Romina Kalachi, a 32-year-old woman, was stabbed to death in her own home on May 29, 2017. She was killed in her flat in Kilburn, London and is the latest known sex worker to be murdered in the UK.

It’s early in the morning but already it feels humid in the small living room where I am sitting. Ibu Hasna is a first-time mum and her son aged just two months is being given formula. Hasna explains that she knows breastfeeding is best, but she lacks confidence in the quality of her own breastmilk. Naturally she wants the best for her child so she decided to give formula milk in addition. In urban Indonesia being able to afford milk is often understood as a sign of wealth and status.

The number of children admitted to hospital as an emergency in England has risen over the last 15 years.

Culicoides impunctatus is a persistent biter of outdoor types, occurring in vast numbers in some of the most beautiful parts of the countryside. But if midges make it harder to enjoy the Scottish outdoors, there may soon be an important consolation. Work began by researchers several decades ago to help understand why they prefer certain types of people is informing new research into another bloodsucker whose feeding habits can be deadly: the mosquito. If it succeeds, the results could make a big difference in the battle against malaria.

The expansion in the provision of life-saving antiretroviral therapy (ART) in sub-Saharan Africa over the past fifteen years has been an unprecedented achievement for public health, resulting in dramatic declines in HIV-related deaths and disease. 

Climate has an important effect on mosquito-transmitted viral diseases, such as Zika, dengue, and chikungunya. In epidemic-prone areas such as Ecuador, temperature and rainfall drive both mosquito and virus transmission dynamics. In a recent study, we used climate forecasts to predict the risk of a dengue epidemic in the coastal city of Machala in 2016, following one of the strongest El Niño events on record.

2017 has brought unprecedented political attention to the issue of migration, including its impact and links to health and health systems. In February, a Global Consultation on Migrant Health took place in Sri Lanka. Member States at the recent World Health Assembly in Geneva also debated the issue, and requested the World Health Organization’s support in responding to the increased movement of people and resulting impact. Increased focus and asking questions are a start – finding answers is the next step.

As an infectious disease epidemiologist who works with Ministries of Health in low-income countries and WHO regional offices, I am keenly aware that the leader of WHO will have a huge impact on my partners and my work.

This year alone 750 people have died and more than 8,000 cases have been reported in a Meningitis C outbreak in the north of Nigeria. This is the fourth meningitis C outbreak in the past five years, countering claims that the strain can’t be prepared for because it occurs too infrequently.

People living in 35 industrialised countries can look forward to longer lives, a recent Lancet study suggests. The research showed that women in South Korea are expected to have a better than 50/50 chance of breaking the 90-year barrier by year 2030 - a remarkable feat that was not considered possible by many at the turn of the 21st century.