Health

Carolyn Atkinson and Ben Robinson File on 4 Investigates Getty Images It took a clinical psychologist and others nine years to get Kasibba released (stock photo) An autistic woman with a learning disability was wrongly locked up in a mental health hospital for 45 years, starting when she was just seven years old, the BBC has learned. The woman, who …

In the weeks since President Trump signed an executive order dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development, Andrea Minaj Casablanca’s phone has been inundated with desperate pleas for help. A counselor who works with nonprofits catering to members of Uganda’s embattled L.G.B.T.Q. population, she has fielded urgent requests from people seeking H.I.V. medications, therapy sessions and shelter in the wake …

James Grant BBC News, Northamptonshire Getty Images Families won a landmark legal battle in 2009 after being exposed to toxic chemicals in Corby Netflix’s new drama Toxic Town revisits one of the UK’s biggest environmental scandals: the Corby toxic waste case. The series tells the story of families fighting for justice after children in the Northamptonshire town were born with …

More than half of all adults and a third of children, teenagers and young adults around the world are predicted to be overweight or obese by 2050. The findings come in a new study of global data published in The Lancet journal, covering more than 200 countries. Researchers warn that obesity levels are predicted to accelerate rapidly during the remainder …

Jim Reed Health reporter, BBC News Getty Images Doug Barrowman, who led PPE Medpro, pictured alongside his wife Baroness Michelle Mone. The Covid inquiry has rejected a last-minute bid that would have allowed Baroness Michelle Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman to access documents and other evidence about PPE deals during the pandemic. Last week both individuals asked to become …

A child receives a polio vaccination during an anti-polio campaign on the outskirts of Jalalabad, March 16, 2015. — Reuters  LONDON: The eradication of polio as a global health threat may be delayed unless US funding cuts — potentially totaling hundreds of millions of dollars over several years — are reversed, a senior World Health Organisation (WHO) official has warned. The WHO works …

Getty Images The Covid public inquiry will start four weeks of hearings on Monday, looking into the purchase and distribution of billions of pounds’ worth of medical equipment during the pandemic. In total, it’s thought £48bn was spent on personal protective equipment (PPE), the test-and-trace programme, hospital supplies and the vaccine rollout. Nearly 10% of contracts were awarded to firms …

Kerry Bolton Oliver Hercombe’s family said they had been “financially broken” by the additional living costs since his cancer diagnosis Families of children and young people with cancer are struggling financially for several months waiting for benefits to help cover extra costs caused by the illness, according to a charity. Young Lives vs Cancer says families need “immediate” help with …

Christine Jeavans Data journalist, BBC Verify Getty Images Improvements in death rates largely reflect better health at older age groups The UK death rate reached a record low last year, according to exclusive analysis carried out for BBC News. Mortality experts looked at death certificates registered in 2024 and found that deaths per head of the population had returned to …

In a first test of the Trump administration’s ability to respond to an infectious disease emergency, its top health official has shied away from one of the government’s most important tools, experts said on Sunday: loudly and directly encouraging parents to get their children vaccinated. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, was widely criticized as minimizing the measles outbreak …