SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY

Search headlines

Find the stories shaping the conversation.

Search mode
Refine results
Active filters Keyword All time

Results for " adolescent " 132 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle

Fruit and sugary drinks stood out in a three-year study of teenage mental health

A three-year study of 6,537 Australian adolescents found that higher fruit consumption was associated with a lower risk of elevated depression and anxiety symptoms, while greater sugar-sweetened beverage intake was associated with increased risk. Vegetable consumption showed no significant association with either outcome, and the observational findings cannot establish cause and effect.

news-medical.net logo
Oct 19 • 7:39 PM EDT • Health • news-medical.net
Recent Suicide Attempts and Prior Mental Health Hospitalization Linked to Further Risk for Attempts in Adolescents

A recent suicide attempt, prior mental health hospitalization, nonsuicidal self-injury, and hopelessness are tied to subsequent suicide attempts among teens who screen positive for suicide risk.

medscape.com logo
Oct 15 • 8:00 PM EDT • Health • medscape.com
Policy brief: Closing the financing gap for adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights

Hinari Document item

pmnch.who.int logo
Oct 15 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • pmnch.who.int
New research shows migrant girls among hardest hit as teen mental health declines across Canada

Data show that Canadian adolescents have faced serious mental health challenges in recent years. Now, a new national study suggests migrant girls may be among those most in need of support. While mental ...

medicalxpress.com logo
Oct 14 • 9:00 AM EDT • Health • medicalxpress.com
Weight-Loss Drugs for Kids Under 10? The World Health Organization Shares Its Recommendation

The World Health Organization (WHO) just released its first global guidelines on treating obesity in children and adolescents, and its stance on weight-loss drugs for children under 10 is a firm no. T...

yahoo.com logo
Oct 12 • 4:32 PM EDT • Health • yahoo.com
Exploring Barriers to Accessing Mental Health Services for Adolescents With Depression in Pokhara Metropolitan City, Nepal: Perspectives of Mental Healthcare Providers

Background In Nepal, depression is one of the most common mental health conditions among adolescents, but mental health services for this population remain limited. Previous studies have iden...

cureus.com logo
Oct 10 • 8:00 PM EDT • Health • cureus.com
Examining Latino youth mental health in the age of ICE raids

After the recent deaths of two young Latino men by suicide, youth mental health care professionals reflect on the ongoing mental health crisis happening among Latino children and adolescents.

latimes.com logo
Oct 9 • 12:00 PM EDT • Health • latimes.com
Continental Roadmap on Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (2026-2030) [EN/POR]

Analysis in English on World about Health; published on 8 Oct 2026 by Africa CDC and AU

reliefweb.int logo
Oct 8 • 5:10 AM EDT • Health • reliefweb.int
GLP-1 Drugs? Surgery? WHO Issues Guidelines For Obesity In Children

The World Health Organization (WHO) released its first-ever guidelines to address how clinicians should manage obesity in children and adolescents, which

healthpolicy-watch.news logo
Oct 7 • 6:45 AM EDT • Health • healthpolicy-watch.news
WHO releases first global guidelines on child obesity as cases surge

Child and adolescent obesity has quadrupled since 1990, rising from two per cent to around eight per cent of youngsters in the five-to-19 age group, according to the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO).

news.un.org logo
Oct 7 • 3:00 AM EDT • Health • news.un.org
Brazil: Lessons from a Disaster

By Antonio Martins (Outras Palavras) Defeats become deeper and more prolonged when we misunderstand what caused them, avoid correcting course, and embrace “solutions” that only compound our mistakes. Lula’s government and the Brazilian left suffered a disaster in Sunday’s election. Contrary to every poll, the president finished the first round 2.2 million votes behind Flávio Bolsonaro—and, more significantly, 3.4 million votes below his total four years ago, when the machinery of the state was working against him and in favor of his opponent. His vote share declined in 98 percent of Brazil’s municipalities. The PL, the main party of the far right, elected 121 deputies and 28 senators, becoming the largest caucus in both houses of Congress. The parties aligned with the Centrão—Brazil’s bloc of transactional center-right parties—were somewhat diminished, but will still hold roughly 250 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 35 in the Senate. That will make it easier to assemble the majorities needed to amend the Constitution or impeach Supreme Federal Court justices. If elected, Flávio Bolsonaro could appoint four members of the Court, substantially altering its internal balance of power. What produced these results? How can the far right be prevented from consolidating them into a prolonged political hegemony? And what is the essential change of direction the left now needs? Explaining the Disaster Across the commercial media and the exuberant chaos of digital platforms, interpretations are multiplying. Some focus on specific episodes: Lula’s absence from the Globo debate, his very close relationship with Alexandre de Moraes, or his emphasis on issues supposedly remote from most people’s everyday concerns, such as rare earth minerals. Among the more systemic interpretations, three seem especially questionable. One argues that the principal defeat was not the left’s, since its congressional representation declined only slightly. The decisive movement captured at the ballot box, according to this view, was a shift within the right itself—from the more moderate and transactional forces of the Centrão toward the more ideological and radicalized forces of the PL and Novo. A second interpretation holds that the nature of electoral and political processes has changed. The material interests and aspirations of society, it argues, no longer play the central role they once did; they have given way to forms of subjective self-identification that the left has yet to understand. And a third concludes that, because of these two developments, we should expect a political winter: a prolonged period in which the far right and the broader right dominate Brazilian political life. There are important elements in all three interpretations. The problem lies in what they deny or leave out: Lula’s third government was a small-bore government. It offered the majorities that elected it neither a clearly better life nor reasons to believe again in politics and its power to transform society. These failures flowed from two fatal accommodations, which I will examine below. As a result, the government suffered a slow but steady erosion of support. And, as has happened in so many Western countries, it gave the far right the opportunity to present itself as anti-system and to benefit from popular frustration and distress. The interpretation that emphasizes the migration of votes from the center-right and traditional right toward the far right has been advanced, among others, by the courageous journalist Leonardo Sakamoto. In his UOL column on Monday, October 5, he highlights the miserable behavior of the traditional conservative parties. Over the past four years, they repeatedly joined forces with the “neo”-fascists, helping to “normalize” them—a criticism that could equally be directed at almost the entire corporate media. Believing they could use the far right as a stepping stone, they instead ended up partly devoured by it. This was especially true in the Senate, where the PL’s gain of 13 senators and Novo’s gain of two came at the expense of the PSD, which lost nine; the MDB, which lost two; the PSDB, which lost two; and the PP, which lost one. Sakamoto’s observation is accurate and necessary, but it leaves uncomfortable questions unanswered. Why did the erosion of the Centrão benefit the far right rather than, for example, producing growth for the left—as has happened so many times before, both in Brazil and elsewhere? The answer is not difficult. Throughout its four years in office, Lula’s third government was almost invariably associated with the Centrão. Here lies its first accommodation: accepting the limits imposed by conservative institutions; avoiding, as much as possible, any attempt to strain those limits through popular pressure; and believing only in the modest changes that could be squeezed through openings in Congress. The failure of the campaign to end the six-day workweek is emblematic. Lula could have electrified the presidential race by pairing it with a popular campaign for passage of the measure. Instead, he chose to place his hopes in the hands of Senate president Rodrigo Alcolumbre. He generated no mass mobilization, did not force his opponents onto an uncomfortable defensive, and won no victory. In September 2025, the government squandered the greatest of its many opportunities to shake up conservative power in Congress. Popular opposition to the so-called Shielding Amendment—which, if approved, would have restricted criminal proceedings against members of Congress—brought crowds into the streets, mobilized primarily by artists and social movements. This opened the possibility for a broader political education: a campaign that could begin exposing the limits and dysfunctions of Brazil’s political system while putting Bolsonaro’s movement on the defensive for its predictable support of political privilege. The amendment was defeated. But the executive branch then backed away from the fight. It remained associated with an institutional world widely seen as corrupt, elitist, and indifferent to ordinary people’s struggles. In doing so, it forfeited its credibility as a vehicle for the protest vote. On Sunday, it reaped the bitter fruits. Are We Doomed? Taking a different approach from Sakamoto, the philosopher Moysés Pinto Neto and other writers have drawn attention, in their first analyses of October 4, to the fragmentation of the public sphere produced by Big Tech platforms. Through their algorithms, these platforms present each person with a different view of social reality. As a consequence, it becomes much harder to identify common material problems and demands—for example, the fight for labor rights or for a properly funded public health system. Voters no longer embrace such demands, these authors argue, because they no longer see themselves as part of a collective. Instead, they tend to value the identities assigned to them by neoliberal subjectivity—the role of the entrepreneur, for example. On this interpretation, the left’s possible error lies in clinging to outdated illusions. Moysés’s warning is highly relevant and resonates with arguments such as Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor’s “Apocalyptic Fascism and the Billionaires’ Bet.” Unlike a century ago, the far right no longer promises a radiant future. It concentrates instead on resentment—especially that of young men. “They belong to a generation that fears it may never own a home, but compensates with the pleasure it gets from constantly provoking progressives online. Convinced their future has been stolen, they share memes romanticizing historical authoritarian regimes,” the authors write. But Moysés seems to confuse this danger with inevitability. He fails to see that the left’s answer cannot be adaptation. On the contrary, it must strengthen the possibility of politics as collective action. Nor does he recognize that precisely such a reversal is already becoming possible in some of the most promising mobilizations of the twenty-first century: the election, at the end of 2025, of the young Muslim Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York, on a platform centered on the intensely material fight for an affordable city; the Left Party’s victory in Berlin two weeks ago, built around the demand to expropriate private real-estate corporations; and the very recent wave of demonstrations in Spain—including an occupation of Madrid’s Puerta del Sol—in which tens of thousands of young people mobilized by the Tenants’ Union have demanded limits on rents. By putting itself in the straitjacket of the “fiscal framework” in the first months of 2022, Lula’s third government adopted the second fatal accommodation of its term. Faced with conservative institutions and a country devastated by four years of Bolsonaro, increased public investment was the government’s remaining weapon for offering a more dignified life to the majority and forging an anti-conservative pact with them. The same state that disburses 1 trillion reais a year to enrich a small class of rentiers could instead spend money to extend the Family Health Strategy to every Brazilian, at a cost of 30 billion reais; provide full-day public schooling and childcare to all adolescents and children—and, especially, relief to their mothers; achieve universal sanitation while cleaning up polluted urban rivers; multiply metro systems; begin transforming the urban peripheries; and undertake many other urgently needed projects. In April 2023, an article in Outras Palavras warned that the fiscal framework could “shrink the Lula government and preserve the forces that condemn the country to inequality and regression.” A year later, another article showed that restraints on public spending were strangling policies vital to ordinary people and undermining the president’s popularity. In November 2024 came a reality check, in the form of the government’s humiliating defeat in the municipal elections. Even then, the fiscal lock was neither removed nor loosened. On the contrary: throughout the government’s four years, fiscal restraint remained central to its political narrative. The administration proudly proclaimed that it had “put the state’s accounts in order,” without grasping either how misleading that phrase was—given the payment of 1 trillion reais in interest—or how badly the message was hurting it politically. Lula finally woke up in September 2026. The increase in Bolsa Família benefits, after four years of being frozen; the announcement that anti-obesity drugs would be offered through Brazil’s public health system; and the ban on online betting showed that the state has the power to act decisively on behalf of the majority when those in government are willing to confront obstacles. The huge marches that closed the campaign in Fortaleza, Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo on the eve of October 4 showed how such initiatives can mobilize activists and the broader public. But it was too late—and too little to change the outcome of the first round. History has not ended The possibility of a turnaround in the three weeks leading up to November 25 cannot be ruled out. It will not be simple or easy. Lula must not only make up a deficit of 2.2 million votes; he must also offset the movement of voters who backed other right-wing candidates in the first round, most of whom are likely to move toward Flávio Bolsonaro. Pulling that off will require a broad, grassroots effort to win over voters, potentially reinforced by new initiatives from Lula. The coming hours and days will be decisive. If Bolsonaro’s movement also wins the presidency, the result will create a high-risk situation for Brazilian sovereignty and democracy. The enormous challenges posed by such an outcome would require the left to reexamine, in depth and with a genuine willingness to engage in self-criticism, its political projects—or its lack of them—and its practices. But would that mean we are condemned to the long winter of far-right hegemony that some analyses are beginning to forecast? It is far too early to say, suggests a recent text by Álvaro García Linera, the thinker who served as vice president of Bolivia under Evo Morales. His central hypothesis is that this political current will prove short-lived. At a moment when the entire world is once again talking about sovereignty and protecting national economies, the far right offers a stale, recolonizing neoliberalism. Its submission to the United States is as blatant and pathetic as Flávio and Eduardo Bolsonaro’s overtures to Donald Trump. Its project amounts to something like every man for himself: greater inequality, capitalism without limits, devastation, and supremacism. Will it work? In the United States, just two years into his second term, Trump himself is reaching record levels of unpopularity and may be on the verge of losing Republican control of both the House and Senate in November. Every new beginning is difficult. Whatever the outcome of the second round, the defeats of October 4 show how profoundly the Brazilian left will have to rethink and rebuild. But just as it would be foolish to underestimate the seriousness of its mistakes, it would be equally foolish to conclude that rebuilding a political project is no longer possible. History has not ended. The times are moving faster than ever. Originally published in Portuguese by Outras Palavras. English translation by Eric Blanc; I’ve added the subtitles. More We can’t stop the far right at home or abroad without a revitalized labor movement, which is yet another reason why you should become a sustaining supporter of the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC) — one of US labor’s pivotal bright spots. Relatedly, Jacobin published a short piece of mine reflecting on a decade of Bernie Sanders inspiring a whole new generation of young worker organizers.

laborpolitics.com logo
Oct 6 • 10:08 AM EDT • Politics • laborpolitics.com
From Promises to Pulse: Parliamentary Power for Women's, Children's and Adolescents' Health

At the 153rd Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly, PMNCH is calling on parliamentarians to turn commitments into measurable results for women, children and adolescents through stronger laws, protected financing, effective accountability and meaningful participation. The goal is clear: institutions that listen, respond and deliver better health and rights for all.

pmnch.who.int logo
Oct 6 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • pmnch.who.int
Do More Steps Mean Better Mental Health For Teens?

By HealthDay Staff HealthDay ReporterMONDAY, Oct. 5, 2026 (HealthDay News) — A teenager's daily step count may improve more than their physical health — it may also help protect their mental health. Researchers tracked more than 5,500 adolescents (average age: 12), using Fitbits, brain scans and ...

usnews.com logo
Oct 5 • 9:08 AM EDT • Health • usnews.com
Yale School of Medicine On the Science of Childhood Anxiety, Say, Anxiety Disorders Are the Most Common Mental Health Challenges In Youth

Credit: Matt Bradbury October 5, 2026 - By Isabella Backman - Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health challenges in youth. Left untreated, they can disrupt the lives of both children and their families. The good news is that with intervention, most children will overcome these conditions. Across Yale School of Medicine, scientists are working to understand anxiety at every level, from common anxious behaviors to molecular biomarkers in the brain. They are using their findings to develop and disseminate new evidence-based treatments for childhood anxiety. Today, the go-to treatment for childhood anxiety disorders is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). This is a form of psychotherapy that teaches children skills for confronting anxious thoughts and helps them practice managing situations that cause anxiety. While it is the gold-standard treatment backed by considerable scientific evidence, up to 50% of children will not see sufficient benefit from CBT alone. Wendy Silverman, PhD, Alfred A. Messer Professor in the Child Study Center, co-directs the Anxiety and Mood Disorders Program alongside Eli Lebowitz, PhD, associate professor in the Child Study Center. One of their main interests is learning how to improve outcomes beyond CBT. “We’re developing cutting-edge, research-based knowledge that can reduce the suffering that anxiety causes children and their families,” says Silverman. Changing parent behavior YSM experts are investigating how to improve CBT outcomes for children by involving the parents. Silverman’s research has uncovered two main components of parent intervention that improve childhood anxiety: not enabling children to completely avoid the things that make them anxious and taking steps to enhance their autonomy. Parents may unintentionally reinforce their child’s anxiety by allowing them to avoid what makes them anxious. They also may unintentionally limit the children’s sense of autonomy by being overly intrusive. “One of the things that we take pride in is that we’ve focused on trying to understand what parents need to do, and to test our ideas and see if changing the parents’ behaviors is enhancing the effects of CBT,” Silverman says. “Our findings thus far suggest that they do." As much as CBT can be helpful, it can also be challenging to get one’s child to do the necessary steps for CBT to work. This is one important reason why Lebowitz created a novel intervention program for parents named Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE). Existing intervention programs often teach parents to act as therapists for their child, such as training them on how to practice breathing exercises. “It makes sense, but this doesn’t work very well in practice,” says Lebowitz. “And part of the reason, I think, is that it’s not easy to get your kid to do things, especially if they’re not excited about doing it.” SPACE is unique because it focuses entirely on parent involvement and changing parental behavior—children are not involved in the sessions. For example, parents learn how to use supportive messages that convey confidence that their child can tolerate and manage distress. “It might sound like a parent saying to a child, ‘I get that this is really hard for you, but I know that you can handle it,’” Lebowitz says. The program also works with parents to identify the ways in which they are accommodating anxious behaviors. “We’ll pick one thing that parents are doing that is an accommodation and help them make a detailed plan for how they’re going to change that,” Lebowitz explains. Treating Anxiety in Children and Adolescents Much of the existing research on SPACE has focused on parents of children under age 14. Ongoing studies are now exploring its use with parents of older teens. “Both anxiety and accommodation can interfere with normative developmental shifts during the teen years, including increased autonomy and individuation from parents,” says Rebecca Etkin, PhD, associate research scientist in the Child Study Center. “In this sense, SPACE may be particularly well-suited for anxious teens and their parents. We want to see whether it is effective during this distinct developmental window.” Unfortunately, many families in need of CBT face barriers, including limited availability of services and geographic constraints. One way to improve access is digital interventions. Silverman and her team are developing an evidence-based digitized intervention program for parents that they can access directly from their computer or smart phone. “The work we’re doing will be one of the very few parent interventions that is digitized and importantly tested for effectiveness,” she says. Creating interventions for anxiety-related challenges Silverman and Lebowitz recently received a generous gift to develop and test other interventions that help parents reduce other child anxiety-related behavioral and emotional difficulties, such as restrictive eating and unexplained somatic symptoms. One of these projects in particular focuses on understanding the risks of social media and its potential benefits, including offering a sense of connection. “A lot of research has focused on the idea that social media is harmful and the less of it the better,” says Lebowitz. “But we actually see is that this is not quite right—there are negatives, but there are also positives. So, we’re trying to get a little bit more nuanced of a picture.” The team is working with teens with social anxiety and their parents over an extended period to better understand their social media habits and how their anxiety levels affect engagement with different platforms. The teens will answer questions sent to an app on their phones about mood and social media usage in an effort to capture emotional responses as they unfold. “We hope to develop interventions that can help make the best of social media while protecting against the more problematic effects,” Lebowitz says. The brain’s role in anxiety Researchers are also testing therapies to address anxiety at the neurological and molecular levels. In collaboration with Dylan Gee, PhD, professor of psychology in Yale's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and Hilary Blumberg, MD, John and Hope Furth Professor of Psychiatric Neuroscience at Yale School of Medicine, Lebowitz and Silverman are using brain imaging to identify changes in a child’s brain before and after parents enroll in SPACE. In one study, children viewed anxiety-inducing images while undergoing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); the researchers conducted scans with and without the children’s parents nearby. Before SPACE, children’s brains were better able to activate the regulatory circuitry needed to turn off an anxious response when their parents were nearby. But after SPACE, children could activate this circuitry even without the parent around. “As parents work on gradually reducing some of their accommodations, you can see a child get better at regulating their own fear system in the brain,” Lebowitz says. “It’s remarkable.” Research into the molecular underpinnings of anxiety can also inform new childhood anxiety treatments. In a recent study, Lebowitz, Silverman, and Flora Vaccarino, MD, Harris Professor in the Child Study Center, discovered that a protein known as fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) could be protective from the toxic effects of stress. FGF2 levels in children and their parents were linked to the children’s risk of developing anxiety and depression, the study showed. The findings could help explain why some children who are exposed to early life trauma such as poverty or abuse are more prone to developing mental health disorders. And FGF2 could be a target for treatment. “This is very novel because it starts to give a clue to what is the molecular chain that connects those lived experiences to the actual psychological outcomes,” Lebowitz says. New ways to study and treat childhood anxiety Michael Crowley, PhD, associate professor in the Child Study Center, collaborates with Silverman and Lebowitz to study the role that attention plays in development and maintenance of childhood anxiety. There is a large body of research that shows that anxious children, like anxious adults, are prone to focus on threatening stimuli such as angry faces compared with neutral faces. This has led to innovative interventions that involve attention retraining. The idea is that if experts train children to look away from threatening stimuli, it may reduce their anxiety—especially children with social anxiety who are most prone to attend to threats. The researchers have just completed a clinical trial for attention retraining with 10- to 14-year-olds with social anxiety disorders and are currently analyzing the findings. Besides this innovative attention retraining research, as Crowly notes, “I like to design tasks that are engaging to kids,” Crowley says. “My goal is to assess something without the kids knowing what we are assessing.” With this goal in mind, Crowley has created a virtual game, named Boom, to study threat processing in children with anxiety disorders. The game is similar to that of hot potato—the child and three digital players take turns virtually passing a ball to each other’s gloves. At some point, the ball turns into a bomb, and as the bomb lands in each player’s glove, the outline of the glove turns yellow. The goal is to avoid having the bomb go off in your glove. What isn’t obvious is that the game is designed to measure different types of threatening stimuli, both ambiguous and direct. In the game, the direct threat occurs as the bomb is traveling towards your glove. The ambiguous threat is the yellow outlined glove as it is unknown where the bomb will travel next. While children play the game, Crowley’s team measures their brain activity using electroencephalography (EEG). The researchers have discovered that in kids with anxiety, the brain reacts more strongly to ambiguous threats than it does in their peers, but less strongly to direct threats. They believe that the initial abnormally large brain response to not knowing where the bomb is going impairs the brain's ability to properly respond when the threat is actually traveling the child’s way. “The brains of children with anxiety are unable to differentiate between threats you need to do something about and those that are not your problem.” Michael Crowley, PhD, develops innovative games for studying anxiety in children and adolescents.Credit: Matt Bradbury Based on these insights, Crowley hopes to study whether interventions like attention training could restore appropriate threat processing. Crowley’s team is also working on a test called the Balloon Risk Avoidance Task, which evaluates risk-taking and avoidance behaviors. It features a digital balloon that is full of air and about to burst. Kids have six seconds to let air out of the balloon. The more air they let out, the less risk they face that the balloon will pop. But at the same time, the balloon becomes less valuable as it deflates. “The more air you keep in the balloon, the more points you get,” Crowley explains. So far, the researchers have found that when the balloons pop unexpectedly, teens with social anxiety show distinct brain responses. Studying these responses can help psychologists understand the underlying pathways driving the various manifestations of anxiety. The genetics of anxiety When Thomas Fernandez, MD, associate professor in the Child Study Center and of psychiatry, was still in training, there was a lot of excitement about understanding the genetics associated with autism spectrum disorder. Since then, scientists have identified around 250 genes associated with autism. The genetic contribution to anxiety disorders, on the other hand, has historically received less attention. Anxiety is less heritable than autism, but the genetic contribution for anxiety disorders that emerge in childhood may be higher than for anxiety disorders overall. While scientists estimate the heritability of anxiety disorders in general to be around 30% to 50%, some studies suggest higher heritability for certain childhood-onset anxiety presentations. “I saw firsthand how researchers in the field went about finding vulnerability genes for autism,” Fernandez says. “So, we’re using a very similar playbook for childhood anxiety.” “I saw firsthand how researchers in the field went about finding vulnerability genes for autism. So, we’re using a very similar playbook for childhood anxiety.” Thomas Fernandez, MD Associate Professor In the Child Study Center and in Psychiatry Now, Fernandez and Emily Olfson, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the Child Study Center, are studying children and their parents to identify genetic changes that are present in the child but not the parents, known as “de novo mutations.” “All of us have some de novo mutations—maybe about 50 to 100 sprinkled throughout the genome,” Olfson says. “But when they occur within the coding regions of genes, they can be really disruptive.” Previous research shows that people with autism have higher rates of damaging de novo mutations than the general population. In 2022, Olfson, Lebowitz, Silverman, and Fernandez published a study on 68 children and their families that found that children with anxiety had similarly high levels of these mutations. Studying de novo mutations can help point the researchers to where they should be looking for genes associated with anxiety. “The end game is using the genes to steer us toward the right part of biology that we can then target to come up with better treatments,” Fernandez says. Building on those findings, the team is now studying more families to better understand how these de novo mutations, along with other genetic and environmental factors, shape pediatric anxiety disorders. They recently received a National Institutes of Health grant to enroll 750 new families over the next five years. Olfson is the principal investigator, with co-investigators Lebowitz, Fernandez, Silverman, and Shuangge Steven Ma, PhD, department chair and professor of biostatistics at Yale School of Public Health. Neurodevelopment, Risk Genes, and Mental Health Conditions - The Olfson Lab Joel Gelernter, MD, Foundations Fund Professor of Psychiatry, is interested in how different anxiety disorders differ genomically. “We are studying social phobia, panic disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder, working to understand why people differ in their risk to these specific anxiety disorders and evaluating various risk factors,” he says. Gelernter was recently involved in one of the largest studies to date of the genomics underlying anxiety disorder. The study included around 122,000 people with anxiety disorders and around 730,000 without. It found that some genetic differences associated with anxiety were linked to signaling that helps reduce overactivity in the nervous system. Many anxiety medications available today work by targeting this process. “It’s nice when the biology that you get out of a large genome-wide study ratifies things that we already know because that can help increase confidence in further findings from the study,” Gelernter says. Uncovering the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders John Krystal, MD, Robert L. McNeil, Jr. Professor of Translational Research and chair of the Department of Psychiatry, is interested in the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), of which anxiety is a major symptom. In the late 1980s, Krystal’s team discovered that the drug yohimbine activated symptoms in patients with PTSD. “This was the first time we could link a specific biological mechanism to the symptoms of PTSD,” Krystal says. At the time, he adds, this finding was highly controversial. “A lot of people felt that PTSD was a purely psychological syndrome that didn’t have an underlying biology.” Since then, Krystal has dived deep into understanding the neurobiology of PTSD to learn how to better treat it. His team is evaluating the use of ketamine and psychedelics. These would be among the first treatments to be developed specifically for PTSD. They may also be applicable for other disorders including anxiety disorders, Krystal adds. An important gap in PTSD treatment is the absence of biological tests that inform how to best help patients manage their PTSD symptoms. A doctor doesn’t diagnose cancer based on how they feel. Rather, they use tests of the biology of the cancer to determine the best course of treatment. “And we can’t do that in any psychiatric disorder other than Alzheimer’s disease,” Krystal says. “But now we are building a foundation for this approach to the treatment of anxiety disorders for the first time.” Source: Yale School of Medicine

goldrushcam.com logo
Oct 5 • 6:44 AM EDT • Science • goldrushcam.com
Higher daily step counts linked to better teenage mental health

Every extra walk to school, kickabout in the park or trip to the shops could be doing more for teenage mental health than first thought, according to new research tracking thousands of adolescents in the US.

news-medical.net logo
Oct 1 • 3:52 PM EDT • Health • news-medical.net
Higher daily step counts linked to fewer mental health problems in early adolescence

Every extra walk to school, casual soccer game in the park or trip to the store could be doing more for teenage mental health than first thought, according to new research tracking thousands of adolescents ...

medicalxpress.com logo
Oct 1 • 1:40 PM EDT • Health • medicalxpress.com
New Spartanburg behavioral health center to expand youth’s access to mental health care

Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System announced the opening of a new Adolescent Behavioral Health Unit to help expand access to youth mental health care.

foxcarolina.com logo
Oct 1 • 12:29 PM EDT • Health • foxcarolina.com
Global Health & WASH: October 2026 Funding Opportunities (26 new opportunities)

41 opportunities on the Global Health & WASH page this cycle, 26 of them new. The health money on this page is mostly research money, and much of it is aimed at people early in their careers. Funder after funder, from the TANGO2 Research Foundation’s Research Pathways grants to the South African Medical Research Council’s Early Investigators Programme to the National Ataxia Foundation and Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, is funding early-career investigators and the institutions that host them, with a clear tilt toward researchers based in or from the Global South, from AMBSO in Uganda to Kenya’s CONNECT-VAX network to Ersilia’s AI Incubator for African drug discovery. The money is organized by disease as much as by need: narrow foundations, the Parkinson’s Foundation, NTAP for neurofibromatosis, the RUNX1 Research Program for an inherited blood disorder, each run their own grant, so the question for an applicant is less which health problem you work on than which foundation owns your disease. The largest European cheques go to consortia only, with the European Innovation Council putting up to EUR €4 million behind a single healthy-ageing project and UNITE up to EUR €1 million behind each cross-border digital health team. Water sits apart, almost entirely in applied utility research: the Water Research Foundation’s cluster of USD $250,000 to $500,000 projects, each built around a utility problem from sewer laterals to reuse treatment. And the biggest single pot is public: HRSA is renewing community health center service areas with awards of up to USD $10 million each. This post is for paid subscribers. This helps support the time and effort it takes to curate and organize these opportunities. Subscribe To keep this accessible to everyone who needs it, we’re happy to offer pay what you can rates. You can find more details here. Open Opportunities 2027 Building the Field of Health Advocacy Grant, Georgia Health Initiative. *New!* *Closing soon!* Georgia Health Initiative, a nonprofit private foundation focused on health equity, is opening its 2027 Building the Field of Health Advocacy Grant to strengthen the organizations that push for healthier systems across the state. The Initiative treats advocacy as infrastructure, backing one-year projects that range from urgent responses to shifting federal policy to longer arc campaigns on housing, behavioral health, care access, and food security. It wants coalitions that elevate community voice, apply an equity lens, and arrive ready to deploy concrete strategies, and it deliberately seeks variety in issues, communities, and organizational size. The optional webinar and required lobbying training signal a funder investing in a durable field, not one grant cycle. The strongest fits are Georgia nonprofits and public agencies ready to turn advocacy readiness into systems change. Geographies: United States. Who can apply: Tax-exempt 501(c)(3) public charities, state or local government agencies, or coalitions/collaboratives using a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor, that work in Georgia on behalf of Georgians and align with the mission, vision, and values of Georgia Health Initiative. Only one application per organization, though an organization may be listed as a partner or subcontractor on multiple applications. Funding amount: Organizations can apply for up to USD $80,000 per project; the Initiative anticipates investing a total of USD $1.36 million. Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Governance, Policy & Advocacy · SDG3; SDG10. Deadline: October 2, 2026. Learn more and apply here. TDD Research Pathways Grant, TANGO2 Research Foundation. *New!* *Closing soon!* The TANGO2 Research Foundation, working with a founding gift from Tango2UK, is opening its TDD Research Pathways Grant to fund early-career investigators anywhere in the world who study TANGO2 Deficiency Disorder. The foundation is using this money to seed pilot work and to build a research community around a rare disorder that few labs currently study. It wants to back emerging scientists, clinicians, and trainees who will stay with this field, not one-off projects, which is why it requires a committed mentor and real institutional support and asks each applicant for a plan for future contributions. The design rewards promise and persistence over track record. The strongest fits are students, residents, postdoctoral fellows, and new investigators ready to commit to TANGO2 research. Geographies: Global. Who can apply: Early-career investigators worldwide, including undergraduate, graduate, and medical trainees, postdoctoral fellows, residents, and clinical or research fellows. Early-career investigators must hold a PhD, MD, or equivalent doctoral degree and be within 10 years of that degree or within 5 years of initiating rare disease research, engaged in postdoctoral research at an academic institution, teaching hospital, or nonprofit research institute. Currently enrolled trainees and transitional PhD candidates beginning a postdoctoral appointment at a nonprofit institution by July 1, 2026 are also eligible. All applicants must identify a qualified mentor with relevant TDD or rare disease research experience and demonstrate institutional support. Funding amount: Up to USD $15,000. Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Innovation, Science & Technology. Deadline: October 2, 2026. Learn more and apply here. Call for Expression of Interest (EOI): AMBSO Impact Research Initiative, Africa Medical and Behavioral Sciences Organization (AMBSO). *Closing soon!* The Africa Medical and Behavioral Sciences Organization is inviting expressions of interest for its Impact Research Initiative, which funds early-stage pilot studies and proof of concept work on priority health challenges. AMBSO is a Ugandan research organization backing bold ideas that can grow into larger studies, and its tracks span antimicrobial resistance, epidemic preparedness, artificial intelligence for diagnostics, HIV prevention, climate and health, cancer, maternal and child health, and non-communicable diseases. The small award size and direct-cost-only rule point to a funder that wants evidence rather than overhead, and that favors projects able to attract follow-on money or use AMBSO’s own research infrastructure. Eligibility runs worldwide, welcoming researchers and institutions inside and outside Africa. The strongest fits are researchers with a feasible pilot that generates policy-ready evidence. Geographies: Global. Who can apply: Open worldwide to researchers, academic institutions, and research organizations whose work aligns with generating high-impact health evidence. Independent researchers are eligible if affiliated with an academic or research institution. Doctoral students are encouraged to apply as part of a research team led by a faculty Principal Investigator. Community-based organizations and other eligible entities may apply. Projects may be implemented inside or outside Uganda. Funding amount: Up to USD $10,000 per project, with no minimum funding threshold. Targeted Sectors / SDGs: SDG3. Deadline: October 2, 2026. Learn more and apply here. Entrepreneurs for Resilience 2027 (E4R27), Swiss Re Foundation. *Closing soon!* Swiss Re Foundation is opening the tenth edition of Entrepreneurs for Resilience, which backs healthcare social enterprises expanding affordable, quality primary care for low-income communities across low- and middle-income countries. The Foundation is using catalytic, blended funding plus multi-year advisory to take risk out of scaling, helping proven models reach more people sustainably rather than stay stuck at pilot size. It looks to back brick-and-click enterprises that pair physical care with digital tools and build affordability through savings, payments, or microinsurance, ideally integrated with public health systems. Requiring earned revenue, real customer scale, and gender-inclusive teams signals that this is growth capital for commercially serious ventures, not seed money. The strongest fits are established, revenue-generating healthcare enterprises ready to scale access for underserved populations. Geographies: Global. Who can apply: For-profit and hybrid healthcare social enterprises serving low-income and underserved populations in low- and middle-income countries, using combined physical and digital (brick-and-click) healthcare delivery models. Applicants must demonstrate measurable social impact, generate at least 50% of income through earned revenue, have been established no later than December 2023, already serve at least 50,000 people with potential to scale, and have at least 30% low-income customers. Preference for gender-inclusive enterprises with at least one female founder or at least 30% women in management. Funding amount: Pilot funding of up to USD $45,000 for the 6-8 shortlisted social enterprises; up to USD $1 million in blended funding (up to USD $600,000 unconditional plus up to USD $400,000 conditional) shared among 3-4 finalists over a two-year implementation period; total programme funding approximately USD $1.3 million. Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Innovation, Science & Technology · SDG3; SDG5. Deadline: October 4, 2026. Learn more and apply here. Horizon HealthTech 2026, IIITD Innovation & Incubation Center. *Closing soon!* IIITD Innovation and Incubation Center is opening Horizon HealthTech 2026, a nine-month MedTech incubation cohort run under the aegis of BIRAC EDGE for founders building medical devices, diagnostics, surgical and interventional tools, or remote monitoring. The center is backing teams that already hold a validated proof of concept and want to reach a tested prototype, pairing each founder with a named expert and clinical validation through a hospital partner. What they seek to back is Indian health technology that can survive real clinical scrutiny and regulatory review, not slideware. The structure, with lab access, CDSCO guidance, IP support, and investor connects, signals a program built to make startups ready for follow-on capital. The strongest fits are early-stage MedTech teams with defensible IP and a working path from bench to bedside. Geographies: India. Who can apply: Early-stage teams/startups with a validated idea/proof of concept (TRL 3 onwards) working on medical devices, diagnostics, surgical/interventional technologies, or remote monitoring, holding IP or with potential to generate IP. Funding amount: No cash award amount is stated on the official program page. Benefits are in-kind: prototyping lab and equipment access, clinical/hospital validation (Max Healthcare), expert mentorship, CDSCO regulatory guidance, IP filing support, workspace, cloud credits and tools, and investor connects. Run under the aegis of BIRAC EDGE and builds a path to follow-on Government/VC/Angel funding. Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Innovation, Science & Technology · SDG3; SDG9. Deadline: October 5, 2026. Learn more and apply here. OpenAI AI and Teen Development Research Grant Program, OpenAI. *New!* *Closing soon!* OpenAI is opening its AI and Teen Development Research Grant Program to fund independent studies of how generative AI shapes the lives of young people ages 13 to 17. OpenAI wants a stronger evidence base on how teens actually use these tools and what that use does to their social and emotional development, so that product teams, policymakers, and regulators can act on findings rather than assumptions. It seeks work on emotion regulation, relationships, belonging, and the safeguards that keep teens safer, welcoming interdisciplinary teams and any methodology. That it will fund research whose conclusions may not favor AI providers, and prioritizes studies touching ChatGPT, signals a genuine appetite for credible outside scrutiny. The strongest fits are research groups grounded in adolescent development, well-being, and AI safety. Geographies: Global. Who can apply: Researchers aged 18 or older who are affiliated with a research institution or organization, and/or have significant experience relevant to child or adolescent development, well-being, human-computer interaction, AI impacts, or a closely related field. Multiple institutions may collaborate. OpenAI is seeking to fund research rather than for-profit initiatives and will not prioritize for-profit organizations. Funding amount: Individual research grants up to USD $1 million, totaling up to USD $5 million; maximum 10% of each grant for overhead or indirect costs. Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Social Inclusion & Community Wellbeing; Innovation, Science & Technology. Deadline: October 6, 2026. Learn more and apply here.

impactfunding.substack.com logo
Oct 1 • 6:29 AM EDT • Health • impactfunding.substack.com
UN Decade of Healthy Ageing midpoint report finds progress, calls for greater investment

New evidence in the Secretary-General's report to the 81st UN General Assembly, prepared by the World Health Organization (WHO) in coordination with the UN system, finds more countries acting on healthy ageing than ever before – but longer lives will not become healthy, dignified ones without faster, more sustained investment at country level.(NEW YORK, 28 September 2026) The Secretary-General transmitted to the 81st session of the UN General Assembly the mid-term progress report on the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030), marking the midpoint of the ten-year global effort to improve the lives of older people. The report was prepared by the World Health Organization (WHO) in coordination with the UN Inter-Agency Group on Ageing and with inputs from thirteen UN entities, the World Bank Group and civil society partners. It finds real progress in countries – and persistent gaps that must close before 2030.The number of people aged 60 and over passed 1 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach 2.1 billion by 2050, with the fastest growth in low- and middle-income countries. Longer lives are not automatically healthy ones: globally, the gap between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy at age 60 widened between 2000 and 2023, and an estimated 71% of excess deaths from COVID-19 between 2020 and 2023 were among people aged 60 and over. “Longer lives are one of humanity’s great achievements, but we cannot congratulate ourselves while leaving millions without health and support,” said Dr Pascale Allotey, Director, Department of Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing, WHO. “The first half of the Decade has shown what is possible. The second half must be about scaling and financing the progress to meet the needs and rights of older persons.”Real progress, unevenly sharedThe report finds that more countries than ever now have legislation against age-based discrimination – up from 44.5% in 2018 to 57.7% today – and over half now have national long-term care policies, up from 49% in 2023 to 56.7%, dedicated programmes to build age-friendly environments (54.6%), and comprehensive health and social assessments of older people (54.6%). New WHO guidance on services for long-term care and for Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) delivered in communities is enabling systemic change as an increasing number of countries incorporate these services within national universal health care benefit packages. A host of UN agencies and other partners support training, increasing health workforce competencies and use of digital health tools.“This report shows the Decade of Healthy Ageing is working,” said Dr Ritu Sadana, Head of the WHO Secretariat for the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing. “More countries are legislating against ageism, providing integrated care, strengthening long-term care systems, and creating age-friendly environments than ever before, in all regions and income levels. But progress is uneven and in one area, regressive: fewer countries report active multi-stakeholder forums on ageing, down from 53.1% in 2020 to 43.3% today. The second half of this Decade must turn commitments into results, in every country.”The financing gap: this Decade's binding constraintFinancing remains the binding constraint: more than a third of reporting countries (33.8%) have very little or no dedicated resources to develop long-term care, with similar shortfalls across the Decade’s other priority areas. Less than half of countries (45.4%) have legislation providing access to assistive devices (including hearing aids, spectacles or rollators), which are key to enabling older people to maintain productive, independent and dignified lives. Only 22.7% of countries can track older people’s health over time – the largest gap across the Decade’s core progress indicators. Nationally representative information is needed in each country, as policies and interventions cannot be designed as if all older adults of a given age share similar needs and capacities. The report calls for sustained investment through national budgets, country-owned plans, development cooperation and innovative financing mechanisms to fully close these gaps by 2030.“The Decade was designed as a whole-of-UN effort, and this report shows it in action,” said Amal Abou Rafeh, Chief of the Programme on Ageing Section at the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), and Permanent Co-Chair of the UN Inter-Agency Group on Ageing. “Thirteen UN entities, the World Bank group and civil society organizations contributed to this report, with WHO as the lead technical and implementing agency. That is the model of coordination the second half of the Decade will need to scale, with countries leading legislation, funding and implementation, engaging older people.”“Investing in healthy ageing is not simply a cost; it is one of the highest-return investments a government can make,” said Fiona Stewart, Global Lead for Ageing and Pensions at the World Bank Group. “Countries that invest early in integrated and long-term care see savings that outweigh the upfront cost many times over. The evidence in this report makes the economic case; what is now needed is predictable financing at country level to act on it, along with efforts to support older entrepreneurs and the silver economy.”Older people's own voicesThe report also draws on the direct experience of older people themselves, including a multilingual global survey conducted by the International Federation on Ageing that reached more than 1000 older people across 58 countries. WHO and UN partners called on Member States to use the second half of the Decade to accelerate implementation, strengthen data systems, and secure the financing needed so that the gains of longer lives reach older people everywhere. About the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030)Proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in December 2020, the Decade is a global collaboration bringing together governments, UN agencies, civil society, the private sector, academia and older people themselves to improve the lives of older people, their families and communities. It is coordinated by the World Health Organization together with the UN Inter-Agency Group on Ageing. The Decade's mid-term progress report was transmitted to the General Assembly by the Secretary-General, prepared by WHO, and is available in 6 languages.Full Report available: A/81/366 Implementation of the United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030): Note by Secretary-General [ العربية | 中文 | English | Français | Pусский | Español

who.int logo
Sep 30 • 8:00 PM EDT • Health • who.int
PAHO and MSD for Mothers sign agreement to reduce preventable maternal deaths in Guatemala and the Dominican Republic

Two-year initiative will support countries to reduce maternal mortality, prevent unintended repeat adolescent pregnancies, and strengthen efforts to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and other infectionsWashington, D.C., 30 September 2026 (PAHO) — The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and MSD for Mothers have signed an agreement to help reduce preventable maternal deaths in Guatemala and the Dominican Republic by strengthening adolescent health and improving maternal health services.

paho.org logo
Sep 30 • 4:49 PM EDT • Health • paho.org
Study connects food insecurity to mental health in young mothers

A new review of research from across sub-Saharan Africa found that inadequate access to food is linked to depression, suicide attempts, HIV vulnerabilities, and poorer sexual and reproductive health outcomes among adolescent mothers.

news-medical.net logo
Sep 30 • 4:11 PM EDT • Health • news-medical.net
Darby Fox warns of smartphone, AI dangers to youth mental health

Child and adolescent family therapist Darby Fox warns of youth mental health risks linked to early smartphone ownership and AI companionship. Fox explains studies connecting technology to higher eating disorder risks and loneliness.

foxnews.com logo
Sep 29 • 5:53 AM EDT • Health • foxnews.com
Sanford Health Welcomes New Pediatrician to Rapid City Clinic

Elizabeth Farnsworth, M.D., has joined Sanford Black Hills and is providing care to patients at the Sanford Health Jordan Drive Clinic in Rapid City, offering pediatric primary care services for infants, children and adolescents in the Black Hills region.

kotatv.com logo
Sep 28 • 3:29 PM EDT • Health • kotatv.com
WHO announces expansion of prequalification programme for medical devices

WHO) today announced a major expansion of its prequalification programme to include a wider range of life-saving medical devices such as contraceptives and innovative tuberculosis (TB) screening technologies.

who.int logo
Sep 24 • 8:00 PM EDT • Health • who.int
CPA Chairperson and South African Speaker highlight women's, children's and adolescents' health at 69th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in South Africa

Parliamentarians and health leaders from across the Commonwealth gathered at the 69th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in South Africa to discuss how stronger parliamentary leadership, oversight and collaboration can advance the health and well-being of women, children and adolescents. The session highlighted the need to translate commitments into measurable action, strengthen accountability for health financing and ensure policies deliver meaningful results for communities.

pmnch.who.int logo
Sep 24 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • pmnch.who.int
Youth psychiatric hospital opens in Hendersonville to fill regional gap in teen mental health care

Pardee’s new Adolescent Behavioral Health Center has 23 beds for youth ages 13 to 17 who are experiencing mental health issues.

northcarolinahealthnews.org logo
Sep 24 • 4:30 AM EDT • Health • northcarolinahealthnews.org
Situation Report No.11: Earthquakes in Venezuela 2026 (M7.2 and M7.5)

Nearly three months after the 24 June 2026 earthquakes in Venezuela, the response has moved into early recovery while sustaining essential emergency operations. Efforts now center on maintaining continuity of care across mental health, sexual and reproductive health, maternal and neonatal care, NCDs, and rehabilitation, alongside restoring affected facilities, supporting transitional camps, and strengthening Health Cluster coordination as Emergency Medical Teams and international partners withdraw. Health system recovery is advancing, with 16 ASICs and 356 health facilities assessed (61% operational) and rehabilitation progressing under CERF, CFE and US funding, while fluctuating electricity, medication refrigeration and emergency-generator gaps continue to challenge the safe continuity of essential health services. Public health surveillance and prevention remain active, with 47,145 cumulative vaccine doses administered and 556 health professionals trained, while intensified surveillance in La Guaira and Miranda and mounting environmental risks from tropical rains and heatwaves continue to require sustained vector-control and water/sanitation action. Contraception remains the most consistent unmet need across assessed shelters, particularly among adolescents and young women, while mental health needs continue to rise across the transitional camps amid limited supplies and specialized personnel. PAHO/WHO continues to support the response with critically needed medical supplies and medicines, having shipped 46.6 metric tons to Venezuela to date, benefiting 72 actors and reaching 117,714 people with treatment through PAHO and partner donations, while sustained technical and logistical support to the Ministry of Popular Power for Health (MPPS) has strengthened the national supply chain and ensured the continuity of health services through the coordination, reception, and mobilization of international donations of essential medical products.

paho.org logo
Sep 22 • 12:04 PM EDT • Health • paho.org
2nd NYC health system makes deal

A second major New York City health system has struck a deal with the Trump administration to no longer provide gender-transition care to adolescents and pay a penalty to the federal government, the Justice Department announced on Friday.

nwaonline.com logo
Sep 20 • 4:40 AM EDT • Health • nwaonline.com
Art project transforms Denton youth mental health center - Cross Timbers Gazette | Southern Denton County | Flower Mound

A local mental health facility in Denton is getting a vibrant makeover thanks to an inspiring collaboration with Denton County. The Art Room, a local nonprofit dedicated to supporting individuals with mental health challenges through the healing power of art, has partnered with the Denton County MHMR Center’s Child & Adolescent Center for its latest […]

crosstimbersgazette.com logo
Sep 20 • 1:01 AM EDT • Health • crosstimbersgazette.com
Vulnerable adolescents face sharp drop in mental health service access

Some of the most vulnerable children and young people are failing to get access to mental health support despite much higher levels of need, according to new research from the University of Cambridge.

news-medical.net logo
Sep 16 • 3:44 AM EDT • Health • news-medical.net
😐 Neutral (19%)
wow
100%
Boston University game measures visual perception deficits in autistic adolescents

Online GEODE touchscreen task links higher neural noise to slower learning in 212 ASD youths

dongascience.com logo
Sep 14 • 3:00 AM EDT • Science • dongascience.com
😐 Neutral (0%)
ahah
63%
wow
37%
Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Week 2026

Across Latin America and the Caribbean, thousands of girls become mothers during adolescence each year. While many face significant challenges, one pregnancy should not determine a girl's future. With access to quality health services, education, social support, and informed reproductive choices, adolescent mothers can continue pursuing their goals, raising healthy children, and contributing to their communities.

paho.org logo
Sep 10 • 12:05 PM EDT • Health • paho.org
Upstate opens after-hours pediatric behavioral health center

The center offers care for kids and adolescents ages 5 to 18.

spectrumlocalnews.com logo
Sep 9 • 5:36 PM EDT • Health • spectrumlocalnews.com
AI for child and adolescent mental health: Fairness and bias education

AI could transform mental health support for young people, but fairness and bias remain key challenges

openaccessgovernment.org logo
Sep 8 • 7:56 AM EDT • Health • openaccessgovernment.org
Student explores link between social media use and mental health in youth

The American Psychological Association estimates that teens are spending an average of five hours a day on social media. At Kennesaw State University, one student is examining whether this prolonged use can also impact their mental health. Through KSU’s First-Year Scholars Program, Chance Lundy, a Keeping Sights Upward Journey Honors College student, studied the relationship between frequent social media use and suicidal ideation among adolescents.

kennesaw.edu logo
Sep 3 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • kennesaw.edu
‘Adolescent Salvation’

Enduring the 90 minutes of the Chicago debut of Tim Venable's “Adolescent Salvation” at Theater Wit reminded me how nice it is not to be a teenager, especially in this

hpherald.com logo
Aug 31 • 3:26 PM EDT • Entertainment • hpherald.com
Bionic Bloom Integrated Health Welcomes Kathryn Silver, MA, RMHCI as New Art Therapy Provider

Experienced art therapist expands access to creative, trauma-informed care for adults, adolescents and familiesTAMPA, FL / ACCESS Newswire / August 29, 2026 / Bloom Integrated Health, home to and the Neurodivergent Empowerment Institute (NEI), today announced that St. Silver, MA, RMHCI has joined its team as a new therapy provider.

finance.yahoo.com logo
Aug 29 • 7:00 AM EDT • Health • finance.yahoo.com
Adding Anxiety and Suicide Screening to Depression Screening Identifies More At-Risk Adolescents

Depression screening alone missed more than half of adolescents with mental health concerns; combining anxiety and suicide risk assessments with it may reveal additional positive screens.

medscape.com logo
Aug 26 • 8:00 PM EDT • Health • medscape.com
The science behind later school start times

As Pennsylvania districts consider later bells, Penn Medicine sleep and neuroscience experts explain why adolescent biology can make early school start times especially challenging.

penntoday.upenn.edu logo
Aug 25 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • penntoday.upenn.edu
Gov. Reeves Announces Investment In Mental Health Services For Mississippi Youth » Office of Governor Tate Reeves

Gov. Tate Reeves today announced the state of Mississippi is deploying $3,375,709 to support expanded mental health services for children, adolescents and young adults who were negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the Community Development Block Grant CARES Act Coronavirus Relief (CDBG‑CV) program, the Mississippi Development Authority has approved targeted funding to modernize treatment environments and establish new programming focused on long-term recovery.

governorreeves.ms.gov logo
Aug 24 • 11:03 AM EDT • Health • governorreeves.ms.gov
West Coast Health Alliance sticks with pediatric vaccine schedules despite White House ord

The West Coast Health Alliance says it will continue to endorse the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommended child and adolescent immunization schedules.

katu.com logo
Aug 13 • 12:21 PM EDT • Health • katu.com
UNC Health Pardee Marks Major Milestone with Ribbon Cutting for New Pardee Adolescent Behavioral Health Center

UNC Health Pardee Marks Major Milestone with Ribbon Cutting for New Pardee Adolescent Behavioral Health Center

pardeehospital.org logo
Aug 13 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • pardeehospital.org
Hendersonville hospital celebrates opening of Adolescent Behavioral Health Center

WLOS News 13 provides local news, weather forecasts, traffic updates, notices of events and items of interest in the community, sports and entertainment programming for Asheville, NC and nearby towns and communities in Western North Carolina and the Upstate of South Carolina, including the counties of Buncombe, Henderson, Rutherford, Haywood, Polk, Transylvania, McDowell, Mitchell, Madison, Yancey, Jackson, Swain, Macon, Graham, Spartanburg, Greenville, Anderson, Union, Pickens, Oconee, Laurens, Greenwood, Abbeville and also Biltmore Forest, Woodfin, Leicester, Black Mountain, Montreat, Arden, Weaverville, Hendersonville, Etowah, Flat Rock, Mills River, Waynesville, Maggie Valley, Canton, Clyde, Franklin, Cullowhee, Sylva, Cherokee, Marion, Old Fort, Forest City, Lake Lure, Bat Cave, Spindale, Spruce Pine, Bakersville, Burnsville, Tryon, Columbus, Marshall, Mars Hill, Brevard, Bryson City, Cashiers, Greer, Landrum, Clemson, Gaffney, and Easley.

wlos.com logo
Aug 12 • 1:58 PM EDT • Health • wlos.com
CAAP Senegal: Strengthening Coalition to Advance Women's, Children's and Adolescents' Health

Since 2024, Amref Health West Africa has coordinated Senegal’s PMNCH-supported CAAP through an existing national committee, strengthening a sustainable platform for SRMNCAH advocacy. In April 2026, expanded membership and a new working group marked a major step toward a single national platform to align advocacy, improve budget tracking, counter misinformation and advance domestic financing for women, children and adolescents.

pmnch.who.int logo
Aug 6 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • pmnch.who.int
Reframing School Sports: The Role of Coaching Priorities and Secure Relationships in Adolescent Development

Authors: Ann Kearns Davoren1, Jeffrey J. Milroy 2,3, & GracieLee Weaver 1.2, Samantha Kelly 3, Stephen Hebard 1, Eugenia Camacho Fernandez 2, David L. Wyrick 1,2,3 1Prevention Strategies, Green…

thesportjournal.org logo
Aug 4 • 6:00 AM EDT • Sports • thesportjournal.org
CHANCELL-ING: A Hopeful Conversation about Adolescent Mental Health

When our daughters were teenagers, LeShelle and I had many conversations about when we should give them cellphones. We were sensitive to potential mental health challenges that adolescents faced related to cellphone use and social media. We wanted to be careful about exposing our daughters to the inherit risks of social media, which were still emerging at that time.

ucdavis.edu logo
Aug 3 • 12:10 PM EDT • Health • ucdavis.edu
Metro Health Launches "Let's Grow Together” Campaign

The initiative supports maternal, infant, child, and adolescent health.

sa.gov logo
Jul 31 • 11:07 AM EDT • Health • sa.gov
Summer internship program prepares the next generation of professionals in adolescent health

Nine undergraduate students gain hands-on experience through the UT Teen Health Summer Internship Program.

news.utsa.edu logo
Jul 30 • 10:02 AM EDT • Health • news.utsa.edu
The unlicensed therapist 8 million kids are seeing, per 1 behavioral health chief

Nearly 1 in 5 adolescents and young adults in the U.S. — an estimated 8.2 million people — used an AI chatbot for mental health advice in 2025, according to a study published June 1 in JAMA Pediatrics. The findings are stark: 91.7% rated the guidance as somewhat or very helpful, and 42.8% came back […]

beckersbehavioralhealth.com logo
Jul 23 • 1:12 PM EDT • Health • beckersbehavioralhealth.com
Automated Neurofeedback: Rewiring the Future of Mental Health Care

Mental health and addiction disorders continue to rise across the United States, affecting veterans, adolescents, families, first responders, and entire communities. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, nearly half of individuals with a substance use disorder also experience a co-occurring mental health condition. At the same time, healthcare systems are struggling with workforce ...

nu.edu logo
Jul 21 • 11:06 AM EDT • Health • nu.edu
Summer internship program prepares students for careers in adolescent health

UT Teen Health hosted nine college students from across the country to learn what it takes to improve teen health in South Texas.

news.uthscsa.edu logo
Jul 20 • 3:32 PM EDT • Health • news.uthscsa.edu
‘Social media bans are likely to make things worse’: psychologist Candice Odgers on kids, tech and mental health

She has studied adolescent mental health for 25 years and fears the debate obscures some of the biggest issues facing teenagers – from the impact of Covid to the health of their adult caregivers

theguardian.com logo
Jul 16 • 12:00 AM EDT • Health • theguardian.com
Dr. Hillary Porter of Marshall Health Network named 2025 West Virginia Pediatrician of the Year

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Hillary N. Porter, D.O., associate professor of pediatrics at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine and board-certified pediatrician, psychologist and child and adolescent psychiatrist with Marshall Health Network, has been named the 2025 West Virginia Pediatrician of the Year by the West Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics in recognition of her dedication to children’s […]

news.marshallhealth.org logo
Jul 15 • 12:39 PM EDT • Health • news.marshallhealth.org
Penn State Health relocates inpatient psychiatric services to Holy Spirit Medical Center

Penn State Health is relocating inpatient psychiatric services for adults, adolescents and children to Holy Spirit Medical Center, expanding access to behavioral health care with 53 new inpatient beds…

pennstatehealthnews.org logo
Jul 13 • 7:00 AM EDT • Health • pennstatehealthnews.org
Azerbaijan health officials deny mumps epidemic in Baku

The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Azerbaijan reports posts have been circulating on social networks about the widespread spread of epidemic mumps in Baku do not reflect the current epidemiological situation. Health officials say the epidemiological situation of mumps in the country is stable. The registered cases of infection consist of individual sporadic cases, no epidemics or mass spread have been recorded. The current situation is constantly under epidemiological surveillance by relevant medical institutions, and the necessary preventive and counter-epidemic measures are consistently implemented. Epidemic mumps is observed more often among unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated individuals. The disease is transmitted mainly by airborne droplets - during coughing, sneezing and close contact. The incubation period usually lasts 11–23 days. The main symptoms of the disease are fever, swelling and pain in the parotid salivary glands, discomfort when chewing and swallowing, general weakness, headache and loss of appetite. In most cases, mumps is mild and results in complete recovery. However, in rare cases, certain complications may develop in unvaccinated adolescents and adults. Therefore, timely vaccination is of particular importance in preventing the disease. Subscribe to Outbreak News TV on YouTube In accordance with the National Vaccination Schedule in Azerbaijan, the combined measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is administered to children at 12 months of age, with a booster dose at 6 years of age. The MMR vaccine is the most reliable and effective means of protection against mumps. The Ministry of Health recommends that parents check their children’s vaccination status. If for any reason the vaccination has been delayed or missed, it is recommended to contact the medical facility in your area of ​​residence and consult a doctor. To protect yourself from the disease, it is recommended to follow preventive measures such as avoiding close contact with sick people, following personal hygiene rules, washing hands regularly, and frequently ventilating closed spaces. If you experience symptoms of the disease, avoid self-medication, seek medical attention, and do not return to work until you are fully recovered. Citizens are asked to refer only to official sources and not to believe or share unverified information circulating on social networks. Outbreak News Today is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe

outbreaknewstoday.substack.com logo
Jul 11 • 10:12 PM EDT • Health • outbreaknewstoday.substack.com
😐 Neutral (11%)
ahah
43%
wow
29%
love
28%
Partnership Advances Adolescent Health in American Samoa

Learn how American Samoa advances adolescent health in American Samoa through collaboration among state and local health and education agencies.

astho.org logo
Jul 6 • 12:00 PM EDT • Health • astho.org
Pittsburgh teens with disabilities help shape more accessible healthcare

During a mock appointment to a UPMC adolescent health clinic, a group of Pittsburgh teens stood in as patients. They were actually there as accessibility experts as they are also people living with disabilities.

wesanews.org logo
Jul 6 • 5:31 AM EDT • Health • wesanews.org
Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. teens have turned to AI chatbots for mental health advice, study finds

A growing number of adolescents and young adults in the United States are turning to artificial intelligence chatbots for help with their mental health.

fox17.com logo
Jun 30 • 8:05 PM EDT • Health • fox17.com
Efzimfotase alfa demonstrated improvements in bone health in treatment-naïve pediatric patients with hypophosphatasia achieving median difference of 1.67 vs placebo in RGI-C Score at week 25 in MULBERRY Phase III trial

Positive results from the MULBERRY Phase III trial showed that efzimfotase alfa (ALXN1850), an investigational enzyme replacement therapy, demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in bone health in children (2 to

astrazeneca-us.com logo
Jun 28 • 3:45 PM EDT • Health • astrazeneca-us.com
Sweden and WHO launch new long-term initiative to transform Ukraine’s health system

WHO and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) have launched a new multi-year cooperation project to support the long-term recovery and transformation of Ukraine’s health system. The new project, “Ukraine’s Health System Transformation Initiative: Strengthening Health Governance, Health Financing and Service Delivery for Long-Term Recovery”, was launched at the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2026 in Gdansk, Poland on 26 June, and will run from June 2026 to 2029. Sweden will contribute approximately US$ 26 million (240 million Swedish krona) to support this project. This contribution forms part of Sweden’s broader support to Ukraine through the Team Europe approach, which brings together the European Union, its Member States, and key partners such as the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Enlargement and Eastern Neighbourhood and Enabel, and WHO as lead health agency, to support Ukraine’s recovery, reform agenda and European integration.“Ukraine’s health recovery cannot be measured only by what is rebuilt, but by whether people can count on the health system when they need it most. The scale of the task is immense, with health reconstruction and modernization needs estimated at US$ 19.4 billion over the next decade. Sweden’s US$ 26 million contribution to Ukraine’s Health System Transformation Initiative is a timely investment in the institutions, financing and services that will support Ukraine’s long-term recovery and European integration. WHO remains a trusted partner of the Government of Ukraine in advancing this process. I am deeply grateful to Sweden for its consistent support and partnership,” said Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe. More than 4 years of war have placed unprecedented pressure on Ukraine’s health system, creating 3 interconnected challenges. The first is responding to the immediate consequences of the war and the urgent health needs of the population. The second is recovering and modernizing health services today. The third is continuing reforms and aligning the health system with European standards in the context of Ukraine’s future accession to the European Union. The war has led to large-scale population displacement, an increasing need for trauma care and rehabilitation, and shortages of health workers. High out-of-pocket payments in Ukraine make access to health services more difficult. Around 46% of total health expenditure is paid directly by individuals, placing a significant financial burden on many households and underscoring the need for reforms in health financing. Older people, persons with disabilities, women, children and veterans continue to face the greatest difficulties in accessing health services. “Ukraine is demonstrating that health system transformation can continue even during war. Ukraine is also continuing to align its health system with European norms and standards. WHO is committed to supporting Ukraine on this journey. We provide technical support, help coordinate partners’ efforts and support the institutional changes needed to strengthen the system. We are grateful to Sweden for its support. Through this partnership, we can help Ukraine build a more resilient, accessible and people-centred health system,” said Dr Jarno Habicht, WHO Representative in Ukraine. About the Health System Transformation InitiativeThe new initiative will support Ukraine through 3 interconnected areas: strengthening governance and coordination of health sector reforms through more inclusive coordination platforms and structured policy dialogue; transforming service delivery by reinforcing a primary health care-centred model that integrates family medicine, nursing and midwifery; and improving financial sustainability by supporting reforms that ensure the long-term viability of the national health system and reduce out-of-pocket payments for households. Overall, these reforms are expected to make the health system more coherent and easier to navigate, improve the quality and continuity of care, and ensure more equitable access to services, particularly for those who need them most. They will also support Ukraine’s progress towards a more modern health system aligned with European standards. “We are convinced that long-term recovery is not possible without strong, high-quality, person-centred health services that are accessible to everyone. Our partnership with WHO is designed to support deep and lasting systemic changes. Investments in human capital especially autonomous midwives, whose role for maternal, newborn and adolescent sexual and reproductive health cannot be understated, stronger governance, digital transformation and the financial sustainability of the health system are investments in Ukraine’s future. We are proud to support this process,” said Malin Perhult, the Head of the Ukraine Unit at Sida. Focus throughout implementation will be given to the most vulnerable population groups, including older people, women and children, and persons with disabilities, who have been affected by the war and face greater health-care needs. The initiative will be implemented in close cooperation with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, the National Health Service of Ukraine, the Public Health Centre of Ukraine, regional authorities and international partners. This project will help Ukraine move towards a system where everyone can access the health care they need. It will strengthen primary care, make the health finance system more stable and predictable, and reduce the out-of-pocket costs that Ukrainians face when using health services. As a result, the Ukrainian health system will become more aligned with European standards and more sustainable in the long run.

who.int logo
Jun 26 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • who.int
Financing the Future: Leaders Make the Investment Case for Women's, Children's and Adolescents' Health

With development assistance declining and health systems under growing strain, leaders at Africa Health ExCon called for a shift from fragmented financing to integrated, sustainable investment in women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health. Discussions highlighted domestic financing, private sector engagement, service integration and climate-resilient health systems as pathways to greater impact.

pmnch.who.int logo
Jun 24 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • pmnch.who.int
'Bright' girl's death sparked Bristol's mental health unit's closure

Her death on New Year's Day led to Riverside Adolescent Unit at Blackberry Hill Hospital to shut.

bbc.com logo
Jun 22 • 8:44 AM EDT • Health • bbc.com
Science Over Tradition: Plymouth South Middle Schoolers Advocate for Later School Start Times

PLYMOUTH - June 15, 2026 - In a powerful demonstration of student advocacy, a delegation of eighth-grade students from Plymouth South Middle School presented compelling, science-based research to the School Committee, urging district leadership to push back school start times to improve adolescent mental health, well-being, and academic performance. The presentation sparked immediate commitment from the administration to formally evaluate the district’s schedule over the coming school year. Subscribe The Full Story The final in-person meeting of the academic year opened with a celebratory outdoor ceremony honoring dozens of elementary, middle, and high school student artists whose work was chosen for the biannual Central Office Artwork Awards. However, the evening’s primary policy focus quickly shifted to student-led civic action when eighth graders Sophia Scarini, Skye Togun, Leah Mansfield, James Moore, Avery Mahan and Lily Simpson took the podium. The students revealed that their presentation was the culmination of a year-long civics project involving local community assessments, interviews with former officials, and extensive literary analysis. The research sharply highlighted the biological mismatch between adolescent sleep patterns and current school schedules. Under the district’s current framework, Plymouth High Schools open at 7:20 a.m., Middle Schools at 8:12 a.m., and Elementary Schools at 9:05 a.m.. “The high school start times directly contradict students’ natural sleep patterns,” student Leah Mansfield explained, noting that the teenage brain does not naturally produce melatonin until around 11:00 p.m.. The student presentation underscored a harrowing correlation between sleep deprivation and severe mental health struggles, citing data that adolescents with insomnia are ten times more likely to develop depression. Conversely, data shows that just one additional hour of sleep results in a 28% reduction in students reporting feelings of depression or sadness.

southshore.news logo
Jun 22 • 7:03 AM EDT • Science • southshore.news
What does the appointment of H.E. Monica Geingos as PMNCH Board Chair mean for Namibia, Africa and the future of global health leadership?

The appointment of H.E. Monica Geingos as PMNCH Board Chair marks a significant moment for global health leadership. As funding pressures and health inequities grow, her leadership reflects the increasing role of African voices in shaping global health governance and advancing equity, accountability and investment for women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health and well-being.

pmnch.who.int logo
Jun 16 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • pmnch.who.int
Doctor on how social media can affect children's health, development

Dr. Scott Hadland, the Chief of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at Mass General for Children, said research shows real risks that social media can affect young people's sleep as well as their attention and focus in school.

wcvb.com logo
Jun 15 • 5:53 PM EDT • Health • wcvb.com
Sleep deprivation linked to mental health problems in adolescents

Insufficient sleep, particularly among adolescents, has been identified as a public health epidemic. WEMU’s Caroline MacGregor reports.

wemu.org logo
Jun 15 • 5:42 AM EDT • Health • wemu.org
😐 Neutral (-2%)
ahah
40%
wow
40%
love
20%
Adolescent sexual health continues to improve in Minnesota, but stark disparities persist

Teen pregnancy, birth, and STI rates continued to decline in Minnesota in 2024, though significant racial and geographic disparities remain, according to a University of Minnesota report.

mprnews.org logo
Jun 14 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • mprnews.org
😐 Neutral (27%)
wow
50%
ahah
25%
love
25%
Overview of WHO Member State Interventions at WHA79 on Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (WCAH)

WHA79 highlighted a critical turning point for women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health (WCAH) amid record declines in development assistance, growing humanitarian crises and ongoing reforms of the global health architecture. PMNCH advocated for WCAH to remain central to health system reform, emergency response and financing discussions, emphasizing that sustainable investments, country-led governance and protection of essential services are vital to prevent reversals in hard-won health gains and accelerate progress toward the SDGs.

pmnch.who.int logo
Jun 12 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • pmnch.who.int
Systematic review identifies key barriers preventing Indian adolescents from seeking mental health care

For many adolescents in India, seeking help for anxiety, depression or emotional distress remains far more difficult than it should be. A new review led by The George Institute for Global Health finds ...

medicalxpress.com logo
Jun 12 • 7:40 AM EDT • Health • medicalxpress.com
What The Karmelo Anthony Case Reveals About Bullying, Adolescent Mental Health, And The Conflicts We Ignore Until It's Too Late

The conviction of Texas teenager Karmelo Anthony has sparked national debate about race, justice, and accountability. But what happens when bullying, adolescent mental health struggles, and unresolved conflict are ignored

forbes.com logo
Jun 10 • 8:15 AM EDT • Health • forbes.com
Jane Fonda expands mission to address teen health and opportunity in Georgia

In 1995, Fonda started the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power and Potential.

wsbtv.com logo
Jun 8 • 3:58 PM EDT • Health • wsbtv.com
Nearly 1 in 5 US teens and young adults have sought mental health advice from AI chatbots, study finds

Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. adolescents and young adults have used artificial intelligence chatbots for mental health advice, and most have never told anyone, according to a new study published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics.

click2houston.com logo
Jun 4 • 8:43 AM EDT • Health • click2houston.com
🙂 Positive (36%)
Towards a responsive health system and equitable access to quality RMNCAH services

Indonesia’s vast geography and sociocultural diversity shape the delivery of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (RMNCAH) services in ways that are both enabling and challenging. Across provinces, significant variation has been observed in how services are planned, resourced, and delivered. These variations in service standards and quality are felt daily in the lives of women, newborns and adolescents. Despite these challenges, progress is visible. National estimates show a drop in maternal mortality ratio, from 331 to 140 per 100 000 live births since 2000, signaling improvements in care quality and access. Fertility has stabilised and contraceptive use has grown, yet unmet reproductive health needs persist, and adolescent pregnancies continue to reflect early marriage and limited access to youth-friendly services.To better understand how Indonesia’s health system has evolved under decentralisation, the Ministry of Health, supported by World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), IPAS and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), conducted a joint external review of RMNCAH programmes. This review draws on multiple sources of evidence, including existing literature, policy documents, national health system data, as well as field visits to six selected provinces to represent Indonesia’s geographic and administrative diversity. During the field visits, review teams observed service delivery in health facilities, spoke with health workers and local leaders and met mothers and families to understand how RMNCAH policies are operationalised. One of the challenges identified was the management of low birthweight (LBW) infants, a major contributor to neonatal deaths, under resource constraints. One midwife described a severe case of extremely LBW twins, one stillborn and the other died after three days of care. She recalled how the surviving infant struggled to swallow and may not have received breast milk, while simultaneous emergencies required the team’s attention, affecting the care provided to the infant.A subsequent review of the case by the district health office revealed insufficient antenatal care, fragmented maternal medical history due to population mobility, referral delays, limited provider capacity in neonatal intravenous access and a heavy workload that constrained proper newborn monitoring. These insights informed recommendations to strengthen both system-wide and service-level responses. Since the early 2000s, Indonesia’s decentralisation initiative has given much of the responsibility for funding, staffing and managing health services to regional governments. While the Ministry of Health sets national clinical standards, daily management of public health facilities falls under regional authorities through the Ministry of Internal Affairs. While this arrangement allows services to be tailored to local needs, it also depends heavily on local capacity for planning, budgeting and management. Health facilities and district health offices are better positioned to translate national priorities into local action when they have access to consistent technical support, helping health workers manage resource constraints and infrastructure gaps.The complexity of Indonesia’s health system governance is no easy feat to navigate. Understanding these dynamics is essential to strengthening policy, improving coordination and ensuring more equitable access to services across Indonesia. Under the leadership of Ministry of Health, recommendations from this exercise will be key in guiding the nation’s roadmap to an equitable and quality health system for RMNCAH.Written by Edit Oktavia Manuama, National Professional Officer (Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health), and Jessie Yunus, National Professional Officer (Gender, Rights, Equity, and Disability Inclusion)

who.int logo
Jun 1 • 8:00 PM EDT • Health • who.int
Contraception For Teens: Let's Talk About It

By Mahvash Madni, MD, FAAP HealthDay ReporterSATURDAY, May 30, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Contraception is not just about preventing an unwanted pregnancy. Experts say it’s also an important part of adolescent health care, helping regulate menstrual cycles, manage painful symptoms and treat some hormone-related conditions. Understanding the ...

usnews.com logo
May 30 • 7:00 AM EDT • Health • usnews.com
Heart-healthy lipid profile benefits brain health in adolescents, study finds

A new Finnish study shows that blood markers of dysfunctional lipid metabolism are associated with poorer cognitive function in 15–17-year-olds. The findings are significant because brain development ...

medicalxpress.com logo
May 27 • 3:20 PM EDT • Health • medicalxpress.com
UC Davis Researcher Explores How Brain Development Shapes Teen Mental Health

Amanda Guyer, professor in the Department of Human Ecology and a faculty researcher at the Center for Mind and Brain, is helping uncover how brain development influences the way children and adolescents respond to social and emotional challenges. She is this month’s guest on Face to Face With Chancellor May.

ucdavis.edu logo
May 26 • 3:15 PM EDT • Health • ucdavis.edu
Global mental health snapshot: 1.2 billion people are living with mental disorders

Adolescents aged 15 to 19 and women of all ages are the worst affected, especially by anxiety and depression

english.elpais.com logo
May 25 • 7:56 AM EDT • Health • english.elpais.com
Exhibit highlights the health impacts of online violence affecting children and adolescents

The World Health Organization (WHO) is drawing attention to the growing importance of addressing the impacts of digital environments on children’s health and development.

who.int logo
May 19 • 8:00 PM EDT • Health • who.int
The world cannot afford to fail women, children and adolescents

Aid cuts, debt and conflict are pushing maternal and child health to breaking point.

aljazeera.com logo
May 18 • 10:00 AM EDT • Health • aljazeera.com
WHO warns nicotine pouch brands targeting youth as sales surge

The World Health Organization (WHO) today issues a strong warning over the rapid global expansion of nicotine pouch products, which are being aggressively marketed to adolescents and young people. WHO notes that regulation in many countries is limited or absent, raising concerns about youth nicotine addiction and related health risks.

who.int logo
May 14 • 8:00 PM EDT • Health • who.int
5 Key Facts on Adolescent Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders

Nineteen percent of adolescents experience moderate to severe anxiety and 2 million have a substance use disorder. This analysis covers the latest data on adolescent mental illness, suicide and drug overdose trends, and access to care.

kff.org logo
May 11 • 4:10 PM EDT • Health • kff.org
Why limiting teen phone usage has health benefits

Dr. Scott Hadland, chief of adolescent medicine at Mass General Brigham for Children, joined the discussion to address the topic of cell phone use among students and the implications of school-wide bans.

wcvb.com logo
May 8 • 6:50 PM EDT • Health • wcvb.com
Developing more accessible mental health screening tool for autistic adolescents

Led by Celeste Campos-Castillo and Susan Bonner, associate professors in M&I, their project combines expertise in communication, health services and interactive design to reimagine the screening experience.

msutoday.msu.edu logo
May 7 • 3:01 AM EDT • Health • msutoday.msu.edu
From Debt Burden to Health Investment: How Debt Swaps Can Finance Women's and Children's Health

As debt pressures rise and development assistance declines, countries are exploring new ways to protect investments in women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health. In the final session of the GLN Domestic Resource Mobilisation Webinar Series, experts, governments and civil society leaders examined how debt swaps can help convert sovereign debt into targeted health financing. Discussions highlighted the importance of accountability, country ownership and sustained political will.

pmnch.who.int logo
May 6 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • pmnch.who.int
RCHD highlights adolescent health services for National Adolescents Health Month

Richmond City Health Districts (RCHD) is highlighting services and programs that support the health and well-being of Richmond youth in honor of National Adolescent Health Month.

wric.com logo
May 4 • 1:11 PM EDT • Health • wric.com
Weight Teasing from Different Family Members Linked to Harmful Health Outcomes for Adolescents

Weight teasing from mothers emerged as the most consistently significant family source associated with negative outcomes

today.uconn.edu logo
May 1 • 7:45 AM EDT • Health • today.uconn.edu
Brain scans reveal 3 ADHD subtypes, including a more extreme form

A study analyzing 1,154 children and adolescents breaks new ground in how to think about the growing diagnosis.

washingtonpost.com logo
Apr 30 • 6:00 AM EDT • Health • washingtonpost.com
Stressed out teen? Sleep and sports may be the cure

It seems like everyone is a little stressed out these days — and not even children in their “carefree” teen years are immune.In fact, the changes that adolescents go through during that time of their life make them particularly susceptible to stress.

news.asu.edu logo
Apr 28 • 8:00 AM EDT • Sports • news.asu.edu
Mobilizing parliamentary leadership to protect women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health in times of crisis: PMNCH at the 152nd IPU Assembly

At the 152nd Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly in Istanbul, Türkiye (15–19 April 2026), PMNCH called on global parliamentary leaders to prioritize women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health (WCAH) as a cornerstone of peace, justice and sustainable development. Bringing together over 1,500 delegates from 126 countries, the Assembly underscored the urgent need for coordinated parliamentary action to protect essential health services, strengthen financing and advance accountability in the face of growing global crises.

pmnch.who.int logo
Apr 27 • 8:00 AM EDT • Health • pmnch.who.int
Therapist unpacks social media’s impact on teen mental health, friendships

Child and adolescent family therapist Darby Fox discusses new research on how teens perceive social media. Many credit Snapchat with helping friendships, but most report online harassment and bullying.

foxnews.com logo
Apr 20 • 7:49 AM EDT • Health • foxnews.com
How weed affects adolescent brains

The latest CDC director nominee, the ongoing measles outbreak, and other health news from Morning Rounds

statnews.com logo
Apr 20 • 7:40 AM EDT • Health • statnews.com
New study finds 12- to 17-year-olds willing to engage in democracy, but feel anxious, unheard, distrustful of politics

A major new U.K. study of 12- to 17-year-olds finds that, while most adolescents say they would vote and are interested in politics, their willingness to engage is linked to their anxiety about the future, ...

phys.org logo
Apr 16 • 2:20 PM EDT • Politics • phys.org
Study finds no link between medical gender reassignment and improved mental health among young people

An extensive register-based study conducted in Finland has found an increase in severe mental health problems among some adolescents and young adults who have undergone medical gender reassignment (GR). ...

medicalxpress.com logo
Apr 14 • 3:00 PM EDT • Health • medicalxpress.com
I’m part of Gen Z. Social media didn’t ruin my generation.

Laws restricting phone use won’t solve root causes of adolescent anxiety.

washingtonpost.com logo
Apr 12 • 7:30 AM EDT • Health • washingtonpost.com
Rowing Science: Predictors of Fast Erg Scores in Adolescent Rowers

A recent study of contributors to faster erg scores in adolescent rowers may be of interest as the h

row2k.com logo
Apr 7 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • row2k.com
UConn Health to take over DCF-run psychiatric facility

The UConn Health board approved a plan to take over adolescent psychiatric services at DCF-run Albert J. Solnit Children’s Center.

ctmirror.org logo
Apr 1 • 5:46 PM EDT • Health • ctmirror.org
Teen sports betting is rising fast — and addiction risks are growing

As online sports betting surges in Massachusetts, experts warn adolescent boys are especially vulnerable to gambling addiction.

wcvb.com logo
Mar 27 • 6:22 PM EDT • Sports • wcvb.com
Vaccines for healthy pre-teens and teens

Adolescents ages 9-18 are due for key vaccines. Uninsured youth can get free vaccines from the City of Berkeley Immunization Clinic. Parents of uninsured adolescents can come to the City of Berkeley immunization clinic to check their child’s vaccination status and, if needed, catch up on their missing shots.Staying up to date on vaccines is important for families at a variety of ages. Adolescence is an important time to check vaccine status as kids age 9 to 18 can get proven protections to help protect against of a variety of diseases.

berkeleyca.gov logo
Mar 26 • 1:00 PM EDT • Health • berkeleyca.gov
UConn Health Minute: AI and Teen Mental Health

More teens are using AI chatbots for mental health support. In this UConn Health Minute, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist Meha Saxena explains that while q ...

today.uconn.edu logo
Mar 25 • 3:06 PM EDT • Health • today.uconn.edu
READY, SET, IMPLEMENT! Lifelines in Crisis: Prioritizing Women’s, Children’s, and Adolescents’ Health in Humanitarian, Conflict and Climate-affected Settings

This dialogue is part of PMNCH’s Ready, Set, Influence series, bringing together policymakers, humanitarian leaders, donors, and grassroots experts. The webinar will focus on accelerating the implementation of health commitments within humanitarian affairs, specifically focusing on the need for integrated, rights-based health services that remain resilient in the face of conflict, disaster and climate events.

pmnch.who.int logo
Mar 25 • 11:13 AM EDT • Health • pmnch.who.int