Shifts in global health leadership, climate change, and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare are expected to dominate the international health agenda in 2026, experts say. Funding constraints, workforce shortages, and emerging threats will shape policy decisions and determine how countries respond to ongoing and future crises.

Last year, U.S. cuts to humanitarian and development aid sent shockwaves through global health programs. Other countries have since scaled back funding, creating uncertainty for initiatives aimed at preventing disease and supporting vulnerable populations. Anja Langenbucher, Europe office director at the Gates Foundation, said these pauses could slow progress and have lingering effects, particularly as child mortality rates rise for the first time this century.

Despite these challenges, Langenbucher highlighted reasons for cautious optimism. AI-driven tools, next-generation vaccines, and climate-smart agriculture could strengthen resilience and efficiency in healthcare delivery. She noted that stable funding platforms, particularly in the European Union, could help turn long-term possibilities into practical solutions.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria pointed to malaria as a priority for 2026. Stalled progress in malaria control and growing drug resistance illustrate the consequences of underfunded and fragmented health systems, including prevention, primary care, and community delivery networks. A spokesperson said the year ahead would be defined by “hard choices,” but also an opportunity to refocus on impact, integration, and national leadership.

Technological innovation is expected to be a key driver of change. AI applications could ease the workload of healthcare professionals, enabling clinicians to dedicate more time to patient care. Philips, a global health technology company, said AI can enhance efficiency and improve decision-making in increasingly complex systems. Biotechnology is also gaining prominence, particularly in Europe, where the new EU Biotech Act is set to influence policy. HIPRA, a Spanish biotech firm, emphasized that advances in diagnostics, vaccines, and medical countermeasures are crucial for pandemic preparedness and national security.

Healthcare systems face additional pressure from workforce shortages, rising demand, ageing populations, and declining mental health among staff. Katherine de Bienassis, a health policy analyst at the OECD, said shortages of nurses, physicians, and specialists reduce system capacity and worsen inequities. Policymakers are likely to focus on improving productivity while maintaining care quality.

Climate change will introduce new health risks, including faster spread of vector-borne diseases, pollution-related illnesses, and biodiversity loss. Génon K. Jensen of the Health and Environment Alliance urged that climate adaptation policies prioritize health, including nature-based solutions to prevent disease and enhance resilience.

Pharmaceutical competitiveness, gender health gaps, sexually transmitted infections, and antimicrobial resistance are also expected to shape global health discussions. Experts warn that continued cross-border collaboration, strategic investment, and political commitment will be critical to prevent another year of “neglect” in global health priorities.

Scientists at Imperial College London have developed an artificial intelligence tool that could speed up the discovery of treatments for heart disease and eventually support more personalised care. The technology, known as CardioKG, combines detailed heart scans with large medical databases to identify genes linked to cardiovascular conditions and predict which drugs may be most effective.

Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death and disability in the European Union, causing around 1.7 million deaths each year and affecting an estimated 62 million people, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Researchers hope the AI tool can help address this significant health burden by accelerating drug discovery and improving treatment outcomes.

CardioKG was built using heart imaging data from thousands of participants in the UK Biobank, including patients with atrial fibrillation, heart failure, and heart attacks, as well as healthy volunteers. By integrating genetic information, disease data, and drug profiles into a single knowledge graph, the researchers say the system can make more precise predictions about which medications could benefit patients with specific heart conditions.

“One of the advantages of knowledge graphs is that they integrate information about genes, drugs, and diseases,” said Declan O’Regan, group leader of the Computational Cardiac Imaging Group at Imperial College London. He added that including heart imaging in the model significantly improved the identification of new genes and potential drug therapies.

The study highlighted several drugs for potential repurposing. Methotrexate, commonly used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, was suggested as a possible therapy for heart failure, while gliptins, a class of diabetes medications, could benefit patients with atrial fibrillation. The analysis also indicated a potential protective effect of caffeine for some atrial fibrillation patients, although researchers stressed this does not justify changing caffeine consumption without medical advice.

The team aims to expand CardioKG into a dynamic, patient-focused framework that can capture disease progression over time. Khaled Rjoob, the study’s first author, said the approach could enable more personalised treatment strategies and help predict when diseases are likely to develop. “This will open new possibilities for personalised treatment and predicting disease trajectories,” he said.

Researchers also believe the underlying technology could be applied beyond heart disease, including for conditions such as brain disorders and obesity, offering a broader tool for accelerating medical research and drug development.

By combining AI, medical imaging, and genetic data, CardioKG represents a promising step toward more targeted therapies and improved outcomes for patients with cardiovascular disease, potentially transforming how clinicians understand and treat heart conditions in the future.

The difficulty known as “time blindness” is a recognised feature of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but experts stress it is not an automatic excuse for being late, and not everyone who struggles with punctuality has the condition.

Alice Lovatt, a musician and group-home worker from Liverpool, England, spent years facing stress and embarrassment over her chronic lateness. She frequently let down friends and worried about being on time for school or work.

“I just don’t seem to have that clock ticking in my head,” Lovatt said. It was only at the age of 22, when she was diagnosed with ADHD, that she realised her struggles had a name.

Time blindness refers to difficulty judging how long tasks will take or tracking the passage of time. It has been associated with ADHD and, in some cases, autism. The concept has been discussed in psychological research since the 1990s. In 1997, Russell Barkley, a retired clinical neuropsychologist at the University of Massachusetts, described it as “temporal myopia.” Recently, the idea has gained attention on social media, sparking debate about where a recognised neurological difficulty ends and general disorganisation or rudeness begins.

Experts say time blindness stems from executive function challenges in the frontal lobes. “Anyone can have issues with running late, just with ADHD there’s functional impairment,” said Stephanie Sarkis, a psychotherapist and author of 10 Simple Solutions to Adult ADD. She explained that time blindness can affect family life, work, social relationships, and financial management.

Stimulant medications commonly prescribed for ADHD can help reduce time blindness, Sarkis added. But she emphasised that chronic lateness does not automatically indicate ADHD.

Jeffrey Meltzer, a US therapist who works with people struggling to arrive on time, said there are multiple reasons for repeated lateness. Some avoid arriving early to escape small talk, often tied to anxiety. Others use tardiness to reclaim a sense of autonomy when they feel a lack of control in their lives. Meltzer compares it to “revenge bedtime procrastination,” where people stay up late to regain personal time after a busy day.

He also highlighted lateness driven by entitlement, in which people feel their time is more important than others’ and may make grand entrances or flout social norms to draw attention.

Despite the causes, experts say individuals remain responsible for how their behaviour affects others. Tools that help people with ADHD, such as smart watches, multiple clocks, breaking tasks into smaller steps, and avoiding overscheduling, can benefit anyone struggling with time management.

Lovatt has adopted these strategies, allowing herself extra time, using apps to block distractions, and tracking how long daily tasks take. She discovered that her 20-minute morning routine actually took 45 minutes when broken down step by step.

“It doesn’t work 100 per cent of the time,” she said. “But generally, I am a lot more reliable now.”

The case highlights how understanding conditions like ADHD can help those affected manage time more effectively while reminding the public that punctuality remains a shared responsibility.