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This article is republished from The Lancet Regional Health - Europe. The unprovoked and unjustified Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 is already having terrible consequences for health. As we write, only seven days since Russian troops crossed the border, substantial numbers on both sides have died, many due to Russian attacks on civilian targets in violation of international law.
Prof Liam Smeeth
The Omicron variant is still spreading, and its worst effects have not yet arrived for many.
Dr Finn McQuaid
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Dr Segun Fatumo
This article is republished from The Telegraph. Read the original article.
Ms Clare Gilham
Cervical screening was a hot topic following the announcement that from 1st January 2022 the routine screening interval for people with a cervix aged 25 to 49 in Wales was extended from three to five years. This caused widespread concern and a petition to overturn the decision has received over 1.2 million signatures to date.  
Malaria infection exerts a tremendous impact on the body, which can have long-term health repercussions, ranging from accrued susceptibility to bacterial infection to cognitive impairment. While some of these nefarious effects are known for the most severe forms of the disease, mounting evidence suggest that this is merely the tip of the iceberg.
Once again COVID is resurging across Europe. But not all countries are in the same position. Why? It’s an easy question to answer, yet confusion reigns in the press, on social media, and even among some scientists and epidemiological modellers. The answer is a basic epidemiological principle - population immunity - a concept that any young epidemiologist learns in early career development, as did I during my first month at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) back in 1976.
Dr Naomi Waterlow
In the UK we’re heading full pelt into the normal winter respiratory viral season, something we can all relate to: from a mild snuffle to a week in bed at the mercy of flu. As many parents will be aware, respiratory viral infections are particularly common in children who have lots of contact with others, especially at school.
Prof Colin Sutherland
Over the last 20 years, annual analysis by the World Health Organization has brought good malaria news. Cases and deaths have steadily decreased since the turn of the millennium, although this progress has plateaued in recent years. But things are very different in 2021. This year’s World Malaria Report found deaths were at their highest for nearly a decade with an estimated 627, 000 worldwide in 2020.
Dr Gwen Knight
Even prior to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the question for scientists was not ‘if’ there would be another pandemic, but when. The spread of infectious diseases among populations in history is evident even outside of the pages of epidemiology textbooks – many great 19th and 20th century writers make it quite clear that their fictional characters were besieged by the likes of polio or TB.