EMA closed on Whit Monday, 25 May
EMA’s office is closed on 25 May, to mark Whit Monday. The office reopens 08:30 on Tuesday, 26 May.The product emergency hotline is available outside working hours and on…
UK, EU & international health agencies
EMA’s office is closed on 25 May, to mark Whit Monday. The office reopens 08:30 on Tuesday, 26 May.The product emergency hotline is available outside working hours and on…
New data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) show that sexually transmitted infections reached record levels across Europe in 2024, driven by sharp rises in gonorrhoea and syphilis, and widening gaps in testing and prevention. Targeted action is urgently needed to prevent further spread, including among women of reproductive age.
Since 2023, 14 countries have reported more than 2 300 infections caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) or extensively drug-resistant (XDR) Shigella sonnei and Shigella flexneri to ECDC. Seven genetically distinct MDR/XDR clusters, some with prolonged circulation and others more recent, have been reported.
The European Commission (EC), the Heads of Medicines Agencies (HMA) and EMA have published their first report tracking progress against the EU’s new clinical trial targets.…
The NHS has hit its target for the number of patients waiting 18-weeks thanks to the biggest improvement in waiting times since the launch of the iPad. In March, 65.3% of patients were waiting 18-weeks, as the waiting list fell by over 312,000 last year, the largest year-on-year reduction in 16 years. The improvement in […]
Hundreds more children with muscle-wasting condition spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) are to be offered potentially “life-changing” therapy on the NHS which could help them live years longer and attend primary school. From today, 2 innovative treatments for SMA – nusinersen and risdiplam – will be made routinely available on the NHS in England following an access scheme to collect more evidence, giving hundreds of families long term-certainty. NHS […]
Every month ECDC provides detailed epidemiological overview of the worldwide transmission of mpox in its weekly threat report.
EMA is actively monitoring the ongoing hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship, in coordination with other EU bodies.The virus has been identified as Andes hantavirus, the…
EMA's office is closed from 18:00 on 13 May 2026 until 08:30 on 18 May 2026.The product emergency hotline is available outside working hours and on public holidays. To reach…
EMA welcomes the provisional agreement reached by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union on the proposed Critical Medicines Act (CMA), which represents an…, “At a time of increasing global disruptions, resilient and secure supply chains for critical medicines are essential to protect public health across the EU. Today’s…, In recent years, EU Member States have faced serious medicine shortages and global challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions have exposed…
Shoppers are being urged to look out for lumps, swelling, skin changes and unexplained bruising as Morrisons teams up with the NHS to put cancer advice on its own-brand bath and shower products. The range of nine new shower and bath products will carry messages including “Be body aware” and “Know the signs of cancer”, […]
Tens of thousands of patients could benefit from a ‘rapid’ new immunotherapy jab on the NHS for over a dozen different cancers, which can be given in just 60 seconds. The NHS is rolling out a new injectable form of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) which can slash the time the treatment takes by up to 90%, to […]
More than 1,000 NHS staff across England have used Martha’s Rule helplines to help identify rapid deterioration of a patient’s condition in the first 18 months of the scheme, new figures show. Latest NHS England data shows that between September 2024 and February 2026, 1,781 calls were made by hospital staff to Martha’s Rule helplines […]
Hospital patients at every NHS trust across England can now check their referrals and appointments through the NHS App, making it easier for millions of people to manage their care in one place. Around two-thirds (64%) of all hospital appointments are currently visible through the app, with many patients also able to reschedule or cancel appointments – helping to cut the number of missed […]
Every month ECDC provides detailed epidemiological overview of the worldwide transmission of chikungunya virus disease in its weekly threat report (Communicable Diseases Threat Report).
Every month ECDC provides detailed epidemiological overview of the worldwide transmission of dengue in its weekly threat report (Communicable Diseases Threat Report).
As of March 2026, over 1 000 confirmed and possible cases of shigellosis and other gastrointestinal infections, including salmonellosis, have been detected in travellers returning from Cabo Verde to several countries in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA), the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US), with new cases still being reported.
The 2025/26 influenza season has begun earlier than the previous two seasons, driven by the recently-emerged influenza virus A(H3N2) subclade K.
On 3 December 2025, the French Ministry of Health reported two imported human Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) cases with travel history to the Arabian Peninsula.