vaccines

WHO sets out concerns over US vaccine trial in G.Bissau

  • The UN health agency said it was ready to support Guinea-Bissau as it considers the way forward on the US-funded trial, and in accelerating the vaccine's eventual routine deployment.
  • The World Health Organization on Friday voiced serious concerns over a planned US-funded hepatitis B vaccine trial on newborn babies in junta-run Guinea-Bissau, questioning it on scientific and ethical grounds.
  • The UN health agency said it was ready to support Guinea-Bissau as it considers the way forward on the US-funded trial, and in accelerating the vaccine's eventual routine deployment.
The World Health Organization on Friday voiced serious concerns over a planned US-funded hepatitis B vaccine trial on newborn babies in junta-run Guinea-Bissau, questioning it on scientific and ethical grounds.
The WHO insisted in a statement that the existing hepatitis B birth dose vaccine was an "effective and essential" public health intervention, with a proven record.
The agency's latest statement comes two months after an advisory panel -- appointed by US health chief Robert F. Kennedy Jr -- voted to stop recommending that all newborns in the United States receive a hepatitis B vaccine.
Kennedy has long been a vocal sceptic of vaccines, and his department says the Guinea-Bissau study seeks to "answer questions about the broader health effects" of the vaccine and "fill existing evidence gaps".
The US move to end the decades-old recommendation is the panel's latest contentious about-face concerning vaccines.
Defending the existing vaccine, the WHO said Friday: "It prevents life-threatening liver disease by stopping mother-to-child transmission at birth.
"It has been used for over three decades, with more than 115 countries including it in their national schedules," it added.
Protecting newborns with the vaccine was also important for national and global elimination efforts, said the agency.
Already on Wednesday, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had branded the planned trial in the West African nation "unethical".
Guinea-Bissau has suspended the study pending further technical reviews, the WHO said.

'Significant concerns'

In its statement Friday, the organisation elaborated on its concerns, based on what it knew of the proposed trial.
"WHO has significant concerns regarding the study's scientific justification, ethical safeguards, and overall alignment with established principles for research involving human participants," it said.
The vaccine has a "proven safety record across decades of use", and is effective in preventing 70 to 95 percent of cases of mother-to-child transmission" it added.
A study giving a proven life-saving intervention to some but not others exposes newborns to "potentially irreversible harm", it said.
It also argued that placebo or no-treatment vaccine trials "are only acceptable when no proven intervention exists" -- or when such as design was "indispensable" for other reasons.
"Neither condition appears to be met," it said.
There was insufficient scientific justification for the study, said the WHO, and the trial's design "raises a significant likelihood of substantial risk of bias".
The WHO said Wednesday that it knew of "no underpinning evidence" basis to suggest there was any concern about the vaccine, which has been in use for more than 40 years.

Rocky relationship

Hepatitis B causes hundreds of thousands of deaths globally each year, with transmission at birth the most common route to lifelong infection.
Guinea-Bissau has a high prevalence of hepatitis B and decided in 2024 to add the hepatitis B birth dose to its national vaccine schedule, with introduction planned by 2028.
The UN health agency said it was ready to support Guinea-Bissau as it considers the way forward on the US-funded trial, and in accelerating the vaccine's eventual routine deployment.
Since President Donald Trump appointed Kennedy, the US government has initiated a major overhaul of vaccine policy, prompting growing concerns among the medical community.
In January 2025, the United States handed its one-year withdrawal notice to the WHO, Kennedy saying last month that the Geneva-based organisation had "trashed everything that America has done for it".
rjm/jhb

budget

Cash-starved French hospitals ask public to pitch in

BY ELIA VAISSIERE

  • "Hospitals need cash," he said, and they are scrambling to find it.
  • Cash-strapped and running out of options, a public hospital in southwestern France has turned to an unlikely source of rescue: potential patients.
  • "Hospitals need cash," he said, and they are scrambling to find it.
Cash-strapped and running out of options, a public hospital in southwestern France has turned to an unlikely source of rescue: potential patients.
This week, the Basque Coast Hospital Centre (CHCB) in Bayonne was the latest to appeal to the public to help fund urgent needs and purchase medicine, medical devices and vaccines through what it calls "citizen loans".
Under the scheme, people lend money to public hospitals that later reimburse them, with interest.
The model has emerged in France over the past few years, with several hospitals and nursing homes inviting people to invest in their healthcare facilities.
The CHCB hopes to raise 1.5 million euros ($1.7 million), the largest sum ever targeted by a French medical facility in such an operation.
Supporters see the loans as an ingenious way to reconnect hospitals with the people they serve. 
But critics say such loans are a symptom of a healthcare system under severe strain, with hospitals forced to pass the hat around the community.
The loan "offers citizens the opportunity to participate directly in financing its cash flow needs related to essential healthcare purchases: medicine, medical devices, vaccines, and sampling equipment", the Basque Coast hospital said.
The hospital, which has several sites, notably in the towns of Bayonne and Saint-Jean-de-Luz, said it had received institutional funding but the payments were delayed, and it needed to fund its regular purchases.
A person can invest as little as one euro and will be reimbursed "at the end of 12 months" in a single payment, with interest set at 3.1 percent, a rate that exceeds that of France's popular Livret A savings account.
The operation is being carried out via the start-up Villyz, a government-approved platform.

'Useful, transparent, local'

The Basque Coast hospital praises what it calls a "virtuous" financing model that "diversifies" its funding sources and lets people invest their savings in a product that is "useful, transparent and local".  
But it comes against a backdrop of tight finances. In 2024, the CHCB recorded a deficit of 21 million euros on a budget of around 400 million euros.
Across France, hospitals' accounts are in the red: the system's overall deficit reached an estimated 2.7 billion to 2.9 billion euros in 2024, according to official data.
Villyz began offering the scheme to hospitals last year, claiming to be the only platform doing so. 
It collects only "application fees that depend on the amount raised", typically amounting to several thousand euros, said its president, Arthur Moraglia.
Through the scheme, a hospital in the northeastern town of Haguenau raised 100,000 euros to purchase new windows, and a hospital in Evreux in the northwest raised the same amount to add beds. 
Two nursing homes in southeastern France have funded improvements, and another in the central town of Bourges plans to do so soon.
The Limoges University Hospital, which wants to open a women's health centre dedicated to victims of domestic violence, with a total budget of 2.5 million euros, hopes to borrow one million from the public.

'Hold out their hand'

Some hospitals had already turned to more traditional fundraising, including Paris's Georges Pompidou Hospital, which sought donations to buy a scanner, and the Nantes University Hospital.
Critics including the Force Ouvriere union have denounced what they call the government's austerity policies undermining public hospitals nationwide.
"Whereas France once prided itself on having the best healthcare system in the world, today public hospitals are forced to hold out their hand to survive," the union said last year.
"Citizen loans, appeals for donations, corporate sponsorship, or any other 'raffle' scheme -- this is now what part of the funding for our public hospitals boils down to."
Jean‑Paul Domin, an economist at the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne, said the trend, emerging over the past three or four years, was symptomatic of a system in crisis.
"Hospitals need cash," he said, and they are scrambling to find it.
Nicolas Sirven, an economist at the EHESP school of public health, said the loan scheme proved that people were willing to pay to fund the hospital system -- even though the political class was reluctant to push for more social security contributions or taxes. 
Compared with their overall budgets, the amounts hospitals seek are "marginal", Sirven said.
But "should it be up to hospitals to manage the savings of the French?"
eva-pan-as/ah/js

health

'Punk wellness': China's stressed youth mix traditional medicine and cocktails

BY EMILY WANG

  • "Niang Qing" was founded by students from Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine only last year, but has already expanded to five locations across the country. 
  • In a softly lit Shanghai bar, graduate student Helen Zhao stretched out both wrists to have her pulse taken -- the first step to ordering the house special, a bespoke "health" cocktail based on traditional Chinese medicine.
  • "Niang Qing" was founded by students from Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine only last year, but has already expanded to five locations across the country. 
In a softly lit Shanghai bar, graduate student Helen Zhao stretched out both wrists to have her pulse taken -- the first step to ordering the house special, a bespoke "health" cocktail based on traditional Chinese medicine.
"TCM bars" have popped up in several cities across China, epitomising what the country's stressed-out, time-poor youth refer to as "punk wellness", or "wrecking yourself while saving yourself". 
At Shanghai's "Niang Qing", a TCM doctor in a white coat diagnoses customers' physical conditions based on the pulse readings, before a mixologist crafts custom drinks incorporating the herbs and roots prescribed for their ailments. 
Instead of shelves of alcohol, apothecary drawers stocked with ingredients like goji berries and angelica root line the walls, permeating the room with their scent. 
"This bar is actually an opportunity for me," 26-year-old Zhao told AFP, describing her "typical young person" lifestyle of late nights and junk food. 
"I like having a drink after work anyway, and this way I can casually check if something is wrong with me, while also holding onto a bit of wishful thinking
The bar's resident TCM practitioner, Ding, said the concept was not as contrary as it might seem.
"The combination of Chinese medicine and alcohol has a long history in TCM -- it was traditionally called medicinal wine," he told AFP. 
He emphasised though that the bar targeted health awareness rather than treatment.

'Have fun, reduce damage'

Against the backdrop of a sluggish economy, China's job market is highly competitive, and "996" culture -- working from 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week -- is a feature of many sectors. 
A 2024 survey found that over 60 percent of young people consider themselves to be in a suboptimal health state.
In recent years, reports of young employees allegedly dying from overwork have spread online, triggering discussion around mental and physical health. 
In "Niang Qing", Cici Song, a 41-year-old white collar worker, told AFP she felt that late evenings were her "only real 'me time'".
"On the other hand, you want to take care of your body," she said, sipping an amber-coloured drink designed to improve her diagnosed "phlegm-damp constitution". 
"So this is a kind of balance -- having fun while trying to reduce the damage." 
The approach seems popular. 
"Niang Qing" was founded by students from Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine only last year, but has already expanded to five locations across the country. 
"We've noticed that many young people are actually very interested in TCM culture, but the ways to experience it might seem dull," said 22-year-old co-founder Wu Siyuan.
The idea of the bar was born "to let people experience TCM culture through entertainment". 

'Wellness for a new era'

Analysts have noted a growing interest among young Chinese people in products that repackage traditional Chinese culture for modern times. 
TCM in particular has seen a global spike in popularity. 
On TikTok, the "Becoming Chinese" trend has seen overseas users brewing herbal infusions, drinking hot water or practising traditional physical exercises, garnering hundreds of thousands of likes.
Co-founder Wu said his bar was seeing more foreign customers.
TCM bars "draw people from online to offline, and the social experience it creates delivers emotional value", Hua Hui, a professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, told AFP. 
"Young people are under great pressure and need new scenarios for relief," he said, describing this as "a worldwide issue". 
"Today's TCM bars provide precisely this -- a new form of socialising and wellness for a new era."
em/reb/ane/cms

food

Mike Tyson, healthy eating advocate for Trump administration

  • "This is the biggest fight of my life," Tyson said Wednesday at an event with US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Tyson is a poster child for public rehabilitation from disgrace, as his boxing prowess was marred by a rape conviction and prison stint, as well as a fight in which he bit off part of his opponent's ear.
  • Boxing legend Mike Tyson, who tasted both glory and prison in a roller-coaster life and career, spoke out Wednesday about his new role as a healthy-eating ambassador for the Trump administration.
  • "This is the biggest fight of my life," Tyson said Wednesday at an event with US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Tyson is a poster child for public rehabilitation from disgrace, as his boxing prowess was marred by a rape conviction and prison stint, as well as a fight in which he bit off part of his opponent's ear.
Boxing legend Mike Tyson, who tasted both glory and prison in a roller-coaster life and career, spoke out Wednesday about his new role as a healthy-eating ambassador for the Trump administration.
The former heavyweight champ has lent his face to an ad campaign with the slogan "Eat Real Food," as opposed to ultra-processed products that are popular in America. An ad generated by the campaign aired Sunday during the Super Bowl.
"This is the biggest fight of my life," Tyson said Wednesday at an event with US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Tyson is a poster child for public rehabilitation from disgrace, as his boxing prowess was marred by a rape conviction and prison stint, as well as a fight in which he bit off part of his opponent's ear.
In the new black and white commercial, Tyson, 59, recalls that his sister Denise suffered from obesity and died of a heart attack at age 25. 
He recounts a tough childhood battling his own weight issues, eating junk food all the time and weighing as much as 345 pounds (156 kilograms).
"I had so much self-hate," Tyson says in the ad. "I just wanted to kill myself."
"Where I come from is Brownsville, Brooklyn. It's the most violent, poverty-struck neighborhood in the city of New York. And ultra-processed food was just the norm," Tyson said at the event with Kennedy, whose slogan is "Make America Healthy Again."
Americans consume a diet heavy in calories that come from ultra-processed foods and are among the world's worst offenders in this category, according to government figures.
Eating food rich in sugar, fat, salt and preservatives is associated with a higher risk of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular problems.
Among a blizzard of changes to US health policy including de-emphasizing vaccines, Kennedy last month flipped the American food pyramid upside down to encourage people to eat meat and whole-milk dairy products. 
Fiber-rich whole grains like oats are now at the bottom of the chart.
Critics have raised concerns that this change might be a result of lobbying from the agriculture sector.
Tyson became the undisputed heavyweight boxing champion in the 1980s, terrifying his opponents with his fury in the ring and a phenomenal punching power.
But he spent three years in jail beginning in 1992 after being found guilty of raping model Desiree Washington, who was 18 at the time.
In a notorious 1996 matchup, Tyson bit off a piece of his opponent Evander Holyfield's ear.
cha/cyb/dw/jgc

pandemic

WHO urges US to share Covid origins intel

BY ROBIN MILLARD

  • Therefore, several months ago, the UN health agency wrote to senior officials in the United States, urging them to "share any intelligence information that they have", he told a press conference on Wednesday.
  • The World Health Organization on Wednesday urged Washington to share any intelligence it may be withholding on the Covid-19 pandemic's origins, despite the United States quitting the WHO. The global catastrophe killed an estimated 20 million people, according to the UN health agency, while shredding economies, crippling health systems and turning people's lives upside-down.
  • Therefore, several months ago, the UN health agency wrote to senior officials in the United States, urging them to "share any intelligence information that they have", he told a press conference on Wednesday.
The World Health Organization on Wednesday urged Washington to share any intelligence it may be withholding on the Covid-19 pandemic's origins, despite the United States quitting the WHO.
The global catastrophe killed an estimated 20 million people, according to the UN health agency, while shredding economies, crippling health systems and turning people's lives upside-down.
The first cases were detected in Wuhan in China in late 2019, and understanding where the SARS-CoV-2 virus came from is seen as key to preventing future pandemics.
On his first day back in office in January 2025, US President Donald Trump handed the WHO his country's one-year withdrawal notice, which cited "the organisation's mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic".
Trump's administration has officially embraced the theory that the virus leaked from a virology laboratory in Wuhan.
But the WHO said Washington did not hand over any Covid origins intelligence before marching out the organisation's door.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recalled that some countries have publicly said "they have intelligence about the origins -- especially the US".
Therefore, several months ago, the UN health agency wrote to senior officials in the United States, urging them to "share any intelligence information that they have", he told a press conference on Wednesday.
"We haven't received any information," Tedros lamented.
"We hope they will share, because we haven't still concluded the Covid origins," and "knowing what happened could help us to prevent the next" pandemic.
The WHO's investigations have proved inconclusive, pending further evidence, with all hypotheses still on the table.
Tedros asked any government which had intelligence on the Covid-19 pandemic's origins to share the information so that the WHO will be able to reach a conclusion.

Critical information 'obstructed'

Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's epidemic and pandemic threat management chief, said: "We continue to follow up with all governments that have said that they have intelligence reports, the US included.
"We don't have those reports to date," she said, other than those in the public domain.
As the US notice countdown expired on January 22, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the WHO had "obstructed the timely and accurate sharing of critical information that could have saved American lives".
They also claimed the WHO had "tarnished and trashed everything that America has done for it".
"The reverse is true," the WHO said in reply.
The WHO constitution does not include a withdrawal clause.
But the United States reserved the right to withdraw when it joined the WHO in 1948 -- on condition of giving one year's notice and meeting its financial obligations in full for that fiscal year.
The notice period has now expired but Washington has still not paid its 2024 or 2025 dues, owing around $260 million, according to data published by the WHO.
rjm/nl/rlp

climate

Eat less meat, France urges, for sake of health, climate

  • Hence the French government's hesitation on whether to ask people to "reduce" their meat eating, or just "limit" it.
  • The French government issued a long-awaited report Wednesday urging people to limit meat consumption for their health and also to fight climate change -- and not everyone in the country of "steak-frites" is thrilled.
  • Hence the French government's hesitation on whether to ask people to "reduce" their meat eating, or just "limit" it.
The French government issued a long-awaited report Wednesday urging people to limit meat consumption for their health and also to fight climate change -- and not everyone in the country of "steak-frites" is thrilled.
The contentious decision came as part of a "National Strategy for Food, Nutrition and Climate," setting out the government's aims until 2030 on balancing a healthy diet while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. 
It was supposed to be published in 2023, the culmination of a direct-democracy initiative that immediately raised the hackles of agriculture lobbies that accused the government of threatening their livelihoods. 
The decisions struck a nerve in a country renowned for dishes like steak and fries and beef bourguignon -- despite evidence that meat production generates significant greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.
It also comes a month after the US government under President Donald Trump upended decades of recommendations by touting consumption of red meat and full-fat dairy products.
Apart from the health concerns of such advice, food production overall produces one-fourth of French carbon emissions, with meat production representing two-thirds of that amount.
Hence the French government's hesitation on whether to ask people to "reduce" their meat eating, or just "limit" it.
In the end, while promoting a diet focused on fruits, vegetables and whole grains, the new guidelines call for "limited" consumption of meats overall, including cold cuts, and a "reduction" of imported meat.
"We're relieved this plan was published, we were really worried it would be dropped," said Stephanie Pierre of France Assos Sante, a patients' health association. 
"But we were hoping for a much more ambitious plan," she said.
The guidelines also come just before the February 21 opening of France's annual agriculture fair, a hugely popular event in Paris where President Emmanuel Macron has often faced farmers' ire.
Farmers were already up in arms over the EU's signing of a free-trade deal with the Mercosur bloc of four South American countries, worried that a surge in beef and other agriculture imports would undercut their competitiveness.
The country's powerful FNSEA farmers' union had yet to comment on the government's new guidelines.
bur-ks/js/st

politics

Moderna says US refusing to review mRNA-based flu shot

  • Moderna said it had received a Refusal-to-File letter, which would indicate the application did not meet the requirements for substantive review.
  • Vaccine manufacturer Moderna said Tuesday the US Food and Drug Administration was refusing to review an application for its first mRNA-based flu shot.
  • Moderna said it had received a Refusal-to-File letter, which would indicate the application did not meet the requirements for substantive review.
Vaccine manufacturer Moderna said Tuesday the US Food and Drug Administration was refusing to review an application for its first mRNA-based flu shot.
The move comes as the current iteration of the FDA has called for a reconsideration of approval procedures for certain vaccines, including for influenza -- proposed federal policy changes under President Donald Trump that have triggered widespread alarm among public health and medical professionals.
Moderna, a US company, said the agency's top vaccine regulator, Vinay Prasad, wrote in a letter that Moderna's clinical trial was not "adequate and well-controlled," and had not tested its experimental shot against the best product on the market.
In the large trial Moderna had compared its new vaccine with Fluarix, an approved flu shot from the company GSK.
Moderna said the rejection was "inconsistent with previous written communications" with the FDA branch that regulates biological products, including vaccines, known by the acronym CBER.
The decision "did not identify any safety or efficacy concerns with our product" and "does not further our shared goal of enhancing America's leadership in developing innovative medicines," Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said in the statement. 
"It should not be controversial to conduct a comprehensive review of a flu vaccine submission that uses an FDA-approved vaccine as a comparator in a study that was discussed and agreed on with CBER prior to starting."
Moderna said it had received a Refusal-to-File letter, which would indicate the application did not meet the requirements for substantive review. The company said it had requested a meeting to discuss the decision.
The letter did not identify any safety or efficacy concerns regarding the mRNA vaccine, said Moderna, which added the shot was accepted for review in the European Union, Canada and Australia.
During his first term Trump called mRNA technology a "modern-day miracle." 
It was used during the Covid-19 pandemic to swiftly develop an immunization against the fast-spreading illness, and was credited with saving millions of lives.
Vaccines against Covid-19 are considered safe and effective by global health authorities, and protect against the most severe forms of the infection. 
But in his second term, Trump has appointed Robert F. Kennedy Jr as his health chief, and the long-time vocal vaccine skeptic has spent the past year reshaping federal health agencies in his image.
That has meant spreading false information and sowing doubt about the safety and efficacy of vaccines widely known to be safe, and upending the pediatric immunization schedule.
Notably, Kennedy cut off federal research grants that funded mRNA development.
mdo/nro

earnings

AstraZeneca profit jumps as cancer drug sales grow

BY ALEXANDRA BACON

  • - China, US focus - AstraZeneca has recently expanded its footprint into its two largest markets, the United States and China.
  • British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca said Tuesday that its net profit jumped 45 percent last year on strong sales of cancer drugs, as it expands its reach in the United States and China.
  • - China, US focus - AstraZeneca has recently expanded its footprint into its two largest markets, the United States and China.
British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca said Tuesday that its net profit jumped 45 percent last year on strong sales of cancer drugs, as it expands its reach in the United States and China.
Profit after tax rose to $10.2 billion in 2025 from $7.0 billion a year earlier, AstraZeneca said in a statement. 
Revenue increased nine percent to $58.7 billion, boosted by a rise in cancer drug sales.
"In 2025, we saw strong commercial performance across our therapy areas and excellent pipeline delivery," chief executive Pascal Soriot said in an earnings statement. 
"The momentum across our company is continuing in 2026," he added.
Soriot later told reporters he was "very confident" the company would achieve its target of $80 billion in annual revenue by the end of the decade.
Shares in AstraZeneca rose one percent in midday London trading, bucking a decline on the top-tier FTSE 100 index. 
"If AstraZeneca knocks it out of the park with its current pipeline of final-stage trials, it could stand head and shoulders above the peer group," said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell.

China, US focus

AstraZeneca has recently expanded its footprint into its two largest markets, the United States and China.
The group said last month that it would invest $15 billion in China through 2030 to expand its medicines manufacturing and research, as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer made a trip to Beijing.
During the visit, it also announced a deal with Chinese group CSPC Pharmaceutical to help develop and market weight-loss injections, which have exploded in popularity in recent years. 
Britain's largest drugmaker has also been making a recent shift towards the United States, which it hopes will account for half its global revenue by 2030.
Last year, the US accounted for 43 percent of its total revenue.
Highlighting the increasing importance of the US market, AstraZeneca began listing its shares directly on the New York Stock Exchange in February to attract more investors.
It will remain headquartered in the UK and keep its primary share listing in London.
Faced with US President Donald Trump's threats of pharmaceutical tariffs, AstraZeneca in July revealed plans to invest $50 billion by 2030 on boosting its US manufacturing and research operations.
Trump also forged a deal with AstraZeneca for significantly lower drug prices in the United States.
In exchange, the Trump administration agreed to a three-year delay on new tariffs.
The pharmaceutical industry remains a key target of Trump, with drugs tariffs imposed on other countries as he demands companies switch operations to the US.
ajb/bcp/js

Philips

Back to black: Philips posts first annual profit since 2021

  • This outlook includes the impact of "currently known tariffs" but excludes potential costs from the ongoing saga of its sleep apnoea machines, Philips said.
  • Dutch electronics and medical device manufacturer Philips said Tuesday that it had bounced back into the black in 2025, as it seeks to turn the page on a scandal over faulty sleep apnoea machines.
  • This outlook includes the impact of "currently known tariffs" but excludes potential costs from the ongoing saga of its sleep apnoea machines, Philips said.
Dutch electronics and medical device manufacturer Philips said Tuesday that it had bounced back into the black in 2025, as it seeks to turn the page on a scandal over faulty sleep apnoea machines.
After three straight years of losses, Philips posted a profit of 897 million euros ($1.07 billion) last year, well above analysts' forecasts.
The turnaround sparked a rush to buy Philips shares on the Amsterdam stock market, with the stock up more then eight percent at the opening bell.
"Today, we enter our next phase, the phase of driving profitable growth," chief executive Roy Jakobs told reporters.
Once famous for making lightbulbs and televisions among other products, Amsterdam-based Philips in recent years has sold off subsidiaries to focus on medical care technology.
Since 2021, the company has been battling a series of crises over its DreamStation machines for sleep apnoea, a disorder in which breathing stops and starts during sleep.
Millions of devices were recalled over concerns that users were at risk of inhaling pieces of noise-cancelling foam and fears it could potentially cause cancer.
In April, it announced it had reached a $1.1 billion deal to settle US lawsuits over the faulty machines.
Overall sales came in at 17.8 billion euros last year, a slight dip compared to the 18.0 billion euros it banked in 2024.
This was also fractionally below the analysts' consensus forecast for sales of 17.7 billion euros.
Looking ahead, the firm said it expected sales growth of 3.0 percent to 4.5 percent for 2026.
This outlook includes the impact of "currently known tariffs" but excludes potential costs from the ongoing saga of its sleep apnoea machines, Philips said.
This growth would be led by its business in North America, while sales in China were expected to be flat, Philips predicted.

'Mitigation actions'

Jakobs said the firm was bracing for the first full year of tariffs in 2026, saying: "We see more tariffs hitting us from a cost perspective."
However, he said there were "mitigation actions" that Philips had in place to combat the impact.
"You still have to think of multi-hundred million impact of tariffs, but we are offsetting that," he said.
Turning to the fourth quarter, Philips posted a profit of 397 million euros, above the forecast of 276 million euros.
In the third quarter of last year, the firm banked profits of 187 million euros on sales of 4.3 billion euros.
The firm has continued to shed jobs. It employed 64,817 people at the end of last year, compared to 67,823 at the end of 2024.
Philips also announced a proposal to reappoint Jakobs as CEO.
"(This) reflects the supervisory board's recognition of the progress made since 2022 and its confidence in his leadership as Philips enters the next phase of driving profitable growth," the firm said.
ric/js

rights

New York seeks rights for beloved but illegal 'bodega cats'

BY RAPHAëLLE PELTIER

  • While Simba can nap in the corner of his shop with kibble within paw's reach, many of his fellow cats are locked in basements, deprived of food or proper care, and abandoned when they grow old or fall ill. 
  • Simba, a large cat with thick ginger and white fur, is one of thousands of felines that live in New York's corner shops known as "bodegas" -- even if their presence is illegal. 
  • While Simba can nap in the corner of his shop with kibble within paw's reach, many of his fellow cats are locked in basements, deprived of food or proper care, and abandoned when they grow old or fall ill. 
Simba, a large cat with thick ginger and white fur, is one of thousands of felines that live in New York's corner shops known as "bodegas" -- even if their presence is illegal. 
Praised for warding off pests, so-called bodega cats are also a cultural fixture for New Yorkers, some of whom are now pushing to enshrine legal rights for the little store helpers. 
"Simba is very important to us because he keeps the shop clean of the mice," Austin Moreno, a shopkeeper in Manhattan, told AFP from behind his till. 
The fluffy inhabitant also helps to entice customers. 
"People, very often, they come to visit to ask, what is his name? The other day, some girls saw him for the first time and now they come every day," said Moreno. 
Around a third of the city's roughly 10,000 bodegas are thought to have a resident cat despite being liable to fines of $200-$350 for keeping animals in a store selling food, according to Dan Rimada, founder of Bodega Cats of New York.  
Rimada photographs the felines for his social media followers and last year launched a petition to legalize bodega cats, which drew nearly 14,000 signatures.
"These cats are woven into the fabric of New York City, and that's an important story to tell," he said. 

Pressure point

Inspired by Rimada's petition, New York City council member Keith Powers has proposed a measure to shield the owners of bodega cats from penalties. 
His legislation would also provide free vaccinations and spay or neuter services to the felines. 
But animal shelters and rights groups say this wouldn't go far enough. 
While Simba can nap in the corner of his shop with kibble within paw's reach, many of his fellow cats are locked in basements, deprived of food or proper care, and abandoned when they grow old or fall ill. 
Becky Wisdom, who rescues cats in New York, warned that lifting the threat of fines could remove "leverage" to encourage bodega owners to better care for the animals. 
She also opposes public funds being given to business owners rather than low-income families who want their cats spayed or neutered. 
The latter is a big issue in New York, where the stray cat population is estimated at around half a million. 

Radical overhaul

Regardless of what the city decides, it is the state of New York that has authority over business rules, said Allie Taylor, president of Voters for Animal Rights.
Taylor said she backs another initiative proposed by state assembly member Linda Rosenthal, a prominent animal welfare advocate, who proposes allowing cats in bodegas under certain conditions. 
These would include vet visits, mandatory spaying or neutering, and ensuring the cats have sufficient food, water and a safe place to sleep.
Beyond the specific case of bodega cats, Taylor is pushing for a more radical overhaul of animal protection in New York.
"Instead of focusing on one subset of cats, we need the city to make serious investments, meaning tens of millions of dollars per year into free or low cost spay, neuter and veterinary care," she said. 
pel/bjt/msp

media

Jury told that Meta, Google 'engineered addiction' at landmark US trial

BY GLENN CHAPMAN

  • Lawsuits, including some brought by school districts, accusing social media platforms of practices endangering young users are making their way through federal court in northern California and state courts across the country. 
  • Meta and Google-owned YouTube were accused Monday of pushing highly addictive apps on children as a landmark social media trial began in earnest in a California court. 
  • Lawsuits, including some brought by school districts, accusing social media platforms of practices endangering young users are making their way through federal court in northern California and state courts across the country. 
Meta and Google-owned YouTube were accused Monday of pushing highly addictive apps on children as a landmark social media trial began in earnest in a California court. 
The blockbuster trial in front of a Los Angeles jury could establish a legal precedent on whether the social media juggernauts deliberately designed their platforms to lead to addiction in children. 
The proceedings are expected to see Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg on the stand next week and Instagram boss Adam Mosseri in the courtroom as early as Wednesday. In addition to Instagram, Meta's platforms include Facebook and WhatsApp. 
"This case is about two of the richest corporations in history who have engineered addiction in children's brains," plaintiffs' attorney Mark Lanier told the jury in his opening statement. 
"This case is as easy as A-B-C," Lanier said as he stacked children's toy blocks bearing the letters. 
He contended the A was for addicting, the B for brains and the C for children. 
"They don't only build apps; they build traps," Lanier said, saying Meta and YouTube pursued "addiction by design," making his arguments using props like a toy Ferrari and a mini slot machine. 
Meta attorney Paul Schmidt countered in opening remarks to the jury that evidence will show problems with the plaintiff's family and real-world bullying took a toll on her self-esteem, body image and happiness rather than Instagram.
"If you took Instagram away and everything else was the same in Kaley's life, would her life be completely different, or would she still be struggling with the same things she is today?" Schmidt asked, pointing out an Instagram addiction is never mentioned in medical records included in the evidence.
The trial before Judge Carolyn Kuhl focuses on allegations that a 20-year-old woman identified as Kaley G.M. suffered severe mental harm because she became addicted to social media as a child. 
The case is being treated as a bellwether proceeding because its outcome could set the tone, and the level of payouts to successful plaintiffs, for a tidal wave of similar litigation across the United States. 
Social media firms are accused in hundreds of lawsuits of leading young users to become addicted to content and suffer from depression, eating disorders, psychiatric hospitalization and even suicide. 
Lawyers for the plaintiffs are borrowing strategies used in the 1990s and 2000s against the tobacco industry, which faced a similar onslaught of lawsuits arguing that companies knowingly sold a harmful product.
Lanier told the jurors that Kaley began watching YouTube at six years old because the company never told her mother "the goal was viewer addiction," or that toddlers as young as two were being targeted despite "critical" risk of addiction. 
"This is the first time that a social media company has ever had to face a jury for harming kids," Social Media Victims Law Center founder Matthew Bergman, whose team is involved in more than 1,000 such cases, told AFP.

'Strongly disagree'

Internet titans have argued that they are shielded by Section 230 of the US Communications Decency Act, which frees them from responsibility for what social media users post. 
However, this case argues that those firms are culpable for business models designed to hold people's attention and to promote content that can harm their mental health. 
The plaintiffs said they would call expert witnesses that will argue that young people's brains are not yet developed to withstand the powers of the algorithms being flung at them on Instagram and YouTube. 
The company pointed to recent efforts to provide more safeguards for young people, adding that "we're always working to do better." 
Jose Castaneda, a YouTube spokesperson, said "the allegations in these complaints are simply not true." 
Lawyers for YouTube are to present opening remarks to the jury on Tuesday.
Snapchat and TikTok were named as defendants in the suit, but struck settlement deals before the start of the trial. The terms were not disclosed. 
Lawsuits, including some brought by school districts, accusing social media platforms of practices endangering young users are making their way through federal court in northern California and state courts across the country. 
A separate lawsuit accusing Meta of putting profit over the wellbeing of young users was also getting under way in New Mexico on Monday.
gc-arp/jgc/mlm

AI

AI chatbots give bad health advice, research finds

  • People using the AI chatbots were only able to identify their health problem around a third of the time, while only around 45 percent figured out the right course of action.
  • Next time you're considering consulting Dr ChatGPT, perhaps think again.
  • People using the AI chatbots were only able to identify their health problem around a third of the time, while only around 45 percent figured out the right course of action.
Next time you're considering consulting Dr ChatGPT, perhaps think again.
Despite now being able to ace most medical licensing exams, artificial intelligence chatbots do not give humans better health advice than they can find using more traditional methods, according to a study published on Monday.
"Despite all the hype, AI just isn't ready to take on the role of the physician," study co-author Rebecca Payne from Oxford University said.
"Patients need to be aware that asking a large language model about their symptoms can be dangerous, giving wrong diagnoses and failing to recognise when urgent help is needed," she added in a statement.
The British-led team of researchers wanted to find out how successful humans are when they use chatbots to identify their health problems and whether they require seeing a doctor or going to hospital.
The team presented nearly 1,300 UK-based participants with 10 different scenarios, such as a headache after a night out drinking, a new mother feeling exhausted or what having gallstones feels like.
Then the researchers randomly assigned the participants one of three chatbots: OpenAI's GPT-4o, Meta's Llama 3 or Command R+. There was also a control group that used internet search engines. 
People using the AI chatbots were only able to identify their health problem around a third of the time, while only around 45 percent figured out the right course of action.
This was no better than the control group, according to the study, published in the Nature Medicine journal.

Communication breakdown

The researchers pointed out the disparity between these disappointing results and how AI chatbots score extremely highly on medical benchmarks and exams, blaming the gap on a communication breakdown.
Unlike the simulated patient interactions often used to test AI, the real humans often did not give the chatbots all the relevant information. 
And sometimes the humans struggled to interpret the options offered by the chatbot, or misunderstood or simply ignored its advice.
One out of every six US adults ask AI chatbots about health information at least once a month, the researchers said, with that number expected to increase as more people adopt the new technology.
"This is a very important study as it highlights the real medical risks posed to the public by chatbots," David Shaw, a bioethicist at Maastricht University in the Netherlands who was not involved in the research, told AFP.
He advised people to only trust medical information from reliable sources, such as the UK's National Health Service.
dl/sbk

labor

Some striking NY nurses reach deal with employers

  • On strike since January 12, the 10,500 nurses at New York's Montefiore and Mount Sinai private hospital groups will vote on ratifying the deal and return to work this week, the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) said in a statement.
  • More than 10,000 striking New York nurses reached a deal with their hospital employers that will increase salaries by more than 12 percent over three years, the nursing union said Monday.
  • On strike since January 12, the 10,500 nurses at New York's Montefiore and Mount Sinai private hospital groups will vote on ratifying the deal and return to work this week, the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) said in a statement.
More than 10,000 striking New York nurses reached a deal with their hospital employers that will increase salaries by more than 12 percent over three years, the nursing union said Monday.
On strike since January 12, the 10,500 nurses at New York's Montefiore and Mount Sinai private hospital groups will vote on ratifying the deal and return to work this week, the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) said in a statement.
As well as pay increases, the new deal contains protections against the use of AI in the workplace, as well as for trans and immigrant nurses and patients. 
Some 4,200 nurses on strike at New York-Presbyterian are not covered by the deal and will stay on the picket line.
The association had said it was the largest strike by nurses in the city's history.
The hospital groups involved had discharged or transferred a number of patients, canceled some surgeries and drafted in temporary staff in response to the industrial action.
NYSNA President Nancy Hagans said that "for four weeks, nearly 15,000 NYSNA members held the line in the cold and in the snow for safe patient care." 
"Now, nurses at Montefiore and Mount Sinai systems are heading back to the bedside with our heads held high after winning fair tentative contracts that maintain enforceable safe staffing ratios, improve protections from workplace violence, and maintain health benefits with no additional out-of-pocket costs for frontline nurses."
gw/msp

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