Search Medical Journals & Research Articles

[Articles] 23 years of public policy towards universal health coverage in Mexico. A cross-sectional time-series analysis using routinely collected health data, 2000–2022

Despite major reforms with significant public expenditure increase, inequities between PLSS and PWSS, fragmentation, accessibility and quality challenges persist. Addressing the root causes of health inequities in Mexico will require not only health system reforms but also tackling structural vulnerabilities linked to widespread informal employment, which limits access to health and social protection.

[Articles] Environmental and social injustices impact dementia risk among older adults with end-stage kidney disease: a national registry study

Older adults with ESKD in neighborhoods with high PM2.5 experienced an increased risk of dementia; this risk was particularly pronounced among individuals in high segregation and predominantly minority neighborhoods. Environmental and social injustices likely drive racial and ethnic disparities in dementia for older adults with ESKD, underscoring the need for interventions and policies to mitigate these injustices.

[Correspondence] Late toxicities of head and neck radiotherapy

The head and neck service at Princess Margaret Cancer Center should be commended for their excellent study of radiation late toxicities (RLTs).1 In a cohort of 7622 patients, Mathew and colleagues identify modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors associated with RLTs. RLTs were found to be associated with decreased survival, but this association was mitigated in a cohort referred to a specialist RLT clinic.

[Comment] Food and Nutrition Security in the context of structural inequities: insights from Brazilian favelas

The resumption of Food and Nutrition Security (FNS) policies has brought the social agenda back to the center of debate, following setbacks that affected 33 million people who experienced severe food and nutrition insecurity (FNI), that is, hunger.1 In 2025, the SOFI report confirmed that the country was once again removed from the Hunger Map.2 While this is an important achievement, it is insufficient to declare the issue resolved, particularly among vulnerable populations.

[Comment] A framework for governing Canada's tobacco settlement funds

Canada's $32.5 billion tobacco settlement, the largest legal resolution in the country's history, has entered its implementation phase. The settlement allocates $24 billion to provinces, $2.5 billion to compensate individual smokers, and $1 billion to a research foundation.1 Payments began in August 2025 and will continue for the next 18 years.

[Comment] Redesigning school food environments in Brazil: public sector innovation to protect children and adolescents and promote food and nutrition security

In Latin America, the widespread availability of ultra-processed foods in school environments has emerged as a pressing public health concern. The increasing exposure of children and adolescents to these products jeopardises not only their individual well-being, but also broader regional efforts to address malnutrition, childhood obesity, and food and nutrition insecurity.1

[Comment] Tuberculosis in the Americas: a worsening crisis amid genomic surveillance gaps

In 2023, tuberculosis (TB) returned as the leading infectious disease killer, after falling behind COVID-19 during the pandemic. An estimated 1.25 million lives were lost and 8.2 million new TB cases were reported worldwide, the highest number since the World Health Organization (WHO) began global TB monitoring in 1995.1 These facts reveal the failure to achieve the global commitment made in 2014 through the WHO's End TB Strategy, which set goals of reducing TB incidence by 90% and mortality by 95% by 2035.

[Articles] Impact of cigarette prices and age-of-sale policies on smoking prevalence among youth in 26 European Member States (2012–2023): a longitudinal ecological study using repeated cross-sectional data

Current taxation and age-of-sale policies remain insufficient, with impacts varying by sex and region. Achieving the tobacco endgame requires harmonised EU-level measures and stronger enforcement, particularly of these two policies, to prevent the ongoing influx of new youth smoking initiates. This study suggests that their potential impact has been constrained by inadequate enforcement to date rather than by policy ineffectiveness.

[Health Policy] European and North American guidelines for treating irritable bowel syndrome and functional abdominal pain in childhood: a guide for health-care professionals

Abdominal pain-related disorders of gut–brain interaction (AP-DGBI; including irritable bowel syndrome, functional abdominal pain—not otherwise specified, abdominal migraine, and functional dyspepsia) are very common among children and adolescents worldwide. Two of these disorders, irritable bowel syndrome and functional abdominal pain–not otherwise specified, have high rates of school absenteeism, psychological comorbidities, and chronicity into adulthood. A wide range of psychosocial, dietary, and pharmacological treatments have been explored for treatment of irritable bowel syndrome and functional abdominal pain—not otherwise specified in children.

[Review] The effects of plastic exposures on children's health and urgent opportunities for prevention

Children face an urgent threat in the form of hazards posed by plastics in the environment. Despite robust and rapidly accumulating evidence on the effects of plastic on children's health, plastic presents a paradox for child health providers: while plastic is a vehicle for so many interventions, robust evidence from laboratory and human studies show that chemicals used to produce plastics contribute to chronic conditions in multiple organ systems and disrupt hormone function, and exposure to plastic-derived toxins is associated with adverse birth outcomes, metabolic conditions, neurodevelopmental disease and disability, and reproductive conditions.

[Articles] Longitudinal association between dysmenorrhoea in adolescence and chronic pain in adulthood: a UK population-based study

Dysmenorrhoea in adolescence adversely affects immediate wellbeing and contributes to an increased risk of chronic pain in adulthood, thus lending supporting evidence to calls to consider adolescent dysmenorrhoea a crucial public health issue. Future work should focus on early identification and effective management, including non-pharmacological strategies and self-management, which relies on continuing work to improve young people's menstrual literacy.

[Reflections] Beyond sepsis awareness: why some children still fall through the cracks

In 2014, when William Mead unexpectedly died of sepsis at just 12 months old, his mother, Melissa, transformed her grief into a relentless mission. She stepped into a world she had never imagined: endless campaigns to raise sepsis awareness, committees, and media interviews, all driven by a selfless mission that no other family would have to endure the same heartbreak she had. At the same time, Akash Deep was working within the health system as a paediatric intensive care specialist, trying to shape sepsis awareness campaigns from a clinical perspective.

[Reflections] Mexico's school junk food ban to foster healthier futures

Mexico's March 2025 ban on ultra-processed foods and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) in schools, introduced through a reform of the 2023 General Education Law, prohibits the sale and marketing of any products that carry front-of-package warning labels for excess calories, sugar, saturated fat, trans fat, or sodium. In a country where approximately 35% of school-aged children have overweight or obesity and where 60–70% of household calories come from ultra-processed foods and SSBs, the policy aims to create healthier school food environments and reduce childhood obesity.

[Corrections] Correction to Lancet Child Adolesc Health 2025; 9: 766–75

Reid-McCann R, Poli-Neto OB, Stein K, et al. Longitudinal association between dysmenorrhoea in adolescence and chronic pain in adulthood: a UK population-based study. Lancet Child Adolesc Health 2025; 9: 766–75—In this Article, the sixth sentence in the Research in context panel should read “The relationship between adolescent dysmenorrhoea and chronic pain in adulthood…”, and in figure 4, asterisks denoting a footnote have been added. Additionally, the figure legend for figures 3 and 4 have been updated.

[Correspondence] Paediatric malnutrition in Gaza amid conflict: an urgent health crisis

Since late 2023, Gaza has endured a protracted armed conflict with restricted humanitarian access, which has ultimately transformed its chronic food insecurity into an acute famine emergency. On Aug 15, 2025, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) confirmed famine in Gaza for the first time: 26% of the population were classified as being in famine (IPC Phase 5), 54% as being in emergency (IPC Phase 4), and 20% as being in crisis (IPC Phase 3), with conditions expected to deteriorate.