Health

Kinshasa — The Democratic Republic of Congo has signed a five-year, $1.2 billion health financing agreement with the United States, officials announced, joining neighboring Uganda in adopting Washington’s new government-to-government aid framework. Under the pact, the DRC will receive $900 million in U.S. assistance while committing to boost domestic health spending by $300 million. The arrangement targets a slate of priority interventions intended to strengthen disease control and maternal-child health services. Program…

HARARE — A group of public health physicians urged Harare and Washington on Thursday to resume negotiations after the collapse of a proposed $367 million bilateral health agreement that health experts say would have strengthened Zimbabwe's fragile health system. The proposed package, officials and health specialists said, was aimed at bolstering priority programs including HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, tuberculosis control, malaria response, maternal and child health services and disease outbreak preparedness. Its…

The World Health Organization announced that Libya has eliminated trachoma as a public health problem, a milestone that clears the country of a disease long linked to poverty and limited access to hygiene and eye care. The validation makes Libya the 28th country worldwide and the eighth in its region to reach this specific target for trachoma, the WHO said. Trachoma is an infectious eye disease caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis. It spreads through contact with infected eye discharge on hands, clothing or by…

Israeli airstrikes and gunfire killed five Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, health officials said, the latest violence to strain a four-month-old, U.S.-brokered cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Two people riding an electric bike were killed in an airstrike in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, medics said. Later, Israeli drone fire killed a woman in the same area and troops shot dead a man in Khan Younis in the south, according to the medics. Another man was killed by Israeli gunfire in Jabaliya in northern Gaza. The…

WHO Launches $1 Billion Global Appeal for Health Care Access in Humanitarian Crises The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched its 2026 global appeal, aiming to ensure that millions of people affected by humanitarian crises and conflicts can access essential health care. The appeal seeks nearly **US$1 billion** to address the health needs in 36 emergencies worldwide, including **14 Grade 3 emergencies** that represent the highest level of organizational response. These emergencies encompass both sudden-onset and…

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israel carried out its heaviest airstrikes in Gaza in weeks, killing at least 26 people in multiple locations despite a fragile ceasefire, according to local health authorities. The attacks hit a Hamas-run police station in Gaza City, an apartment in a residential building and a tent encampment sheltering displaced families in the southern city of Khan Younis. Medics and police officials said Israeli warplanes targeted the Sheikh Radwan police station in western Gaza City, killing 10 officers and…

WHO urges higher taxes on sugary drinks and alcohol as affordability rises in dozens of countries Sugary drinks and alcohol are not being taxed at levels that curb demand and protect public health, the World Health Organization said in two new reports, warning that the products remain broadly affordable and are fueling chronic disease. The agency renewed its call for stronger “health taxes” on alcohol and sugar-sweetened beverages to reduce consumption and bolster strained government budgets. The WHO said sugary drinks…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s lower house of parliament on Monday overwhelmingly approved a national tobacco control framework, a landmark move aimed at curbing tobacco use and tackling what lawmakers and health officials describe as a growing public health threat. The House of the People backed the measure with 139 votes in favor, three abstentions and none against, signaling rare cross-party consensus on the need to rein in tobacco consumption and marketing across the country. Speaker Sheikh Aden Mohamed Nur, widely known…

Federal prosecutors and defense lawyers will square off in Manhattan on Wednesday over whether a man accused of killing a health insurance executive could face the federal death penalty if convicted. Luigi Mangione, 27, is due in U.S. District Court for a hearing at 11 a.m. Eastern (4 p.m. in Ireland) before Judge Margaret Garnett. Mangione is charged in the December 2024 fatal shooting of United Health CEO Brian Thompson on a Midtown Manhattan sidewalk, a killing that drew swift condemnation from public officials. Mangione…

Australia’s south sweltered through a brutal heatwave that pushed temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius in multiple cities on Thursday, triggering health warnings, straining power grids and igniting bushfires across already parched landscapes. Meteorologists said the conditions were the worst in six years, invoking comparisons to the 2019–2020 “Black Summer,” when catastrophic bushfires ravaged southeastern Australia and killed 33 people. Authorities warned the current burst of extreme heat could intensify fire risk in…