#wartime-healthcare

#wartime-healthcare

"It really works, and I think it would work in other wars," said Rina Reznik, a medic from eastern Ukraine. She studied neurobiology at university, and currently serves as the head of medical supplies in the Azov Brigade. "It's cutting-edge technology."

Hibuki, the stuffed animal dog, allows children to project their feelings, helping them to express emotions like sadness and anxiety. The child becomes the caretaker of the dog, which facilitates self-soothing.

Resident doctors and interns at the Children's Medical Center have been pooling their own money with some donations to organise activities for the children suffering from underlying health conditions.

Risks of outbreaks with pandemic potential rise with increasing land-use change, biodiversity loss and climate change. The Pandemic Agreement adopted by the World Health Assembly in 2025 marks a historic shift that establishes the One Health approach as a legally binding obligation for pandemic prevention.

Healthcare systems coped with the pandemic, but only just. On a number of occasions, they teetered on the brink of collapse and only coped thanks to the almost superhuman efforts of healthcare workers and all the staff who support them. Workers carried the burden of caring for the sick in unprecedented numbers. They were obliged to work under intolerable pressure for months on end.

NATO countries' restrained response to hybrid attacks is at odds with public opinion, new polling shows: Broad swaths of the public in key allied countries say actions such as cyberattacks on hospitals should be considered acts of war. The POLITICO Poll, conducted in the United States, Canada, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, showed a majority of people agreed that a cyberattack that shuts down hospitals or power grids constitutes an act of war. Canadians felt the strongest about the issue, with 73 percent agreeing.

Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the strike, claiming Pakistan was targeting hospitals and civilian sites to perpetrate horrors. He emphasised that those killed were innocent civilians and addicts. We strongly condemn this crime and consider such an act to be against all accepted principles and a crime against humanity.

Each day, they pore over reams of data about how the virus is evolving worldwide, how well last year's shot performed, and which strains might be easiest to mass produce for a vaccine. The meeting, convened by the World Health Organization twice a year, is a critical moment for the WHO's Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System.

There was a collective fear that we're under attack — there are people on the streets of London trying to kill our fellow Londoners. On the day itself, Hettiaratchy was in charge and had to think practically and methodically: This is patient A, patient B, patient C; what are the injuries, what needs to happen, what needs to go on?

"Hello, how are you doing? Good to see you," says Honor Cousens, as she pushes a trolley loaded with cold drinks, sweets, biscuits, toiletries, newspapers and magazines. The volunteer at the Royal London Hospital is a familiar face on the wards, and has been supporting staff and patients for many years. She is part of the Friends of the Royal London Hospital, a charity that has been running at the Whitechapel site since 1979.

Speaking from working right now in the middle of our flu season, where we haven't been able to handle a surge in acute care need anywhere in Canada it seems, I would be concerned going forward about having a surge in need for hospital resources, said Varner, CMAJ's deputy editor and an emergency doctor in downtown Toronto, in an interview with CBC News.

In the full glare of the world's media spotlight, Israel has been conducting its genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza while the mass killing of civilians in Sudan has not stopped since the outbreak of that country's war in 2023. Violence is ongoing elsewhere from Myanmar's civil war to conflict in Nigeria. Drone attacks targeting noncombatants have become commonplace in Ukraine while massacres of civilians across multiple conflicts continue, including in Ethiopia, Haiti, Myanmar, Yemen all with apparent impunity.

Now, in a twist to the age-old story that even the writing room of "Grey's Anatomy" couldn't have come up with, a man in France was rushed to the operating room after staffers at the Rangueil Hospital in Toulouse found out he had shoved a 37mm brass-and-copper "collectible shell" that was used by the Imperial German Army during World War 1 up his rectum.

Like thousands of other sick and wounded Palestinians, I am slowly dying, trapped between a devastated health system and a heavily restricted border. As I write these lines, I am receiving treatment at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City for kidney disease. Actually, I don't know whether what I am receiving can actually be termed treatment or if it is only an attempt to postpone the inevitable.

The evacuation of Palestinian patients and wounded via the Rafah crossing has been suspended for today, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has told Al Jazeera, adding that Israel informed the organisation about the move on Wednesday morning. Unfortunately, a few minutes ago, we were informed that the evacuation process of today has been cancelled, Raed al-Nims told Al Jazeera from Khan Younis in Gaza.

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In 2025, the administration of US President Donald Trump ordered the US Agency for International Development to be closed; this year, it withdrew the country from 66 international organizations. Other Western nations that are plagued with high levels of debt and pressure to prioritize domestic challenges have slashed their foreign aid, too. According to projections, official development assistance dropped by 9-17% in 2025, amounting to some US$55 billion.

Rising demand for services has led an NHS trust serving Suffolk and Essex to declare a critical incident. East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust told the BBC it was facing "significant pressure", including hospitals in Ipswich and Colchester. Earlier this month, the NHS reported a rise in flu and other winter viruses after Christmas. The trust has encouraged people to seek help from pharmacists or use NHS 111 where appropriate.

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.

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.