133 in 2025, maintaining the country's position as having the worst drug fatality rate in Europe. Officials cited growing risks from highly potent synthetic opioids as a contributing factor to the rise.
The World Health Organization has updated its contraceptive guidelines to recommend a wider range of safe and effective options, including emergency contraception, longer-lasting implants, and future contraceptives for men. The expansion aims to give people more choices that meet their individual needs.
Vaccination coverage for children has fallen across the US and European Union since the COVID-19 pandemic, with Michigan reporting its highest exemption rate in over a decade and EU countries reversing progress made since 1980. Access issues persist as updated COVID-19 vaccines remain unavailable through a key federal program covering half of US children.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivered a keynote address at a conference hosted by the anti-vaccine organization he founded, telling attendees they have "a friend at the White House" and renewing attacks on vaccine safety.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani's administration released a massive trove of documents showing city and federal officials had evidence of dangerous air conditions in Lower Manhattan after the September 11 attacks while publicly reassuring residents it was safe to return.
Health activists in India have filed the first formal court objection to a government proposal requiring red warning labels only when two concerning nutrients are high in food products. The non-profit groups argue this two-nutrient threshold creates an industry-friendly loophole that disregards public health concerns.
The Trump administration's anti-transgender initiatives are sparking multiple legal challenges, including a Colorado school district's resistance and lawsuits over student privacy policies in New Jersey. The Department of Health and Human Services released a controversial report linking transgender support to authoritarianism, which scientists criticized as poorly conducted.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has hired an Army doctor who opposed Covid vaccines to investigate whether the shots caused the deaths of approximately 2,500 military service members. The investigation comes as Covid vaccine uptake rates among adults have continued to decline during the Trump presidency.
After more than 105,000 annual drug overdose deaths from 2021-2023, deaths have begun declining, even as Republican lawmakers criticize the Biden administration's handling of the fentanyl crisis. House Oversight Chair James Comer called for former Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to answer for the crisis.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani unveiled new safety measures to strengthen New York City's response to Legionnaires' disease following an Upper East Side outbreak that killed 11 people. The plan includes expanded oversight of cooling towers, which can harbor Legionella bacteria, with improved tracking of registered towers and enforcement against unregistered ones.
England is approaching elimination of hepatitis C, a dangerous liver-attacking virus spread through infected blood contact. Health officials cite efforts including A&E blood tests, GP registration testing, and free home testing as key to reaching this milestone.
Dr. Anthony Fauci declined to answer questions at a GOP-led Senate hearing on July 29, 2026, invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. He accused Senator Rand Paul of attempting to trap him with perjury charges in what he characterized as an 'unhinged' inquiry into COVID-19 origins and pandemic response.
Newly released diary entries from Dr. Anthony Fauci show he privately called President Trump 'out of control,' 'a true embarrassment' and 'an idiot' while publicly maintaining a cooperative relationship during the COVID-19 pandemic response.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to approve the bipartisan Sunshine Protection Act, which would end the practice of changing clocks twice a year and make daylight saving time permanent. The legislation, supported by President Trump, now advances toward becoming law.
The Trump administration announced it is preventing American citizens in the Democratic Republic of Congo from traveling directly to the U.S. on commercial flights, requiring them to spend 21 days elsewhere first. The decision follows an Ebola outbreak that has caused at least 1,830 confirmed cases and 648 deaths in Congo, including one confirmed case involving a U.S. citizen working for a humanitarian organization.
The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on legislation regarding daylight saving time, with competing proposals to either make daylight saving time permanent or repeal it in favor of permanent standard time. The bipartisan 'Sunshine for Our Kids Act of 2026' (H.R. 9638) would eliminate the twice-yearly clock changes.
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders is moving forward with a ban on using SNAP benefits to purchase candy and soft drinks, effective July 1, 2026, despite a recent federal judge's ruling that similar restrictions in other states violated federal law.
A federal judge struck down efforts by the Trump administration and five states to restrict SNAP recipients from purchasing soda, candy, and sugary drinks, ruling that the U.S. Department of Agriculture exceeded its authority.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been authorized to hire 2,200 people to rebuild its workforce after cutting more than 3,000 employees last year. The agency has secured 600 new hires so far and is seeking 1,600 more positions.
France has issued red heat alerts for half the country, including Paris, and banned public alcohol consumption at festivals while canceling outdoor sports events as temperatures exceed 40°C (104°F). The extreme heat wave is affecting much of Europe, with Germany issuing near-nationwide alerts and Madrid closing World Cup fan zones.
The Food and Drug Administration's decision to authorize some fruit-flavored e-cigarettes for adult use has raised concerns among parents and health experts, as approximately 1.63 million middle and high school students—about 6% of that population—reported using e-cigarettes in 2024 despite declining youth vaping rates.
The FDA has implemented a new policy that will permit some flavored vaping products to stay on the market without agency authorization, raising concerns among public health experts after the agency previously warned about harmful kratom-derived products.
STAT published 'The Deadliest Drug,' a major investigative series documenting how alcohol represents America's most enduring and overlooked drug crisis, with failures across medical, public health, industry, and government systems.
Colorado is charting an independent course on vaccine promotion as the federal government reduces its public health role, with public health advocates and residents starting a public conversation about vaccine importance.
Six former FDA officials shared their reasons for leaving the agency following significant staffing cuts and policy changes under the Trump administration. The departures come amid concerns about the agency's capacity to respond to public health threats like the ongoing hantavirus outbreak.
Advocates are pushing to make raw milk more widely available and easier to obtain across the U.S., even as new disease outbreaks sicken children and scientists warn of potential dangers from unpasteurized dairy products.
Multiple new studies project that delaying hepatitis B vaccination after birth—as recommended in new U.S. policy that offers the vaccine only to at-risk infants—will lead to increased infections, decreased survival rates, and lifelong health complications among newborns.
A new study shows that suicide rates among young people dropped 11% following the U.S. launch of the 988 national suicide and crisis hotline, with increased calls to the hotline correlating with reduced suicide deaths.
A former Imperial Brands executive has been appointed to a senior CDC position, marking the latest example of tobacco industry influence in the Trump administration according to public health advocates.
Both chambers of Britain's parliament approved legislation that will ban anyone born after 2008 from ever buying cigarettes, creating a 'smoke-free generation.' The bill will become law next week after receiving royal assent.
India has approved new tuberculosis vaccines for adolescents, backed by a large, independent Phase III clinical trial led and funded by public science institutions. The vaccines represent a significant breakthrough in TB prevention, though officials note they are not a complete solution.
