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National News

How Trump’s order on vaccines is sowing confusion, doubt and fear

Guardian – Society – Health - Thu, 08/13/2026 - 12:00

The order cannot effect change, and is only ‘undermining trust in vaccines’ as CDC guidance remains the same

Donald Trump’s executive order on vaccines does not change the US recommendations for the shots – but experts say it does create confusion and doubt about vaccines, which will lead to more illness and possibly deaths among children and will make it harder for families and pediatricians to protect them.

The executive order was an attempt to reinstate sweeping changes to the vaccine schedule made earlier this year by Robert F Kennedy Jr, secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services and a longtime vaccine opponent – changes that were later halted by a federal judge.

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Categories: National News

What end-of-life experts know about living well: love your wrinkles, celebrate birthdays and don’t obsess over work

Guardian – Society – Health - Thu, 08/13/2026 - 10:00

How can our understanding of mortality shape the way we live? Palliative care doctors and death doulas share the lessons they have learned

We will all face death one day, but our attitude towards this is individual. How can our understanding of mortality shape our approach to life? Here, palliative care doctors and death doulas share what they know about the end – and how it informs the way they live.

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Categories: National News

Stop the bites! How to survive another summer of mosquitoes, midges and horseflies

Guardian – Society – Health - Thu, 08/13/2026 - 09:59

Dress like a zebra, wash your feet, keep off the beer: insect experts explain what works and what doesn’t – and why some of us get bitten more than others

It’s a good time to be a mosquito or other blood-sucking insect. In the UK and beyond, they are enjoying the summer heat, and there are lots of humans outdoors, some wearing very little, like an all-you-can-eat walking buffet. Some of the humans are drinking beer, which apparently makes them even more irresistible to mosquitoes. Many of us are warm and sweaty, which is all the better for the blood-suckers seeking us out.

Insect populations are changing because of the warming climate and there are organisations keeping an eye on invasive species, especially mosquitoes, which can be vectors for diseases such as dengue and malaria (globally, more than 600,000 people a year die from malaria). The UK “will have a threat from mosquito-borne diseases as time goes on,” says James Logan, professor of medical entomology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and CEO of Dot, an “odour intelligence” company. “The biggest threats are arboviruses [viruses transmitted by arthropods, especially insects and ticks], such as dengue. We have mosquitoes throughout [mainland] Europe now that can transmit dengue. We also know that we do get those mosquitoes coming across to the UK, but they don’t seem to be breeding here successfully and surviving over the winter.” But, he warns, with milder winters and warmer summers, it is only a matter of time.

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Categories: National News

How to keep babies and children safe in heatwaves

Guardian – Society – Health - Thu, 08/13/2026 - 09:13

Biological factors mean a child’s core temperature rises faster than an adult’s – and that can result in a medical emergency

Children and babies are more vulnerable in heatwaves than healthy adults. As temperatures rise again, how do we keep children safe?

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Categories: National News

Leading doctor rebukes NHS chiefs over transplant failings

BBC News – Health - Thu, 08/13/2026 - 02:03
NHS Blood and Transplant's medical director says waiting lists for organ operations are unfair but leaders are not solving the issue.
Categories: National News

UK politics: Burnham urges retailers to stop selling disposable barbecues after emergency Cobra meeting – as it happened

Guardian – Society – Health - Wed, 08/12/2026 - 19:10

PM warns extreme heat conditions ‘could be with us fo some time yet’

Just 20 staff are working on climate adaptation within the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the part of government tasked with protecting the environment and maintaining food security, a freedom of information request has revealed. Sandra Laville has the story.

On his visit to Stevenage, Andy Burnham also said he would visit the town on Remembrance Day to mark its 80th birthday.

I’m going to come back to Stevenage on 11 November. We will pay our respects for Remembrance Day around that time, but I’ll be here because if I’m right, that will be 80 years to the day that the post-war Labour government created the first new town right here in Stevenage.

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Categories: National News

Lucy Davis urges women to check their breasts for cancer - here's how

BBC News – Health - Wed, 08/12/2026 - 14:16
The actress from The Office TV series says her breast lump was tiny and not a 'lump' as such; rather a kind of hard spot.
Categories: National News

Number of children injured in e-scooter crashes in England surges

Guardian – Society – Health - Wed, 08/12/2026 - 11:36

Calls for speed limiters or mandated helmet use after research into injuries at three paediatric trauma centres

The number of children involved in crashes on e-scooters has soared in recent years, with some as young as nine involved in collisions, research has found.

Researchers carried out a review of injuries among the under-16s at three specialist paediatric trauma centres – Alder Hey in Liverpool, and Sheffield and Royal Manchester children’s hospitals – between January 2019 and December 2024.

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Categories: National News

Children as young as nine hurt in growing number of e-scooter crashes

BBC News – Health - Wed, 08/12/2026 - 00:31
Three trauma centres - Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield - say they have treated nearly 500 casualties under the age of 16.
Categories: National News

Inside Health

BBC News – Health - Tue, 08/11/2026 - 10:00
Plus, how much do people really change their habits for a free coffee?
Categories: National News

England set to be one of the first countries to eliminate hepatitis C

BBC News – Health - Tue, 08/11/2026 - 09:54
England is on track to become one of the first countries in the world to eliminate hepatitis C, a dangerous virus that attacks the liver, figures show.
Categories: National News

New weight-loss pill approved for use in UK

BBC News – Health - Mon, 08/10/2026 - 16:25
Foundayo is made by Eli Lilly, the drug firm behind the Mounjaro jab.
Categories: National News

How a former GB Olympian curbed his porn problem - and the signs and steps to recovery

BBC News – Health - Sat, 08/08/2026 - 02:34
Experts share the signs to look out for if you are worried about your porn use, and how to seek help.
Categories: National News

I went for a full body MOT and the results came as a shock

BBC News – Health - Sat, 08/08/2026 - 01:49
The private body scan industry is booming, but is it doing more harm than good?
Categories: National News

Obesity rates have doubled in England since 1993 - what's going on?

BBC News – Health - Fri, 08/07/2026 - 19:38
Around seven million more adults are living with obesity than would have been if obesity rates had stayed the same as 1993.
Categories: National News

Moment earthquake shakes hospital operating room in Japan

BBC News – Health - Fri, 08/07/2026 - 07:46
Security camera footage shows doctors shielding a patient on the operating table as last month's magnitude 6.8 quake shook Kumamoto General Hospital.
Categories: National News

Artificial Intelligence used to design brand new viruses

BBC News – Health - Thu, 08/06/2026 - 19:01
Scientists made 16 successful viruses that had their genetic code designed by artificial intelligence.
Categories: National News

NHS must plan for heatwaves like it does for winter, health secretary says

BBC News – Health - Thu, 08/06/2026 - 13:05
The warning comes after the NHS sees a surge in patients and problems with equipment in high temperatures.
Categories: National News

Fighting the world's most deadly animal… in an unexpected way

BBC News – Health - Thu, 08/06/2026 - 11:16
Mosquitoes aren't just annoying - they kill around 700,000 people a year via the diseases they spread. But scientists are developing new, counterintuitive ways to tackle them.
Categories: National News

Walk-in mental health centres to open in banks and libraries across England

BBC News – Health - Thu, 08/06/2026 - 08:28
Government plans network of nearly 200 specialist services to help those facing mental health crises.
Categories: National News
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