Kate Bowie

The new geopolitical health landscape is making it much harder for Europe to improve sexual and reproductive rights, tackle the commercial determinants of health, and maintain vaccination coverage, leaders at the European Health Forum have warned.Speakers on a plenary panel at the forum in Gastein, Austria, urged the health community to “ respond strategically” in the face of protectionist health policies—including the US’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) and pivot towards “America First” policies.Natasha Azzopardi-Muscat, director of country health policies and systems at the organisation’s regional office for Europe …

A ban on multibuy promotions on unhealthy food and drink, such as “buy one, get one free” deals, has come into place in England.Campaigners welcomed the long delayed ban, which was originally scheduled for 2022, but lamented how long it had taken (see box) and warned that the government must “go much further” to tackle obesity.The ban, which came into effect on 1 October, means supermarkets, large businesses, and online retailers cannot offer multibuy deals on foods and drinks that are high in fat, salt, or sugar or “less healthy.”The regulations also ban free refill promotions of certain soft drinks in restaurants and cafes.The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the restrictions on multibuy deals are expected to deliver health benefits of £2bn and NHS savings of £180m over 25 years.Kawther Hashem, head of research …

Europe’s health commissioner has warned that “unnecessary clinical trials” and bureaucracy are “not sending the right message” to the pharmaceutical industry, while other leaders stressed the need to “bring medicines to Europe” at the European Health Forum in Gastein, Austria.Their comments come amid an exodus of pharmaceutical investors from the UK and the threat of 100% tariffs on drugs sold to the US, which has reportedly led to plans to increase the amount the NHS spends on drugs.12Speaking to delegates last week, Olivér Várhelyi, health and animal welfare commissioner for the European Union, said that the “current regulatory environment does not deliver.” He listed “unpredictable notified bodies’ requirements and unnecessary clinical studies” among “a few of the absurdities” that …

High profile politicians have thrown their weight behind calls to screen at-risk men for prostate cancer, but are potential harms being sufficiently considered? Kate Bowie reportsTargeted screening for prostate cancer carries “significant overdiagnosis risks,” and this must not be ignored amid intense cross party lobbying for a national screening service, experts have told The BMJ .Implementing a national prostate screening programme for at-risk men from age 45 could mislead patients and cause healthcare harms, experts emphasised, adding that there was no evidence from UK studies that this would reduce deaths.The warnings come amid growing clamour from high profile figures—including the former Conservative prime minister Rishi Sunak and the current Labour deputy prime minister, David Lammy—for a targeted prostate cancer screening programme in the UK.Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK, with an estimated 63 000 diagnoses every year and more than 12 000 deaths.1This week the UK charity Prostate Cancer Research released a report calling for a screening initiative focused on men at higher risk of the disease, including black men and those aged 45-69 with a family history of prostate cancer.2 Under the proposed programme, at-risk men would undergo a prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test. If the PSA was raised they would then have a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan and potentially a biopsy. …

American pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly has said it will crack down on suppliers who are selling fake versions of its unapproved weight loss drug retatrutide.Social media companies TikTok and Meta have also intervened against black market sellers operating on their platforms.The decision comes after a Channel 4 investigation found that patients have been able to buy fake versions of retatrutide on social media.1 The triple glucagon hormone receptor agonist drug is currently in phase 3 clinical trials, set to conclude in May 2026.2As a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, it is similar …

Bodies of Palestinians returned by Israel as part of a ceasefire deal show signs of torture, execution, and being run over by tanks, hospital workers have said.Sources at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, which received the remains, told Middle East Eye (MEE) that several bodies bore strangulation marks, broken bones, and mutilation, while others were missing limbs.1The news comes as UN leaders called for a “massive surge” in aid as doctors in Gaza report that “nothing has changed on the ground” and there is still a huge shortage of aid and medical supplies.Speaking to MEE, the source said that some 45 bodies returned on 14 October were recently killed, while others arrived in a decomposed state or as partial remains.The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, brokered by the US, included an exchange deal that has seen Hamas release all 20 living …

Evidence is mounting that climate change is bringing new disease threats to the UK. Kate Bowie reportsClimate change is no longer a distant concern for health systems; it is already reshaping patterns of disease in Europe and the UK. Warmer temperatures, shifting rainfall distribution, and extreme weather events are making the country more vulnerable to infections that were once restricted to warmer climates.When it comes to diseases prompted by climate change “the ones to watch are those spread by mosquitoes. Things like dengue, chikungunya, West Nile, and Zika are all on the radar,” says Tom Solomon, director of the Pandemic Institute, a partnership between academia, healthcare organisations, and industry aimed at preparing for future pandemics.“These diseases are carried by mosquitoes that thrive in warm, wet conditions, which are becoming more common in Europe and possibly parts of the UK,” he says.The spread of Aedes albopictus , also known as the Asian tiger mosquito, is perhaps the canary—or mosquito—in the coal mine.“ Ae albopictus is traditionally a tropical mosquito; but it has now undergone a huge global expansion,” says Heather …

Many countries, including the UK and the US, have committed to climate resilient health services and cutting carbon emissions—but are they making good on their pledges? Kate Bowie reportsThe health sector pumps out nearly 5% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions1—more than the aviation industry—and at the same time doctors and health systems are seeing the very real consequences of climate change.Some health systems are starting to face this contradiction head on. The NHS has staked its reputation on becoming the world’s first health service to commit to net zero; US hospitals are piecing together a patchwork of voluntary pledges; Norway has launched a national dashboard tracking its decarbonisation progress; and Brazil is trying to embed health into its climate policy while suffering the blows of climate change.But the question now is not whether health systems should decarbonise—but whether they can do it quickly enough. Those four countries are among 100 that have signed up to the Alliance for Transformative Action on Climate and Health (ATACH), an initiative led by the World Health Organization. This means that they commit to building climate resilient and/or low carbon sustainable health systems. But a 2024 analysis of the initiative by the Lancet Commission on Sustainable Healthcare found “substantial gaps” in data on the countries’ progress.2 So, which of the four countries, if any, are sticking to their commitments?In October 2020 the NHS in England set a goal to reach net zero in the emissions it controls (such as anaesthetics, transport, electricity use, and waste—collectively, “the NHS carbon footprint”) by 2040, while also cutting those that it can influence (such as patient and staff transport or commissioned health services outside the NHS—“the NHS carbon footprint plus”) by 80% by 2039, against a 1990 baseline.3Recent reports …

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The UK list price of the weight loss drug could nearly triple, but which patients will bear the brunt of the internationally “aligned” cost? Kate Bowie reportsIn May the Trump administration demanded that US drugmakers cut their prices and singled out weight loss drugs, which are more expensive in the US than in the UK.1Seemingly in response to the pressure, Eli Lilly and Company, the US manufacturer of tirzepatide (Mounjaro), said that it supported the US government’s goal to “more fairly [share] the costs of breakthrough medical research.”2“The prices for medicines paid by governments and health systems need to increase in other developed markets like Europe in order to make them lower in the US,” the company said.Now, Lilly has said that the UK price of its highest strength Mounjaro strength injection package will rise by 170% from £122 ($165) to £330. In the US the same package costs roughly $1000 without insurance.3 Other strengths will face smaller price rises.A company spokesperson told The BMJ that the increase, set to come into force from 1 September, will “address pricing inconsistencies compared to other developed countries.”“At launch, Lilly agreed to a UK list price that is significantly below the European average to prevent delays in NHS availability,” the spokesperson …