Controversial US study on hepatitis B vaccines in Africa is cancelled

The controversial US-funded study on hepatitis B vaccines among newborns in Guinea-Bissau has been halted, according to Yap Boum, a senior official at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).“The study has been cancelled,” Boum told journalists at a press conference on Thursday morning.The $1.6m study, funded under the purview of Robert F Kennedy Jr, a longtime vaccine skeptic and the secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) , drew outrage and criticism over ethical questions about withholding vaccines proven to prevent hepatitis B in a country with a very high burden of the disease.“It’s of importance for Africa CDC to have evidence that can be translated in policy, but this has to be done within the norm

‘Name and shame’ plans for community sentences in England and Wales ditched

Ministers have dropped plans to photograph, name and shame offenders ordered to complete unpaid community work in England and Wales in the latest U-turn by Labour.The plans, first disclosed by the Guardian, would have meant people convicted of minor criminal offences having details of their cases and their community work publicised on government websites and promoted through local media.But after concerns that the material could be used to humiliate the children of offenders, the Ministry of Justice has accepted an amendment to the sentencing bill that will remove the right to publish offenders’ names and photographs.Keir Starmer is facing criticism from his own backbenchers for a series of policy reversals amid deepening unpopularity.Offenders can be sentenced to an “unpaid work requirement” under community orders and suspended sentence orders

Guardian’s Hope appeal raises more than £1m for charities opposing hatred

The Guardian has raised more than £1m in its Hope appeal to support grassroots charities whose work offers a positive antidote to social division, racism and hatred.The appeal, which closed on Thursday, had five partner charities that will share the donations: Citizens UK, the Linking Network, Locality, Hope Unlimited Charitable Trust and Who Is Your Neighbour?Katharine Viner, the Guardian’s editor in chief, said: “The theme of this year’s Guardian charity appeal was hope, supporting fantastic projects that foster community, tolerance and empathy.“Over the past year our reporting has captured the increased alarm most of us feel over the return of 1970s-style racist abuse, the demonisation of refugees and the resurgence of far-right marches in Britain’s streets.“I’m delighted that Guardian readers responded with such generosity, warmth and solidarity. Your donations will make a positive difference, sending a clear message about standing up to hate and bringing people together

NHS limiting ADHD assessments to save money despite soaring demand

The NHS is restricting people’s ability to be assessed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in order to save money but not telling GPs or patients, despite soaring demand for the service.More than half of the NHS’s 42 integrated care boards (ICBs) in England have imposed limits on how many people can be assessed for ADHD during 2025-26, freedom of information responses show.Of the 22 ICBs who have imposed limits, 13 had not told GPs and 12 had not informed patients awaiting an ADHD assessment.The charity ADHD UK, which obtained the figures, said the NHS’s lack of communication showed it was trying to hide that “cruel” curbs on assessment were being widely used to help it cope with a squeeze on its budget.Henry Shelford, ADHD UK’s chief executive, said: “Waiting times for assessments are already horrendously long and it’s shocking to see how the NHS is further rationing people’s care to save money

NHS corridor care is ‘torture’ leading to patient deaths and staff nightmares

Corridor care is “a type of torture” that is leading to patients dying and causing NHS staff to have nightmares, the UK’s nurses union has warned.In one case, an elderly patient choked to death in a corridor, unseen by staff, according to a new dossier of evidence highlighting the problem published by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).Demand for care is so intense that hospitals are having to turn dining rooms, staff kitchens and rooms for viewing deceased people into overspill care areas, the RCN reveals.Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has pledged to end the use of corridor care in England by 2029, if not sooner. However, NHS staff groups are sceptical that he can fulfil that promise, given that many hospitals are overloaded so often, and not just during the winter

Maternal death rate in UK rose by 20% over 14 years despite Tory pledge

The rate of women dying during or soon after pregnancy in the UK has increased by 20% over the last decade, despite the Conservatives having pledged to halve it, according to figures experts have described as “an absolute tragedy”.In 2015, the then Tory health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, vowed to reduce maternal deaths by 50% by 2030 and make the NHS “one of the safest places in the world to have a baby”. In 2017, he brought the date forward to 2025.However, figures from MBRRACE-UK, a research project led by the University of Oxford, show the rate of women dying during the Conservatives’ 14 years in government went up, not down.Health leaders and campaigners said the 20% increase between 2009-11 and 2022-24 was shocking and showed something had clearly “gone badly wrong”