Tag - health

 
Menu
Search
 
July 12, 2026
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

HEALTH

Doctors look at an analysis of cellular data as part of their research into using artificial intelligence to repurpose existing drugs to fight rare diseases, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in February 2025. There is concern some apps that claim to offer medical guidance may not have an adequate data set to accurately asses information their users submit.
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 10, 2026
Doctors have questions as more AI-powered apps claim to offer medical guidance
A growing number of mobile apps that are not supposed to offer diagnoses are posing special challenges in medicine as patients turn to them for advice.
A recent fast-moving measles outbreak in South Carolina highlights how declining vaccination rates, permissive state laws and weakened federal vaccine oversight under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are creating larger, harder-to-control outbreaks across the U.S.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 9, 2026
South Carolina’s measles milestone is everyone’s problem
It’s the latest public health record to be broken as vaccine hesitancy and increasingly permissive state laws create more and larger pockets of disease vulnerability in the U.S.
Passengers walk in the thermal scanner area at Soekarno Hatta International Airport in Tangerang near Jakarta on Jan. 30, following the implementation of health screening for arriving passengers, after India confirmed two cases of the deadly Nipah virus.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 6, 2026
Low risk of Nipah virus outbreak in Japan, health ministry says
No case has been reported in the country so far.
People with higher blood sugar levels are more likely to have tooth decay and dental plaque, a study by Japanese researchers has shown.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 2, 2026
High blood sugar raises risk of tooth decay, study says
Researchers at the University of Osaka surveyed around 60 diabetic and nondiabetic people to examine how blood sugar affects oral health.
From Monday, NorLevo, an emergency contraceptive pill marketed by Daiichi Sankyo Healthcare, can be purchased over the counter at approximately 5,400 pharmacies and drugstores nationwide.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 2, 2026
Morning-after pill becomes available over the counter, in a first for Japan
Under the new rules, only the person who will take the medication may buy it, and it must be taken in the presence of a pharmacist after receiving an explanation.
Avanti Mehta, 32, India's youngest water sommelier, talks about different brands of packaged water at a tasting event.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jan 31, 2026
India’s wealthy embrace a new luxury symbol: water
Premium water is a $400 million business ‍in the ⁠world’s most populous nation and is growing bigger alongside a spreading ‍wellness craze.
A total stop of production and use of PFAS — a family of synthetic chemicals that take an extremely long time to break down — could lower costs to €330 billion, an EU-commissioned report found.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 30, 2026
‘Forever chemicals’ could cost Europe up to €1.7 trillion by 2050: report
A total stop of production and use of PFAS — a family of synthetic chemicals that take an extremely long time to break down — could lower costs to €330 billion, it found.
In most rich nations, COVID-19 left a lasting increase in mortality that has yet to fully unwind, according to an analysis by the University of Hong Kong.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 30, 2026
COVID-19 left lasting rise in deaths in rich countries, study shows
The findings challenge the idea that the pandemic mainly hastened the deaths of the frail who would have died soon anyway and result in fewer fatalities in later years.
U.S. President Donald Trump attends a Cabinet Meeting at the White House in Washington on Dec. 2.
WORLD
Jan 30, 2026
Trump blames boredom, not sleep, for closed eyes during Cabinet meeting
Trump on Thursday said he was not asleep, just bored, during his Cabinet meeting in December, when he shut his eyes for several extended periods.
A doctor told the Nagoya District Court on Wednesday that Sri Lankan detainee Wishma Sandamali died from a combination of dehydration and starvation. Her family is suing the Japanese government for damages.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 29, 2026
Sri Lankan detainee’s death could have been prevented, doctor testifies
Dr. Masamune Shimo said there were three junctures at which Wishma Sandamali’s life could have been saved before her death at an immigration facility in Japan in 2021.
In June last year, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cut $300 million in annual funding for Gavi, which helps the world's poorest and lower-income countries buy vaccines to prevent diseases such as measles and diphtheria.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 29, 2026
U.S. to fund vaccine group if they drop mercury-based preservative from shots
The request is the latest effort by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to influence health policy globally.
Two new drug ingredients found in cough and allergy medicines will be added to a list of over-the-counter drug ingredients that may be abused.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 25, 2026
Japan to designate eight ingredients for list of drugs with abuse risk
These ingredients will be subject to sales restrictions under the revised pharmaceutical and medical device law, which takes effect in May.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (center) attends the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 25, 2026
WHO chief says reasons U.S. gave for withdrawing ‘untrue’
U.S. officials said the WHO had ‘trashed and tarnished’ the United States, and had compromised its independence.
According to a press release from the U.S. Health and State Departments, the U.S. will only work ‍with the ⁠WHO in a limited fashion in order to effectuate the withdrawal.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 23, 2026
U.S. withdraws from the World Health Organization
President Donald Trump gave notice that the U.S. would quit the organization on the first day of ​his presidency in 2025, via an executive order.
The U.S. is due to officially exit the World Health Organization, despite concerns over the impact to public health and the legality of the move under American law.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 22, 2026
U.S. set to officially quit World Health Organization
Washington has yet to pay the U.N. health agency $260 million in ​fees that it owes for 2024 and 2025, despite a U.S. legal requirement to do so.
Remnants of signage for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on the facade of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center building in Washington.
WORLD
Jan 20, 2026
The impact of Trump’s foreign aid cuts, one year on
Some researchers estimate the USAID cuts have so far caused more than 750,000 deaths — over 500,000 of them children.
Water bottles and flavored beverages, including Evian, Volvic and Font Vella. Mineral water is big business, and companies are constantly vying to win market share.
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2026
Can water sommeliers convince us to pay more for premium H2O?
Mineral water is big business, and companies are constantly vying to win market share.
Prostate cancer logged the highest five-year survival rate by cancer type, according to a health ministry survey based on data from Japan's national registry.
JAPAN
Jan 15, 2026
Five-year cancer survival rates released using national registry data
According to the data on some 990,000 people diagnosed with cancer in 2016 across the country, prostate cancer logged the highest net survival rate.
Cedar pollen is expected to start dispersing in northern Kyushu, Shizuoka and southern Kanto in early February, spreading across much of western and eastern Japan by mid-month, Weathernews said Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 15, 2026
Cedar pollen season to start in early February; above-average levels expected
Nationwide pollen volumes are forecast to be 18% higher than last year’s levels and 28% higher than the long-term average.
More and more people are using Mounjaro, a drug used to treat diabetes, in the hopes of losing weight.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Jan 12, 2026
Doctors warn of risks of taking diabetes drug to lose weight
There have been reports of people experiencing adverse side effects, according to the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency.
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Sompo looks beyond insurance to focus on well-being
Sompo looks beyond insurance to focus on well-being

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER