poverty

Neglected killer: kala-azar disease surges in Kenya

BY MARY KULUNDU

  • Abdirahman, a 60-year-old grandmother, was bitten while herding livestock in Mandera county in Kenya's northeast, a hotspot for the parasite but with only three treatment facilities capable of treating the disease.
  • For nearly a year, repeated misdiagnoses of the deadly kala-azar disease left 60-year-old Harada Hussein Abdirahman's health deteriorating, as an outbreak in Kenya's arid regions claimed a record number of lives.
  • Abdirahman, a 60-year-old grandmother, was bitten while herding livestock in Mandera county in Kenya's northeast, a hotspot for the parasite but with only three treatment facilities capable of treating the disease.
For nearly a year, repeated misdiagnoses of the deadly kala-azar disease left 60-year-old Harada Hussein Abdirahman's health deteriorating, as an outbreak in Kenya's arid regions claimed a record number of lives.
Kala-azar is spread by sandflies and is one of the most dangerous neglected tropical diseases, with a fatality rate of 95 percent if untreated, causing fever, weight loss, and enlargement of the spleen and liver.  
Cases of kala-azar, also known as visceral leishmaniasis, have spiked in Kenya, from 1,575 in 2024 to 3,577 in 2025, according to the health ministry.
It is spreading to previously untouched regions and becoming endemic, driven by changing climatic conditions and expanding human settlements, say health officials, with millions potentially at risk of infection.
Abdirahman, a 60-year-old grandmother, was bitten while herding livestock in Mandera county in Kenya's northeast, a hotspot for the parasite but with only three treatment facilities capable of treating the disease.
She was forced to rely on a local pharmacist who repeatedly misdiagnosed her with malaria and dengue fever for about a year. 
"I thought I was dying," she told AFP. "It is worse than all the diseases they thought I had."
She was left with hearing problems after the harsh treatment to remove the toxins from her body.
East Africa generally accounts for more than two-thirds of global cases, according to the World Health Organization.
"Climate change is expanding the range of sandflies and increasing the risk of outbreaks in new areas," said Dr Cherinet Adera, a researcher at the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative in Nairobi. 

'So scared'

A surge in cases among migrant workers at a quarry site in Mandera last year led authorities to restrict movement at dusk and dawn when sandflies are most active.
At least two workers died, their colleagues said. Others returned to their villages and their fates are unknown. 
"We did not know about the strange disease causing our colleagues to die," said Evans Omondi, 34, who travelled hundreds of miles from western Kenya to work at the quarry. 
"We were so scared," added Peter Otieno, another worker from western Kenya, recalling how they watched their infected colleagues waste away day by day.
In 2023, the six most-affected African nations adopted a framework in Nairobi to eliminate the disease by 2030.
But there are "very few facilities in the country able to actively diagnose and treat," kala-azar, Dr Paul Kibati, tropical disease expert for health NGO Amref, told AFP.
He said more training is needed as mistakes in testing and treatment can be fatal.
The treatment can last up to 30 days and involves daily injections and often blood transfusions, costing as much as 100,000 Kenyan shillings ($775), excluding the cost of drugs, said Kibati, adding there is a need for "facilities to be adequately equipped".
The sandfly commonly shelters in cracks in poorly plastered mud houses, anthills and soil fissures, multiplying during the rainy season after prolonged drought.
Northeastern Kenya, as well as neighbouring regions in Ethiopia and Somalia, have experienced a devastating drought in recent months. 
"Kala-azar affects mostly the poorest in our community," Kibati said, exacerbated by malnutrition and weak immunity.
"We are expecting more cases when the rains start," Kibati said.
mnk/er/ach/lb

media

Opinions of Zuckerberg hang over social media addiction trial jury selection

BY BENJAMIN LEGENDRE

  • - 'Start fairly' - Jury selection was dominated by recurring references to Zuckerberg, the head of Meta and co-founder of Facebook who reached global fame after the Hollywood film "The Social Network."
  • A jury has been confirmed in a landmark social media addiction trial in the US state of California, a process dominated by references to tech giant Meta's divisive founder Mark Zuckerberg.
  • - 'Start fairly' - Jury selection was dominated by recurring references to Zuckerberg, the head of Meta and co-founder of Facebook who reached global fame after the Hollywood film "The Social Network."
A jury has been confirmed in a landmark social media addiction trial in the US state of California, a process dominated by references to tech giant Meta's divisive founder Mark Zuckerberg.
Meta's lawyers fought for six days in court to remove jurors who they deemed overly hostile to Facebook and Instagram, two of the social media platforms involved in the case.
The plaintiff's lawyers sought to dismiss people, mostly men, who believed that young internet users' mental health issues are more attributable to parental failures rather than tech platform designers.
With the jury of 12 members and six alternates approved on Friday, arguments in the case are now scheduled to begin Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court.
The case is being called a bellwether proceeding because its outcome could set the tone for a tidal wave of similar litigation across the United States.
Defendants at the trial are Alphabet and Meta, the tech titans behind YouTube and Instagram. TikTok and Snapchat were also accused, but have since settled for an undisclosed amount.
The trial focuses on allegations that a 20-year-old woman identified by the initials K.G.M. suffered severe mental harm because she became addicted to social media as a child.
She accuses Meta and YouTube of knowingly designing addictive apps, to the detriment of her mental health. 

'Start fairly'

Jury selection was dominated by recurring references to Zuckerberg, the head of Meta and co-founder of Facebook who reached global fame after the Hollywood film "The Social Network."
"I feel impartial toward the plaintiff, but based on things Mark Zuckerberg has done objectively -- I have strong feelings about -- and I think the defendant would start further behind," said one young woman.
Many potential jurors criticized Facebook's early days -- it was designed as a platform for college students to rate women's looks -- and cited the Cambridge Analytica privacy breach of 2018.
They also said it would be difficult for them to accept the billionaire's testimony -- expected in the next two weeks -- without prejudice.
Meta's lawyer, Phyllis Jones, raised frequent objections to such jurors.
She said it was "very important that both sides start fairly, with no disadvantage, that you look at the evidence fairly and decide."
Others were dismissed for the opposite reason.
"I like this guy," said one rare Zuckerberg fan. "I regret not owning Meta shares." 
He was dismissed by the plaintiff's lawyer, Mark Lanier.
Others to be removed included a man who expressed his anger against psychiatrists, and several people whose loved ones suffered from social media addiction or harassment.

Seeking distance

Alphabet's lawyers were keen to ensure that their platform YouTube was not lumped in with Meta.
"Does everybody understand that YouTube and Meta are very different companies? Does everyone understand that (Zuckerberg) doesn't run YouTube?" asked Luis Li, a lawyer for Google's video platform.
One man said he saw the potential for YouTube to seek to trigger "immediate dopamine" rushes among users through its "Shorts" feature.
He said his niece spends too much time on TikTok, which popularized a platform that provides endless scrolling of ultra-short-format videos.
The case will focus not on content, on which front platforms are largely protected by US law, but on the design of algorithms and personalization features.
The plaintiffs allege that the platforms are negligent and purposely designed to be harmful, echoing a strategy successfully used against the tobacco industry.
Meta and YouTube strongly deny the allegations, and also unsuccessfully argued on Friday for the judge to declare statements comparing their platforms to tobacco and other addictive products to be illegitimate.
The debate on the platform's level of responsibility for their effect on users was already underway, even at this early stage of the trial.
Alphabet's lawyer Li asked the panel if people spend too much time on phones, with the majority nodding in agreement.
"As a society, is it a problem?" he asked, with most hands again going up.
He then asked if this is "because of YouTube?" prompting hesitation from the jurors.
bl/aha/mlm

Croatia

Danone expands recall of infant formula batches in Europe

  • Recalls dated to Friday also affected Croatia and Slovenia, according to an official EU portal listing the countries served by a Danone factory in Germany that used a contaminated ingredient.
  • French food giant Danone recalled batches of infant formula in Britain, Spain, Croatia and Slovenia over the possible presence of a toxin, food safety authorities said on Friday, expanding the measure across Europe.
  • Recalls dated to Friday also affected Croatia and Slovenia, according to an official EU portal listing the countries served by a Danone factory in Germany that used a contaminated ingredient.
French food giant Danone recalled batches of infant formula in Britain, Spain, Croatia and Slovenia over the possible presence of a toxin, food safety authorities said on Friday, expanding the measure across Europe.
Several manufacturers have issued recalls in more than 60 countries since December of infant formula that could be contaminated by the cereulide toxin which can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.
Danone had already issued recalls of its infant formula to Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Switzerland on Thursday, the company and national health authorities confirmed.
On Friday, the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) said "Danone is recalling several Aptamil and Cow & Gate First Infant Milk and Follow on Milk formula products because cereulide toxin may be present in some batches of the products."
It previously recalled one batch of its Aptamil First infant formula in the UK because "cereulide toxin has been found in the product," the FSA said in January.
Swiss food giant Nestle also undertook a recall of several batches of infant formula in the UK at the start of January as a precaution.
Spain's food safety agency AESAN said on Friday that "further products and batches" from Danone's Almiron and Bledina brands "are being withdrawn from marketing channels", after a first cereulide alert in January.
Recalls dated to Friday also affected Croatia and Slovenia, according to an official EU portal listing the countries served by a Danone factory in Germany that used a contaminated ingredient.
Danone had not provided a complete list of the countries affected, nor the number of batches or packages.
The recalls are however larger in terms of batches than previous recalls announced by other companies since mid-January, according to data compiled by AFP.
Danone said on Thursday: "We want to reassure all parents: our infant formulas are safe. All of our baby formulas are produced in accordance with strict food safety norms and undergo rigorous controls before leaving our factories."

Health risk fears

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) on Thursday said it was investigating 36 cases where children developed "symptoms consistent with cereulide toxin poisoning across the UK, after consuming implicated batches".
But no cases of severe illness have been confirmed as linked to the outbreak so far in the UK. 
The recall of potentially contaminated infant formula has heaped scrutiny on Chinese firm Cabio Biotech, the supplier of an ingredient used in infant formula which is suspected of being tainted.
Headquartered in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, Cabio Biotech is one of the world's largest producers of ARA, a fatty acid used primarily in baby formula and food products.
Cereulide was discovered in ARA manufactured by Cabio Biotech.
aks-mdz-imm/rl

skijump

Doping chiefs vow to look into Olympic ski jumping 'penis injection' claims

  • When Witold Banka, the Polish president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, was asked about the penis injection claims in a news conference in Milan, he answered with a smile: "Ski jumping is very popular in Poland so I promise you I'm going to look at it."
  • Anti-doping chiefs at the Winter Olympics said on Thursday they they would investigate bizarre claims that Olympic ski jumpers are injecting hyaluronic acid into their penises to get a competitive advantage.
  • When Witold Banka, the Polish president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, was asked about the penis injection claims in a news conference in Milan, he answered with a smile: "Ski jumping is very popular in Poland so I promise you I'm going to look at it."
Anti-doping chiefs at the Winter Olympics said on Thursday they they would investigate bizarre claims that Olympic ski jumpers are injecting hyaluronic acid into their penises to get a competitive advantage.
The claims, first reported in the German media, are based on the theory that adjustments to ski jumpers' body suits, especially around the groin, can create the effect of a sail that can add metres to a jump.
Two Norwegians were given three-month suspensions last year after the team was found to have adjusted the seams of their suits around the crotch area at the 2025 World Ski Championships.
Marius Lindvik, who will seek to retain his Large Hill Olympic title at the Milan-Cortina Games, and another Olympic medallist, Johann Andre Forfang, were suspended even though both argued that the suits had been altered without their knowledge.
When Witold Banka, the Polish president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, was asked about the penis injection claims in a news conference in Milan, he answered with a smile: "Ski jumping is very popular in Poland so I promise you I'm going to look at it."
Olivier Niggli, WADA's director general, said: "I'm not aware of the details of ski jumping -- and how this can improve (performance) -- but if anything was to come to the surface we would look at anything if it is actually doping-related. 
"We don't do other means of enhancing performance but our list committee would certainly look into whether this would fall into this category."
German newspaper Bild last month quoted Kamran Karim, a senior physician at Maria-Hilf Hospital in Krefeld who said it was possible to create a "temporary, visual thickening of the penis through injections of paraffin or hyaluronic acid".
He added: "However, lengthening is not possible in this way. Such injections are not medically indicated and are associated with risks."
gj/ea

NovoNordisk

Novo Nordisk vows legal action to protect Wegovy pill

  • "Novo Nordisk will take legal and regulatory action to protect patients, our intellectual property and the integrity of the US gold-standard drug approval framework," it added.
  • Novo Nordisk said Thursday it would take legal action against a US chain offering a copycat of the new pill version of its Wegovy weight-loss drug.
  • "Novo Nordisk will take legal and regulatory action to protect patients, our intellectual property and the integrity of the US gold-standard drug approval framework," it added.
Novo Nordisk said Thursday it would take legal action against a US chain offering a copycat of the new pill version of its Wegovy weight-loss drug.
The Danish company only began selling Wegovy in pill form last month after having received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration, but the telehealth company Hims & Hers has begun advertising cheaper versions.
"This is another example of Hims & Hers' historic behaviour of duping the American public with knock-off GLP-1 products," said Novo Nordisk in a statement, referring to the hormone in Wegovy that regulates blood glucose levels and appetite.
"Novo Nordisk will take legal and regulatory action to protect patients, our intellectual property and the integrity of the US gold-standard drug approval framework," it added.
Limited production capacity for the blockbuster drug led the FDA to temporarily allow pharmacies to create so-called "compound" or copycat versions of Wegovy and Ozempic, an analogue used to treat diabetes.
That authorisation expired last May 22 but Novo Nordisk has complained of copycat versions of its drugs still being available.
Shares in Novo Nordisk have taken a beating this week after it warned of lower sales revenue in the United States as intensified competition pushes down prices.
ef/rl/jj

wildfires

Wildfire smoke kills more than 24,000 Americans a year: study

BY ISSAM AHMED

  • "That's a big number," lead author Min Zhang, a postdoctoral researcher at Mount Sinai's Icahn School of Medicine in New York, told AFP. "We found no evidence of a safe threshold for the chronic exposure to wildfire smoke...that's a very concerning public health problem.
  • Wildfires are growing larger, lasting longer and happening more often as the climate warms -- but the toll from their toxic smoke, especially from long-term exposure, remains poorly understood. 
  • "That's a big number," lead author Min Zhang, a postdoctoral researcher at Mount Sinai's Icahn School of Medicine in New York, told AFP. "We found no evidence of a safe threshold for the chronic exposure to wildfire smoke...that's a very concerning public health problem.
Wildfires are growing larger, lasting longer and happening more often as the climate warms -- but the toll from their toxic smoke, especially from long-term exposure, remains poorly understood. 
A study published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances estimates that wildfire smoke caused about 24,100 deaths a year across the contiguous United States between 2006 and 2020, a figure the authors say underscores the need for urgent policy shifts.
"That's a big number," lead author Min Zhang, a postdoctoral researcher at Mount Sinai's Icahn School of Medicine in New York, told AFP. "We found no evidence of a safe threshold for the chronic exposure to wildfire smoke...that's a very concerning public health problem.
The findings come as President Donald Trump's government has turned its back on global efforts to tackle human-caused warming -- boosting instead the fossil fuel industry that is its main driver.
"They know what to do to, you know, fight against climate change: you need to promote cleaner energy, electric cars, more funding to do research," senior author Yaguang Wei, an assistant professor at Mount Sinai's Icahn School of Medicine in New York, told AFP. 
But on a more granular level, he added, local governments need to develop early warning systems that anticipate the arrival of dangerous pollutants and deploy portable filters in homes, offices, schools and hospitals.
Canada's record-breaking 2023 wildfires exposed hundreds of millions of people downwind to toxic fumes, yet local authorities have still failed to develop advanced response plans.

Satellite data and death records

To conduct their analysis, the researchers had to devise a method to isolate the cumulative effects of fine particulate matter from wildfire smoke -- known to contain carcinogenic volatile organic compounds and heavy metals. 
While the acute impacts of smoke are easier to trace -- including inhalation injuries, hospitalizations and deaths -- attributing cause becomes far more challenging when toxins linger in the body and later trigger respiratory illness, cardiovascular disease or neurological damage.
The team analyzed annual mortality data from 3,068 counties across the mainland United States, excluding Alaska and Hawaii, and linked it with satellite imagery. 
Statistical techniques were used to rule out other factors that could explain changes in death rates. To boost confidence in their findings, the researchers examined "negative control" outcomes -- such as deaths from car accidents or falls, which should not be influenced by wildfire pollution -- and found no corresponding increase.

Brain most vulnerable

The result was a clear rise in all-cause mortality, with neurological diseases such as dementia and Parkinson's showing the strongest association, followed by circulatory system illness, endocrine diseases and cancers. 
"Usually people look at the cardiovascular respiratory disease from the wildfire smoke, however, we found that the neurological disorder is more affected," said Wei. "It seems like our brain is the most vulnerable part."
Effects were more pronounced in rural areas, which may be closer to wildfire sources. Younger people were more impacted, perhaps because they spend more time outdoors. Lower temperatures were also linked to increased deaths. People go outside more in cool summers, while cool winters prevent smoke dissipation, wrote the authors.
The figure of 24,100 deaths per year is more than double a previous estimate of 11,415 deaths published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2024. 
But according to Wei, the new number is still likely an underestimate simply because analysis at the level of counties doesn't offer the kind of precision that a zip code or block-by-block investigation would. 
He's now looking at more studies that tease out the health impacts of wildfires from different sources, because the chemical mixtures vary greatly from forest to forest.
ia/ksb

vaccines

Preventative cholera vaccination resumes as global supply swells: WHO

  • But the WHO, along with the UN children's agency UNICEF and the Gavi vaccine alliance, announced Wednesday that the global supply had now increased "to a level sufficient to allow the resumption of life-saving preventative campaigns".
  • The global cholera vaccine supply is finally high enough to allow regular vaccination campaigns to resume after a three-year halt, the World Health Organization and partners said Wednesday.
  • But the WHO, along with the UN children's agency UNICEF and the Gavi vaccine alliance, announced Wednesday that the global supply had now increased "to a level sufficient to allow the resumption of life-saving preventative campaigns".
The global cholera vaccine supply is finally high enough to allow regular vaccination campaigns to resume after a three-year halt, the World Health Organization and partners said Wednesday.
Dire vaccine shortages amid a surge in cholera cases forced a halt to preventative immunisation efforts in 2022, and a move to a one-dose strategy from the usual two in outbreak emergency responses.
But the WHO, along with the UN children's agency UNICEF and the Gavi vaccine alliance, announced Wednesday that the global supply had now increased "to a level sufficient to allow the resumption of life-saving preventative campaigns".
"Global vaccine shortages forced us into a cycle of reacting to cholera outbreaks instead of preventing them. We are now in a stronger position," said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
They groups said Mozambique was the first country to restart, with the country facing an ongoing cholera outbreak and reeling from floods that affected more than 700,000 people.
The flooding damaged water systems, further increasing the cholera risk.
A first allocation of 20 million doses is being deployed for preventive campaigns in three countries, with some 3.6 million doses delivered to Mozambique, 6.1 million going to the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the remaining 10.3 million doses intended for Bangladesh.
As the supply pipeline improves, one dose will remain the standard for outbreak responses, for now.
The doses are financed by Gavi, but procured and delivered to countries by UNICEF.

33 countries hit in 2025

Cholera is an acute intestinal infection that spreads through food and water contaminated with the bacterium vibrio cholerae, often from faeces.
It causes severe diarrhoea, vomiting and muscle cramps.
Cholera can kill within hours when not treated, though it can be treated with simple oral rehydration, and antibiotics for more severe cases.
UNICEF chief Catherine Russell said resuming preventive cholera vaccination would protect children, but "must go hand in hand with other efforts, including better access to safe water and basic sanitation". 
More than 600,000 cases of cholera or acute watery diarrhoea and nearly 7,600 deaths were reported to the WHO from 33 countries last year, though the true numbers will be higher.
Global cholera cases rose every year from 2021 onwards then declined in 2025. However, the number of cholera deaths continued to increase.
Since October 2022, requests from 27 countries have been approved for emergency campaigns, with doses reaching almost 139 million people.
Annual global supply of oral cholera vaccine doubled from 35 million doses in 2022 to nearly 70 million doses in 2025.
"I thank EUBiologics, currently the only manufacturer producing cholera vaccines at the scale needed for mass vaccination campaigns, for its efforts, and urge others to enter this vital space," said Tedros.
rjm-nl/gv

trial

Netflix film probes conviction of UK baby killer nurse

BY ALEXANDRA DEL PERAL

  • Her case shocked the nation during lengthy trials in 2023 and 2024, after which she was convicted and jailed for life for murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven more.
  • A Netflix documentary released Wednesday about a former UK nurse jailed for life for murdering seven babies is taking a fresh look at the puzzling case of the prolific child killer. 
  • Her case shocked the nation during lengthy trials in 2023 and 2024, after which she was convicted and jailed for life for murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven more.
A Netflix documentary released Wednesday about a former UK nurse jailed for life for murdering seven babies is taking a fresh look at the puzzling case of the prolific child killer. 
Lucy Letby, 36, from Hereford, western England, was charged in 2020 following a string of deaths at a hospital's neo-natal unit. 
But she has always maintained her innocence and a panel of international experts has since argued her conviction was wrong.
Her case shocked the nation during lengthy trials in 2023 and 2024, after which she was convicted and jailed for life for murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven more.
Her young victims were either sick or born prematurely, and she was accused of injecting them with air, overfeeding them milk and poisoning them with insulin.
Ahead of the release of "The Investigation Of Lucy Letby", the former nurse's parents called the film "a complete invasion of privacy" for its use of previously unseen police bodycam footage of their daughter being arrested at their family home, The Sunday Times reported.
In a statement after watching the film's trailer, John and Susan Letby said they did not plan to watch the documentary.
"It would likely kill us if we did," they said. 
"The previous programmes made about Lucy, including Panorama and the almost nightly news showing her being brought out handcuffed in a blue tracksuit are heartbreaking for us," they said. 
"However, this Netflix documentary is on another level. We had no idea they were using footage in our house."
The film opens with the scene they refer to, of Letby's arrest in June 2019. 
Police enter her bedroom and she is seen sitting up in bed, in pyjamas, appearing confused, as police say they are arresting her for murder. She is then taken away in her dressing gown.
The 90-minute film does not claim to be exhaustive, but aims to offer the public the perspectives of both sides of a case that continues to prompt questions and accusations of a miscarriage of justice.
It highlights unsettling elements, such as Letby responding "no comment" to police questions while in custody, and excerpts from her diary where dates coinciding with the babies' deaths are marked with an asterisk.

'Wrong person?'

Conversely, the film also includes testimony from Canadian physician Shoo Lee, who challenged the expert evidence presented at trial. It ends with that of John Gibbs, a former pediatrician at the hospital where Letby worked.
"I live with two guilts," he says. 
"Guilt that we let the babies down, and tiny, tiny, tiny guilt: did we get the wrong person? You know, just in case: a miscarriage of justice. I don't think there was a miscarriage of justice, but you worry that no one actually saw her do it."
Letby was twice denied permission to appeal against her convictions in 2024.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, is considering evidence presented on her behalf from an international panel of medics who claim poor medical care and natural causes were the reasons for the babies.
Inquests into the deaths of six babies who Letby was convicted of murdering have been opened and then adjourned to May 5.
The inquest into the seventh baby did not determine the cause of death.
The senior coroner at the inquests adjourned them until September pending the outcome of a public inquiry into the Letby case which is due to be published this year.
Health Minister Wes Streeting told LBC radio Wednesday her fate should be decided by the courts and not campaigners "unless and until there is a judicial process that says that the court has got it wrong".
adm/mp/jkb/gv

earnings

GSK boosted by specialty drugs, end to Zantac fallout

BY ALEXANDRA BACON

  • The company's 2025 earnings rose significantly from the previous year, when it agreed to pay $2.3 billion to end lawsuits alleging that Zantac caused cancer, though the group did not admit any liability.
  • British pharmaceutical group GSK reported Wednesday a sharp rise in annual net profit, boosted by strong sales of HIV, respiratory and cancer treatments as it recovered from costly US lawsuits over its Zantac heartburn treatment.
  • The company's 2025 earnings rose significantly from the previous year, when it agreed to pay $2.3 billion to end lawsuits alleging that Zantac caused cancer, though the group did not admit any liability.
British pharmaceutical group GSK reported Wednesday a sharp rise in annual net profit, boosted by strong sales of HIV, respiratory and cancer treatments as it recovered from costly US lawsuits over its Zantac heartburn treatment.
Profit after tax more than doubled to £5.7 billion ($7.8 billion) compared with £2.6 billion in 2024, GSK said, as revenue rose four percent to £32.7 billion. 
"GSK delivered another strong performance in 2025, driven mainly by specialty medicines," said chief executive Luke Miels, who took over from Emma Walmsley at the start of the year. 
"We expect this positive momentum to continue in 2026," added Miels, who was chief commercial officer before Walmsley stepped down after nearly nine years at the helm.
Addressing journalists in an online call later, Miels said the company was in "very good shape", adding that he would look to speed up simplification of the group.
"We're going to also have an increased focus on the practical use of AI and technology," he said.
Soon after taking over as CEO, Miels announced last month that GSK was buying the US biotech company RAPT Therapeutics, which is developing a food allergy drug, in a deal valued at $2.2 billion. 
GSK forecast a low double-digit increase in revenue for its specialty medicines this year, but it expects revenue from vaccines and general medicines to decline. 

'Exciting space'

Shares in GSK climbed near six percent around midday on the London Stock Exchange, where the top-tier FTSE 100 index was up one percent.
"There is little doubt that the sector is an exciting space, not only in terms of the leaps being made by technology but also by the major financial rewards which the larger players are chasing," said Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor. 
"The rapid evolution of AI, for example, is decreasing both discovery and development time to market and GSK is firmly in the mix with the shares having risen by 39 percent over the last year," he added.
The company's 2025 earnings rose significantly from the previous year, when it agreed to pay $2.3 billion to end lawsuits alleging that Zantac caused cancer, though the group did not admit any liability.

US focus

The pharmaceutical industry has faced turbulence from US President Donald Trump's tariff threats last year, aimed at encouraging investment in the United States and reducing drug prices. 
GSK, along with several other pharmaceutical giants, agreed in December to lower the cost of its prescription medicines for American patients, in exchange for tariff exemptions for three years. 
Ahead of the deal, GSK announced plans to invest $30 billion in the United States over five years.
The US accounted for more than half of GSK's total revenues last year, and  Miels said Wednesday that the group's 2026 guidance took into account the agreed price cuts to certain treatments.
While investment is crossing the Atlantic, Miels also emphasised GSK's commitment to the UK.
"We've got 10,000 employees in the UK and we spend around £1.5 billion per year in R&D," Miels said. 
"So we're heavily committed to the UK," where the company has five manufacturing sites, he said.
ajb-bcp/js

Britain

Doctors hope UK archive can solve under-50s bowel cancer mystery

BY HELEN ROWE

  • One ledger of yellowing pages vividly evokes the cases of patients from 1919, the year after the end of World War I. The neatly-typed medical notes are accompanied with hand-drawn specimen pictures by the doctors.
  • In a dusty hospital basement on the outskirts of London, over 100 years of medical history lines the shelves, neatly arranged in row after row of cardboard specimen boxes.
  • One ledger of yellowing pages vividly evokes the cases of patients from 1919, the year after the end of World War I. The neatly-typed medical notes are accompanied with hand-drawn specimen pictures by the doctors.
In a dusty hospital basement on the outskirts of London, over 100 years of medical history lines the shelves, neatly arranged in row after row of cardboard specimen boxes.
Largely forgotten until recently, it is hoped this unique archive will help unravel the mystery of the rising number of younger people getting bowel cancer.
The archive contains tens of thousands of tumour and tissue specimens, some dating back to the early 20th century.
Preserved in formaldehyde and paraffin wax, they come from patients treated at the UK's national bowel hospital, St Mark's, in northwest London.
In a study which began in January, researchers are using cutting-edge technology to compare archive tumours from the 1960s with ones from the present day.
Historically, patients treated at the hospital would have had a "very difficult time" with the disease, said Kevin Monahan, a consultant gastroenterologist, who is co-leading the groundbreaking project by St Mark's and the Institute of Cancer Research, London.
Their recovery -- even after surgery -- would have been "far from certain".
"We want to think about whether we can convert the suffering that they went through decades ago into a new hope for their grandchildren and their great grandchildren and others who might be at risk," he said.
The growing numbers of younger people being diagnosed with bowel cancer has left doctors worldwide perplexed.
According to Bowel Cancer UK, cases of the disease in people under 50 in Britain have increased by over 50 percent in the past 25 years.
Over 2,600 cases are diagnosed annually out of the nearly 44,000 cases across all age groups.
Research published by Bristol University and others in the British Journal of Surgery in 2020 showed an "exponential increase" over a similar period, with the conclusions supported by findings from both European and American studies.

Gut bacteria hunch

"We can't time travel back to the 1960s... to see what people were exposed to (but)... in a way we have a record of it... within these boxes," Monahan said.
The bowel cancer expert and co-study lead, Trevor Graham of the London institute, aims to map how the DNA differs in the 1960s specimens from the ones of the current day.
By sequencing the DNA and using other laboratory techniques that "weren't possible even five years ago", they hope to pinpoint what is driving modern-day cases.
The project comes around a decade after the entire archive at St Mark's was nearly consigned to the hospital incinerator.
But after medics persuaded managers to hold on to it for a little longer, it was saved.
One ledger of yellowing pages vividly evokes the cases of patients from 1919, the year after the end of World War I.
The neatly-typed medical notes are accompanied with hand-drawn specimen pictures by the doctors.
Changes to diet, lifestyle and environmental pollutants such as microplastics have all been suggested as potential causes of the rise in cases, but definitive proof has been elusive.
Monahan's own hunch centres on a subtype of the E. coli bacteria in the gut.
"This bacteria may be carcinogenic, and the mark of that carcinogen in DNA has been found in younger people with bowel cancer under 50, four times as commonly as it has been in people with all cancer after the age of 50," he said.

'Why me?'

If caught early, 90 percent of cases can be successfully treated, according to the National Health Service.
But Monahan said a bowel cancer diagnosis could be devastating for younger patients still juggling young families and trying to progress in their careers.
"Someone who's 35... very rarely do they think: 'Oh, I might have bowel cancer,'"  he said.
Bowel cancer was previously only rarely seen in patients in their 20s and 30s.
Many younger patients wrongly blame themselves, Monahan said.
Exercising regularly and maintaining a healthy weight are important for general health, he stressed, but there are other factors when it comes to bowel cancer.
"Where I see people who are newly diagnosed with bowel cancer at a young age, they say: 'Why? Why has this happened to me? Because I'm healthy. I eat healthy, I exercise regularly.'
"And I say to them: 'It's nothing to do with what you have done.'"
The research project is expected to report its findings in three years.
Thanks to the archive, the researchers had a "great legacy", Monahan added. "We have an opportunity here to use that legacy."
har/jkb/rlp/mjw

aid

WHO wants $1 bn for world's worst health crises in 2026

  • - 'Severe' consequences warning - The 2026 priority emergency responses also include the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen, plus ongoing cholera and mpox outbreaks.
  • The World Health Organization on Tuesday appealed for $1 billion to tackle health crises this year across the world's 36 most severe emergencies, including in Gaza, Sudan, Haiti and Afghanistan.
  • - 'Severe' consequences warning - The 2026 priority emergency responses also include the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen, plus ongoing cholera and mpox outbreaks.
The World Health Organization on Tuesday appealed for $1 billion to tackle health crises this year across the world's 36 most severe emergencies, including in Gaza, Sudan, Haiti and Afghanistan.
Hit by deep cuts in foreign aid from wealthy countries, the WHO made its emergency request significantly lower than in recent years, saying it had to be realistic about how much money would arrive.
"We are deeply worried about the vast needs and how we will meet them," WHO health emergencies chief Chikwe Ihekweazu told reporters in Geneva.
"We are making some of the hardest choices we have to make."
The WHO estimated 239 million people would need urgent humanitarian assistance this year, and said the money would keep essential health services afloat.
"A quarter of a billion people are living through humanitarian crises that strip away the most basic protections: safety, shelter and access to health care," Ihekweazu said.
"In these settings, health needs are surging, whether due to injuries, disease outbreaks, malnutrition or untreated chronic diseases," he warned.
Washington, traditionally the UN health agency's biggest donor, has slashed foreign aid spending under President Donald Trump, who on his first day back in office in January 2025 handed the WHO his country's one-year withdrawal notice.
Last year, the WHO appealed for $1.5 billion, but Ihekweazu said only $900 million came through -- below 2016 levels.
"We've calibrated our ask a little bit more towards what is available realistically, understanding the situation around the world, the constraints that many countries have," he said.
Ihekweazu said the WHO was "hyper-prioritising" high-impact services, focusing on "where we can save the most lives".
He said the WHO was shifting footing towards enabling 1,500 local partners to do more of the frontline work on the ground.

'Severe' consequences warning

The 2026 priority emergency responses also include the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen, plus ongoing cholera and mpox outbreaks.
Ihekweazu said if the funding does not come through, it "absolutely" leaves the world more vulnerable to epidemics and pandemics.
"Imagining that these challenges will somehow disappear without global solidarity is wishful thinking," he said.
"The consequences might be not only severe for them but severe for the world."
Last year's top emergency donors were the European Union, Germany, Japan, Italy and Britain.
Ihekweazu said the immediate response to the appeal was "quite encouraging".
"There are many countries around the world we think can and should do more... countries that sometimes speak the loudest don't do the most," he said.
Last year, the WHO responded to 50 health emergencies in 82 countries, reaching more than 30 million people with essential services.
However, global funding cuts forced 6,700 health facilities across 22 humanitarian settings to either close or reduce services, "cutting 53 million people off from health care", Ihekweazu said.  
"We are appealing to the better sense of countries, and of people, and asking them to invest in a healthier, safer world."
nl-rjm/jhb

WHO

Four out of every 10 cancer cases are preventable: WHO

  • Tobacco was the leading offender, responsible for 15 percent of all new cancer cases, followed by cancer-causing infections with 10 percent and drinking alcohol with three percent, according to the study published in the journal Nature Medicine.
  • Nearly four out of every 10 cancer cases could be prevented if people avoided a range of risk factors including smoking, drinking, air pollution and certain infections, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. 
  • Tobacco was the leading offender, responsible for 15 percent of all new cancer cases, followed by cancer-causing infections with 10 percent and drinking alcohol with three percent, according to the study published in the journal Nature Medicine.
Nearly four out of every 10 cancer cases could be prevented if people avoided a range of risk factors including smoking, drinking, air pollution and certain infections, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. 
New research published on the eve of World Cancer Day estimated that 38 percent of all new cancer cases globally in 2022 -- 7.1 million -- were linked to preventable causes.
The large team of researchers, which included the WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer, looked at 30 factors that increase the risk of getting cancer.
Tobacco was the leading offender, responsible for 15 percent of all new cancer cases, followed by cancer-causing infections with 10 percent and drinking alcohol with three percent, according to the study published in the journal Nature Medicine.
Other risk factors included being overweight, a lack of exercise, UV radiation and being exposed to threats such as asbestos while working.
"This is the first global analysis to show how much cancer risk comes from causes we can prevent," senior study author Andre Ilbawi, the WHO's team lead for cancer control, said in a statement. 
Almost half of all the preventable cases were lung, stomach or cervical cancer. 
Lung cancer was linked to smoking and air pollution, while stomach cancer was largely linked to a bacteria called Helicobacter pylori.
Cervical cancer cases were overwhelmingly caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), which vaccines are effective against.
Men were far more likely to get preventable cancer, with 45 percent of new cases compared to 30 percent for women.
And nearly a quarter of all preventable cancer cases among men were from smoking, compared to 11 percent for women.
To address the problem, the researchers called for countries to adopt strong tobacco control measures and  alcohol regulation, and to vaccinate against common infections such as HPV, improve air quality and ensure safer workplaces, healthy diets and exercise.
"If we want to reduce the cancer burden we also need to reduce the noncommunicable disease (NCD) burden -- it is indisputable that tobacco, alcohol, ultra-processed food and air quality are major drivers of multiple kinds of cancer," said Katie Dain, CEO of the NCD Alliance.
ic-dl/gv

Health

WHO chief says turmoil creates chance for reset

BY ROBIN MILLARD

  • "I mean non-dependence on a handful of donors; I mean non-dependence on inflexible, unpredictable funding; I mean a WHO that's no longer a contractor to the biggest donors.
  • The head of the World Health Organization said Monday that the dramatic cuts of 2025 as the United States headed for the exit created the chance to forge a leaner, re-focused WHO. Washington, traditionally the UN health agency's biggest donor, has slashed foreign aid spending under President Donald Trump, who on his first day back in office in January 2025 handed the WHO his country's one-year withdrawal notice.
  • "I mean non-dependence on a handful of donors; I mean non-dependence on inflexible, unpredictable funding; I mean a WHO that's no longer a contractor to the biggest donors.
The head of the World Health Organization said Monday that the dramatic cuts of 2025 as the United States headed for the exit created the chance to forge a leaner, re-focused WHO.
Washington, traditionally the UN health agency's biggest donor, has slashed foreign aid spending under President Donald Trump, who on his first day back in office in January 2025 handed the WHO his country's one-year withdrawal notice.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the agency's annual executive board meeting that 2025 was "undeniably one of the most difficult years in our organisation's history", with many donors tightening their belts.
"Significant cuts to our funding left us with no choice but to reduce the size of our workforce," he said.
Last week, he said 1,241 posts had gone, while 1,162 staff had left or would be leaving through retirement, voluntary early retirement or moving elsewhere.
Tedros said the WHO's remodelling was all but finalised.
"We have now largely completed the prioritisation and realignment. We have reached a position of stability and we are moving forward," he insisted.
"Although we have faced a significant crisis in the past year, we have also viewed it as an opportunity. It's an opportunity for a leaner WHO to become more focused on its core mission."
He urged member states to keep gradually increasing their membership fees, to reduce the WHO's reliance on voluntary contributions.
The aim is for membership fees to eventually cover half of the agency's budget, to secure its "long-term stability, sustainability and independence".
"I don't mean independence from member states. Of course, WHO belongs to you and always will," Tedros stressed.
"I mean non-dependence on a handful of donors; I mean non-dependence on inflexible, unpredictable funding; I mean a WHO that's no longer a contractor to the biggest donors.
"I mean an impartial, science-based organisation that's free to say what the evidence says, without fear or favour."

'Trashed and tarnished'

The executive board meeting, which opened Monday and runs until Saturday, will discuss the withdrawal notifications of the United States and Argentina.
The United States reserved the right to withdraw when it joined the WHO in 1948 -- on condition of one year's notice, and meeting its financial obligations in full for that fiscal year.
While the notice is now up, Washington has not paid its 2024 or 2025 dues, owing around $260 million.
As the notice countdown expired, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the WHO had "tarnished and trashed everything that America has done for it", with "the insults to America" continuing to the end.
"The reverse is true," the WHO said in reply.
The US flag outside the WHO headquarters has been taken down, with the US mission in Geneva last week saying the flag was "dedicated to the American lives lost" during the Covid-19 pandemic and was "on its way back" to the United States.
At the executive board, Israel said the WHO had become politicised and the US withdrawal should trigger a rethink about the WHO's future and purpose. 
Bulgaria, speaking for the European Union, said global health was at a "critical juncture", with "unprecedented pressure on health systems worldwide".
Crisis-riddled Haiti said reforming the global health architecture was "no longer an institutional luxury" but a "vital necessity". 
rjm-nl/sbk

infants

More baby milk recalls in France after new toxin rules

BY JULIE CHABANAS WITH DARIO THUBURN IN ROME

  • Vitagermine said its milk had complied with French rules until they changed last week, and it was removing the three batches on Monday to "better ensure the safety of infants".
  • Two infant formula manufacturers withdrew batches from the market on Monday after France imposed stricter limits on acceptable levels of a toxin that can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.
  • Vitagermine said its milk had complied with French rules until they changed last week, and it was removing the three batches on Monday to "better ensure the safety of infants".
Two infant formula manufacturers withdrew batches from the market on Monday after France imposed stricter limits on acceptable levels of a toxin that can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.
French maker Popote said it was recalling two lots, while Vitagermine removed three different batches of Babybio formula from the shelves in the latest such recalls to rock the infant formula industry in recent weeks.
Several manufacturers, including European giants like Nestle, Danone, and Lactalis, have issued recalls of infant formula that could be contaminated with cereulide in more than 60 countries since December.
French authorities are investigating the deaths in December and January of two babies who were thought to have drunk possibly contaminated powdered milk. No link has been established so far between the formula and their symptoms.
The agriculture ministry on Friday set the new threshold at 0.014 micrograms of cereulide per kilogram of body weight, instead of 0.03 micrograms.
Vitagermine said its milk had complied with French rules until they changed last week, and it was removing the three batches on Monday to "better ensure the safety of infants".
Popote said it was removing two batches of first-stage infant formula "without waiting for the new European framework".
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on Monday said its scientists had also suggested a maximum level for cereulide of 0.014 micrograms per kilogram of body weight.
This translated to 0.054 micrograms of cereulide per litre in infant formula, the Italy-based agency said.
"This advice is intended to help EU risk managers determine when products should be withdrawn from the market as a precautionary public health measure," it added.

Cereulide health risk

But European consumer association Foodwatch accused multinationals of focusing on thresholds as a "diversionary tactic".
"Cereulide should not be there at all in the first place," it said.
"It is illegal to market products that expose babies to health risks," it added, comparing cereulide to mouse droppings.
"There is no European standard on the presence of mouse droppings in infant formula. Nevertheless, it is prohibited," Foodwatch said.
The recall of potentially contaminated infant formula has heaped scrutiny on Chinese firm Cabio Biotech, the supplier of an ingredient used in infant formula which is suspected of being tainted.
Headquartered in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, Cabio Biotech is one of the world's largest producers of ARA, a fatty acid used primarily in baby formula and food products.
French company Nutribio told AFP it recalled some of its milk following an "alert" from Cabio Biotech.
French advocacy group Children's Health also named the company in a court filing, asking the government to order companies to pull all formula with ARA oil produced by Cabio Biotech.
Cabio Biotech has yet to publicly address allegations its ARA oil was contaminated, and has not responded to multiple requests for comment.
bur-jul/ah/ekf/rlp