Health

World Health Organization member states gather for their annual meeting in Geneva Monday amid concern over deadly hantavirus and Ebola outbreaks and uncertainty over announced US and Argentinian withdrawals. While the rare hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship that has gripped global attention is not officially on the agenda, it is expected to feature prominently in the discussions, as is ...

Bangladesh has been featured in a newly published report in recognition of its progress towards eliminating cervical cancer. The Commonwealth Secretariat unveiled the report titled “Compendium of Case Studies on Cervical Cancer Elimination” at the inaugural Commonwealth Health Coordination Forum 2026 held in Geneva. The report commended Bangladesh for launching a nationwide single-dose Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination campaign aimed at ...

Measles cases are beginning to decline in 30 upazilas under 18 districts identified as hotspots due to the government’s accelerated drive to contain the spread of measles infection. In most of these upazilas, the daily number of measles cases has dropped to below double digits, relevant sources said. According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), measles infections among ...

Some people think we are odd for swimming in the Thames. “Isn’t it cold?” they ask with a shiver, like they are the ones who just took the plunge. Er, yes, that’s the whole point. Cold water ignites the central nervous system and reboots the mind. “Isn’t it dirty?” they ask. Yes, sometimes, particularly when it’s rained. Then we don’t ...

The total death toll of children from measles and related complications hit 351 on Friday morning, with 12 new fatalities reported in the previous 24 hours. Four of the child fatalities were caused by confirmed measles cases, and eight others by suspected measles infections. During 8am Thursday-8am Friday, 111 other children were infected with confirmed measles cases, and 1,192 children ...

The government has approved the establishment of a public medical college in the northern district of Thakurgaon. The health ministry’s Medical Education and Family Welfare Division announced the decision on Wednesday. With the latest move, the number of government medical colleges in Bangladesh has risen to 38. The country also has five medical universities offering higher studies in medical science.

The board of Britain’s largest private hospital operator has backed a buyout proposal worth £1bn from its second biggest shareholder, a hedge fund manager known as “the Rottweiler”, sending its shares soaring by nearly 50%. Spire Healthcare, which owns the Claremont hospital in Sheffield and St Anthony’s hospital in south London, said it had received a non-binding proposal worth 250p ...

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) organised a seminar on Thursday at Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Center in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area of the capital. The seminar focused on “The Project for Capacity Building of Nursing Services Phase 2 (CBNS-II)”, a technical cooperation initiative of the ministry and the multilateral donor agency, ...

Chinese organisation Sinovac Biotech, through the Sinovac Foundation, donated 380,000 doses of WHO pre-qualified polio vaccine to Bangladesh to support the government’s immunisation programme and strengthen its Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) activities. Health Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain formally received the vaccine doses at a ceremony held at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare conference room at the ...

Clinical assessments and testing of passengers who were on board the MV Hondius are “well under way” at a Merseyside hospital after they were evacuated from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship, health officials have said. The passengers – which include 20 British nationals, a German national who is a UK resident and a Japanese passenger – are more than 24 hours ...