Showing 1 - 10 of 16
Preparing for AI-enabled bioweapons
Oped, Sania Nishtar, Published on 11/03/2026
» We don't know when the next epidemic or pandemic will hit, or where the next infectious threat will emerge. But we do know that the nature of the threat is constantly evolving. One of the most sobering takeaways from this year's Munich Security Conference was that AI-enabled gene editing has radically lowered the barrier to developing genetically engineered bioweapons. We must prepare to live with even deeper uncertainty about whether emerging infectious threats are natural or man-made, and whether they have been accidentally or deliberately released.
The high cost of cutting funding for vaccines
Oped, Bjorn Lomborg, Published on 04/09/2025
» Vaccines are a vital tool that save millions of lives every year. Concerningly, the US government wants to cut funding for a key organisation that saves lives around the world through immunisation. And amid vaccine safety debates, the world is seeing rising measles cases.
High rates hurt public healthcare
Oped, Serah Makka and Rosemary Mburu, Published on 14/07/2025
» May's 78th World Health Assembly (WHA) -- the annual meeting of the World Health Organization's member states -- ended on a self-congratulatory note. From an agreement on pandemic preparedness to increases in assessed contributions to the WHO, there were plenty of achievements to tout. But there was an elephant in the room, hiding behind a banner reading "One World for Health": the high borrowing costs faced by African countries.
Foreign aid, the powerful US soft power, is gone
Oped, Jeffrey Frankel, Published on 23/05/2025
» 'Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone." When Joni Mitchell sang that line in 1970, she was lamenting the destruction of the environment, but the sentiment applies to many issues. Today, we can add official development assistance (ODA) to the list.
Energised escape
Oped, Postbag, Published on 06/07/2024
» Re: "Red Bull clan leads rich list", (BP, July 4).
Multilateralism can bring success
Oped, Emmanuel Macron, José Manuel Barroso & Mohamed Cheikh El Ghazouani, Published on 21/06/2024
» Multilateralism, we are told, is in retreat. But we cannot let retrenchment and fragmentation take over. From climate change and biodiversity collapse to the conflicts, geopolitical tension, and turbulence afflicting today's world, we know that overcoming global challenges requires renewed and strengthened forms of global cooperation.
Immunisation programmes need to expand
Oped, & Sania Nishtar, Published on 30/04/2024
» There is a good chance that you know one of the 154 million people who, over the past 50 years, have been saved from preventable death by routine immunisation. You might even be one.
Lower-income nations' jab lessons
Oped, Benjamin Schreiber, Richard Mihigo & Ann Lindstrand, Published on 24/01/2024
» There was a global sigh of relief when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared in May 2023 that Covid-19 was no longer a public-health emergency of international concern. But there is no room for complacency. The pandemic has represented an urgent warning about weak health systems and has served as an impetus to strengthen them ahead of a possible new variant or the emergence of a new pathogen.
Covid lessons for climate action
Oped, Ifeanyi M Nsofor, Published on 15/09/2023
» It is official: July was the hottest month on record. Global warming is happening, and its costs continue to mount. The World Meteorological Organization recently noted that, "Extreme weather, climate and water-related events caused 11,778 reported disasters between 1970 and 2021, with just over 2 million deaths and US$4.3 trillion [153.8 trillion baht] in economic losses."
A child killer meets its match
Oped, Keith Klugman, Published on 22/11/2022
» Like many others, I spent much of the last few years in isolation to avoid getting sick. And now we are learning that this widespread disappearing act produced some unexpected side effects. In particular, infections from once-common illnesses -- like influenza and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) -- plummeted.