Egypt triumphs over centuries-old fight against trachoma
28/11/2025: After over 3,000 years of battling the world’s leading infectious cause of avoidable blindness, Egypt has successfully eliminated the disease. While 30 countries are still considered endemic for trachoma, Egypt’s achievement offers hope to the 100 million people still at risk around the world.
Source: Devex
UNAIDS warns of massive disruptions to HIV prevention
25/11/2025: The global response to HIV has suffered its most significant setback in decades, especially in low- and middle-income countries, warns a new UNAIDS report. The funding crisis has combined with a deteriorating global human rights environment, with particularly severe consequences for marginalized populations.
Source: UNAIDS
Will African nations lose leverage in an ‘America First’ health plan?
24/11/2025: Health and development experts are concerned that African governments are losing their collective bargaining power under the “America First” principle. The US State Department has sent roving teams to visit African countries to negotiate bilateral health agreements, as opposed to working through the African Union as a bloc.
Source: Devex
Global Fund raised $11.34 billion with a surprising US pledge
21/11/2025: The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has received pledges for more than half of its target funding for 2026-2029. There was relief that the US contributed $4.6 billion, remaining the largest donor.
Source: Devex
Huge staff cuts at World Health Organization
19/11/2025: The global health body has warned that it expects to lose nearly a quarter of its workforce by June 2026, in consequence of the US withdrawal from the organisation in January. Analysts and campaigners said the cuts would probably leave the WHO less able to help countries facing disease outbreaks.
Source: The Guardian
Global gains in tuberculosis response endangered by funding challenges
12/11/2025: Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious killers, claiming over 1.2 million lives and affecting an estimated 10.7 million people in 2024, despite being preventable and curable. Cuts to international donor funding could result in up to 2 million additional deaths and 10 million people falling ill with TB between 2025 and 2035.
Source: World Health Organization
Novartis’ new malaria treatment shows promise against resistant parasites
12/11/2025: GanLum, a new malaria treatment developed by Novartis, has shown promise in blocking transmission. Experts have expressed excitement over the results, as there have been concerns about the lack of new drug treatments to overcome parasite resistance to artemisinin, introduced more than two decades ago.
Source: Devex
Smart policies, not more dependence, will boost Africa’s health financing
11/11/2025: Abrupt cuts in foreign aid have exposed vulnerable health systems across Africa. But these seismic shifts are also a unique opportunity. There are multiple levers that governments can pull to secure the sustained financing that is needed for health care.
Source: Devex
Integrating family planning and maternity services reduces maternal mortality
3/11/2025: Overall global maternity mortality declined by 41% between 2000 and 2023. New research provides clear evidence that this decline in maternal deaths has been driven by improvements in both family planning and maternity care.
Source: World Health Organization
A crisis in malaria treatment is coming — we must act faster to contain it
22/10/2025: For malaria treatment, drug resistance is an evolutionary certainty, most recently leading to a spike in deaths, nearly 2 million annually in the early 2000s. Now in parts of Africa, we’re seeing the warning signs of future drug failure — and the global response is not fast enough
Source: Devex