English-language Prague and Czech political, civic and cultural news.
Chronological file / page 01
Barbora Macková will resign as Czech Republic chief hygienist on September 2, 2026, while continuing to lead the State Health Institute. Matyáš Fošum will temporarily represent the chief hygienist until a selection process is completed.
↗The US Department of Health and Human Services and the State Department said the United States has completed its withdrawal from the World Health Organization after a yearlong process. The move ends US membership and funding, and the administration says it will pursue global health work through other partnerships while WHO warns the decision makes the world less safe.
↗The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced a new set of 15 high-cost drugs selected for Medicare price negotiations, including Botox and the diabetes drug Trulicity. Negotiations will take place in 2026, and negotiated prices will take effect January 1, 2028. CMS said the selections include, for the first time, drugs payable under Medicare Part B as well as Part D, and also identified Tradjenta for renegotiation.
↗Health officials say South Carolina’s measles outbreak has surged to 789 cases since September, becoming the nation’s largest in decades and fueling warnings that the US could lose its measles elimination status.
↗CMS released its 2027 Advance Notice proposing a net 0.09% Medicare Advantage payment increase, setting off warnings from insurers and analysts that beneficiaries could face benefit changes if the proposal is finalized.
↗Researchers found that 46% of CDC surveillance databases that had been updated at least monthly stopped or delayed updates in 2025—many involving vaccination and respiratory illness—raising concerns that health officials could miss early outbreak signals.
↗Health insurance shares dropped after the federal government proposed a small net payment increase for Medicare Advantage in 2027, far below what analysts had expected. The move highlights mounting pressure to rein in costs and improve payment accuracy, with insurers warning it could translate into tighter benefits or higher premiums for seniors.
↗Roughly 31,000 Kaiser Permanente health care workers in California and Hawaii walked off the job in an open-ended strike, with unions citing staffing, workload, and compensation disputes. Kaiser said facilities would remain open and described its wage offer as historically strong, setting up a high-stakes standoff affecting hospitals and clinics across the region.
↗US flu indicators fell for a second straight week, including hospitalizations and clinic visits, but health experts cautioned that influenza often resurges after the holidays. A dominant H3N2 strain has been associated with more severe outcomes, and early data suggest much of the circulating virus may not be well matched to the season’s vaccine.
↗New health coverage highlights ongoing flu-season pressures alongside other fast-moving medical and public-policy stories, including research updates and shifting oversight conversations. The week’s briefings reflect a winter in which respiratory illness trends and health governance decisions are moving in tandem.
↗The 2025–2026 U.S. flu season has seen a sharp rise in influenza-like illness activity, including high outpatient visit levels and significant hospitalizations. Public-health guidance continues to stress vaccination, early treatment for high-risk patients, and layered prevention during peak transmission.
↗A January 2026 NIH ‘News in Health’ issue spotlights chronic kidney disease—often undetected until late stages—and offers practical guidance on norovirus, the fast-spreading stomach bug behind many outbreaks.
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