Press Releases

Despite severe international sanctions, the Iranian health care system has made significant achievements in controlling the burden of infectious diseases, but it faces health challenges and threats from non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular disease and diabetes, according to a systematic analysis published in The Lancet.

Published every three years, the 2021 European Health Report, produced by the WHO EURO, provides insight into progress towards health-related Sustainable Development Goals. 

As COVID-19 has caused major disruptions in all aspects of life, women have experienced negative social and economic impacts to a greater extent than men, according to new research.

Low levels of government and social trust, as well as higher levels of government corruption, are strongly correlated to higher COVID-19 infection rates around the world, according to a new peer-reviewed study published today in The Lancet.

New estimates reveal that at least 1.27 million deaths per year are directly attributable to antimicrobial resistance (AMR), requiring urgent action from policymakers and health communities to avoid further preventable deaths.

Cases of major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders increased by more than a quarter worldwide in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the first global estimates of impacts of the pandemic on mental health, published in The Lancet.

A new study tracking global health spending finds that $13.7 billion in development assistance for health (DAH) went toward COVID-19 in 2020, contributing to a 35.7% increase in DAH spending compared to 2019.

Extreme heat is an increasingly common occurrence worldwide, with heat-related deaths and illnesses also expected to rise. The authors of a new two-paper Series on Heat and Health, published in The Lancet, recommend immediate and urgent globally coordinated efforts to mitigate climate change and increase resilience to extreme heat to limit additional warming, avoid permanent and substantial extreme heat worldwide, and save lives by protecting the most vulnerable people. 

The COVID-19 pandemic may have resulted in the largest and most widespread global disruption to life-saving immunisation programmes in history, putting millions of children—in rich and poor countries alike—at risk for measles, diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (whooping cough), according to a new modelling study published in The Lancet.

A new study conducted by researchers at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington School of Medicine and the Centre for Global Health Inequalities Research (CHAIN) found significant reductions in children’s risk of death associated with more years of parental education.

New analysis from IHME highlights the true toll of the pandemic.