Health Policy Watch - Global health news reporting

Historic HPV Vaccination Campaign In India To Boost Fight Against Cervical Cancer - Health Policy Watch India launched the most extensive free HPV vaccination initiative in history to systematically combat the rising toll of cervical cancer.

💉India has launched the largest #HPV vaccination campaign ever, aiming to vaccinate nearly 12 million girls in just 90 days to prevent cervical cancer and move closer to global elimination targets.

✍️ @fargonaut.bsky.social
@who.int @drtedros.who.int
📖⬇️ & 🔁🙏

African Universities Launch Climate-Health Hubs Amidst Escalating Global Crisis - Health Policy Watch A new £40 million climate-health initiative led by African universities aims to build a fortress of evidence to protect vulnerable populations.

☀️Extreme heat, floods, drought and air pollution are escalating across Africa.

New climate-health hubs will link scientists, policymakers & communities to develop targeted solutions grounded in local realities.

✍️ @fargonaut.bsky.social
@wellcometrust.bsky.social @cleanairfund.bsky.social
📖⬇️ & 🔁🙏

Urgent Need To Expand Access To GLP-1 Medicine To Reduce Obesity - Health Policy Watch WORLD OBESITY DAY – Most people living with obesity are now in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), according to the World Obesity Federation (WOF) – yet

🌍A new generation of GLP-1 medicines is transforming obesity treatment—but access remains deeply unequal.

Most people living with obesity are now in LMICs where these drugs remain scarce and unaffordable.

✍️ @kerrycullinan.bsky.social
@worldobesity.bsky.social @medicinespatentpool.org
📖⬇️ & 🔁🙏

Ghana And Senegal Consider Harsher Measures Against LGBTQ People - Health Policy Watch The Parliaments of both Ghana and Senegal are considering harsher penalties for same-sex relationships.

⚖️ Ghana and Senegal are considering tougher penalties against same-sex relationships.

🏳️‍🌈New legislation could criminalise #LGBTQ identities in Ghana and increase prison sentences to 10 years in Senegal.

✍️ @kerrycullinan.bsky.social
📖⬇️ & 🔁🙏

First Vaccines In Three Years Reach Besieged Sudanese State - Health Policy Watch The first vaccines to reach Sudan’s South Kordofan state in nearly three years were delivered this week, according to Save the Children.

💉 More than 24,500 children and nearly 6,000 women in South Kordofan could now receive essential vaccinations after the first shipment of vaccines reached the besieged region since 2023.

✍️ @kerrycullinan.bsky.social
@savechildrenintl.bsky.social @gavi.org
healthpolicy-watch.news/first-vaccin...

US Speeds Up Signing Of Bilateral Health Agreements, DRC Lawyers Challenge Minerals Deal - Health Policy Watch The United States has moved at speed to secure several new bilateral health Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) in the past week, including, for the first time,

🌍 The US has signed 24 new bilateral health MOUs under its America First strategy.

Many shift #HIV & #TB funding burdens while expanding outbreak surveillance systems.

✍️ @kerrycullinan.bsky.social
📖⬇️ & 🔁🙏

Europe Is Failing To Curb Tobacco Use - Especially In Women - Health Policy Watch Europe is failing to curb tobacco use – particularly in women and girls – and will have the world’s highest prevalence by 2030, the World Health

🚭17.3% of European women smoke — nearly double the rate in the Americas. @who.int warns Europe is the only region not on track to meet the global 30% reduction target for women by 2025.

✍️ @kerrycullinan.bsky.social
@ntrjournal.bsky.social
📖⬇️ & 🔁🙏

Innovative Finance Can Strengthen Fragile Health Systems  - Health Policy Watch “New sources of financing are developing, breaking with the traditional vision of charitable action financed by grants from humanitarian agencies and

🏵️Innovative finance could help fragile health systems move from crisis response to long-term resilience.

A new Geneva Health Forum report highlights vaccine bonds, insurance tools & micro-levies as practical solutions to funding gaps.

@gavi.org @unitaid.bsky.social @medaccess.bsky.social
📖⬇️ & 🔁🙏

Mozambique And Madagascar Battle After-Effects Of Cyclone And Floods - Health Policy Watch Mozambique and Madagascar are struggling to address the after-effects of cyclones and cyclone-related flooding, with huge increases in cholera cases and

🌍 Cyclones in #Mozambique and #Madagascar have triggered a #cholera surge and mass displacement — with 90% of southern Africa’s cases in Mozambique alone.

Climate shocks are now colliding with fragile health systems and vaccination gaps.

✍️@kerrycullinan.bsky.social
@who.int
📖⬇️ & 🔁🙏

WHO Updates Flu Vaccine In Response To Rapid Spread Of New Variant - Health Policy Watch The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced its updated recommendations for the 2026-2027 Northern Hemisphere seasonal flu vaccine.

🦠 @who.int updates the 2026–2027 #flu vaccine after rapid global spread of A(H3N2) #subcladeK. Experts warn the influenza pandemic threat remains ever-present. 💉🌍

@crick.ac.uk @stjuderesearch.bsky.social @mvankerkhove.bsky.social
📖⬇️ & 🔁🙏

Drone Busts Delhi's Spring Clean Air Myth - Health Policy Watch NEW DELHI – For years, residents of the Indian capital have looked to the skies in March with a sense of relief, believing that the notorious winter pollution

🌫️ A drone study from researchers at IIT #Delhi reveals Delhi’s spring air isn’t as clean as believed. Pollution 100m above ground was 60% worse than street monitors show.

Published in @nature.com, @who.int safe limits exceeded.

✍️ @cbhattacharji.bsky.social
@cleanairfund.bsky.social
📖⬇️ & 🔁🙏

Zambia And Zimbabwe Back Away From ‘Prescriptive’ US Health Deals - Health Policy Watch The government of Zambia acknowledged this week that it is unhappy with part of a proposed health aid deal with the United States that “does not align with

🌎A new fault line in global health aid: bilateral deals vs multilateral frameworks. Zambia and Zimbabwe step back from US MOUs as Africa CDC offers support for countries weighing the trade-offs.

✍️ @kerrycullinan.bsky.social
@africanunion.bsky.social @unaids.org @unicef.org
📖⬇️ & 🔁🙏

Casey Means, Trump’s Pick For Surgeon General, Walks Fine Line On Vaccines In Senate Hearing - Health Policy Watch Surgeon General nominee Dr Casey Means, a confidante of HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy, was grilled in a tense Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday. She

In a tense Senate hearing, Surgeon General nominee Dr Casey Means affirmed vaccines “save lives” — but declined to make universal vaccination a core message. Instead, she emphasized nutrition, metabolic health, and environmental toxins.

✍️ @kerrycullinan.bsky.social

📖⬇️ & 🔁🙏

German Parties Back Social Media Ban For Minors, Legal Hurdles Loom - Health Policy Watch Following Australia, France and Spain, German governing parties agree on a social media ban for children and young teenagers.

Following Australia’s landmark under-16 ban, Germany joins France and Spain in pushing stricter age limits. But under the EU Digital Services Act, national governments may not have the legal power to impose platform bans.

✍️ @fargonaut.bsky.social
@ec.europa.eu @bredowinstitut.bsky.social
📖⬇️ & 🔁🙏

Post-USAID, Kenyans’ Access To HIV And Maternal Medicine And Contraceptives Plunges - Health Policy Watch Kenyans’ access to a range of health products – including HIV treatment, maternal medicine, and contraceptives – plunged in three counties last year, largely

🚨 New research finds post-#USAID stockouts have driven a steep drop in access to #HIV treatment, maternal medicines & contraception in 3 Kenyan counties—while Zambia shows modest gains where domestic financing increased.

✍️ @kerrycullinan.bsky.social
@hai-org.bsky.social @ec.europa.eu
📖⬇️ & 🔁🙏

Wild Poliovirus Transmission Persists In Afghanistan And Pakistan - Health Policy Watch The report warns that progress toward eradication remains fragile. Some 38 cases of wild poliovirus type 1 had been reported globally by 22 October 2025, down

🦠 Polio cases are down globally — but transmission persists in Afghanistan & Pakistan.

Vaccine-derived outbreaks remain active in 13 countries.

Eradication is within reach — but only with sustained political will & stronger immunization systems.🌍

✍️ @ibukhariarsalan.bsky.social
@gavi.org
📖⬇️ & 🔁🙏

Tedros Expresses Confidence That Pandemic Talks Will Meet ‘Absolute Deadline’ - Health Policy Watch World Health Organization (WHO) Director General expressed confidence that member states would agree on the last outstanding part of the Pandemic Agreement by

🌍 “There is no scope for delay.”

@who.int's @drtedros.who.int says the Pandemic Agreement must be ready by May. With only weeks left, negotiations over pathogen sharing, equity, and enforcement are intensifying.

The next pandemic won’t wait. ⏳

✍️ @kerrycullinan.bsky.social
📖⬇️ & 🔁🙏