#post-covid

#post-covid

66% of internet users live where political or social sites are blocked, and 78% are in countries where people have been arrested for online posts. New social media regulations have emerged in dozens of countries in the past year alone.

"Asia has more diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular patients than anywhere else in the world," Abrar Mir states, emphasizing the severity of the health crisis in the region.

The Vermont Labor Relations Board has ordered that Gov. Phil Scott's administration 'rescind' a controversial requirement that state employees return to their physical offices three days per week. The board stated that the state has 'refused to bargain in good faith and interfered with employees' exercise of rights' in requiring in-person work.

Between March 2020 and March 2022, over 100 million telemedicine services were delivered to approximately 17 million Australians. The Australian government invested $409 million to make telehealth permanent, whilst the UK announced £600 million for digital health infrastructure in April 2025. Patient adoption is equally impressive: 60% find telemedicine more convenient than in-person appointments, 55% report higher satisfaction with teleconsultations, and 74% of millennials prefer virtual appointments for routine care. These aren't temporary shifts; they represent a fundamental transformation in healthcare delivery.

In fact, there are science-backed practices we can adopt to improve our adaptability, and the benefits go far beyond our careers. In practical terms, adaptability is being able to regulate and adjust your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors amid changing circumstances while staying aligned with your values and long‑term goals. True adaptability is not passive compliance: it's conscious ongoing calibration. Research links adaptability with higher life satisfaction and lower stress, especially when you add a sense of agency and social support.

Across practitioner reports and peer-reviewed research, including a new report from the Institute for Corporate Productivity, organizations that commit to highly flexible models, including remote-first, report strong output, healthier engagement, and faster growth than mandate-driven peers.

Perhaps the most significant milestone was the adoption by WHO Member States of the Pandemic Agreement, a landmark step towards making the world safer from future pandemics. Alongside this, amendments to the International Health Regulations came into force, including a new pandemic emergency alert level designed to trigger stronger global cooperation. And to sustainably finance the WHO's work, governments in a historic show of support increased their contributions to our core budget.

Has your resilience ever been fractured? Do you yearn to express solidarity in a pragmatic way? Have you signed an MOU? (Or even heard of an MOU?) These sentences contain some of the buzzwords likely to be relevant in the world of global health and development in 2026 according to our informal survey of 20 experts who work in the field.