Lancet

Kristin Moberg Aakre

After a series of senior departures from NHS England, the UK Prime Minister has caused shockwaves by abolishing the body entirely. Jacqui Thornton reports.

German drugmaker Grünenthal pushed its latest opioid as a safer option. People around the world got hooked. Madlen Davies, Hristio Boytchev, and Rafael Cabrera report.

Why would John Green, a best-selling American novelist, write a book about tuberculosis? The answer can be found in his new book Everything is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection. In this highly readable book, Green writes about how he saw first-hand and learnt that “tuberculosis is both a form and expression of injustice”, and decided to do something about it. The book focuses on the story of Henry Reider, a young tuberculosis patient in Sierra Leone, and his journey to recover from drug-resistant tuberculosis.

“Girls' bodies were fair game”, Sarah Moss writes. “You all knew which were the gropey dads…whom you shouldn't visit when the grandfather was there.” The teenage girls protected each other, she says, until they could not. “Jen's dad's got Cathy in the spare room and we can't get in. Be quiet, Suzy's dad said, the man's a doctor, you could ruin his career saying things like that.” Moss is well admired as a writer of fiction and non-fiction, but My Good Bright Wolf: A Memoir is distinct. Born in Glasgow and brought up in England, the book explores her early life and its adult repercussions.

Former President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and defender of sexual and reproductive health and rights. Born on July 15, 1957, in Waco, TX, USA, she died from glioblastoma in New York City, NY, USA, on Jan 20, 2025, aged 67 years.

Bretherton CP, Achten J, Jogarah V, et al. Early versus delayed weight-bearing following operatively treated ankle fracture (WAX): a non-inferiority, multicentre, randomised controlled trial. Lancet 2024; 403: 2787–97—In this Article, the spelling of author Henry Claireaux's name has been corrected. This correction has been made to the online version as of March 20, 2025

Almost 40 years ago, the discovery of the vasoactive neuropeptide calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and its role in migraine pathophysiology ushered in a new era in migraine treatment. Since 2018, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) targeting the CGRP pathway are available for migraine prevention. The approval of these drugs marks a pioneering development, as they are the first pharmacological agents specifically tailored for migraine prevention. Introduction of these agents contrasts the historical reliance on traditional preventive medications initially formulated for other indications and later repurposed for migraine therapy.

The recent outbreak of Guillain–Barré syndrome in Pune (India) has become a matter of increasing national concern and has warranted the involvement of international agencies.1 As of March 8, 2025, the total number of Guillain–Barré syndrome cases in Pune was 225, with 197 confirmed diagnoses and 28 suspected cases, and can be considered as one of the largest Guillain–Barré syndrome outbreaks.2,3 The death toll has risen to 23 people in India, and Pune continues to be the worst affected with 11 deaths from Guillain–Barré syndrome.

Traditional solid fuels, such as coal and biomass, continue to be widely used to meet daily cooking energy needs, with particularly widespread consumption persisting in many low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs).1 Incomplete burning of these solid fuels yields various hazardous particles that pollute ambient and indoor air.2 Prolonged indoor exposure to household air pollution (HAP) substantially elevates the risk of developing severe respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, such as lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and ischaemic heart disease.

Although the burden attributable to HAP has decreased considerably, HAP remains a substantial risk factor, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. Our comprehensive estimates of HAP exposure and attributable burden offer a robust and reliable resource for health policy makers and practitioners to precisely target and tailor health interventions. Given the persistent and substantial impact of HAP in many regions and countries, it is imperative to accelerate efforts to transition under-resourced communities to cleaner household energy sources.

“During medical school, I came across a professor who introduced me to research—up until that point, I was content with being an excellent clinician, but that was the moment when I realised that I was missing out on making a larger impact on the population at large”, recalls Assistant Professor Aliasgar Esmail, Pulmonologist at the Groote Schuur Hospital and Deputy Head of the Centre for Lung Infection and Immunity at the University of Cape Town (UCT) Lung Institute in South Africa. As one of two recipients of the 2024 Stephen Lawn TB-HIV Research Leadership Prize, Esmail felt “so overwhelmed and humbled” to have received the award.

“I think what I've really wanted to do since I was a teenager was work on HIV and TB, and conditions that affected people who were disproportionately poor and vulnerable. And research was a nice way into that, but—the purpose of what the research was for, that came before the methods, was justice and solidarity, and a conviction that everybody matters. That was really, genuinely important. That's how I ended up in public health”, says Rachael Burke, joint winner of the 2024 Stephen Lawn TB-HIV Research Leadership Prize.

As Justin Trudeau steps down after a decade as leader of Canada's ruling Liberal Party, Canadians face a pivotal moment. Although attention is focused on trade tariffs and souring relations with the USA, there are important health dimensions to Canada's political transition. Trudeau leaves behind a legacy of initiatives, including the Canada Child Benefit, climate change initiatives through the Pan-Canadian Framework, a National Housing Strategy, legalisation of cannabis, the Early Learning and Child Care plan, and the Canadian Dental Care Plan—which has already benefited 1·5 million Canadians—and passed a universal pharmacare plan to institute publicly funded coverage for medications.

The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 on oral conditions represents a landmark moment for the community.1 For the first time, a comprehensive analysis of the global, regional, and national burden of oral diseases has been published in The Lancet. Previously confined to dental research journals, this broader platform underscores the increasing significance of oral diseases in global health.

President Subianto's ambitious plan of health checks for all is one of Indonesia's biggest ever health initiatives, but not everyone is convinced it will have the desired effect. Chris McCall reports.

Many Indians are exposed to silica dust, but experts and patients lament the lack of information and health services related to silicosis. Sophie Cousins reports from West Bengal.

Shirin Heidari, the Executive Director of GENDRO and Senior Researcher at the Gender Centre, Geneva Graduate Institute in Switzerland, was born in Tehran 6 years before the 1979 Iranian revolution. Coming from a family with “many strong women as role models, and always a sense of activism”, the revolution, which “resulted in a regime oppressing women, men, as well as any dissidents, followed by political oppression and war”, left her with “a very strong distaste for injustice”, and a profound awareness, “very early on”, of the devastating impacts of “a lack of rights, and the lack of a justice system”.

As a clinician, educator, and emotion researcher, I have long believed that our efforts to optimise the wellbeing of health-care professionals are doomed if we cannot talk openly about the emotional and psychological experience of practising medicine. Hidden behind the more observable forms of distress we can measure, such as burnout, are unpleasant, complex, and entirely human experiences, such as feeling insecure or unlikeable, needing validation, experiencing shame or self-doubt, and wanting to feel loved and accepted.

The Sainsbury Centre is an art museum situated on the University of East Anglia campus near Norwich, UK. Its Living Area—a calm, expansive exhibition space in a hanger-like, purpose-built, Norman Foster designed building—hosts a diverse permanent art collection, including works by modern artists such as Francis Bacon and Henry Moore, alongside historical objects from across the globe. This impressive core collection was donated by British businessman, philanthropist, and supermarket heir Sir Robert Sainsbury and his wife Lady Lisa Sainsbury.