Health & Wellbeing

The United States’ $100 billion investment in the fight against HIV/AIDS has empowered partner nations to better respond to disease threats and improve people’s lives.

Launched in 2003, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has saved over 25 million lives and helped 5.5 million babies be born HIV-free. HIV-related deaths have dropped 68% since their peak in 2004, thanks in large part to PEPFAR.

The Kaleidoscope Plus Group, a leading mental health and wellbeing charity, is proud to announce the return of its "Chat4Change" campaign for the second year. Designed to promote open and honest conversations about mental health, the initiative aims to break down the stigma surrounding mental health and encourage positive change in individuals, families, and communities.

As thousands of vacationing families are stranded in Rhodes, Greece on account of wildfires, a family travel expert has revealed what to do and what not to do if your vacation is ever cut short by a natural disaster. When traveling, it’s crucial to be well-prepared and know what to do in case a natural disaster occurs during your vacation.

Birmingham Mind and the PURE Project hosted an event at Soho House Museum on mental wellbeing in the workplace. Mental wellbeing in the workplace is increasingly a vital issue with 70% of employees expressing having experienced poor mental health because of work*. Research from Mind has also found that tor every £1 invested in workplace mental health, we see a £5.30 return in investment proving the value of providing support*.

Policymakers that want to boost the country’s stalling life expectancy and reduce yawning health inequalities are doomed to fail unless they get over their aversion to bans, taxes and regulation, a think tank warns.  

New research from the Social Market Foundation suggests that policies like higher taxes on cigarettes, alcohol and junk food, stricter licensing regulations to limit places to buy such products and regulations on marketing like banning ads before a 9pm TV watershed could all help save lives. By contrast, ‘softer’ approaches like educational and information campaigns are likely to have less of an impact.

A care home celebrated Bastille Day by bringing the South of France to Edgbaston with a French-themed garden party. Residents at Care UK’s Metchley Manor, on Church Road, enjoyed cheese, wine and French music to celebrate Bastille Day, a day which sparked the French Revolution in 1789 and today represents the unity of the French people.

The City of Wolverhampton Council is helping men to look after their mental health, as the cost of living crisis continues to put pressure on people’s finances and wellbeing. The Mandem Meetup is a non-profit group set up in Manchester three years ago aimed at supporting men’s mental wellbeing through creating safe spaces for men to talk, whether it’s meetings or outdoor activities like hiking.

Jamie Lewis and friend Christian Denton, both grew up and live on the Dovecotes estate in the city and set up the first Mandem Meetup group outside of Manchester in January this year to help Wolverhampton men. They are passionate about breaking the stigma that stops men talking openly about their mental health.

One benefit of scientific research is how expanding knowledge in one area leads to breakthroughs in another. In the United States, research designed to protect astronauts from radiation exposure in space is helping to fight cancer on Earth.

An astronaut working on the International Space Station for six months faces as much radiation as 1,000 chest X-rays, according to NASA, America’s space agency. So NASA funds scientific research to measure radiation’s effects on astronauts.

Parliament in Ghana has passed into law the NCCB (Narcotics Control Commission Bill), with the Ministry of Interior being responsible of issuing licenses for the cultivation of cannabis. It came after the Supreme Court decided the law - Section 43 of Act 1019 - was unconstitutional, which delayed any smooth passage of the legislation to grant licenses for the cultivation of cannabis.

Researchers are listening to earthworms to monitor soil health, in what could be a major innovation for maintaining soil health.

In the first study of its kind, scientists are using a technique called ecoacoustics to listen to the activity of earthworms and other invertebrates in the soil. The theory is that a noisy soil is a healthy soil – and that the sounds generated in soil can be recorded, measured and used to evaluate soil condition.

Menarini Silicon Biosystems (MSB), a pioneer in liquid biopsy and single cell technologies, have announced the availability of its new CELLSEARCH CTC lab service to detect expression of the Delta-Like Ligand 3 (DLL3) protein in tumour cells circulating in the bloodstream. This biomarker is mainly expressed in difficult-to-treat cancers. The new MSB lab service opens the door to the development of further minimally invasive tests that leverage the prognostic and predictive value of biomarkers in medical settings with high unmet needs.

Nearly four in five (79%) disabled employees in the West Midlands earn less than £15 an hour, according to new analysis of official statistics published by the TUC. The analysis – published ahead of the TUC’s disabled workers conference which started in Bournemouth – finds that disabled people are much more likely to be paid less than £15ph than non-disabled peers.

Across the UK, around seven in 10 (69%) disabled employees earn less than £15 an hour. Half of non-disabled employees (50%) earn less than £15ph. In the North East and Wales (92% and 94%), more than nine in 10 disabled employees earn less than £15 an hour, compared to around two in five (37% and 42% respectively) non-disabled workers.

Durham and Salford have been named the best cities in the UK for fitness enthusiasts, according to new research. 

Sports nutrition experts at Bulk.com analysed eight factors they felt contribute to a city being attractive to fitness fanatics and scored the 62 most populated UK cities out of 100 to create their Fitness Index. The factors analysed within the index included the number of gyms, healthy restaurants according to TripAdvisor, pools, CrossFit facilities, as well as hiking, jogging, road cycling, and mountain bike routes relative to the population size of each city.

The Prince and Princess of Wales met the first person born under the National Health Service, at a tea party celebrating the NHS's 75th anniversary.

Aneira Thomas told them she had been born in Carmarthenshire at 00:01 on 5 July 1948, the same day as the NHS. She was named after the NHS founder and then Health Minister Aneurin Bevan.

Wolverhampton soul singer, Jaki Graham, has pledged her support for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity by challenging her daughter, BBC West Midlands radio presenter, Natalie Graham to a night behind bars for the charity’s ‘Jail or Bail’ event.  

A vision for a mentally healthier West Midlands in which residents thrive at school, college and work, and in their own communities is set out in the final report of the region’s second Mental Health Commission. The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) convened the independent Commission last year to gather evidence into the impact of the pandemic on the mental health and wellbeing, and to draw up a set of collective actions that can be taken regionally with partners to respond to those wide and deep impacts.