4 d. ago White House proposes eliminating Head Start funding as part of sweeping budget cuts

The Trump administration is asking Congress to eliminate the Head Start program, a move that would cut early education for some of the nation’s neediest children as part of drastic proposed cuts to federal health funding

Economics

7 d. ago Trump memo outlines plan to slash US state department budget in half

Cuts would mean dramatic decreases in funding for humanitarian aid, global health and international groupsThe Trump administration is reportedly proposing to slash the state department budget by nearly half in a move that could drastically reduce US international spending and end its funding for Nato and the United Nations, according to an internal memorandum.The memo based on spending cuts devised by the White House office of management and budget envisions the total budget of the state department and USAID, the main foreign assistance body which has been largely dismantled by Elon Musk’s “department of government efficiency”, or Doge, being reduced to $28.4bn, a reduction of $27bn or 48% from what Congress approved for 2025. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago £200,000 awarded to 12 health projects across Great Britain thanks to players of The Health Lottery

Community health and wellbeing projects across Scotland and further afield will share £200,000 in funding, made possible thanks to players of The Health Lottery. Since launch, The Health Lottery has helped raise over £134 million for local good causes, supporting over 3,550 projects.

Economics

9 d. ago Tuberculosis could end if there’s more US public health funding, experts say

Resurgence could be on horizon as outbreaks pick up speed in US and abroad amid public health program cutsAs tuberculosis outbreaks pick up speed in the US and abroad amid deep cuts in funding for local, state and international public health programs, a resurgence of the deadliest infectious disease – including drug-resistant tuberculosis – could be on the horizon.Increasing funding for public health responses could end tuberculosis (TB) altogether, says James Brookes, an IT specialist from Idaho, who told this to his representatives in Congress on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Science

1 week ago ‘Some of these diseases are in the Bible’: despair as cuts halt progress on age

They are debilitating afflictions that people don’t know about, don’t understand and struggle to pronounce. Now health workers fear they will surge in Africa as USAID-funded drug distribution programmes are cutSince 2013, for around two weeks each year, Sulaiman Tarawallie has pulled on his community drug distributor (CDD) uniform and gone from household to household in his remote farming community to hand out medication to fight river blindness and lymphatic filariasis. Once he has completed the rounds of his village, he heads further out to take the drugs to even more remote homes – keeping the diseases that had plagued generations at bay with a handful of pills.But this year, Tarawallie, who works as a community health worker and primary school teacher in Sierra Leone’s northern Bombali district, will not be making his annual trip. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago US health secretary and agency sued by 23 states and DC over $11bn funding cut

Lawsuit alleges department’s ending of wide array of grants is ‘unlawful’ and poses ‘serious harm to public health’Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia are suing the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, alleging the abrupt terminations of $11bn in public health funding were “harmful” and “unlawful”.The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Rhode Island, says that in March 2025, HHS unexpectedly ended a wide array of grants supporting immunizations, infectious disease tracking, mental health and substance abuse services. The federal government justified the cuts by claiming that the funds were “no longer necessary” because their “limited purpose” had ended along with the Covid-19 pandemic. Continue reading...

Society

2 w. ago Scientists sue NIH, saying politics cut their research funding

A group of scientists and health groups sued the National Institutes of Health on Wednesday, arguing that an “ideological purge” of research funding is illegal and threatens medical cures

Politics

2 w. ago Trump and Musk have ushered in a terrible era of cataclysm capitalism. But I have a plan to counter it | Julia Steinberger

The speed with which US democracy is being dismantled is dizzying, but if we organise resistance now we can stop thisEverything is moving too fast. The Trump-Musk administration is tearing through US government, universities and health organisations, firing tens of thousands of employees, eliminating billons in funding. The scope and speed of the attack is dizzying. It is almost impossible to keep up with the ongoing destruction, let alone to organise the resistance. None of this is accidental.We need to understand the origins of the Trump blitzkrieg to counter it in the US and prevent it from spreading abroad. The speed of the attack can be traced to Trump strategist and “accelerationist” Steve Bannon, and aligns with his information warfare tactic to “flood the zone” to confuse, disengage and disorient. Whether on climate or Covid, rumours, lies and conspiracy theories create a chaotic cacophony, leaving the public disoriented, fearful and prey to oversimple Trumpist messages: bla...

Politics

2 w. ago Trump administration sued over decision to rescind billions in health funding

Attorneys general from 23 states and the District of Columbia are suing the Trump administration for its decision to claw back $12 billion that went to public health departments for COVID-19 efforts and addiction and mental health programs

Politics

3 w. ago Trump makes sweeping HIV research and grant cuts: ‘setting us back decades’

Trump administration’s slashes to prevention and access expansion likely to erode progress on eliminating epidemicThe federal government has cancelled dozens of grants to study how to prevent new HIV infections and expand access to care, decimating progress toward eliminating the epidemic in the United States, scientists say.Over the last month, more than 300 research projects funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have been terminated – 65 of them were specifically related to researching advancements in HIV care. Some scientists were notified about losing funding as recently as last Thursday. NIH, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, is the largest funding source of medical research in the world, leaving many scientists scrambling to figure out how to continue their work. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Pharmacies to provide more frontline health services after £3bn funding boost

After a year of negotiations between pharmacies and Tory and Labour governments, health minister Stephen Kinnock described the new deal as an important step in fixing ‘a broken pharmacy sector’

Economics

3 w. ago £3m of mental health funding announced to support steelworkers

The funding will help steelworkers and their families in Port Talbot who are affected by Tata Steel's transition to greener steelmaking

Economics

3 w. ago Trump administration at ‘war’ with mRNA technology: scientists alarmed vaccine skeptics could kill research

Public health experts are sounding the alarm over recent move by the NIH to collect information about funding for research into mRNA technologyA cutting-edge technology expected to foster new medical breakthroughs in treatments for cancers and infectious disease is being treated “like a four-letter word” inside the Trump administration, causing panic among scientists who fear Trump-appointed health officials, driven by misinformation and conspiracy theories about the Covid-19 vaccine, will cut critical research in the field.Scientists and public health experts interviewed by the Guardian are sounding the alarm over a recent move by the National Institutes of Health to collect information about funding for research into mRNA technology. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Trump administration to cut vaccine aid to developing countries

Administration plans to end funding to Gavi, a global health organization that helps provide life-saving care for childrenThe Trump administration is planning to end funding for Gavi, a global health organization that helps provide vaccines and other life-saving care to developing countries.A 281-page spreadsheet obtained by the New York Times lists the Trump administration’s plans for thousands of foreign aid programs, including financial cuts to the organization that buys vaccines for children, as well as scaling back on programs that combat malaria in developing countries. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Donald Trump’s ‘war on woke’ is fast becoming a war on science. That’s incredibly dangerous | Christina Pagel

Contrary to claims by the US president, we have found that diversity initiatives result in better scientists and greater progressChristina Pagel is a member of Independent SageDonald Trump’s attacks on diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) initiatives since his January inauguration have been intense, indiscriminate and escalating. A tragic plane crash was baselessly blamed on DEI. All DEI programmes within public bodies have been ended and private contractors face cancellation if they also don’t comply. Webpages that defend religious diversity in the context of Holocaust remembrance have been taken down.Science and academia have been particularly targeted. Universities are threatened with losing federal funding if they support DEI. Government reports and government-funded research are being held back if they include prohibited terms such as “gender”, “pregnant person”, “women”, “elderly”, or “disabled”. Grants funded by the National Institutes of Health are being cancelled if they...

Politics

3 w. ago Trump administration says it will pull back billions in COVID funding from local health departments

Federal health officials said Tuesday they are pulling back $11.4 billion in COVID-19-related funds for local public health departments and other health organizations throughout the nation

Science

4 w. ago John Swinney warns Chancellor's spending cuts poised to be 'very damaging' for Scotland's NHS

The First Minister has issued a warning about cuts at Westminster impacting on health and public services funding in Scotland.

Events

4 w. ago NHS plan will see funds allocated to social care, Health Secretary says

Wes Streeting suggested he will increase NHS spending on social care but did not say by how much.

Society