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Category: Health

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Data on sexual orientation and gender is critical to public health – without it, health crises continue unnoticed

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By John R. Blosnich, Associate Professor of Social Work, University of Southern California

    As part of the Trump administration’s efforts aimed at stopping diversity, equity and inclusion, the government has been restricting how it monitors public health. Along with cuts to federally funded research, the administration has targeted public health efforts to gather information about sexual orientation and gender identity.

    In the early days of the second Trump administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention took down data and documents that included sexual orientation and gender identity from its webpages. For example, data codebooks for the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System were replaced with versions that deleted gender identity variables. The Trump administration also ordered the CDC to delete gender identity from the National Violent Death Reporting System, the world’s largest database for informing prevention of homicide and suicide deaths.

    For many people, sexual orientation and gender identity may seem private and personal. So why is personal information necessary for public health?

    Decades of research have shown that health problems affect some groups more than others. As someone who has studied differences in health outcomes for over 15 years, I know that one of the largest health disparities for LGBTQ+ people is suicide risk. Without data on sexual orientation and gender identity, public health cannot do the work to sound the alarm on and address issues that affect not just specific communities, but society as a whole.

    Clinicians are concerned about the purging of health data that is essential to patient care.

    Alarms and benchmarks

    Health is determined by the interplay of several factors, including a person’s genetics, environment and personal life. Of these types of health information, data on personal lives can be the most difficult to collect because researchers must rely on people to voluntarily share this information with them. But details about people’s everyday lives are critical to understanding their health.

    Consider veteran status. Without information that identifies which Americans are military veterans, the U.S. would never have known that the rate of suicide deaths among veterans is several times higher than that of the general population. Identifying this problem encouraged efforts to reduce suicide among veterans and military service personnel.

    Studying the rates of different conditions occurring in different groups of people is a vital role of public health monitoring. First, rates can set off alarm bells. When people are counted, it becomes easier to pick up a problem that needs to be addressed.

    Second, rates can be a benchmark. Once the extent of a health problem is known, researchers can develop and test interventions. They can then determine if rates of that health problem decreased, stayed the same or increased after the intervention.

    My team reviewed available research on how sexual orientation and gender identity are related to differences in mortality. The results were grim.

    Of the 49 studies we analyzed, the vast majority documented greater rates of death from all causes for LGBTQ+ people compared with people who aren’t LGBTQ+. Results were worse for suicide: Nearly all studies reported that suicide deaths were more frequent among LGBTQ+ people. A great deal of other research supports this finding.

    Without data on sexual orientation and gender identity, these issues are erased.

    Lost data costs everyone

    Higher death rates among LGBTQ+ people affect everyone, not just people in the LGBTQ+ community. And when suicide is a major driver of these death rates, the costs increase.

    There are societal costs. Deaths from suicide result in lost productivity and medical services that cost the U.S. an estimated $484 billion per year. There are also human costs. Research suggests that for every suicide death, about 135 people are directly affected by the loss, experiencing grief, sadness and anger.

    President Donald Trump’s targeting of research on sexual orientation and gender identity comes at a time when more Americans than ever – an estimated 24.4 million adults – identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. That’s more than the entire population of Florida.

    LGBTQ+ people live in every state in the country, where they work as teachers, executives, janitors, nurses, mechanics, artists and every other profession or role that help sustain American communities. LGBTQ+ people are someone’s family members, and they are raising families of their own. LGBTQ+ people also pay taxes to the government, which are partly spent on monitoring the nation’s health.

    Stopping data collection of sexual orientation and gender identity does not protect women, or anyone else, as the Trump administration claims. Rather, it serves to weaken American public health. I believe counting all Americans is the path to a stronger, healthier nation because public health can then do its duty of detecting when a community needs help.

    John R. Blosnich receives funding from the National Institutes of Health. He is affiliated with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), however all time and effort into writing this piece was done outside of his work with the VA. The opinions expressed are those of Dr. Blosnich and do not necessarily represent those of his institution, funders, or any affiliations.

    – ref. Data on sexual orientation and gender is critical to public health – without it, health crises continue unnoticed – https://theconversation.com/data-on-sexual-orientation-and-gender-is-critical-to-public-health-without-it-health-crises-continue-unnoticed-255380

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  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Sleep loss rewires the brain for cravings and weight gain – a neurologist explains the science behind the cycle

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Joanna Fong-Isariyawongse, Associate Professor of Neurology, University of Pittsburgh

    Getting enough sleep is one of the most effective ways to restore metabolic balance in the brain and body. SimpleImages/Moment via Getty Images

    You stayed up too late scrolling through your phone, answering emails or watching just one more episode. The next morning, you feel groggy and irritable. That sugary pastry or greasy breakfast sandwich suddenly looks more appealing than your usual yogurt and berries. By the afternoon, chips or candy from the break room call your name. This isn’t just about willpower. Your brain, short on rest, is nudging you toward quick, high-calorie fixes.

    There is a reason why this cycle repeats itself so predictably. Research shows that insufficient sleep disrupts hunger signals, weakens self-control, impairs glucose metabolism and increases your risk of weight gain. These changes can occur rapidly, even after a single night of poor sleep, and can become more harmful over time if left unaddressed.

    I am a neurologist specializing in sleep science and its impact on health.

    Sleep deprivation affects millions. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than one-third of U.S. adults regularly get less than seven hours of sleep per night. Nearly three-quarters of adolescents fall short of the recommended 8-10 hours sleep during the school week.

    While anyone can suffer from sleep loss, essential workers and first responders, including nurses, firefighters and emergency personnel, are especially vulnerable due to night shifts and rotating schedules. These patterns disrupt the body’s internal clock and are linked to increased cravings, poor eating habits and elevated risks for obesity and metabolic disease. Fortunately, even a few nights of consistent, high-quality sleep can help rebalance key systems and start to reverse some of these effects.

    How sleep deficits disrupt hunger hormones

    Your body regulates hunger through a hormonal feedback loop involving two key hormones.

    Ghrelin, produced primarily in the stomach, signals that you are hungry, while leptin, which is produced in the fat cells, tells your brain that you are full. Even one night of restricted sleep increases the release of ghrelin and decreases leptin, which leads to greater hunger and reduced satisfaction after eating. This shift is driven by changes in how the body regulates hunger and stress. Your brain becomes less responsive to fullness signals, while at the same time ramping up stress hormones that can increase cravings and appetite.

    These changes are not subtle. In controlled lab studies, healthy adults reported increased hunger and stronger cravings for calorie-dense foods after sleeping only four to five hours. The effect worsens with ongoing sleep deficits, which can lead to a chronically elevated appetite.

    Sleep is as important as diet and exercise in maintaining a healthy weight.

    Why the brain shifts into reward mode

    Sleep loss changes how your brain evaluates food.

    Imaging studies show that after just one night of sleep deprivation, the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for decision-making and impulse control, has reduced activity. At the same time, reward-related areas such as the amygdala and the nucleus accumbens, a part of the brain that drives motivation and reward-seeking, become more reactive to tempting food cues.

    In simple terms, your brain becomes more tempted by junk food and less capable of resisting it. Participants in sleep deprivation studies not only rated high-calorie foods as more desirable but were also more likely to choose them, regardless of how hungry they actually felt.

    Your metabolism slows, leading to increased fat storage

    Sleep is also critical for blood sugar control.

    When you’re well rested, your body efficiently uses insulin to move sugar out of your bloodstream and into your cells for energy. But even one night of partial sleep can reduce insulin sensitivity by up to 25%, leaving more sugar circulating in your blood.

    If your body can’t process sugar effectively, it’s more likely to convert it into fat. This contributes to weight gain, especially around the abdomen. Over time, poor sleep is associated with higher risk for Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome, a group of health issues such as high blood pressure, belly fat and high blood sugar that raise the risk for heart disease and diabetes.

    On top of this, sleep loss raises cortisol, your body’s main stress hormone. Elevated cortisol encourages fat storage, especially in the abdominal region, and can further disrupt appetite regulation.

    Sleep is your metabolic reset button

    In a culture that glorifies hustle and late nights, sleep is often treated as optional. But your body doesn’t see it that way. Sleep is not downtime. It is active, essential repair. It is when your brain recalibrates hunger and reward signals, your hormones reset and your metabolism stabilizes.

    Just one or two nights of quality sleep can begin to undo the damage from prior sleep loss and restore your body’s natural balance.

    So the next time you find yourself reaching for junk food after a short night, recognize that your biology is not failing you. It is reacting to stress and fatigue. The most effective way to restore balance isn’t a crash diet or caffeine. It’s sleep.

    Sleep is not a luxury. It is your most powerful tool for appetite control, energy regulation and long-term health.

    Joanna Fong-Isariyawongse does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Sleep loss rewires the brain for cravings and weight gain – a neurologist explains the science behind the cycle – https://theconversation.com/sleep-loss-rewires-the-brain-for-cravings-and-weight-gain-a-neurologist-explains-the-science-behind-the-cycle-255726

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  • MIL-OSI Submissions: When you lose your health insurance, you may also lose your primary doctor – and that hurts your health

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Jane Tavares, Senior Research Fellow and Lecturer of Gerontology, UMass Boston

    Seeing the same doctor on a regular basis is good for your health. Morsa Images/DigitalVision via Getty Images

    When you lose your health insurance or switch to a plan that skimps on preventive care, something critical breaks.

    The connection to your primary care provider, usually a doctor, gets severed. You stop getting routine checkups. Warning signs get missed. Medical problems that could have been caught early become emergencies. And because emergencies are both dangerous and expensive, your health gets worse while your medical bills climb.

    As gerontology researchers who study health and financial well-being in later life, we’ve analyzed how someone’s ties to the health care system strengthen or unravel depending on whether they have insurance coverage. What we’ve found is simple: Staying connected to a trusted doctor keeps you healthier and saves the system money. Breaking that link does just the opposite.

    And that’s exactly what has us worried right now. Members of Congress are debating whether to make major cuts to Medicaid and other social safety net programs. If the Senate passes its own version of the tax-and-spending package that the House approved in May 2025, millions of Americans will soon face exactly this kind of disruption – with big consequences for their health and well-being.

    How people end up uninsured

    Someone can lose their health insurance for a number of reasons. For many Americans, coverage is tied to employment. Being fired, retiring before you turn 65 and become eligible to enroll in the Medicare program, or even getting a new job can mean losing insurance. Others wind up uninsured due to a different array of changes: moving to a different state, getting divorced or aging out of a parent’s plan after their 26th birthday.

    And those who buy their own coverage may find that they can no longer afford the premiums. In 2024, average premiums on the individual market exceeded more than US$600 per month for many adults, even with subsidies.

    Government-sponsored insurance programs can also leave you vulnerable to this predicament. The Senate is currently considering its own version of a tax-and-spending bill the House of Representatives passed in May that would make cuts and changes to Medicaid. If the provisions in the House bill are enacted, millions of Americans who get health insurance through Medicaid – a health insurance program jointly run by the federal government and the states that is mainly for people who have low incomes or disabilities – would lose their coverage, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

    Medicaid was established in the 1960s, explains a scholar of the program’s history.

    Consequences of becoming uninsured

    Health insurance is more than a way to pay medical bills; it’s a doorway into the health care system itself. It connects people to health care providers who come to know their medical history, their medications and their personal circumstances.

    When that door closes, the effects are immediate. Uninsured people are much less likely to have a usual source of care – typically a doctor or another primary care provider or clinic you know and trust. That relationship acts as a foundation for managing chronic conditions, staying current with preventive screenings and getting guidance when new symptoms arise.

    Researchers have found that adults who go uninsured for even six months become significantly more likely to postpone care or forgo it altogether to save money. In practical terms, this means they’re less likely to be examined by someone who knows their medical history and can spot red flags early.

    The Affordable Care Act, the landmark health care law enacted during the Obama administration, made the number of Americans without insurance plummet. The share of people without insurance fell from 16% in 2010 to 7.7% in 2023.

    The people who got insurance coverage, particularly those who were middle age, saw big improvements in their health.

    Researching the results

    In research that looked at data collected from 2014 to 2020, we followed what happened to 12,000 adults who were 50 or older and lived across the nation.

    Our research team analyzed how their experiences changed when they lost, and sometimes later regained, a regular source of care during those six years.

    Many of the participants in this study had multiple chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.

    The results were striking.

    Those who didn’t see the same provider on a regular basis were far less likely to feel heard or respected by health care professionals. They had fewer medical appointments, filled fewer prescriptions and were less likely to follow through with recommended treatments.

    Their health also deteriorated considerably over the six years. Their blood pressure and blood sugar levels rose, and they had more elevated indicators of kidney impairment compared with their counterparts who had regular care providers.

    The longer they went without consistent health care, the worse these clinical markers became.

    Warning signs

    Preventive care is one of the best tools that both patients and their health care providers have to head off major health problems. This care includes screenings like cholesterol and blood pressure checks, mammograms, PAP smears and prostate exams, as well as routine vaccinations. But most people only get preventive care when they stay engaged with the health care system.

    And that’s far more likely when you have stable and comprehensive health insurance coverage.

    Our research team also examined what happened to preventive care based on whether the participants had a regular doctor. We found that those who kept seeing the same providers were almost three times more likely to get basic preventive services than those who did not.

    Over time, these missed preventive care opportunities can add up to a big problem. They can turn what could have been a manageable issue into an emergency room visit or a long, expensive hospital stay.

    For example, imagine a man in his 50s who no longer gets cholesterol screenings after losing insurance coverage. Over several years, his undiagnosed high cholesterol leads to a heart attack that could have been prevented with early medication. Or a woman who skips mammograms because of out-of-pocket costs, only to face a late-stage cancer diagnosis that might have been caught years earlier.

    Waiting too long to deal with a health condition can mean you make a trip to the emergency room, increasing the cost of care for you and others.
    FS Productions/Tetra images via Getty Images

    Shifting the costs

    Patients whose conditions take too long to be diagnosed aren’t the only ones who pay the price.

    We also studied how stable care relationships affect health care spending. To do this, we linked Medicare claims cost data to our original study and tracked the medical costs of the same adults age 50 and older from 2014 to 2020. One of our key findings is that people with regular care providers were 38% less likely to incur above-average health care costs.

    These savings aren’t just for patients – they ripple through the entire health care system. Primary care stability lowers costs for both public and private health insurers and, ultimately, for taxpayers.

    But when people lose their health care coverage, those savings disappear.

    Emergency rooms see more uninsured patients seeking care that could have been handled earlier and more cheaply in a clinic or doctor’s office. While hospitals are legally required to provide emergency care regardless of a patient’s ability to pay, much of the resulting cost goes unreimbursed.

    Hospitals foot the bill for about two-thirds of those losses. They pass the other third along to private insurance companies through higher hospital fees. Those insurers, in turn, raise their customers’ premiums. Larger taxpayer subsidies can then be required to keep hospitals open.

    Seeing Medicaid as a lifeline

    For the nearly 80 million Americans enrolled in Medicaid, the program provides more than coverage.

    It contributes to the health care stability our research shows is critical for good health. Medicaid makes it possible for many Americans with serious medical conditions to have a regular doctor, get routine preventive services and have someone to turn to when symptoms arise – even when they have low incomes. It helps prevent health care from becoming purely crisis-driven.

    As Congress considers cutting Medicaid funding by hundreds of billions of dollars, we believe that lawmakers should realize that scaling back coverage would break the fragile links between millions of patients and the providers who know them best.

    Jane Tavares receives funding from the SCAN Foundation, the RRF Foundation for Aging, and Milbank Memorial Fund .

    Marc Cohen receives funding from the SCAN Foundation, the RRF Foundation for Aging and Milbank Memorial Fund .

    – ref. When you lose your health insurance, you may also lose your primary doctor – and that hurts your health – https://theconversation.com/when-you-lose-your-health-insurance-you-may-also-lose-your-primary-doctor-and-that-hurts-your-health-258380

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  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Public health and private equity: What the Walgreens buyout could mean for the future of pharmacy care

    Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Patrick Aguilar, Professor of Practice of Organizational Behavior, Washington University in St. Louis

    Pharmacies are more than just stores – they’re vital links between people and their health care.

    One of us, Patrick, witnessed this firsthand in 2003 while working as a pharmacy technician at Walgreens in a midsize West Texas town. Each day involved handling hundreds of prescriptions as they moved through the system – meticulously counting pills, deciphering doctors’ handwriting and sorting out confusing insurance issues. The experience revealed that how pharmacies are owned and managed is as much a public health issue as it is a financial one.

    Fast-forward to today, and Walgreens – one of the world’s largest pharmacy chains, which filled nearly 800 million U.S. prescriptions in 2024 – is at a turning point. In March, the company announced it would be acquired by private equity firm Sycamore Partners for US$10 billion, just 10% of its peak market value. That deal takes the storied pharmacy chain off the public market for the first time in nearly 100 years.

    We’re professors who study the intersection of medicine and business, and we think this deal offers a window into the future of pharmacy care. It matters not just to pharmacists but also to the tens of millions of Americans who rely on outlets like Walgreens to meet their everyday health needs.

    The rise and struggles of Walgreens

    A lot has changed in the pharmacy industry since 1901, when Charles R. Walgreen Sr. purchased the Chicago drugstore where he served as a pharmacist. The company went public in 1927, expanded rapidly throughout the 20th century and grew to 8,000 stores by 2013. By 2014, a merger with the European pharmacy chain Alliance Boots made Walgreens one of the largest pharmacy chains in the world.

    More recently, however, the picture for the pharmacy industry hasn’t been so rosy. Labor costs have risen. Front-end retail sales – things like snacks, greeting cards and cosmetics – have fallen. And financial pressures from pharmacy benefit managers – those third-party groups that manage the cost of prescription drug benefits on the behalf of insurers – have grown.

    All of these things have significantly constrained revenues across the industry, leading stores to shutter. Some estimates suggest that as many as one-third of U.S. retail pharmacies have closed since 2010.

    Against that backdrop, Sycamore Partners’ March acquisition of Walgreens raises big questions. What does Sycamore see in this investment, and what might their strategies imply about the future of American pharmacy care?

    Framing the private equity bet

    Private equity firms typically buy companies, streamline their operations and seek to sell them for a profit within five to seven years of the acquisition.

    This growing movement of private equity into the global economy is by no means limited to health care. In 2020, private equity firms employed 11.7 million U.S. workers, or about 7% of the country’s total workforce. The total assets under management by such investors have grown by over 11% annually over the past two decades, a trend that’s expected to continue.

    In looking at Walgreens, Sycamore, like many of these businesses, likely sees an opportunity to buy low, cut costs and improve profitability. One survey of private equity investors found that the most common self-reported sources of value creation in these deals for companies of Sycamore’s size were changing the product and marketing it more robustly to drive demand, changing incentives for those within the business, and facilitating a high-value exit.

    While private owners may have more patience than public markets, critics argue that private equity firms tend to have a short-term focus, looking for quick, predictable services of margin improvement – like, for example, cutting jobs.

    There’s some evidence in favor of that claim. One study found that employment often drops in the years following a private equity buyout. And if the focus shifts to repaying debt or prepping for resale, long-term projects, such as investing in future innovation, can get deprioritized.

    The history of privatized public companies offers a mix of successes and failures. Dell Technologies and hotel chain Hilton are two prominent examples of companies that went private, restructured successfully and came back stronger. In those cases, going private helped management focus without the constant pressure of quarterly earnings reports.

    On the other hand, companies such as Toys R Us, which was taken private in 2005 and filed for bankruptcy in 2018, show how high debt and missed innovation can lead to collapse.

    What’s next for Walgreens

    So, where does this leave Walgreens − and the investors involved in the deal?

    If part of the returns will be driven by “buying low” – the easiest indicator of potential future success to measure as of today – Sycamore started well: Its purchase price represents a mere 8% premium over the market trading value on the day of the announcement, significantly less than the 46% seen across industries in 2023. That said, Sycamore financed 83.4% of the purchase with debt, a number on the high end for these kinds of transactions. Health care groups have pointed to this number while raising concerns that innovation-focused investments may take a back seat to debt obligations.

    As the dust settles on the purchase, Sycamore has indicated an interest in splitting Walgreens into three business units: one focused on U.S. pharmacies, one on U.K. pharmacies and one on U.S. primary health care through its VillageMD subsidiary.

    That’s not unusual: Sycamore has used a similar approach before with its investment in the office supply retailer Staples, a strategy that has garnered strong financial returns but been called into question for its long-term sustainability.

    Given the significant financial challenges VillageMD has faced since its acquisition by Walgreens, this represents an opportunity to separately evaluate and optimize its performance. Meanwhile, Sycamore’s historic focus on retail and customer-focused businesses might help it modernize the in-store experience or optimize staffing.

    For more than a century, Walgreens has survived and adapted to sweeping changes in retail. Now, it’s entering a new chapter – one that could reshape not just its own future but the role of pharmacies in American life.

    Will Sycamore help Walgreens thrive, using its resources to strengthen services and deliver more value to customers? Or will pressure to generate quick returns create problems? Either way, the answer matters – not just for investors but for anyone who’s ever relied on their neighborhood pharmacy to stay healthy.

    The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Public health and private equity: What the Walgreens buyout could mean for the future of pharmacy care – https://theconversation.com/public-health-and-private-equity-what-the-walgreens-buyout-could-mean-for-the-future-of-pharmacy-care-253598

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  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Our trans health study was terminated by the government – the effects of abrupt NIH grant cuts ripple across science and society

    Source: The Conversation – USA (2) – By Jae A. Puckett, Associate Professor of Psychology, Michigan State University

    Funding cuts to trans health research are part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to medically and legally restrict trans rights. AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson

    Given the Trump administration’s systematic attempts to medically and legally disenfranchise trans people, and its abrupt termination of grants focused on LGBTQ+ health, we can’t say that the notice of termination we received regarding our federally funded research on transgender and nonbinary people’s health was unexpected.

    As researchers who study the experiences of trans and nonbinary people, we have collectively dedicated nearly 50 years of our scientific careers to developing ways to address the health disparities negatively affecting these communities. The National Institutes of Health had placed a call for projects on this topic, and we had successfully applied for their support for our four-year study on resilience in trans communities.

    However, our project on trans health became one of the hundreds of grants that have been terminated on ideological grounds. The termination notice stated that the grant no longer fit agency priorities and claimed that this work was not based on scientific research.

    Termination notice sent to the authors from the National Institutes of Health.
    Jae A. Puckett and Paz Galupo, CC BY-ND

    These grant terminations undermine decades of science on gender diversity by dismissing research findings and purging data. During Trump’s current term, the NIH’s Sexual and Gender Minority Research Office was dismantled, references to LGBTQ+ people were removed from health-related websites, and datasets were removed from public access.

    The effects of ending research on trans health ripple throughout the scientific community, the communities served by this work and the U.S. economy.

    Studying resilience

    Research focused on the mental health of trans and nonbinary people has grown substantially in recent years. Over time, this work has expanded beyond understanding the hardships these communities face to also study their resilience and positive life experiences.

    Resilience is often understood as an ability to bounce back from challenges. For trans and nonbinary people experiencing gender-based stigma and discrimination, resilience can take several forms. This might look like simply continuing to survive in a transphobic climate, or it might take the form of being a role model for other trans and nonbinary people.

    As a result of gender-based stigma and discrimination, trans and nonbinary people experience a range of health disparities, from elevated rates of psychological distress to heightened risk for chronic health conditions and poor physical health. In the face of these challenges and growing anti-trans legislation in the U.S., we believe that studying resilience in these communities can provide insights into how to offset the harms of these stresses.

    Studies show anti-trans legislation is harming the mental health of LGBTQ+ youth.

    With the support of the NIH, we began our work in earnest in 2022. The project was built on many years of research from our teams preceding the grant. From the beginning, we collaborated with trans and nonbinary community members to ensure our research would be attuned to the needs of the community.

    At the time our grant was terminated, we were nearing completion of Year 3 of our four-year project. We had collected data from over 600 trans and nonbinary participants across the U.S. and started to follow their progress over time. We had developed a new way to measure resilience among trans and nonbinary people and were about to publish a second measure specifically tailored to people of color.

    The termination of our grant and others like it harms our immediate research team, the communities we worked with and the field more broadly.

    Loss of scientific workforce

    For many researchers in trans health, the losses from these cuts go beyond employment.

    Our project had served as a training opportunity for the students and early career professionals involved in the study, providing them with the research experience and mentorship necessary to advance their careers. But with the termination of our funding, two full-time researchers and at least three students will lose their positions. The three lead scientists have lost parts of their salaries and dedicated research time.

    These NIH cuts will likely result in the loss of much of the next generation of trans researchers and the contributions they would have made to science and society. Our team and other labs in similar situations will be less likely to work with graduate students due to a lack of available funding to pay and support them. This changes the landscape for future scientists, as it means there will be fewer opportunities for individuals interested in these areas of research to enter graduate training programs.

    The Trump administration has directly penalized universities across the country for ‘ideological overreach.’
    Zhu Ziyu/VCG via Getty Images

    As universities struggle to address federal funding cuts, junior academics will be less likely to gain tenure, and faculty in grant-funded positions may lose their jobs. Universities may also become hesitant to hire people who work in these areas because their research has essentially been banned from federal funding options.

    Loss of community trust

    Trans and nonbinary people have often been studied under opportunistic and demeaning circumstances. This includes when researchers collect data for their own gains but return little to the communities they work with, or when they do research that perpetuates theories that pathologize those communities. As a result, many are often reluctant to participate in research.

    To overcome this reluctance, we grounded our study on community input. We involved an advisory board composed of local trans and nonbinary community members who helped to inform how we conducted our study and measured our findings.

    Our work on resilience has been inspired by feedback we received from previous research participants who said that “[trans people] matter even when not in pain.”

    Abruptly terminating projects like these can break down trust between researchers and the populations they study.

    Loss of scientific knowledge

    Research that focuses on the strengths of trans and nonbinary communities is in its infancy. The termination of our grant has led to the loss of the insights our study would have provided on ways to improve health among trans and nonbinary people and future work that would have built off our findings. Resilience is a process that takes time to unfold, and we had not finished the longitudinal data collection in our study – nor will we have the protected time to publish and share other findings from this work.

    Meanwhile, the Department of Health and Human Services released a May 2025 report stating that there is not enough evidence to support gender-affirming care for young people, contradicting decades of scientific research. Scientists, researchers and medical professional organizations have widely criticized the report as misrepresenting study findings, dismissing research showing benefits to gender-affirming care, and promoting misinformation rejected by major medical associations. Instead, the report recommends “exploratory therapy,” which experts have likened to discredited conversion therapy.

    Transgender and nonbinary people continue to exist, regardless of legislation.
    Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

    Despite claims that there is insufficient research on gender-affirming care and more data is needed on the health of trans and nonbinary people, the government has chosen to divest from actual scientific research about trans and nonbinary people’s lives.

    Loss of taxpayer dollars

    The termination of our grant means we are no longer able to achieve the aims of the project, which depended on the collection and analysis of data over time. This wastes the three years of NIH funding already spent on the project.

    Scientists and experts who participated in the review of our NIH grant proposal rated our project more highly than 96% of the projects we competed against. Even so, the government made the unscientific choice to override these decisions and terminate our work.

    Millions of taxpayer dollars have already been invested in these grants to improve the health of not only trans and nonbinary people, but also American society as a whole. With the termination of these grants, few will get to see the benefits of this investment.

    Jae A. Puckett has received funding from the National Institutes of Health.

    Paz Galupo has received funding from the National Institutes of Health.

    – ref. Our trans health study was terminated by the government – the effects of abrupt NIH grant cuts ripple across science and society – https://theconversation.com/our-trans-health-study-was-terminated-by-the-government-the-effects-of-abrupt-nih-grant-cuts-ripple-across-science-and-society-254021

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  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Teens say they can access firearms at home, even when parents lock them up, new research shows

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Katherine G. Hastings, PhD Candidate in Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia

    Most households that own firearms have more than one − and owners often don’t secure all of them. StockPlanets/E+ via Getty Images

    More than half of U.S. teens living in households with firearms believe they can access and load a firearm at home. Even when their parents report storing all firearms locked and unloaded, more than one-third of teens still believe they could access and load one. These are the main findings of our new study, published in the journal JAMA Network Open.

    We are behavioral scientists investigating youth injury prevention and youth safety. In this study, we analyzed national survey data from nearly 500 parents who owned firearms and their teens. One survey asked the parents to report how many firearms they had in the home and how they stored each one. Another asked their teens to estimate how quickly they could access and load a firearm at home.

    While the presence of unlocked and loaded firearms in the home was weakly linked to perceived access among teens, we found that parents’ storage practices alone were a poor predictor of whether teens believed they could access a firearm. What’s more, in households with more than one firearm, locking up more firearms was not at all linked to perceived access among teens if at least one remained unsecured.

    In short, just one unlocked firearm can undo the protective benefit of securing all other firearms in the home, our results showed.

    Why it matters

    In the U.S., firearms are now the leading cause of death among children and teens. In most of these cases, the firearm used belonged to a parent, relative or friend.

    Our study focused on teens’ beliefs about firearm access, not their actual access. However, these perceptions may provide important clues around firearm access and use. Prior research shows that teens who believe they can access a firearm are more likely to access and carry one. This is particularly concerning for teens who already have a higher risk for dying by suicide.

    One of the most widely supported ways to reduce teen injuries and deaths by firearms is to encourage owners to keep firearms locked and unloaded. However, most firearm-owning households in the U.S. have multiple firearms, and owners often store some firearms securely but not all.

    Firearms are the leading cause of death among children and teens.
    Kypros/Stock Photos Gun Safe via Getty Images

    Despite evidence that securely storing firearms saves lives, efforts to promote that messaging may be less effective when it is not universally applied to all firearms in the home or when teens still know how to access them.

    Our study also points to the need for messaging and safety strategies that consider teen behavior amid household firearm dynamics. For example, teens may observe where firearms are stored or know where keys or combinations are kept and unlock firearms in moments of impulsivity or emotional distress. Beyond securely storing firearms, encouraging parents to treat every firearm in the household as a potential source of risk and talking with teens about how to address conflicts and promote mental and emotional well-being may also be protective.

    Additionally, our study adds support for universal laws that require securely storing all firearms in homes in which children live and mandating routine assessments of teen firearm access by pediatricians.

    What still isn’t known

    It is still unclear how teens’ beliefs about their access to firearms affects whether they actually seek them out – or how the variability of parents’ practices on storing firearms affects teen access.

    Another important question is how teens’ perceptions of their access to firearms at home may vary depending on cultural backgrounds, geography and different households’ attitudes and beliefs around firearm use.

    Additionally, our study looked only at teens ages 14 to 18. Further research is needed to explore these associations among younger children in firearm-owning households.

    The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.

    Rebeccah Sokol receives funding from the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    Katherine G. Hastings does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Teens say they can access firearms at home, even when parents lock them up, new research shows – https://theconversation.com/teens-say-they-can-access-firearms-at-home-even-when-parents-lock-them-up-new-research-shows-256550

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  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Adolescents who smoke or vape may believe tobacco’s perceived coping benefits outweigh accepted health risks

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Adriana Espinosa, Associate Professor of Psychology, City College of New York

    Many parents are unaware of their adolescents’ tobacco use. Naveen Asaithambi/iStock via Getty Images Plus

    Tobacco use in a variety of forms is common in adolescent life today, with over 2.25 million youth using.

    Huge progress has been made over the past few decades in reducing cigarette use among young people. But tobacco use – primarily through e-cigarettes, also known as vapes – remains a complex problem for public health and policy.

    In 2024, just over 8% of U.S. middle and high school students reported having used a tobacco product. Among tobacco users, nearly 6% used e-cigarettes, more than a quarter of whom used an e-cigarette product daily.

    We are behavioral health researchers. Our team’s ongoing research examines the factors associated with adolescent tobacco product use in the U.S.

    According to our research, many adolescents who smoke and use vapes are aware of the health risks associated with tobacco use, which demonstrates the effectiveness of public health education campaigns.

    But our research has also found that some adolescents also view tobacco use as helpful in relieving emotional distress. These perceived benefits increase the likelihood of initiating and continuing tobacco use.

    When combined with factors such as easy access to tobacco products or living with someone who uses them, the risk of adolescent use more than doubles, which sets the stage for harmful physical and mental health effects.

    Parental awareness and adolescents’ motivations to use tobacco

    As a mother of a teenager, one of us, Adriana, has experienced this firsthand. For months, my 14-year-old son was vaping in his room, and I had no idea. When he finally told me that he turned to vaping whenever he felt upset, it was like coming face-to-face with the very issues we study.

    This scenario illustrates both the compelling reasons why adolescents may use tobacco and nicotine products and the reality that many parents don’t realize their kids are smoking or vaping.

    Since 2022, our team has been examining the factors associated with tobacco use among more than 8,000 adolescents ages 12 to 17 from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health, or PATH, study – the largest multiyear, nationally representative study of tobacco use in the U.S. We looked at the use of cigarettes, electronic products, traditional or filtered cigars, cigarillos, pipes, hookahs, smokeless or dissolvable tobacco and more.

    We found that emotional distress, along with the belief that tobacco products help manage negative emotions, are significant factors driving adolescent tobacco use.

    This highlights the complexity of the issue – that even when teens recognize the health risks of tobacco use, vaping and other forms of tobacco use may function as a coping strategy, albeit an unhealthy one, for the wide range of emotional challenges that come with adolescence.

    Teachers and school administrators are struggling to control vaping among students because many devices are small, odorless and easy to conceal.
    Peter Dazeley/Photodisc via Getty Images

    Harmful effects of adolescent tobacco use

    Research has shown that adolescents may perceive e-cigarettes as a more appealing and less harmful alternative to traditional cigarettes.

    The availability of flavored options further increases the appeal of these products and can contribute to the progression from occasional to regular use and ultimately the development of nicotine dependence.

    A growing body of research continues to reveal the harmful effects of tobacco use, including vaping, on developing brains and lungs. Exposure to nicotine during adolescence can interfere with brain development, impair attention and learning, and increase the risk of use and dependence on other substances later in life.

    What makes vaping especially difficult to manage is its stealth. Unlike combustible products, many vaping devices are small, odorless and very easy to conceal. As a result, parents, teachers and school administrators are struggling to detect and curb vaping among teens.

    Strategies for addressing why teens use tobacco

    In our view, policy efforts that focus primarily on raising awareness about health risks, restricting access to tobacco products or reducing the appeal of e-cigarettes or vapes will reach only a subset of youth who use them, and not those who may use for emotional reasons.

    And while such bans may limit access to tobacco products in formal settings, the availability of these products from friends and social networks, online platforms or unregulated markets will not likely be reduced solely through that type of health messaging.

    As our findings show, these efforts may miss a stronger, even more enduring driver of youth tobacco use: the pervasive belief that tobacco use helps manage stress, anger and other difficult emotions. Our research highlights that emotional distress and the perception that tobacco use can help them cope with stress are central to why many adolescents begin and continue using these products, even when they are aware of the health risks.

    In this context, simply limiting access to tobacco products or repeating well-known health warnings will do little to address the underlying emotional motivations to use.

    We believe that to make meaningful progress, policy and prevention interventions will need to address the underlying motives for use, and not just focus on the harmful health effects of nicotine or means of access.

    This includes integrating emotional and behavioral health support into tobacco prevention strategies and expanding school-based and community mental health services. And while public health education campaigns such as The Real Cost have been successful in reducing the number of adolescents who begin using e-cigarettes, our findings suggest more emphasis on the emotional drivers of tobacco use is warranted.

    Adriana Espinosa receives funding from the National Institutes of Health (NCI and NIMHD).

    Lesia M. Ruglass receives funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIGMS, NIDA, NCI, and NIMHD).

    – ref. Adolescents who smoke or vape may believe tobacco’s perceived coping benefits outweigh accepted health risks – https://theconversation.com/adolescents-who-smoke-or-vape-may-believe-tobaccos-perceived-coping-benefits-outweigh-accepted-health-risks-254294

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  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Older adults with dementia misjudge their financial skills – which may make them more vulnerable to fraud, new research finds

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Ian McDonough, Associate Professor of Psychology, Binghamton University, State University of New York

    Older adults generally have a good sense of their own financial abilities – unless they have dementia. shapecharge/E+ via Getty Images

    Older adults diagnosed with dementia lose their ability to assess how well they manage their finances, according to a recent study I co-authored in The Gerontologist. In comparison, people of the same age who don’t have dementia are aware of their financial abilities – and this awareness improves over time.

    For our study, we used data from over 2,000 adults in the U.S. age 65 and older, collected during a long-term study on aging.
    We focused on how participants’ financial skills changed over time. The study began in 1998 and is still running, but we probed data collected between 1998 and 2009.

    Participants were assessed at one year, two years, five years and 10 years for their ability to carry out everyday tasks, including ones that required handling money. For example, they had to calculate the cost of a gym membership and a store discount rate, fill out part of a tax return and assess the cost of medical services. They also rated how well they thought they could do everyday financial tasks. Initially, none of the participants were diagnosed with dementia, but over the course of the decade, 87 participants, or 3.1%, received a dementia diagnosis.

    We found that even though participants’ performance on financial tasks declined as they aged, older adults who did not have dementia and older adults who had mild cognitive impairment were appropriately aware of their financial abilities. What’s more, that awareness increased over time. However, participants who were diagnosed with dementia during the study and experienced severe cognitive decline often misjudged how well they performed financial tasks.

    Financial scams targeting older adults are on the rise.

    The lack of insight into one’s cognitive abilities is called anosognosia. This study reveals a new type called financial anosognosia.

    Why it matters

    As people get older, their financial management skills start to deteriorate. The combination of a lifelong accumulation of wealth, declining financial abilities and a lack of awareness of those declines puts older adults at serious risk for financial scams.

    Few tools are available that can support families in helping cognitively impaired adults manage their finances. Our research suggests that there is a critical window of time after people begin to experience cognitive decline during which they are still aware of their financial abilities. We believe that this is when people can take action to secure their finances and develop systems to protect themselves from fraud.

    What still isn’t known

    Close friends or family members are often tempted to take away the financial autonomy of an older adult who is mismanaging their finances. However, that may not be the best solution, particularly for people who feel that handling their finances is a core part of their identity. More research is needed to identify how best to balance personal autonomy and the need to protect a person’s finances.

    What’s next

    This study used paper-and-pencil tasks to assess financial performance. But increasingly, many older adults are using online banking.

    E-banking simplifies many calculations, which may be helpful for older adults with declining cognition. However, e-banking can also make finances more of a black box, which may decrease a person’s awareness of their financial abilities. Furthermore, e-banking is constantly advancing, putting older adults at a disadvantage because they are more likely to be less cognitively flexible and to learn more slowly.

    We hope to explore whether older adults with and without cognitive decline have similar awareness of their ability to appropriately manage their finances online and identify potential financial scams.

    The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.

    Ian McDonough receives funding from The National Institutes of Health.

    – ref. Older adults with dementia misjudge their financial skills – which may make them more vulnerable to fraud, new research finds – https://theconversation.com/older-adults-with-dementia-misjudge-their-financial-skills-which-may-make-them-more-vulnerable-to-fraud-new-research-finds-256973

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  • MIL-OSI Submissions: RFK Jr’s shakeup of vaccine advisory committee raises worries about scientific integrity of health recommendations

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Santosh Kumar Gautam, Associate Professor of Development and Global Health Economics, University of Notre Dame

    The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices played a key role in the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines. Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images

    On June 11, 2025, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a slate of eight new members to serve on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on national vaccine policy.

    The announcement, made on the social media platform X, comes two days after Kennedy removed all 17 of the serving committee members. Kennedy called their replacements “a bold step in restoring public trust” rooted in “radical transparency and gold standard science.”

    However, public health experts decried the removals, pointing to Kennedy’s promise not to change the committee and warning that the move politicizes its work and undermines its scientific integrity. Health experts have also noted that multiple new committee members appointed on June 11 have voiced anti-vaccine views that are not evidence-based.

    The Conversation U.S. asked Santosh Kumar Gautam, an expert in global health policy at the University of Notre Dame, to explain how the vaccine committee’s guidance has shaped vaccine recommendations for the public, and what the changes might mean for peoples’ ability to access vaccines in the future.

    What is the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices?

    The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, is a panel of experts appointed to advise the CDC on how to use vaccines to protect the health of people in the U.S. The committee’s job is to review multiple strands of scientific evidence to recommend which vaccines should be used, who should get them and when they should be given. Its guidance affects vaccine schedules for both children and adults, insurance coverage and public health policy across the country.

    The committee was formed in 1964 to establish national vaccine policy as federal immunization programs began to expand. It can have up to 19 voting members, who are appointed by the secretary of Health and Human Services. Members are experts in areas such as medicine, public health and immunology. Member usually serve overlapping four-year terms to ensure continuity. All 17 previous members were appointed at different times during the Biden administration. Removing all members of the committee at once is unprecedented.

    The group also includes nonvoting members from government health agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health. There are also representatives from more than 30 medical and public health organizations, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Physicians.

    These nonvoting members share useful information and real-world experience such as practical issues in administering vaccines in hospitals, management of vaccine side effects and insights into adverse events. Their input helps the committee make recommendations that reflect both science and practical needs.

    The committee meets three times a year to review new data on vaccine safety and effectiveness. Its next meeting is scheduled for June 25-27 and is expected to include discussions on COVID-19 and HPV vaccines, with recommendation votes planned for COVID-19 boosters, human papilloma virus and influenza vaccines. The meeting is open to the public and will be telecast live online.

    What is the committee’s role in vaccine policy?

    The committee makes its recommendations to the CDC by reviewing scientific evidence about a vaccine’s safety and efficacy, as well as practical issues, such as how easy a vaccine is to use, how it affects different groups, its side-effects and how it fits into the health system. The recommendations don’t just consider whether a vaccine works, but how it can be most effectively deployed to protect the American public from disease outbreaks.

    The new lineup of the vaccine advisory committee may lead to changes in children’s vaccine schedules.
    SementsovaLesia/iStock via Getty Images Plus

    The committee looks at data from clinical trials and other research to examine the most recent data on a vaccine’s safety, efficacy and use in everyday settings. When new vaccines come out or a change occurs in the way a disease spreads or behaves, the committee often revises its advice. It also responds to public health emergencies such as recent measles outbreaks in the U.S.

    The committee has made many updates over time. It changed flu shot guidance when new strains appeared. It lowered the recommended age for the HPV vaccine based on new research. And it adjusted vaccine plans for meningitis to better protect people at higher risk.

    What was the committee’s role during the COVID-19 pandemic?

    The committee played a vital role in evaluating vaccine safety and effectiveness and authorizing the use of vaccines for different age groups by reviewing clinical trial data, from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and other vaccine manufacturers.

    The committee also developed step-by-step guidelines for who should get vaccinated first, based on how likely people were to catch the virus, their risk of serious disease, the type of work they did and whether they came from a population that was historically underserved or at higher risk. It also issued tailored guidance for pregnant and breastfeeding women, immunocompromised people and children and adolescents as more trial data became available.

    These recommendations shaped vaccine rollout strategies at both national and state levels, guided insurance coverage and influenced COVID-19 vaccination policies in other countries around the world.

    Public health experts have expressed concern that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to replace all 17 members of the vaccine advisory committee will erode its ability to provide evidence-based guidance.

    Who are the new members that Kennedy appointed?

    Although Kennedy promised more transparency, he handpicked the advisory committee’s new members without revealing how they were selected. Historically, the body’s members are selected after an extensive vetting process that can take two years.

    The newly appointed members have expertise in psychiatry, neuroscience, epidemiology, biostatistics and operations management. However, several have been linked to vaccine-related misinformation, particularly relating to COVID-19 vaccines, raising concerns about the scientific neutrality of the committee moving forward.

    For example, Retsef Levi, a professor of operations management at MIT Sloan School of Management, has publicly called for suspension of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, claiming they cause serious harm and death in young people – a statement not supported by evidence.

    Another member, physician and biochemist Robert Malone, made scientifically inaccurate statements about the dangers of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic.

    A third member, epidemiologist and biostatistician Martin Kulldorff helped write the Great Barrington Declaration, which opposed lockdowns and argued that people at low risk of severe illness or death should be allowed to contract COVID-19 to build natural immunity – a stance that was heavily debated among health experts.

    What happens now?

    The committee’s new makeup and Kennedy’s decades-long anti-vaccine stance threaten to erode the integrity of scientific decision-making and commitment to ethical standards in vaccine recommendations.

    Kennedy’s overhaul of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will likely affect how insurers, doctors and the public make decisions about vaccines – and vaccine policy generally. For example, the advisory committee’s decisions directly affect which vaccines are covered by health insurance. If a vaccine is not recommended by the committee, many insurance plans, including those under the Affordable Care Act, are not required to cover it. This means families could face out-of-pocket costs, making it harder for children to access routine immunizations.

    The advisory committee also plays a key role in shaping the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule. Given Kennedy’s long-held skepticism about childhood vaccines — including those for measles and polio — some public health experts worry that the newly appointed members could push to revisit or revise vaccine recommendations, especially for newer and more debated vaccines like those for COVID-19 or HPV.

    States usually base their school entry vaccine requirements on the committee’s guidelines, and insurers often use them to determine which vaccines are covered. As a result, shifts in policy to childhood vaccinations could influence both school vaccination mandates and access to vaccines for millions of children.

    Santosh Kumar Gautam does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. RFK Jr’s shakeup of vaccine advisory committee raises worries about scientific integrity of health recommendations – https://theconversation.com/rfk-jrs-shakeup-of-vaccine-advisory-committee-raises-worries-about-scientific-integrity-of-health-recommendations-258674

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  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Fuel margins remain high despite lower fuel prices, CMA finds

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Press release

    Fuel margins remain high despite lower fuel prices, CMA finds

    Today’s monitoring report sets out the Competition and Market Authority’s (CMA) observations on developments in the UK’s road fuel retail market since the previous update in March 2025.

    Dan Turnbull, Senior Director of Markets at the CMA, said:   

    While there is uncertainty over how global events will impact the price of oil, our report shows fuel margins remain high compared to historic levels despite lower prices at the pump in recent months. 

    The government committed to launching a ‘fuel finder’ scheme following our recommendation to help drivers compare real time prices and boost competition. Once launched, it will make it easier than ever to shop around and find the best deals.

    Fuel prices 

    Fuel prices across the UK decreased for both petrol and diesel from end of February 2025 to end of May 2025. These movements reflect in part changing crude oil prices and refining spreads, both of which are driven by global factors. 

    The average petrol and diesel prices at the end of May 2025 were 132.0 and 138.4 pence per litre (ppl) respectively. This represents a decrease of 7.6 ppl and 8.4 ppl in petrol and diesel prices compared to the end of February 2025.  

    Fuel margins 

    A retailer’s fuel margin is the difference between what it pays for fuel and what it sells it at. The CMA found that fuel margins were similar to the high levels seen during its road fuel market study – a review of the market to understand the factors influencing fuel prices undertaken in 2023 – which suggests overall competition in the UK’s road fuel retail market remains weak. 

    Supermarket fuel margins fell from 8.9% in December 2024 to 7.9% in February 2025, before rising to 8.3% in March 2025. Non-supermarket fuel margins fell from 9.9% in December 2024 to 8.9% in January 2025, before rising to 10.4% in March 2025. 

    This report does not consider developments in operating costs since the road fuel market study. The CMA will undertake a review of fuel retailer operating costs in its first annual road fuel monitoring report later this year to assess whether operating cost changes are impacting fuel margins for large retailers. 

    Retail spreads 

    The CMA also looked at the retail spread – the average price that drivers pay at the pump compared to the benchmarked price that retailers buy fuel at – across the UK from March 2025 to May 2025. 

    Petrol retail spreads averaged 15.4 ppl, which was 1.5 ppl higher than the previous 4 months period – and still more than double the average of 6.5 ppl over 2015-19. Diesel retail spreads averaged 18.8 ppl, which was 4.6 ppl higher than the previous 4 months period and more than double the average of 8.6 ppl in 2015 – 2019. 

    While spread analysis can give a quick overview of trends in the sector, it is a less reliable indicator of competitive intensity than individual retailers’ fuel margins. Retail spreads increase and decrease in response to the volatility of wholesale prices but should return to a normal range over time, if the market is working well. 

    Road fuel market study 

    At the end of its road fuel market study, the CMA recommended a new monitoring function and fuel finder scheme to government. 

    The CMA has taken on the new statutory monitoring function, which will provide ongoing scrutiny of prices to encourage effective competition between retailers and help keep prices low for drivers. This update is based on data provided to the CMA by fuel retailers using its new information gathering powers granted under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act. 

    The ‘fuel finder’ scheme will allow drivers to compare real-time fuel prices, via navigation apps, in-car devices and comparison websites. The government’s aim is to launch the scheme by the end of this year, subject to legislation and parliamentary time.  

    Further details about the CMA’s road fuel monitoring function, including previous reports and guidance, can be found on the collection page. 

    Notes to editors 

    1. The CMA issued section 311 Information Notices to the following retailers: Applegreen PLC; Arthur Foodstores Limited, Asda Express Limited, and Asda Stores Limited (Asda); BP Oil UK Limited; Esso Petroleum Company Limited; Moto Hospitality Limited; Motor Fuel Group; Rontec Roadside Retail Limited; J Sainsbury PLC; Shell PLC; Tesco PLC; and Welcome Break Group Limited. 

    2. Motor Fuel Group announced the completed acquisition of Morrisons PFSs in the UK on 30 April 2024. 

    3. All enquiries from journalists should be directed to the CMA press office by email on press@cma.gov.uk or by phone on 020 3738 6460.

    Updates to this page

    Published 30 June 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Appointment of Lord-Lieutenant for Roxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale: 30 June 2025

    Source: United Kingdom – Prime Minister’s Office 10 Downing Street

    Press release

    Appointment of Lord-Lieutenant for Roxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale: 30 June 2025

    The King has been pleased to appoint Mr John Jeffrey JP, DL as His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant for Roxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale.

    The King has been pleased to appoint Mr John Jeffrey JP, DL as His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant for Roxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale, to succeed Richard Scott, The Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry KT, KBE, CVO, DL, FSA, FRSE following his retirement on 4th July 2025.

    Background

    Mr Jeffrey was educated at Merchiston Castle School in Edinburgh and then at Newcastle University where he graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Agriculture. He is a fellow of the Royal Agricultural Society, a Justice of the Peace, and Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Roxburghshire. Mr Jeffrey runs his own farm estates business and has played Rugby nationally and internationally including on the Scotland Men’s national team and for the British Lions. John was a founding member and Vice-Chair of the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation which works to find a cure for MND. He has held a number of Board and Governance roles including the Moredun Foundation for Animal Health & Welfare, Border Union Agricultural Society and the British Lions Trust. John is also the former Chairman of Scottish Rugby and vice-chair of World Rugby.

    Updates to this page

    Published 30 June 2025

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  • MIL-OSI Security: IAEA and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Partner to Bridge Gap in Global Childhood Cancer Care

    Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

    The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital entered a significant new partnership to address inequality in global childhood cancer care at the Agency’s Rays of Hope Forum in Ethiopia today.

    St. Jude, based in Memphis, Tennessee in the United States, is investing US $4.5 million over three years for the IAEA to support countries in expanding access to paediatric radiotherapy and to strengthen health systems, with the goal of improving survival rates and quality of life for children with cancer in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

    Each year, an estimated 400,000 children develop cancer globally. While survival rates exceed 80% in high-income countries with accessible care, over 90% of children with cancer reside in LMICs, where survival rates remain below 30%.

    A major contributor to this disparity is limited access to advanced clinical imaging, which is critical for accurate diseases classification, treatment planning and monitoring. Without it, children face delays or errors in diagnosis, significantly impacting outcomes.

    Access to paediatric radiotherapy is severely limited in LMICs, despite its importance in treating nearly half of all childhood cancers. A 2021 IAEA study highlighted major challenges in these settings, including  equipment access or insufficiencies, and a critical shortage of specialized radiation medicine professionals for childhood cancers.

    “Children should not die of cancer simply because of where they are born. Every child, everywhere, deserves the same chance to survive and thrive,” said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi. “By closing the gap in access to cancer care, we can ensure that children, regardless of their geographic location or economic status, have equal opportunities for successful treatment. Survival should be a reality, not a privilege.”

    The collaboration between the IAEA and St. Jude aims to strengthen national capacity in childhood cancer care and control and to improve access to paediatric radiotherapy by training specialists—essential for improving survival and outcomes for children with cancer. The partnership focuses on delivering technical resources, curricula and guidance documents for radiation oncologists, radiotherapy technicians and medical physicists, and supporting their implementation in selected LMICs. Through the imPACT Review assessment tools for childhood cancer, the collaboration also will assess capacities and needs of health systems and strengthen national cancer control programmes.

    “Over the past decade, St. Jude has expanded its global presence in pursuit of increasing childhood cancer cure rates worldwide. A critical step in our mission is ensuring children everywhere have access to necessary diagnostics and treatment,” said James R. Downing, MD, president and CEO of St. Jude. “Partnering with IAEA highlights that commitment and will help save countless lives.”

    This marks the launch of the IAEA’s Rays of Hope for Childhood Cancer, under the wider IAEA Rays of Hope initiative. Rays of Hope has expanded life-saving cancer care to thousands of patients in LMICs around the world since launching in 2022. Securing more than €90 million already from dedicated donors and partners, including governments mobilizing national resources, has helped close the gap in global radiation medicine. Building on this impact, the IAEA is working with St. Jude to expand the initiative to focus on the gap in childhood cancer care.

    “Limited access to specialized care for children with cancer has a negative impact on their chances to be cured,” said Carlos Rodriguez-Galindo, MD, St. Jude executive vice president and director of St. Jude Global. “Significant gaps in the quality of radiotherapy services exist in LMICs when compared to what is routine practice across high-income countries. This effort with IAEA will help strengthen the national capacity to treat children with cancer, and increase access to the vital diagnostic imaging and radiotherapy that will improve the survival rate and quality of life for children affected by cancers where these treatments play a prominent role.”

    Following today’s signing, the first phase of the Rays of Hope for Childhood Cancer initiative will focus on jointly developing technical products and guidance documents—referred to as Global Goods—and organizing a series of events to support their effective adoption and use by countries. Addressing childhood cancer is a multifaceted challenge requiring a comprehensive approach where the IAEA and St. Jude play key roles. It involves complex procedures that require sophisticated decision-making and highly technical skills that require specialized training. For paediatric radiotherapy specialists, partnership trainings and Global Goods will reduce knowledge gaps and enhance the quality of care their patients receive.

    IAEA

    The IAEA has over 60 years of experience supporting countries in the fight against cancer, including childhood cancer. Through its Human Health Programme, the IAEA has helped countries around the world to prevent, diagnose and treat the disease by developing and applying nuclear and radiation techniques. Its medical expertise across nutrition, radiology, nuclear medicine, radiobiology, radiation oncology, medical physics and dosimetry has advanced cancer care capacities through coordinated research projects, educational materials, e-learning modules, curricula, guidance documents, scientific publications, international codes of practice, databases, quality assurance activities, audit services, databases, the Human Health Campus and the implementation of the Technical Cooperation Programme. Through its Technical Cooperation Programme, it helps countries strengthen cancer care by providing equipment, training and technical assistance in diagnostic imaging, nuclear medicine and radiotherapy. Operating across four global regions, the programme tailors support to local needs and promotes regional collaboration.

    The IAEA’s Rays of Hope initiative, launched in 2022, builds on this work to accelerate access to radiotherapy and medical imaging in low-resource settings. Through Rays of Hope the IAEA promotes comprehensive cancer care where it is needed most and has designated regional anchor centres to serve as knowledge and capacity building hubs for radiation medicine.

    St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

    St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, is a global leader in the research and treatment of childhood cancer, sickle cell disease and other life-threatening pediatric diseases. St. Jude is the only National Cancer Institute–designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Treatments developed at St. Jude have helped push the U.S. childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to 80% since the hospital opened in 1962. St. Jude is extending its mission to help more children around the world. In 2018, St. Jude and World Health Organization launched the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer to increase survival rates from 20% to 60% by 2030 for six of the most common forms of childhood cancer. The St. Jude Global Alliance is a global network with a shared vision of improving care and increasing survival rates of children with cancer and blood disorders worldwide. To learn more, visit stjude.org, read the St. Jude Progress blog, and follow St. Jude on social media @stjuderesearch.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: IAEA and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Partner to Bridge Gap in Global Childhood Cancer Care

    Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

    The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital entered a significant new partnership to address inequality in global childhood cancer care at the Agency’s Rays of Hope Forum in Ethiopia today.

    St. Jude, based in Memphis, Tennessee in the United States, is investing US $4.5 million over three years for the IAEA to support countries in expanding access to paediatric radiotherapy and to strengthen health systems, with the goal of improving survival rates and quality of life for children with cancer in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

    Each year, an estimated 400,000 children develop cancer globally. While survival rates exceed 80% in high-income countries with accessible care, over 90% of children with cancer reside in LMICs, where survival rates remain below 30%.

    A major contributor to this disparity is limited access to advanced clinical imaging, which is critical for accurate diseases classification, treatment planning and monitoring. Without it, children face delays or errors in diagnosis, significantly impacting outcomes.

    Access to paediatric radiotherapy is severely limited in LMICs, despite its importance in treating nearly half of all childhood cancers. A 2021 IAEA study highlighted major challenges in these settings, including  equipment access or insufficiencies, and a critical shortage of specialized radiation medicine professionals for childhood cancers.

    “Children should not die of cancer simply because of where they are born. Every child, everywhere, deserves the same chance to survive and thrive,” said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi. “By closing the gap in access to cancer care, we can ensure that children, regardless of their geographic location or economic status, have equal opportunities for successful treatment. Survival should be a reality, not a privilege.”

    The collaboration between the IAEA and St. Jude aims to strengthen national capacity in childhood cancer care and control and to improve access to paediatric radiotherapy by training specialists—essential for improving survival and outcomes for children with cancer. The partnership focuses on delivering technical resources, curricula and guidance documents for radiation oncologists, radiotherapy technicians and medical physicists, and supporting their implementation in selected LMICs. Through the imPACT Review assessment tools for childhood cancer, the collaboration also will assess capacities and needs of health systems and strengthen national cancer control programmes.

    “Over the past decade, St. Jude has expanded its global presence in pursuit of increasing childhood cancer cure rates worldwide. A critical step in our mission is ensuring children everywhere have access to necessary diagnostics and treatment,” said James R. Downing, MD, president and CEO of St. Jude. “Partnering with IAEA highlights that commitment and will help save countless lives.”

    This marks the launch of the IAEA’s Rays of Hope for Childhood Cancer, under the wider IAEA Rays of Hope initiative. Rays of Hope has expanded life-saving cancer care to thousands of patients in LMICs around the world since launching in 2022. Securing more than €90 million already from dedicated donors and partners, including governments mobilizing national resources, has helped close the gap in global radiation medicine. Building on this impact, the IAEA is working with St. Jude to expand the initiative to focus on the gap in childhood cancer care.

    “Limited access to specialized care for children with cancer has a negative impact on their chances to be cured,” said Carlos Rodriguez-Galindo, MD, St. Jude executive vice president and director of St. Jude Global. “Significant gaps in the quality of radiotherapy services exist in LMICs when compared to what is routine practice across high-income countries. This effort with IAEA will help strengthen the national capacity to treat children with cancer, and increase access to the vital diagnostic imaging and radiotherapy that will improve the survival rate and quality of life for children affected by cancers where these treatments play a prominent role.”

    Following today’s signing, the first phase of the Rays of Hope for Childhood Cancer initiative will focus on jointly developing technical products and guidance documents—referred to as Global Goods—and organizing a series of events to support their effective adoption and use by countries. Addressing childhood cancer is a multifaceted challenge requiring a comprehensive approach where the IAEA and St. Jude play key roles. It involves complex procedures that require sophisticated decision-making and highly technical skills that require specialized training. For paediatric radiotherapy specialists, partnership trainings and Global Goods will reduce knowledge gaps and enhance the quality of care their patients receive.

    IAEA

    The IAEA has over 60 years of experience supporting countries in the fight against cancer, including childhood cancer. Through its Human Health Programme, the IAEA has helped countries around the world to prevent, diagnose and treat the disease by developing and applying nuclear and radiation techniques. Its medical expertise across nutrition, radiology, nuclear medicine, radiobiology, radiation oncology, medical physics and dosimetry has advanced cancer care capacities through coordinated research projects, educational materials, e-learning modules, curricula, guidance documents, scientific publications, international codes of practice, databases, quality assurance activities, audit services, databases, the Human Health Campus and the implementation of the Technical Cooperation Programme. Through its Technical Cooperation Programme, it helps countries strengthen cancer care by providing equipment, training and technical assistance in diagnostic imaging, nuclear medicine and radiotherapy. Operating across four global regions, the programme tailors support to local needs and promotes regional collaboration.

    The IAEA’s Rays of Hope initiative, launched in 2022, builds on this work to accelerate access to radiotherapy and medical imaging in low-resource settings. Through Rays of Hope the IAEA promotes comprehensive cancer care where it is needed most and has designated regional anchor centres to serve as knowledge and capacity building hubs for radiation medicine.

    St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

    St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, is a global leader in the research and treatment of childhood cancer, sickle cell disease and other life-threatening pediatric diseases. St. Jude is the only National Cancer Institute–designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Treatments developed at St. Jude have helped push the U.S. childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to 80% since the hospital opened in 1962. St. Jude is extending its mission to help more children around the world. In 2018, St. Jude and World Health Organization launched the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer to increase survival rates from 20% to 60% by 2030 for six of the most common forms of childhood cancer. The St. Jude Global Alliance is a global network with a shared vision of improving care and increasing survival rates of children with cancer and blood disorders worldwide. To learn more, visit stjude.org, read the St. Jude Progress blog, and follow St. Jude on social media @stjuderesearch.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: NSU has completed an internship program for foreign specialists in the field of engineering InteRussia

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Novosibirsk State University – Novosibirsk State University –

    The Novosibirsk State University has completed the InteRussia internship program for foreign engineering specialists, which ran from June 2 to 27. Akademgorodok was visited by 17 students from 14 countries, including Chile, Jordan, India, Pakistan, Brazil, Albania, Serbia, Bangladesh, Turkmenistan, Belarus, Indonesia, Ecuador, Uzbekistan, and Tanzania. This was the first experience for the university in holding such a long event with the participation of young researchers from different countries.

    The internship was organized by the Gorchakov Fund, the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the ANO “Mezhdunarodniki” with the support of the Directorate of the World Youth Festival and the Presidential Grants Fund.

    Adelina Kozulina, an employee of the NSU Education Export Department and coordinator of the InteRussia international internship, summed up the results of the project and commented:

    — This is our second experience of holding an international internship Interussia together with the Gorchakov Fund. I think that this time the experience was very positive. The guys were friendly and sociable, they really successfully integrated into our team and the academic atmosphere. It was very easy to interact and communicate with them. This time we had a wider geography, the participants came from different countries. For the NSU Education Export Department, this was a very interesting experience.

    For a month, young researchers were trained at the university in two promising areas – “Artificial Intelligence and Medicine” and “Modern Quantum and Information Technologies in Electronics and Photonics”. The event resulted in the preparation and presentation of their own scientific project.

    Evgeny Pavlovsky, Head of the Laboratory of Streaming Data Analytics and Machine Learning Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of NSU and the head of the Artificial Intelligence and Medicine department, noted at the school’s closing ceremony:

    — I am glad that we successfully held and completed this school, which involved very talented young researchers. Thanks to this internship, you not only learned something new, but also got imbued with the special atmosphere of Akademgorodok. You made new contacts and will continue to work together. I am sure that you can become those who will shape our good future with artificial intelligence both in healthcare and in other areas.

    Artur Pogosov, professor of the Department of Semiconductor Physics Physics Department of NSU, Head of the Department of General Physics at NSU Physics Department, thanked the participants for their energy, attention and curiosity:

    — Quantum mechanics and quantum computing is an amazing and complex field of knowledge, based on deep philosophical ideas. As a rule, our students spend an entire academic year to master this area. For you, it was rather a quick and unexpected jump. But even this short period allowed you to see the complexity, beauty and mystery of the quantum world. I wish you success in your further studies, research, a brilliant career and future.

    The school participants thanked the organizers and noted the special friendly atmosphere that had developed during the internship. They also expressed confidence that they would interact and continue their joint research work.

    Annageldi Khydyrov, Turkmenistan:

    — I work as a leading programmer and developer in the field of AI. This is not my first trip to Russia. This time I chose the direction of “Artificial Intelligence and Medicine”. My experience here will be very helpful for my further research. The professors taught at the highest level, we not only studied theory, but also practiced. Previously, I was little familiar with the use of AI in medicine, thanks to this internship, new horizons of understanding opened up for me. We became very close friends with all the participants, I am sure that we will continue to cooperate.

    Bashar Firas Issaf Al-Sayegh, Jordan:

    — I chose quantum technologies because I have a basic background in physics and am currently deciding in which area to continue my studies and research. This international internship allowed me to make a choice regarding the topic of my master’s and later doctoral dissertations. This concerns the technical side and training. I would also like to note the social aspect. It was a wonderful experience for all participants. We met people from all over the world, we talked about our cultures, languages, traditions, heritage and religions. This is a unique experience for me as well, because now I know that there are people on this planet who have the same ambitions, needs and human feelings. I am returning home more confident and with a stock of interesting stories.

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: IAEA and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Partner to Bridge Gap in Global Childhood Cancer Care

    Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

    The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital entered a significant new partnership to address inequality in global childhood cancer care at the Agency’s Rays of Hope Forum in Ethiopia today.

    St. Jude, based in Memphis, Tennessee in the United States, is investing US $4.5 million over three years for the IAEA to support countries in expanding access to paediatric radiotherapy and to strengthen health systems, with the goal of improving survival rates and quality of life for children with cancer in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

    Each year, an estimated 400,000 children develop cancer globally. While survival rates exceed 80% in high-income countries with accessible care, over 90% of children with cancer reside in LMICs, where survival rates remain below 30%.

    A major contributor to this disparity is limited access to advanced clinical imaging, which is critical for accurate diseases classification, treatment planning and monitoring. Without it, children face delays or errors in diagnosis, significantly impacting outcomes.

    Access to paediatric radiotherapy is severely limited in LMICs, despite its importance in treating nearly half of all childhood cancers. A 2021 IAEA study highlighted major challenges in these settings, including  equipment access or insufficiencies, and a critical shortage of specialized radiation medicine professionals for childhood cancers.

    “Children should not die of cancer simply because of where they are born. Every child, everywhere, deserves the same chance to survive and thrive,” said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi. “By closing the gap in access to cancer care, we can ensure that children, regardless of their geographic location or economic status, have equal opportunities for successful treatment. Survival should be a reality, not a privilege.”

    The collaboration between the IAEA and St. Jude aims to strengthen national capacity in childhood cancer care and control and to improve access to paediatric radiotherapy by training specialists—essential for improving survival and outcomes for children with cancer. The partnership focuses on delivering technical resources, curricula and guidance documents for radiation oncologists, radiotherapy technicians and medical physicists, and supporting their implementation in selected LMICs. Through the imPACT Review assessment tools for childhood cancer, the collaboration also will assess capacities and needs of health systems and strengthen national cancer control programmes.

    “Over the past decade, St. Jude has expanded its global presence in pursuit of increasing childhood cancer cure rates worldwide. A critical step in our mission is ensuring children everywhere have access to necessary diagnostics and treatment,” said James R. Downing, MD, president and CEO of St. Jude. “Partnering with IAEA highlights that commitment and will help save countless lives.”

    This marks the launch of the IAEA’s Rays of Hope for Childhood Cancer, under the wider IAEA Rays of Hope initiative. Rays of Hope has expanded life-saving cancer care to thousands of patients in LMICs around the world since launching in 2022. Securing more than €90 million already from dedicated donors and partners, including governments mobilizing national resources, has helped close the gap in global radiation medicine. Building on this impact, the IAEA is working with St. Jude to expand the initiative to focus on the gap in childhood cancer care.

    “Limited access to specialized care for children with cancer has a negative impact on their chances to be cured,” said Carlos Rodriguez-Galindo, MD, St. Jude executive vice president and director of St. Jude Global. “Significant gaps in the quality of radiotherapy services exist in LMICs when compared to what is routine practice across high-income countries. This effort with IAEA will help strengthen the national capacity to treat children with cancer, and increase access to the vital diagnostic imaging and radiotherapy that will improve the survival rate and quality of life for children affected by cancers where these treatments play a prominent role.”

    Following today’s signing, the first phase of the Rays of Hope for Childhood Cancer initiative will focus on jointly developing technical products and guidance documents—referred to as Global Goods—and organizing a series of events to support their effective adoption and use by countries. Addressing childhood cancer is a multifaceted challenge requiring a comprehensive approach where the IAEA and St. Jude play key roles. It involves complex procedures that require sophisticated decision-making and highly technical skills that require specialized training. For paediatric radiotherapy specialists, partnership trainings and Global Goods will reduce knowledge gaps and enhance the quality of care their patients receive.

    IAEA

    The IAEA has over 60 years of experience supporting countries in the fight against cancer, including childhood cancer. Through its Human Health Programme, the IAEA has helped countries around the world to prevent, diagnose and treat the disease by developing and applying nuclear and radiation techniques. Its medical expertise across nutrition, radiology, nuclear medicine, radiobiology, radiation oncology, medical physics and dosimetry has advanced cancer care capacities through coordinated research projects, educational materials, e-learning modules, curricula, guidance documents, scientific publications, international codes of practice, databases, quality assurance activities, audit services, databases, the Human Health Campus and the implementation of the Technical Cooperation Programme. Through its Technical Cooperation Programme, it helps countries strengthen cancer care by providing equipment, training and technical assistance in diagnostic imaging, nuclear medicine and radiotherapy. Operating across four global regions, the programme tailors support to local needs and promotes regional collaboration.

    The IAEA’s Rays of Hope initiative, launched in 2022, builds on this work to accelerate access to radiotherapy and medical imaging in low-resource settings. Through Rays of Hope the IAEA promotes comprehensive cancer care where it is needed most and has designated regional anchor centres to serve as knowledge and capacity building hubs for radiation medicine.

    St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

    St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, is a global leader in the research and treatment of childhood cancer, sickle cell disease and other life-threatening pediatric diseases. St. Jude is the only National Cancer Institute–designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Treatments developed at St. Jude have helped push the U.S. childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to 80% since the hospital opened in 1962. St. Jude is extending its mission to help more children around the world. In 2018, St. Jude and World Health Organization launched the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer to increase survival rates from 20% to 60% by 2030 for six of the most common forms of childhood cancer. The St. Jude Global Alliance is a global network with a shared vision of improving care and increasing survival rates of children with cancer and blood disorders worldwide. To learn more, visit stjude.org, read the St. Jude Progress blog, and follow St. Jude on social media @stjuderesearch.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: 30 June 2025 News release Social connection linked to improved heath and reduced risk of early death

    Source: World Health Organisation

    The World Health Organization (WHO) Commission on Social Connection has released its global report revealing that 1 in 6 people worldwide is affected by loneliness, with significant impacts on health and well-being. Loneliness is linked to an estimated 100 deaths every hour—more than 871 000 deaths annually. Strong social connections can lead to better health and longer life, the report says.

    “In this Report, we pull back the curtain on loneliness and isolation as a defining challenge of our time. Our Commission lays out a road map for how we can build more connected lives and underscores the profound impact this can have on health, educational, and economic outcomes,” said Dr Vivek Murthy, Co-chair of the WHO Commission on Social Connection, and former Surgeon General of the United States of America.

    WHO defines social connection as the ways people relate to and interact with others. Loneliness is described as the painful feeling that arises from a gap between desired and actual social connections, while social isolation refers to the objective lack of sufficient social connections.

    “In this age when the possibilities to connect are endless, more and more people are finding themselves isolated and lonely,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “Apart from the toll it takes on individuals, families and communities, left unaddressed, loneliness and social isolation will continue to cost society billions in terms of health care, education, and employment. I welcome the Commission’s report, which shines a light on the scale and impact of loneliness and isolation, and outlines key areas in which we can help people to reconnect in ways that matter most.”

    Scale and causes of loneliness and social isolation

    Loneliness affects people of all ages, especially youth and people living in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Between 17–21% of individuals aged 13–29-year-olds reported feeling lonely, with the highest rates among teenagers. About 24% of people in low-income countries reported feeling lonely — twice the rate in high-income countries (about 11%).

    “Even in a digitally connected world, many young people feel alone. As technology reshapes our lives, we must ensure it strengthens—not weakens—human connection. Our report shows that social connection must be integrated into all policies—from digital access to health, education, and employment,” said Chido Mpemba, Co-chair of the WHO Commission on Social Connection and Advisor to the African Union Chairperson. 

    While data on social isolation is more limited, it is estimated to affect up to 1 in 3 older adults and 1 in 4 adolescents. Some groups, such as people with disabilities, refugees or migrants, LGBTQ+ individuals, and indigenous groups and ethnic minorities, may face discrimination or additional barriers that make social connection harder.

    Loneliness and social isolation have multiple causes. They include, for instance, poor health, low income and education, living alone, inadequate community infrastructure and public policies, and digital technologies. The report underscores the need for vigilance around the effects of excessive screen time or negative online interactions on the mental health and well-being of young people.  

    Impacts on health, quality of life and economies

    Social connection can protect health across the lifespan. It can reduce inflammation, lower the risk of serious health problems, foster mental health, and prevent early death. It can also strengthen the social fabric, contributing to making communities healthier, safer and more prosperous. 

    In contrast, loneliness and social isolation increase the risk of stroke, heart disease, diabetes, cognitive decline, and premature death. It also affects mental health, with people who are lonely twice as likely to get depressed. Loneliness can also lead to anxiety, and thoughts of self-harm or suicide.

    The impacts extend to learning and employment. Teenagers who felt lonely were 22% more likely to get lower grades or qualifications. Adults who are lonely may find it harder to find or maintain employment and may earn less over time.

    At a community level, loneliness undermines social cohesion and costs billions in lost productivity and health care. Communities with strong social bonds tend to be safer, healthier and more resilient, including in response to disasters.

    A path to healthier societies

    The report of the WHO Commission on Social Connection outlines a roadmap for global action focusing on five key areas: policy, research, interventions, improved measurement (including developing a global Social Connection Index), and public engagement, to shift social norms and bolster a global movement for social connection.

    Solutions to reduce loneliness and social isolation exist at multiple levels – national, community and individual – and range from raising awareness and changing national policies to strengthening social infrastructure (e.g., parks, libraries, cafés) and providing psychological interventions.

    Most people know what it feels like to be lonely. And each person can make a difference through simple, everyday steps—like reaching out to a friend in need, putting away one’s phone to be fully present in conversation, greeting a neighbor, joining a local group, or volunteering. If the problem is more serious, finding out about available support and services for people who feel lonely is important.

    The costs of social isolation and loneliness are high, but the benefits of social connection are far-reaching.

    With the release of the Commission report, WHO calls on all Member States, communities and individuals to make social connection a public health priority.

    Access the full report here

    Editor’s notes 

    The report launch follows the first-ever resolution on social connection, adopted by the World Health Assembly (WHA) in May 2025, which urges Member States to develop and implement evidence-based policies, programmes and strategies to raise awareness and promote positive social connection for mental and physical health. At the WHA, WHO also announced a new campaign called “Knot Alone” to promote social connection for better health. Tune in to WHO’s social media channels to follow the campaign.  

    As part of its broader efforts, WHO has also launched the Social Connection Series to explore the lived experience of loneliness and social isolation. Learn more about the series here.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: City to take a stand against anti-social behaviour

    Source: City of Wolverhampton

    ASB Awareness Week 2025, which begins today (Monday 30 June, 2025), aims to encourage communities to make a stand against ASB and highlight the actions that can be taken by those experiencing it.

    Organised by Resolve, the UK’s leading ASB and community safety organisation, the week features a series of events all across the UK, involving councils, police, housing associations, charities, community groups and sports clubs.

    The council and its partners, including West Midlands Police and the Wolverhampton ASB Team, will be carrying out community engagement activities, patrols, while School Intervention Prevention Officers and Violence Reduction Partnership will be working with local schools to educate pupils about the issue of ASB.

    The council is also urging members of the public not to suffer in silence if they experience ASB. Incidents can be reported to the Wolverhampton ASB Team on 01902 556789, by email via asbu@wolverhamptonhomes.org.uk or at Report anti-social behaviour, or to the police on 101 or 999 in an emergency.

    Councillor Obaida Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Community, said: “We know that anti-social behaviour can cause a great deal of distress, and that’s why we’re committed to working with the public and other organisations across Wolverhampton to investigate and resolve issues as soon as possible.

    “Statistics show that 56% of victims and witnesses don’t report ASB, but nobody should suffer in silence. So, our message is clear – if you see something, make sure you report it.

    “We also have a range of events taking place in Wolverhampton to support ASB Awareness Week and I encourage residents to take part and help make it clear that ASB has no place in Wolverhampton.”

    As well as patrols and engagement activities there will be information pop-ups at Bilston Indoor Market today (Monday) from 10am to 2pm, Warstones Library tomorrow (Tuesday) from 2pm to 5pm, the Avion Centre in Whitmore Reans on Wednesday from 11am to 2pm, the Civic Centre on Friday from noon to 1pm and Wolverhampton bus station on Friday from 2.30pm to 4pm.

    Meanwhile, Resolve is hosting a series of webinars throughout the week as part of its summit, beginning with one to officially launch ASB Awareness Week today at noon. For more details, visit Resolve Summit 2025. 
     

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI China: China National Health Commission does not Approve Part of the SAGO’s “Independent Assessment”

    Source: People’s Republic of China Ministry of Health

    he independent assessment of Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO) published recently does not find any new evidence related to the origins of SARS-CoV-2, nor does it draw any conclusion contrary to the Joint WHO-China Study released by the WHO in March 2021. Unfortunately, with manipulation and influence from certain countries and individuals, the report has included false information based on subjective speculation, seriously undermining the scientific soundness and credibility of the report, part of which raised groundless requirements for China. China does not approve, and they are not acceptable to the global scientific community either. China has shared data and information related to SARS-CoV-2 origins tracing study without reservation, which has been presented in the Covid-19 Prevention, Control and Origins Tracing: China’s Actions and Stance published on 30 April.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: China National Health Commission does not Approve Part of the SAGO’s “Independent Assessment”

    Source: People’s Republic of China Ministry of Health

    he independent assessment of Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO) published recently does not find any new evidence related to the origins of SARS-CoV-2, nor does it draw any conclusion contrary to the Joint WHO-China Study released by the WHO in March 2021. Unfortunately, with manipulation and influence from certain countries and individuals, the report has included false information based on subjective speculation, seriously undermining the scientific soundness and credibility of the report, part of which raised groundless requirements for China. China does not approve, and they are not acceptable to the global scientific community either. China has shared data and information related to SARS-CoV-2 origins tracing study without reservation, which has been presented in the Covid-19 Prevention, Control and Origins Tracing: China’s Actions and Stance published on 30 April.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: MPs to present Support Workers with giant bank cheques representing their lost $20,644.45 pay equity wages – PSA

    Source: PSA

    Opposition MPs will present giant bank ‘cheques’ representing $20,644.45 in stolen pay equity wages to care and support at Parliament on Tuesday 1 July.
    July 1 heralds pay increases for politicians while care and support workers mark three years to the day waiting for one. Their pay equity claim – now cancelled by the National-led Government – was initiated on 1 July 2022.
    “The cheque represents the amount owed to these women from the care and support pay equity claim the Government cancelled on May 6,” says PSA Assistant Secretary Melissa Woolley.
    “The figure reflects what should have been paid to workers under the claim, calculated using their pay equity rates.
    “It’s a life-changing amount of money the National-led Government have stolen from hardworking people – most of them women,” Woolley said.
    What: Labour MP Jan Tinetti and Green MP Teanau Tuiono to handover symbolic giant cheques to care and support workers.
    Where: Parliament – exact location TBC.
    When: 2pm – 2:20pm, Tuesday 1 July.
    Who: A care and support worker from each of the three unions – E tū, the Public Service Association, and the New Zealand Nurses Organisation.
    How: The cheques will be handed over after short speeches from support workers, MP Jan Tinetti, and Melissa Ansell-Bridges – National Secretary of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions.
    PSA analysis shows support workers would be $20,644.45 better off if they’d been paid equity rates over the three years people in Government have failed to deliver their settlement.
    Notes:
    The analysis is based on the 21 per cent margin above the minimum wage that care and support workers received in the 2017 settlement. The settlement rates, or the minimum wage rate, whichever was higher has been compared with what the rate would have been if the 21 per cent margin had been maintained. The comparison is based on a 30-hour work week.
    The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi is Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest trade union, representing and supporting more than 95,000 workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health boards and community groups.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Transport – Honouring the driving forces of the transport sector

    Source: Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand

    New drivers, old hands, smart brains and clever operators were honoured on Saturday at the 2025 South Island Seminar Industry Awards in Christchurch.
    The awards, hosted by Transporting New Zealand, celebrate individuals and organisations that have made exceptional contributions to the road transport sector through innovation, safety, industry awareness, and training.
    The Supreme Contribution to NZ Road Transport Award was a posthumous award to Alex McLellan who tragically died in a workplace accident last year.
    Alex was the founder of Balclutha’s McLellan’s Freight and was a huge presence in the freight sector. He was well known for his big hearted and generous nature, his sense of fun, and a commitment to making the industry better.
    The award was accepted on his behalf by widow Kim Unahi-McLellan, herself a key player in the sector.
    The other award winners were:
    Jax Smith and Jen Hall, the co-owners of Marlborough’s Renwick Transport, won the TrackIT Logistics Women in Road Freight Transport Award.
    From advocating for diversity to lifting grape harvest logistics standards in Marlborough , they are a driving force for change, community and inclusion in the industry.
    The EROAD Young Driver Award went to Sydney Sangster of Conroy Removals.
    Aged 22, Sydney is a top-tier operator, navigating the South Island in B-Trains with confidence and skill. From tail-lift trucks to career day presentations, she’s delivering excellence and promoting the industry to the next generation of drivers.
    The EROAD Outstanding Contribution to Health and Safety Award went to Hammar New Zealand Limited for their AI-powered pedestrian detection system.
    Installed on side-loaders, the system identifies when people are too close to a trailer or vehicle, triggering real-time visual and audio alerts for operators.
    The Fruehauf Outstanding Contribution to Innovation Award went to TrackIT Logistics for its end-to-end business platform. It integrates dispatch, compliance, safety, stock management and live data, and is the trusted tool for many businesses nationwide.
    The Outstanding Contribution to Training Award went to MOVe Logistics, which has embedded training into the fabric of its operations.
    The company has delivered a range of development opportunities for its people, supporting qualifications across the Level 3 Heavy Vehicle Operator programme, micro-credentials and business training.
    Dom Kalasih, the chief executive for Transporting New Zealand, said it was fantastic to see the calibre and the numbers of people nominated for the awards.
    “Times are tough at the moment, but these are the people and the companies that don’t shy away from investing in their products, and their people.”
    “I applaud all the nominees and the winners for making our industry better in all sorts of ways.” 
    About Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand
    Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand is the peak national membership association representing the road freight transport industry. Our members operate urban, rural and inter- regional commercial freight transport services throughout the country.
    Road is the dominant freight mode in New Zealand, transporting 92.8% of the freight task on a tonnage basis, and 75.1% on a tonne-km basis. The road freight transport industry employs over 34,000 people across more than 4700 businesses, with an annual turnover of $6 billion.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Director Wu Cheng-wei Meets Outstanding Taiwanese Young Doctors Studying in Australia

    Source: Republic of China Taiwan

    Director General David Cheng-Wei Wu and colleague were pleased to meet with Dr. Lin Yu-Ju from the Department of Family Medicine at Taichung Veterans General Hospital and Dr. Hsu Chia-Yun from the Department of Pediatrics at National Taiwan University Hospital, who are currently in Sydney for further training. They gained insights into the rigorous training process of Taiwan’s outstanding doctors and expressed deep admiration for the young physicians’ dedication to continuous learning and their pursuit of excellence in medical knowledge and skills.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: World-first AI system to warn of NHS patient safety concerns

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Press release

    World-first AI system to warn of NHS patient safety concerns

    Pioneering AI technology will be developed to scan NHS systems to flag safety issues in real time and trigger crucial inspections earlier 

    • Pioneering AI technology will be developed to scan NHS systems to flag safety issues in real time and trigger crucial inspections earlier 
    • Patients to benefit from safer treatment thanks to faster identification of problems in care and greater quality assurance of data 
    • Initiative is part of government’s Plan for Change to shift NHS services from analogue to digital under the 10 Year Health Plan 

    Patients will receive better care thanks to a world-first AI early warning system being developed to automatically identify safety concerns across the NHS, helping stop failures before they escalate.  

    It follows a pledge by the Health and Social Care Secretary to overhaul health and care regulation, root out poor performance and guarantee patients safe, quality care.

    There have been growing concerns about safety in the NHS in recent years after a spate of scandals including in mental health and maternity services.

    The new safety warning system, being developed as part of the government’s 10 Year Health Plan, will rapidly analyse healthcare data and ring the alarm bell on emerging safety issues.

    Work on rolling out the system is already underway. A new Maternity Outcomes Signal System will launch across NHS trusts from November, using near real-time data to flag higher than expected rates of stillbirth, neonatal death and brain injury.  

    When fully implemented, it could analyse hospital databases to identify patterns of abuse, serious injuries, deaths, or other incidents that can slip through the net, cause harm and stop hospitals from running safely. 

    Where concerns are raised, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) will deploy specialist inspection teams as soon as possible to investigate and take swift action.  

    The forthcoming 10 Year Health Plan will usher in a new era of transparency, a rigorous focus on high-quality care for all, and a renewed focus on patient and staff voice. This major intervention to boost patient safety will be on behalf of everyone whose healthcare has caused them unnecessary suffering – whether in scandals, or because they have received ineffective care from the NHS more broadly.

    Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: 

    While most treatments in the NHS are safe, even a single lapse that puts a patient at risk is one too many. Behind every safety breach is a person – a life altered, a family devastated, sometimes by heart-breaking loss.

    Patient safety and power are at the heart of our 10 Year Health Plan. By embracing AI and introducing world-first early warning systems, we’ll spot dangerous signs sooner and launch rapid inspections before harm occurs.

    This technology will save lives – catching unsafe care before it becomes a tragedy. It’s a vital part of our commitment to move the NHS from analogue to digital, delivering better, safer care for everyone.

    By helping transform patient care, this initiative forms a key part of the government’s Plan for Change. It is built on the NHS Federated Data Platform, which allows healthcare staff to securely access the information they need in one place. That means less paperwork and manual inspections for staff, and more time caring for patients.

    This follows the government’s commitment last week to a rapid national investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal services to provide truth and accountability for impacted families and drive urgent improvements to care and safety. 

    Professor Meghana Pandit, Co-National Medical Director – Secondary Care, said:

    The NHS in England will be the first country in the world to trial an AI-enabled warning system to flag patient safety issues which will rapidly analyse routine hospital data and reports submitted by healthcare staff from community settings.

    The move will turbo-charge the speed and efficiency with which we identify patient safety concerns and enable us to respond rapidly to improve patient care.

    The adoption of the AI warning system is underpinned by the government’s transformation of the NHS from analogue to digital – one of the three key shifts outlined in the 10 Year Health Plan. 

    CQC’s Chief Executive Sir Julian Hartley said: 

    We will develop a stronger focus on all dimensions of quality, using data which we and partners hold on inequalities in access, experience, and outcomes to spot and act on risk earlier.  

    We are already developing our new clearer, simpler, assessment approach, and in the future our experienced teams of inspectors, led by our newly appointed Chief Inspectors, will be able to conduct more inspections and share feedback on the findings more quickly – so that providers can make faster improvements, and the public have timely information about care.

    Updates to this page

    Published 30 June 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI China: Senior-friendly toys fuel growth of China’s silver economy

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    Inside a senior care home, lively elders gathered around a tabletop hockey game, sharpening their minds and savoring the moment.

    These brain-teasing games, once seen as children’s play, are quickly becoming the latest craze among older adults.

    As China’s population ages rapidly, the once-overlooked market for senior-friendly toys is emerging as a new pillar of the booming silver economy.

    For Guan Weijiang, a toy merchant in Yiwu, a bustling trade hub in east China, the shift is quite evident.

    Over the past year, his online store has experienced a surge in demand for fitness and brain-training toys among older customers. Consumers aged 50 and above now make up 30 percent of his user base.

    “Our two best-selling toys fall into the fitness and puzzle categories. They’re not physically demanding, but they’re fun and perfect for elderly users to exercise or pass the time,” Guan said.

    “There’s actually quite a bit of overlap between toys for children and those for the elderly, as both help improve reflexes, grip strength and coordination. In fact, some children’s toys can be easily adapted for seniors with just a few simple tweaks,” Guan explained.

    Recognizing the potential of senior-friendly toys as a promising niche, he decided to seize the opportunity. Within just three months of launching over 10 products designed specifically for elderly users, his shop’s sales far exceeded expectations.

    On one of China’s leading e-commerce platforms, Taobao, searches for “senior-friendly toys” jumped 124 percent year on year, with transaction volumes increasing by over 70 percent. Consumers aged 55 and above now make up a growing proportion of buyers, and their purchasing frequency is accelerating.

    Seeing the expanding market, an increasing number of toy manufacturers across China are shifting their focus to meet the demands of older consumers.

    According to Cheng Xin from Taobao’s toys and collectibles team, the platform is seeing a wave of new shops selling toys for the elderly, with some newly established and many others converted from former children’s toy stores.

    “Toys are no longer just for children or symbols of pop culture. They are lifelong hobbies that can bring joy and mental enrichment to consumers of all ages,” Cheng said, adding that Taobao plans to launch a dedicated category for senior-friendly toys, along with tailored operational support for the segment.

    The rise of senior-friendly toys is not only creating new consumer demand but also catalyzing transformations across traditional industries.

    Yunhe County in Zhejiang Province, widely known as China’s “Wooden Toy Capital,” stands out as a particularly striking example.

    Building on decades of industrial experience, Yunhe is now integrating wooden toys with elderly care to develop an innovation-driven industry chain focused on cognitive wellness and entertainment.

    The key to this transformation lies in shifting from “fun” to “function.” So far, local manufacturers have developed over 200 wooden toys designed to improve hand-foot coordination and help slow memory loss among older adults.

    According to Yin Qian, president of Zhejiang Mimi Zhikang Technology Co., the company has developed over 100 wooden puzzle toys that are both entertaining and mentally stimulating.

    To enhance the cognitive and rehabilitative benefits of its products, the company collaborated with the Health Science Center (HSC) of Xi’an Jiaotong University and an Alzheimer’s prevention group based in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province.

    So far, the company has secured more than 30 patents and supplies products to over 500 elderly care institutions across the country.

    Meanwhile, Yunhe is also eyeing international markets. In recent years, the county has expanded exports of its wooden toys to senior schools, nursing homes and community centers overseas.

    “In 2024, our products were successfully exported to Germany, Japan, and other markets, where they’ve been warmly received by elderly users,” Yin said.

    In the first quarter of this year, the company’s sales of elderly-oriented wooden toys rose 50 percent year on year.

    According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, China’s elderly population is projected to grow by more than 10 million annually over the next decade. By 2035, the silver economy is expected to account for 9 percent of China’s GDP, up from 6 percent today.

    Data from market research firm iiMedia Research shows that China’s elderly care industry reached 12 trillion yuan (about 1.68 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2023, up 16.5 percent year on year. The silver economy is projected to hit around 30 trillion yuan by 2035, accounting for about 10 percent of GDP.

    The innovation in niche segments is opening up new avenues in the silver economy, according to Zhang Jinsong, secretary general of the Elder Education on Aging Committee of China Gerontological Society.

    “The silver economy is poised to evolve from meeting basic needs to fulfilling aspirations for quality and enjoyment,” he said. “That shift will unleash enormous potential.”

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Occupational therapists tackle obstacles in the home, from support to cook a meal, to navigating public transport

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danielle Hitch, Senior Lecturer in Occupational Therapy, Deakin University

    Occupational therapists (OTs) have been in the spotlight this month after the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) froze NDIS payments for these services at $193.99 per hour for the sixth year.

    The NDIA also cut travel payments for OTs who visit people in their home and community by 50%.

    Health Minister Mark Bulter says it’s important people on the NDIS aren’t paying more for therapy and support than they would pay in the health or aged care system.

    But OTs are concerned this could affect therapists’ viability, including their ability to support people with disability in their homes and communities.

    But what can OTs actually do? And why is it often better to do this in a person’s home and community?

    Who might see an OT?

    Imagine trying to get back to your daily life after a major health setback, such as a car accident or stroke, or an episode of a long-term condition or disability, such as depression or arthritis. The things you used to do with ease can become difficult and exhausting.

    After such a setback, your home or community can also feel like an obstacle course. Maybe you can’t carry the laundry basket out to the line anymore, or you’re struggling to keep up with your children.

    This is where occupational therapy can make a real difference. OTs are health professionals that enable people to do the things they need, want and love to do in daily life, from getting dressed to cooking dinner, gardening to driving.

    Occupational therapists work with people of all ages. They overcome barriers by changing the environments and objects we use, teaching new skills, rehabilitating old ones and tweaking the way we tackle tasks.

    What can OTs do in the home and community?

    Seeing people in their own homes and communities allows the therapist to get a more accurate picture of a person’s strengths and abilities, which can be difficult to understand in a clinic.

    OTs use their skills and creativity to provide personalised care, tailored to individual needs and circumstances.

    An older person with dementia might, for example, cause alarm by putting a plastic kettle on the stove of a hospital kitchen. But they could make their cup of tea perfectly safely at home with their stove top kettle.

    OTs can support home and community mobility, such as checking a wheelchair passes smoothly through doorways and can manoeuvre in tight spaces such as bathrooms.

    But they can also advise on kitchen aids and seating to save energy for people with conditions such as multiple sclerosis, to support them continuing to cook family meals.

    In their work with neurodivergent people of different ages, an OT might help an autistic teen develop sensory strategies to deal with their busy and noisy school day.

    For other people, OT support might help them navigate their local public transport system. Learning and practising skills where they’re used makes it easier to carry them over into everyday life.

    What does the research say?

    Research shows home and community OT can lead to better activity and participation than clinic-based therapy. It’s also cost-effective.

    For stroke survivors, OT makes everyday tasks like showering or getting dressed easier.

    OT at home eases burden and stress for the parents of children with cerebral palsy and carers of people with dementia.

    OT at home helps older people with ongoing health issues to be more actively involved in their communities.

    Community OT is also effective in supporting recovery for people with mental health problems, enabling them to enjoy community and leisure activities, seek and maintain employment and enhance physical activity.

    OT focuses on helping you do the things that keep you well and independent, which means fewer trips back to the hospital. OTs can spot and solve trip hazards within homes, for example, before a frail person has a fall.

    People who get OT at home soon after leaving hospital are less likely to be readmitted. Emerging research also suggests OT can work jointly with paramedics when someone falls at home by visiting and offering immediate treatment that prevent avoidable hospital stays.

    There are some downsides, such as limited access in disadvantaged communities. While telehealth can address some barriers, it is not suitable in every case.

    How do Australians access OTs?

    There are many pathways to access OT services, but the complexity of the health-care system means the process is challenging to navigate.

    OT services can also be costly, due to severely limited funding, equipment and transport costs.

    OT is available as part of Home Care Packages and the Commonwealth Home Support Programme for older people.

    OT has also played a key role in supporting NDIS participants since the scheme’s inception. However, waiting lists often stretch for many months and not everyone knows about what OT can offer.

    You can also access community OT through Medicare Chronic Disease Management plans, local community health centres and councils and through private health insurance rebates.

    Thanks to Lana O’Neil (Occupational Therapist at Western Health in Victoria) and Sarah McCann (Senior Occupational Therapist at Western Health) for sharing their clinical expertise for this article.

    Danielle Hitch does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Occupational therapists tackle obstacles in the home, from support to cook a meal, to navigating public transport – https://theconversation.com/occupational-therapists-tackle-obstacles-in-the-home-from-support-to-cook-a-meal-to-navigating-public-transport-259807

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI USA: In Senate Floor Speech, Murray Rails Against Republican Bill That Will Rip Away Health Care, Nutrition Assistance, Abortion Access & Balloon National Debt to Fund Tax Cuts for Billionaires

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
    In Washington state, at least 306,000 people will lose health care under Republican bill; 900,000 Washingtonians could see SNAP benefits reduced or eliminated; 14 rural hospitals will be at risk of closure
    ***VIDEO of Senator Murray’s full floor speech HERE***
    Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, took to the Senate floor to speak out forcefully against Republicans’ reconciliation bill—the One Big Beautiful Bill Act—which, as Murray detailed, will rip away health care from millions of Americans, shutter the doors of hospitals and health care clinics across the country, make the largest cuts to Medicaid and nutrition assistance in history, and blow up the national debt—all so Republicans can fund massive tax breaks for billionaires.
    Republicans’ 940-page bill, which they released in the dead of night, cuts more than $900 billion from Medicaid—$100 billion more than the House bill. That means about 17 million Americans will lose their health care, according to estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), and more than 300 rural hospitals and over 500 nursing homes could close because of the legislation. The legislation makes the largest cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in history and will rip away nutrition assistance entirely from more than 5 million Americans and shift tens of billions of dollars in costs to states. The legislation also increases the debt by nearly $4 trillion dollars—nearly a trillion more than the House bill. About two in three Americans oppose the bill.
    In Washington state, 1.95 million people rely on Apple Health, Washington state’s Medicaid program, and over 300,000 Washingtonians access coverage through the state’s Affordable Care Act marketplace (Washington Healthplanfinder). The Joint Economic Committee estimates that at least 306,312 people in Washington state would lose their health insurance under the Republican legislation—that includes 198,050 people who would be kicked off Medicaid and 108,262 people who would lose their coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Among other things, Republicans’ bill would institute work reporting requirements for Medicaid, which have been proven not to increase employment and just strip health care coverage from people who are already working or exempt—this would put more than 620,000 Washingtonians at risk of losing their health care coverage or having it delayed. Fourteen rural hospitals in Washington state would be at risk of closure under the Republican bill. The legislation also “defunds” Planned Parenthood for the next year, threatening the closure of up to 200 health centers across the country—90 percent of them in states where abortion is legal. 11 percent of Washington state residents rely on SNAP, and the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services estimated that more than 900,000 people across the state could their see SNAP benefits reduced or eliminated under the House bill—the Senate bill is just as extreme.
    Senator Murray’s full remarks, as delivered, are below and HERE:
    “I think it’s really important the discussion we had right now about the deficit and debt, but I want to talk a little bit more about this bill in general.
    “You know, recent KFF polling shows that this Republican Big, Ugly, Betrayal bill is overwhelmingly unpopular. In fact, this thing is more underwater than the Titanic.
    “Nearly two-in-three Americans view this bill unfavorably. That goes up to nearly three-in-four when they learn it will kick millions—millions—off their health insurance. And it goes up to nearly four-in-five when they learn it will choke off funding to their local hospital. In other words, the more the American people hear about what is actually in this Big, Ugly Betrayal bill, the more they dislike it.
    “So with that in mind, I want to be here today to say a little bit more about what is in the Republicans’ latest version. Spoiler alert: it is still big, it is still ugly—and it is an absolute betrayal of the people who sent us here to fight for them.
    “The Republican plan is still going to mean over 16 million people losing health care as patients get kicked off their ACA plans. Kids and struggling families will get kicked off Medicaid. Rural hospitals are going to forced to shut their doors.
    “The Republican plan is still going to mean more starving families. New red tape is going to cut people off from their SNAP benefits that they need to put food on the table, and it is going to take away kids’ school meals.
    “The Republican plan still rips away support from the people in this country who are struggling the most, to give away billions in tax breaks to billionaires who need help the least.
    “In short, this latest version of Republicans’ bill would still be one of the biggest transfers of wealth from the people at the bottom to the people at the top in our nation’s history.
    [Health Care]
    “When it comes to health care, this Republican abomination will cause millions of people to lose their insurance, and see their costs skyrocket in one way or another.
    “It will create mountains of new paperwork and bureaucratic barriers that are positively meant to kick people off their Medicaid and ACA coverage.
    “And there is new sabotage to the ACA health care markets, which will mean more people losing their affordable coverage. Meanwhile, there is nothing—a big, fat zero—when it comes to renewing the tax credits Democrats passed to lower your health care costs.
    “That’s right—while Republicans are showering their billionaire donors in new tax breaks, they will not lift a finger to extend health care tax credits that are saving millions of families thousands of dollars a year on health coverage.
    “Instead, they are going to make sure people lose health care coverage—including our seniors, people with disabilities, pregnant women, millions of patients who rely on Medicaid.
    “And let’s not forget, the cuts in their bill are going to shutter hospitals across the country, especially in our rural areas.
    “Do you have Medicaid? Medicare? Employer-sponsored-coverage? Regardless, Republicans have some pretty bad news for you—because it hardly matters what insurance you’re on when you don’t have a hospital to get care anymore!
    “In Washington state, we have fourteen rural hospitals that are fighting to survive and would likely close under this bill—mostly in areas represented by Republicans, I should add!
    “Not to mention, we have six rural labor and delivery units that could be forced to close their doors under this bill.
    “And you know what the Senate Republicans did? They made that problem worse! They put even more pressure on our rural hospitals!
    “I’m telling you, this betrayal is getting bigger and uglier by the day. And this cannot get lost: Republicans want to shut the doors of one of the biggest health care providers in the country.
    “They want to defund Planned Parenthood. That is wildly harmful and wildly unpopular.
    “It would shutter at least 200 health centers that provide a wide spectrum of care—including cancer screenings, pap smears, birth control for millions of women.
    [Nutrition]
    “And let’s not forget, Republicans are cutting nutrition assistance too.
    ‘This Big Ugly Betrayal would make one of the biggest cuts to SNAP in history. We are talking around a $200 billion dollar cut over the next ten years. Now it should be obvious, but that would be devastating for our country and for our kids’ future.
    “And yet, Republicans are not giving up on taking dinner off the table, taking school lunch off kids’ trays, all so they can shovel tax cuts at billionaires and wealthy corporations.
    “And it is worth underscoring, the new red tape in their bill is even targeted at some of our most vulnerable families! Because it expands work requirements to apply to seniors and parents with kids in school.
    “Mr. President, when my dad, a WWII veteran, got sick with Multiple Sclerosis, he lost his job. He lost his job. My mom was at home, 7 kids she was raising, my dad lost his job, and my mom had to spend some time getting some new skills so she could go back to work and take care of our family. You know what, during that time? We had to rely on food stamps in my family, to feed those seven kids in my family.
    “But under this Republican bill today—because neither of my parents had a job during those few months—my family would not be eligible for SNAP benefits. We would not have even gotten food on our table at the worst time in my family’s life. This is wrong.
    “Thanks to those food stamps, my family did get through that rough patch, and all seven of us kids grew up to give back to our communities—whether as a firefighter, a middle school teacher, or even here as a United States Senator.
    “So I can’t emphasize enough: Republicans want to cut families from SNAP and Medicaid—programs that give people a hand up in hard times—why? So they can give an enormous hand out to the richest people and biggest companies in the country.
    “Oh and, at the same time they are making it harder to afford groceries and health care, I should mention—they are also gutting energy investments in a completely chaotic way that is all but guaranteed to drive away jobs and drive up energy costs for all of American families.
    [Higher Education]
    “And at the same time, in this bill, they are giving billionaires billions of dollars, Republicans are going to give students the short end of the stick.
    “This big mess of a bill would tear away programs and protections that make it possible for many students to pursue a higher education: it eliminates GRAD PLUS loans, it cuts families off from Parent Plus loans, it punishes students who go into public service or a medical residency, and more.
    “Meanwhile, they are tearing down the guardrails—from gutting regulations that protect students whose universities commit fraud, to opening a Pandora’s box for Pell grants, with a new loophole that will let low-quality programs suck up our taxpayer dollars.
    “These changes are especially going to hurt students from low-income families, and first-generation college students, and our veterans.
    “Some of them will have no way to go to college when Republicans take their support away. Some will be driven into predatory private loans they can’t afford. And some will get lured into low-quality programs that take their money, waste taxpayer dollars, and leave the student worse off.
    “And if that wasn’t enough—if the Secretary of Education wanted to try and stop this kind of fraud, and protect students, Republicans will leave them about as much authority as a school hall monitor.
    “Because in this bill, Republicans prevent any Secretary of Education from making regulations that carry added benefits for borrowers.
    “And it hardly matters if that is a good impact—like saving students’ money, or protecting taxpayer dollars from fraud, or making higher education more accessible—Republicans are going to make problems worse, and make fixing them even harder.
    “Students in this country should be outraged.
    [National Debt]
    “And I want to be perfectly clear about something. If Republicans charge ahead with this big, awful, mess—which they seem intent on doing—they can kiss any last shred of credibility goodbye, as we just talked about, when it comes to pretending they care about balancing the budget or addressing the national debt.
    “The idea was already laughable—for the entirety of the 21st Century, the biggest driver of the national debt has been tax cuts that Republicans championed.
    “But now, as we just talked about, they want to put at least 4 trillion dollars—that is trillions, with a T—on the national credit card. Why? So they can shower the richest people on the planet with more money.
    “And then they’re pretending all the math works and it’s kind of easy-peasy if they only just, they can do it if they kick people off health care, or take enough meals away from kids, or close enough hospitals, or—better still—use some absurd accounting gimmick to pretend, to pretend that billions of dollars in new tax cuts for their billionaire donors actually just don’t cost anything.
    “Well I’ve got some bad news for Republicans—your math is terrible, and so is this bill. This thing is very expensive. And you don’t have to take my word for it.
    “Ask the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which just said the latest version of this bill will add $4 trillion, “T,” trillion to the debt just over the next 10 years.
    “If Republicans want to ignore them, you can also ask the fiscal hawks at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. They calculate that the House bill adds $5 trillion to our debt, when you include interest payments and the cost of making temporary provisions in this bill permanent. And we are told the Senate bill is even less fiscally responsible.
    “Everyone agrees: this thing is not beautiful, but it is recklessly big. And it won’t just increase the debt—it will blow it up!
    “Mr. President, this may very well be the most expensive bill in history. I say ‘may’ because Republicans are still planning changes, we have not yet gotten the final bill. They already cut out even more taxes for multinational corporations.
    “SNAP benefits? They’re still on the chopping block. Health care? Still on the chopping block. In fact, they want to cut Medicaid even more painfully.
    “We may not know how expensive the Republicans’ bill will be in the end, but we know who is paying for it. Paying for it is you, working families.
    [Blocked Provisions]
    “And it is important for people to know: as bad as this bill is, Republicans were trying to make it even worse.
    “Now, Democrats have been fighting them every step of the way, and we have notched a few important wins by challenging every single provision we possibly could under the Senate rules.
    “So I want to talk about some of the things Democrats were successful in striking out.
    “Because if Republicans had had their way, not only would this bill take away more food from our struggling families, or shutter even more hospitals, and kick even more people off their health insurance. It would have also sold off our public lands!
    “And instead of just slashing CFPB funding, it would have completely shuttered the doors of a very important federal watchdog that protects Americans from getting scammed.
    “If Republicans had had their way, this bill would make it easier to buy gun silencers, harder to get your earned income tax credit, or pay off your student loan, and effectively impossible to get insurance plans on the marketplace that cover abortion care.
    “If Republicans had had their way, this bill would have also given Trump more power to deny funding to our constituents on a whim, and less power for the courts to stop him.
    “We are talking about a whole smorgasbord of really awful, unpopular ideas and policies that would have hurt our families and weakened our democracy. Ideas that were this close to making it into this bill.
    “But Republicans did not have their way. Democrats have been fighting back at every single step. We got those provisions tossed in the shredder, and we are still doing our darndest to send the rest of the bill into the shredder as well.
    [Making People Heard]
    “Now let’s be clear, when we talk about how unpopular this bill is with the American people, the reason is simple: this bill polls like garbage, because it is garbage. That’s why it should go nowhere, except a trash bin.
    “Democrats are going to keep pushing back on this monstrosity with absolutely everything we’ve got, at every step we can.
    “We’re not going to stand by as Republicans shutter hospitals, so the richest people in the country can build another vacation home.
    “We are not going to sit around and let Republicans kick millions of people off of their insurance and raise working families’ premiums—so corporate executives can get a bigger bonus.
    “And we are not going to be silent as Republicans take food away from struggling families so they can help billionaires fuel up their private jets.
    “We are going to keep speaking up, we are going to keep pushing back, and we are going to make sure everyone—everyone—knows exactly what is going on here. This bill is deeply unpopular—that much is clear.
    “But if Republicans keep pushing for this disaster, buckle up, because we are only going to get louder and louder about how big this is, how ugly it is—and it is only going to get more unpopular with the folks back home as these provisions are enacted if this bill passes.
    “I’m pretty astounded by how far some Republicans are trying to stick their heads in the sand on this. One Republican Senator told their concerned constituents, and I quote, ‘We are all going to die.’
    “Maybe that’s a better name for the bill? At least it’s more honest. Because, when you take health care away from people, when you make it harder to get, when you make it harder to afford, when you close the only hospital for miles—yeah, you’re right, people will die.
    “You’d think my colleagues would show a bit more concern about that. Instead, that senator actually doubled down. And in a response video she filmed walking through a cemetery—I don’t know how you get out of touch that much to misunderstand this, but let me clear about something to our Republicans: whistling past the graveyard is a metaphor to stop ignoring dangers. It is not a literal messaging suggestion!
    “And if you thought Republicans couldn’t be any more dismissive to their own constituents, this week, another Republican Senator, who was speaking about people voicing their concerns about these Medicaid cuts, said they will, quote, people will ‘Get over it.’
    “Mr. President: I have news for every one of my Republican colleagues who is trying to deny the reality of this bill and pretend the fairytales they are telling themselves are true.
    “When someone’s local hospital closes, they don’t ‘get over it.’ When someone’s kid is kicked off health care, they do not ‘get over it.’
    “And Republicans don’t want to take my word for it, they can listen to the doctor I spoke with who warned, when patients go uninsured, they delay care and it increases costs for everyone. Instead of paying $10 for diabetic medication, we’ll pay $10,000 for an amputation.
    “Or, Republicans can actually read the countless letters I am getting from my constituents sharing their stories: ‘My dad is a double amputee, he relies on Medicaid,’ ‘Without Medicaid we couldn’t get my kids’ anti-seizure medication.’
    “Or, ‘I’m a full-time caregiver for my daughter with cerebral palsy’… or my son with spina bifida… or my elderly mother… and this bill threatens to kick them off the health care and supportive services they rely on to survive.
    “Or better yet, Republicans can go out and talk to their own constituents, because I have no doubt they will hear similar stories.
    “They will even come to you! Advocates have been here in D.C. all week. I’ve seen them in the halls. I’ve heard from them from my office!
    “And now Republicans can listen to the people across the country who are warning them about this bill. And they can do the right thing and abandon this effort, or they can keep ignoring them.
    “But make no mistake, in the end the American people will have their voices and their votes heard.
    “Because at the end of the day, this bill—this monstrosity of a bill—is all in the goal of a tax break for multi-billionaires and corporations. And the way they pay for it is by taking away your health care, and your nutrition—the things your families, or your neighbors, or people you know rely on. And that’s just wrong. It’s un-American. And we’re fighting back.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Unsafe and unethical: bed shortages mean dementia patients with psychiatric symptoms are admitted to medical wards

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cindy Towns, Senior Lecturer in General Medicine and Geriatrics, University of Otago

    Getty Images

    New Zealand’s mental health crisis is well documented in the government’s 2018 inquiry, He Ara Oranga, which shows one in five people experience mental illness or significant mental distress.

    However, an almost singular focus on care of young people obscures the psychiatric needs of older adults.

    Failure to account for these needs has resulted in physicians facing pressure to admit psychiatric patients to medical wards that are not designed or resourced to care for them. This compromises patient safety and rights as well as fundamental standards of care.

    Our new research highlights the clinical, ethical and legal consequences of this practice and calls for urgent action.

    Dementia includes psychiatric features

    The memory deficits of dementia are well known but the condition also includes psychiatric presentations. These are known collectively as the “behavioural and psychiatric symptoms of dementia” (BPSD). When severe, they can include intrusive behaviour, violence and inappropriate sexual conduct. Such patients require admission and specialist treatment.

    However, New Zealand has a severe shortage of psychiatric beds for older adults. Even more concerning is that despite well recognised demographic trends and clinical concerns, bed numbers have decreased over time rather than increased.

    Reports that Dunedin plans to slash the number of psycho-geriatric beds by 50% reflect a lack of government insight into the risks this large and growing patient cohort poses.

    Hospitals routinely expect medical wards to admit dementia patients presenting with BPSD when no psycho-geriatric bed is available. Yet it is impossible for staff on medical wards to adhere to even basic standards of care.

    Poor design

    A lack of single rooms means medical teams cannot provide the security and minimisation of light and noise people with dementia require. Single rooms need to be prioritised for transmissible infections, delirium and terminal care.

    Medical wards are also not designed for aggressive patients. People can enter and exit freely, potential weapons (scissors, for example) are accessible, there are no seclusion rooms or low-stimulus areas, and nursing stations are not secure.

    Medical staff are not trained in de-escalation or restraint and ward pharmacists are not specialised in the medications required to treat BPSD.

    Those presenting with physical or sexual violence also need dedicated security, well beyond what healthcare assistants on “patient watches” can provide. Most healthcare assistants are women, which creates a grossly inadequate level of safety when managing violent male patients.

    The experience of Wellington general medicine staff documents numerous assaults on nurses and intrusive and frightening behaviour. Staff have been punched, hit, bitten and threatened. One nurse was stabbed while attending to another patient in a multi-bed room.

    Admissions have included physically robust patients who have seriously assaulted family or carers. This includes one man who committed a fatal assault and another who was sexually aggressive and stabbed a family member.

    High rates of mixed-gender bedding in hospital wards raise the risk of harm. The United Kingdom banned hospitals from placing men and women in the same room in 2010. Yet despite concerns for patient safety, New Zealand has no prohibition on this practice.

    Poor policy

    By comparison, Australia proposed a risk stratification approach more than 20 years ago whereby severe dementia patients would be managed in secure units with dedicated security staff and specialist psycho-geriatric care.

    This model is used throughout Australia in policy and planning. In New Zealand, severe dementia is defaulted to medical wards even in cases where patients are presenting solely due to extreme violence.

    According to the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights, patients are entitled to an appropriate standard of care. Admitting someone with dementia to medical wards that cannot meet basic standards of care clearly breaches this right.

    BPSD admissions also significantly compromise the rights of other patients. The risks are again demonstrable rather than potential. International media reports have documented male dementia patients assaulting female patients in medical wards without the necessary security measures.

    Medical staff in New Zealand hospitals have also witnessed numerous incidents of intrusion and harassment as well as assaults of other patients by dementia patients inappropriately admitted to medical wards with BPSD.

    We should also recognise indirect impacts of people with severe dementia being admitted on medical wards. Many patients wait overnight for admission, increasing their risk for complications, and breaching rights to privacy and dignity.

    When psychiatric patients occupy medical beds, they contribute to admission delays, complications and rights breaches for medical patients awaiting beds.

    Urgent need for more psycho-geriatric beds

    Wellington general medicine teams have raised serious concerns about dementia admissions for many years. Yet there are no secure areas and no additional psycho-geriatric beds.

    We need to ask why the practice continues when harm is so obvious. The answer appears to be about cost. When physicians relent and admit psychiatric patients, the risks are high but the financial cost is low. The consequences are born by elderly and frail patients seldom able to advocate for themselves.

    Change relies on health leaders and funders caring about safety, rights and basic standards of care. Unfortunately, the Wellington experience and the decision to cut beds in Dunedin suggest change will not happen unless physicians consistently refuse the admission of psychiatric patients. But this is a morally distressing position to be put in.

    New Zealand must urgently address the shortage of psycho-geriatric beds. Until these are in place, temporary secure accommodation must be made available under the care of mental health specialists.

    Medical teams can no longer be expected to manage the mental health crisis as well as their own medical workloads. It is unsafe, unethical and untenable for all involved.

    Cindy Towns does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Unsafe and unethical: bed shortages mean dementia patients with psychiatric symptoms are admitted to medical wards – https://theconversation.com/unsafe-and-unethical-bed-shortages-mean-dementia-patients-with-psychiatric-symptoms-are-admitted-to-medical-wards-257634

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Pacific Partnership 2025 Conducts Mission Stop in Nuku’Alofa, Tonga, June 26, 2025 [Image 4 of 5]

    Source: United States Navy (Logistics Group Western Pacific)

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    NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga (June 26, 2025) U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Sean Foley, right, Critical Care Physician with Pacific Partnership 2025 (PP-25), assists Dr. Richard Taumoepeau, a local physician, during an ultrasound guided thoracentesis at Vaiola Hospital as part of PP-25 in Nuku’Alofa, Tonga, June 26, 2025. Now in its 21st iteration, the Pacific Partnership series is the largest annual multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster management preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Pacific. Pacific Partnership works collaboratively with host and partner nations to enhance regional interoperability and disaster response capabilities, increase security and stability in the region, and foster new and enduring friendships in the Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Moises Sandoval/Released)

    Date Taken: 06.26.2025
    Date Posted: 06.26.2025 23:46
    Photo ID: 9135019
    VIRIN: 250626-N-ED646-4854
    Resolution: 8640×5760
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  • MIL-OSI Security: Pacific Partnership 2025 Conducts Mission Stop in Nuku’Alofa, Tonga, June 26, 2025 [Image 4 of 5]

    Source: United States Navy (Logistics Group Western Pacific)

    Issued by: on

    NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga (June 26, 2025) U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Sean Foley, right, Critical Care Physician with Pacific Partnership 2025 (PP-25), assists Dr. Richard Taumoepeau, a local physician, during an ultrasound guided thoracentesis at Vaiola Hospital as part of PP-25 in Nuku’Alofa, Tonga, June 26, 2025. Now in its 21st iteration, the Pacific Partnership series is the largest annual multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster management preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Pacific. Pacific Partnership works collaboratively with host and partner nations to enhance regional interoperability and disaster response capabilities, increase security and stability in the region, and foster new and enduring friendships in the Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Moises Sandoval/Released)

    Date Taken: 06.26.2025
    Date Posted: 06.26.2025 23:46
    Photo ID: 9135019
    VIRIN: 250626-N-ED646-4854
    Resolution: 8640×5760
    Size: 8.31 MB
    Location: NUKU’ALOFA, TO
    Web Views: 7
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    This work, Pacific Partnership 2025 Conducts Mission Stop in Nuku’Alofa, Tonga, June 26, 2025 [Image 5 of 5], by PO2 Moises Sandoval, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Pacific Partnership 2025 Concludes Mission Stop in Nuku’Alofa, Tonga, June 27, 2025 [Image 4 of 8]

    Source: United States Navy (Logistics Group Western Pacific)

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    NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga (June 27, 2025) U.S. Public Health Service Lt. Cmdr. Lusi Martin-Braswell, Dietician deployed in support of Pacific Partnership 2025 (PP-25), receives a Tongan ceremonial garland during a closing ceremony at the Tanoa International Dateline Hotel as part of PP-25 in Nuku’Alofa, Tonga, June 27, 2025. Now in its 21st iteration, the Pacific Partnership series is the largest annual multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster management preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Pacific. Pacific Partnership works collaboratively with host and partner nations to enhance regional interoperability and disaster response capabilities, increase security and stability in the region, and foster new and enduring friendships in the Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Moises Sandoval/Released)

    Date Taken: 06.27.2025
    Date Posted: 06.29.2025 22:12
    Photo ID: 9138788
    VIRIN: 250627-N-ED646-9695
    Resolution: 7924×5282
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