London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

The management of the cancer backlog following the COVID-19 pandemic is one of the UK’s major political and clinical issues. Figures for September 2022 show for example that only 61.7% of patients are receiving treatment within 62 days of a referral, compared to 82.3% in the period between April 2017 and March 2018. Short-term public health solutions are urgently required to address current delays in treatment.

Children with disabilities, especially in low-and middle-income countries, face challenges in getting a good education and having opportunities to grow. Even though the United Nations has set goals for inclusive education for all, progress has been slow and planning often doesn't take into account the unique needs of children with disabilities and their families.

In 2022, global population reached eight billion people. This milestone represents a hugely positive story of human achievement in reducing mortality rates worldwide. A couple of centuries ago, life expectancy at birth for the average global citizen would have been in the 30s or below; so low because high proportions of children died in their first few years of life. Child mortality has since plummeted, meaning far fewer families have to grieve children lost in childhood, and far more children grow up to achieve their full adult potential.

Globally, tuberculosis (TB) still causes 1.6 million deaths a year, with another 10 million people developing the disease. We know that half of those with infectious TB do not report symptoms, and that the disease exists on a spectrum that can progress and regress over time if left untreated.