World Health Organisation

Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer is looking at changing UK smoking laws - but it doesn't add up, when he talks about 'growing the economy', writes David Fleming

Letter: ​Changes to smoking laws will cost jobs, not save lives

A woman infected with Mpox shows her arms at the Kamenge University Hospital's Mpox treatment centre in Bujumbura on August 22, 2024. (Photo: TCHANDROU NITANGA/AFP via Getty Images)

How worried should we be about Mpox - is it the new Covid?

Monkeypox pathogen. Credit: UKHS

Mpox 2024 mapped: All the countries with confirmed cases

A doctor checks on a patient with sores caused by an mpox infection in 2022. (Photo by ERNESTO BENAVIDES/AFP via Getty Images)

Will people have to isolate if they catch mpox?

The WHO has declared a global health emergency over an outbreak of mpox in Africa. (Photo: ERNESTO BENAVIDES/AFP via Getty Images)

The UK areas with highest mpox cases in the last outbreak

FLuQE is a new Covid variant that has been driving new cases. (Photo: Pexels, CDC)

KP3 Covid symptoms as cases of new variant FLuQE rise

Schoolchildren know more about vitamins than adults do, survey finds

Morning View

Editorial: Stormont should be to the fore in pushing the MMR vaccine

Video gamers are at risk of irreversible hearing loss and tinnitus, researchers have warned.

Hearing loss warning to video gamers

It is important to attend for regular eye checks

How to take care of your eyes

West Strand in Portrush

Two Portrush beaches red flagged due to blue-algae concerns

A list of 18 medical conditions that could see you banned from flying

World Health Organisation could list sweetener as possible carcinogen

Australian scientists have had a major breakthrough in developing more effective treatments for women suffering from endometriosis, a painful and debilitating illness that can lead to infertility

Massive leap forward in endometriosis treatment

A woman wears a face mask while walking on Oxford Street durng the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

World must prepare for disease even deadlier than Covid - WHO chief

Spending time outdoors has so many benefits for us (photo: Adobe)

Nourish your mental health with time spent outdoors

Green campaigner and consumer expert, Angela Terry, separates climate change facts from fiction and explains how you can take simple, practical steps to help save the planet.

Angela Terry

In this Centers for Disease Control and Prevention handout graphic, from 2003, symptoms of one of the first known cases of the monkeypox virus are shown on a patient's.(Photo: CDC/Getty Images)

UKHSA want to ‘eliminate’ monkeypox after WHO announcement

The Covid-19 pandemic broke out in March 2020, and since then there have been six million related deaths worldwide. But is it finally over?

Covid ‘no longer global health emergency’ - is the pandemic over?

The report highlighted particularly low levels of vaccination uptake in the Belfast area

Vaccinations falling - 15,000 children in NI not fully vaccinated

A 56-year-old woman from the Guangdong province in China is the first recorded human casualty from the H3N8 bird flu.

China reports first human H3N8 bird flu death, according to WHO

The positive test

After 1,085 days and countless tests Covid-19 finally catches up with me

Spanish authorities have issued advice amid a Dengue-fever outbreak in popular tourist hotspots

Spain issues advice to British tourists amid Dengue-fever outbreak

The earthquake has killed thousands of people in Turkey and Syria (Photo: Getty)

Turkey-Syria earthquake: death-toll said to be at least 8,700

Earthquake survivors sit around a fire in Iskenderun Turkey

WHO say Turkey and Syria earthquake deaths could be 20,000

England captain Harry Kane will read a bedtime story on CBeebies for World Mental Health Day.

Harry Kane to read CBeebies Bedtime Story for World Mental Health Day

When is World Mental Health Day 2022 and how to get involved

Health experts say Covid-19 can become a 'manageable disease'

End of pandemic 'in sight'

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said weekly deaths from the virus around the world are at the lowest level since March 2020 – the month the UK first went into lockdown.

Helen McGurk

Doses of Imvanex vaccine used to protect against Monkeypox virus

WHO: Systems need to be ready for flu season

News Letter editorial

MLAs should have a mature debate about future use of nuclear power in NI

What is Deltacron? Delta-Omicron Covid variant explained - what are the symptoms and how many cases in the UK?

What is Deltacron? Delta-Omicron Covid variant explained

A woman at hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine reacts as paramedics perform CPR on a girl injured in shelling yesterday. The girl did not survive. Healthcare must be a priority of the humanitarian response, says WHO (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

WHO: The oxygen supply situation is nearing a very dangerous point in Ukraine

First News: Cars make schools suffer

How long does Omicron last and when are you most contagious with Covid?

How long does Omicron last?

Vaccines should work against Omicron variant, WHO says (Photo: OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)

Covid vaccines should still protect against severe illness from Omicron - WHO sa...

First News: Pandemic Caused Malaria Increase

DUP Leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson on the Shankill Road in West Belfast today. Picture Matt Mackey / Press Eye.

Donaldson rebukes his MPs over virus ‘mixed messages’ on Covid

a negative lateral flow Covid-19 test in front of a passport for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Pharmaceutical firms work to tweak vaccines against new ‘Omicron’ variant

With cases in Europe on the rise many countries are seeing the return of restrictions.

10 countries in Europe with the highest number of confirmed covid cases

The USA has had the highest number of confirmed Covid cases in the world.

10 countries with the highest number of confirmed covid cases

Tonga is one of the few countries in the world with 0 confirmed cases of Covid-19.

10 countries with the lowest number of confirmed Covid cases in the world

17-year-old Danielle McIlroy, from Bangor, is given the last vaccination of the day during the The Big Jab Weekend at the vaccine clinic at the SSE Arena, Belfast.

'Mu' variant detected in Northern Ireland - showing signs of immune escape

The 'Mu' variant was first detected in Colombia in January 2020.

Live WHO monitoring new variant of interest 'Mu'

The Mu variant has been designated a Variant of Interest (Photo: Getty Images)

A new Covid variant is being monitored by the World Health Organisation

Prime Minister Boris Johnson greets German Chancellor Angela Merkel, ahead of a bilateral meeting during the G7 summit in Carbis Bay (Photo: Stefan Rousseau - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

This is how the G7 countries plan to stop future pandemics in the first 100 days

Covid variants will be renamed using Greek letters - here's why

The Prime Minister encouraged those who get invited for a vaccine to attend their appointment (Photo: PAUL ELLIS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

'This vaccine is effective and has saved lives' - Boris Johnson assures AstraZen...

The AstraZeneca vaccine trial in children has been paused while an investigation takes place into blood clots (Photo: Shutterstock)

AstraZeneca vaccine trial in children paused while blood clot investigation take...

World Health Organisation chief calls for ‘further investigation’ into possibili...

EU countries to restart AstraZeneca vaccine rollout as regulator rules it ‘safe and effective’ (Photo: Shutterstock)

EU countries to restart AstraZeneca vaccine rollout as regulator rules it ‘safe ...

Throbbing or cramping pain, swelling, redness and warmth in a leg or arm is the main symptom of a blood clot (Photo: Shutterstock)

The signs and symptoms of a blood clot - and what to do if you think you have on...

The WHO has given approval for the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use (Photo: Shutterstock)

WHO gives approval for Johnson & Johnson single dose Covid vaccine - what it mea...

Belfast city centre in lockdown last month, deserted in the way it has been for most of the last year. Dr McCloskey writes: "When the economic and health effects of this debacle are assessed, the lost livelihoods and despair, then we can ask what went wrong"

Dr McCloskey: It is wrong to say 100,000 people in the UK have died of Covid

A number of initiatives are in place which allow people to donate money to enable those from lower-income countries to receive a coronavirus vaccine (Photo: Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images)

You can donate the cost of your Covid vaccine to help people in low income count...

The world’s first Covid vaccine sharing initiative has begun - so poorer countries can receive jabs (Photo by INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP via Getty Images)

The world’s first Covid vaccine sharing initiative has begun - so poorer countri...

Two-thirds of adults in the UK in favour of vaccination passports despite legal ...