Childhood vaccination rates have increased modestly worldwide in 2024, without reaching their pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, according to data from the WHO and UNICEF. For example, global measles vaccination coverage rose by one percentage point from the previous year, reaching 84% of girls and boys who had received one dose in 2024, compared to 86% in 2019.
An analysis published in the medical journal The BMJ points out that lifestyle changes recommended by doctors to people with obesity, focusing on calorie restriction and increased physical activity, have little effect on long-term weight loss, fail to significantly reduce cardiovascular risks and, yet, can lead to discrimination, stigmatisation and eating disorders. The authors also point out that weight alone is an inadequate measure of a person's health, as reflected in recent clinical guidelines, and propose a ‘health for all sizes’ approach with effective, patient-centred care.
Between 1980 and 2023, childhood vaccination rates against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, measles, polio and tuberculosis doubled worldwide, according to a study published in The Lancet. However, this increase slowed in many countries between 2010 and 2019; during this period, measles vaccination declined in half of all countries.
Research analyzing data from more than 200 countries concludes that people over the age of 65 will face an increase in skin cancer cases over the next two decades. The study, published in JAMA Dermatology, used data from 1990 to 2021 and made estimates through 2050. Men and people living in countries with higher sociodemographic indices showed a higher incidence.
A US study analysing data from nearly 700,000 people concluded that those with a history of herpes simplex virus (HSV-1) infections were at greater risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. The study, published in BMJ Open, also showed that patients with this virus who used anti-herpes treatments were less likely to develop the disease.
If immunisation rates continue to decline over an extended period, measles and even other eradicated diseases—such as rubella and polio—could re-emerge in the United States at endemic levels, according to a new study published today in the journal JAMA.
Today the Spanish Parliament rejected the creation of the State Public Health Agency, a proposal that had been envisaged since the Public Health Act of 2011 and whose idea of implementation had resurfaced after the pandemic.
From 2011 to 2019, improvements in life expectancy slowed down in many European countries and many experienced declines in this indicator during the Covid-19 pandemic (2019-2021), according to a study published in The Lancet Public Health. The research shows that the average annual improvement in life expectancy fell from 0.23 years (1990-2011) to 0.15 years (2011-2019) in 20 European countries, including Spain.
The new US president, Donald Trump, announced on his first day that the country will leave the World Health Organisation (WHO) within the next twelve months. The reasons behind the decision, according to him, are the ‘mismanagement of the covid-19 pandemic and other global health crises’, as well as ‘disproportionate payments compared to other countries’ dues’.
The restriction of sugar during the first 1,000 days of life, starting from gestation, may protect against diabetes and hypertension in adulthood, according to a study published in Science. The research uses data from sugar rationing implemented in the United Kingdom after World War II. The findings highlight the long-term benefits of reduced sugar intake during early development.