People with obesity 70% more likely to be hospitalised by or die from infection, study finds

People living with obesity are 70% more likely to be hospitalised by or die from an infection, with one in 10 infection-related deaths globally linked to the condition, research suggests.Being an unhealthy weight significantly increases the risk of severe illness and death from most infectious diseases, including flu, pneumonia, gastroenteritis, urinary tract infections and Covid-19, according to a study of more than 500,000 people.Obesity may already be a factor in as many as 600,000 of 5.4 million deaths (11%) from infectious diseases every year, researchers found.The study’s first author, Dr Solja Nyberg, of the University of Helsinki, said the problem could worsen

Government’s top welfare official to step down

The government’s top welfare official is to step down after weeks of fierce criticism of his department’s handling of a longstanding benefits failure that plunged thousands into debt and became known as the carer’s allowance scandal.Sir Peter Schofield, the permanent secretary at the Department for Work and Pensions, announced to staff on Monday that he is to step down in July for personal reasons.The DWP has come under increasing scrutiny since a Guardian investigation revealed leadership shortcomings unfairly landed thousands of unpaid carers with hefty bills – and in some cases fraud convictions – for carer’s allowance overpayments.The impact on carers caused public outrage and was likened to the Post Office scandal. Some carers reported suicidal thoughts after they were caught up in a system one described as like being “at the whim of a faceless machine”

Almost 70% of NHS areas in England offer only one cycle of IVF, data shows

Millions of women in England are able to access only one round of IVF on the NHS because of health authority cutbacks and in contravention of official policy, research from a fertility charity has shown.Nearly 70% of local areas fund just one cycle for women under 40 who have been unable to conceive for two years, rather than the three full cycles they should be offered in line with official guidance, according to data collected by the Progress Educational Trust (PET).Twenty-nine of the 42 integrated care boards (ICBs), which control NHS budgets locally, now offer only the one round, after four reduced access in the past year.Sarah Norcross, the director of PET, said the impact was “devastating” for those couples who were struggling with infertility.“Infertility is already incredibly stressful for people, and it puts them under even more pressure, because there is so much riding on whether that one NHS-funded cycle is going to work

A new town for the 21st century? Seven-village build to begin after 20-year journey

After two decades of legal wrangling and planning bottlenecks, the first bricks will finally be laid on a project being hailed by developers as the blueprint for the future of community building in Britain.Gilston in east Hertfordshire will be transformed into a network of seven interconnected villages, comprising 10,000 new homes nestled within a sprawling 660-hectare (1,630-acre) landscape of country parks and woodland.Greg Reed, the chief executive of Places for People (PfP), the social enterprise leading the development, said the timeline of the project served as a reminder of the sluggishness of the UK planning system.“PfP’s journey with Gilston started at the same time my 20-year-old son was born,” Reed says. “I was thinking about all the things that have happened in his life … and it’s a bit depressing

England’s poorest areas have 70% more vape shops and bookmakers than wealthier ones

England’s poorest communities have 70% more vape shops, off-licences and bookmakers than wealthier ones and far fewer cafes and gyms, a study has found.The Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods (Icon), chaired by the Labour peer Hilary Armstrong, said ministers risked overlooking vitally important neighbourhood shopping precincts by focusing on town centres. In deprived areas, local shops have roughly double the number of retailers selling unhealthy food and significantly higher vacancy rates, its research has found.Tackling Britain’s struggling high streets is one of the main missions of Keir Starmer’s government. In a speech last week – overshadowed by the Peter Mandelson scandal – the prime minister announced an expansion of the £5bn “pride in place” programme of investing in 284 areas across the UK

Synthetic opioids may have caused hundreds more UK deaths than thought

Deaths caused by a synthetic opioid that is hundreds of times stronger than heroin may have been underestimated by up to a third across the UK, according to research.Nitazenes are a class of synthetic opioids that are extremely potent, and up to 500 times stronger than heroin. They were manufactured originally as a painkiller in the 1950s but their development was halted due to their extreme potencies resulting in a high risk of addiction.In 2024, the National Crime Agency (NCA) reported that 333 fatalities across the UK were linked to the drug. However, researchers at King’s College London say that the true number of deaths may have been underreported, due to concerns that samples of the drug are likely being missed in postmortem toxicology tests