Devi Sridhar
Miami
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Professor & Chair of Global Public Health, Edinburgh Uni. Sunday Times bestselling author. Visiting faculty, Univ of Miami. Level 3 Personal Trainer. Views own.
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Articles by Devi Sridhar
Can AI really predict cancer survival better than a doctor? I have my doubts
The idea that a single selfie could predict how long someone with cancer may live sounds like an incredible breakthrough. AI is getting better at spotting patterns in medical data, but can it be used to reliably predict what will happen to an individual patient? I asked a clinical colleague what she thought about the recent headlines . She found it an interesting development given that doctors have long used facial appearance to assess patient health.
Can AI really predict cancer survival better than a doctor? I have my doubts
‘The question is whether it’s actually useful in daily practice beyond what clinicians are already doing by using experience and years of training.’ Photograph: Andrzej Rostek/Alamy The idea that a single selfie could predict how long someone with cancer may live sounds like an incredible breakthrough. AI is getting better at spotting patterns in medical data, but can it be used to reliably predict what will happen to an individual patient?
As a scientist, here’s what worries me about the suspected Russian plague victim
Lab workers at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and Far East in Russia. Photograph: The Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and Far East/AP In pandemic preparedness work, scientists like to focus on the technical challenges: identifying pathogens, diagnosing infections, understanding their effects and developing vaccines and treatments. Each step promises progress through human innovation, investment and planning.
Why we should be worried about the suspected Russian plague victim
By Devi Sridhar / The Guardian Add TT as Preferred Source In pandemic preparedness work, scientists like to focus on the technical challenges: identifying pathogens, diagnosing infections, understanding their effects and developing vaccines and treatments. Each step promises progress through human innovation, investment and planning. The WHO, for example, brings experts together to identify and prioritize emerging disease threats and collect the evidence needed to prepare for them.
As a scientist, here's what worries me about the suspected Russian plague victim
In pandemic preparedness work , scientists like to focus on the technical challenges: identifying pathogens, diagnosing infections, understanding their effects and developing vaccines and treatments. Each step promises progress through human innovation, investment and planning. The World Health Organization (WHO), for example, brings experts together to identify and prioritise emerging disease threats and collect the evidence needed to prepare for them.
You have a higher chance of getting cancer at a younger age than your parents. So what went wrong?
In the field of global health, we often talk about each generation living longer and healthier lives than their parents. We've seen this in the gains in life expectancy, the sharp decrease in child mortality and in the near elimination of many vaccine-preventable diseases. But since the turn of the century this progress has stalled, and in some cases several health metrics have gone backwards. Take cancer, which was long thought to be a disease linked to old age.
You have a higher chance of getting cancer at a younger age than your parents. So what went wrong?
In the field of global health, we often talk about each generation living longer and healthier lives than their parents. We’ve seen this in the gains in life expectancy, the sharp decrease in child mortality and in the near elimination of many vaccine-preventable diseases. But since the turn of the century this progress has stalled, and in some cases several health metrics have gone backwards. Take cancer, which was long thought to be a disease linked to old age.
You have a higher chance of getting cancer at a younger age than your parents. So what went wrong?
A patient undergoing a CT scan. Photograph: JohnnyGreig/Getty Images In the field of global health, we often talk about each generation living longer and healthier lives than their parents. We’ve seen this in the gains in life expectancy, the sharp decrease in child mortality and in the near elimination of many vaccine-preventable diseases. But since the turn of the century this progress has stalled, and in some cases several health metrics have gone backwards.
Britons are not ageing healthily – we need to learn from countries that have made it a priority
The prime minister has put forward his bold proposal for a universal, NHS-style social care service. In doing so, Andy Burnham has put the spotlight back on one of the major challenges facing almost everywhere in the world: how to manage the demographic changes linked to an ageing society. It's an important discussion.
We all know a lack of exercise is bad for our bodies. So what is relying on AI doing to our brains?
When I was a postgraduate student at the University of Oxford in the early 2000s, I interviewed for a major consulting firm. All my friends were being recruited, and I thought why not give it a shot? Aside from the usual maths-proficiency test (how quickly can you crunch numbers in front of a client and look smart), I was asked about what the future of streaming could look like.
We all know a lack of exercise is bad for our bodies. So what is relying on AI doing to our brains?
‘Just as resistance training is important to maintain muscle mass as we age, our brains also need regular exercise to keep sharp.’ Photograph: Eugene Mymrin/Getty Images When I was a postgraduate student at the University of Oxford in the early 2000s, I interviewed for a major consulting firm. All my friends were being recruited, and I thought why not give it a shot?
Free cholesterol tests on the NHS are great – but here’s the five-point health MOT I’d really like to see
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Mientras el ébola mata a miles de personas, una tormenta perfecta dificulta la erradicación del virus
Fuentes: Viento sur [Foto. AP Photo/Dieudonne Dirole - Dieudonne Dirole] ¿Sabías que hay un brote grave de ébola en la República Democrática del Congo y que va camino de convertirse en el más mortífero de la historia? Ya es el segundo peor brote de ébola de la historia, con la transmisión comunitaria más rápida que se haya registrado jamás. Se calcula que ha habido al menos 4.900 casos y más de 2.300 fallecidos, lo que supone una tasa de mortalidad cercana al 50 %. La situación es grave.
Mientras el ébola mata a miles de personas, una tormenta perfecta dificulta la erradicación del virus
¿Sabías que hay un brote grave de ébola en la República Democrática del Congo y que va camino de convertirse en el más mortífero de la historia? Ya es el segundo peor brote de ébola de la historia, con la transmisión comunitaria más rápida que se haya registrado jamás. Se calcula que ha habido al menos 4.900 casos y más de 2.300 fallecidos, lo que supone una tasa de mortalidad cercana al 50 %. La situación es grave. Ese es el consenso entre los expertos en salud mundial.
As Ebola kills thousands in DRC, a perfect storm is making the virus hard to stop
La revista de prensa "Tribuna Libre" es una hemeroteca virtual, con acceso gratuito, que ofrece el texto completo de los principales artículos de opinión publicados en diversos medios de comunicación. Forma parte del proyecto educativo y de investigación de la Asociación Cultural sin ánimo de lucro «Almendrón». Inicio 2026 Agosto 19 As Ebola kills thousands in DRC, a perfect storm is making the virus hard to stop
As Ebola kills thousands in DRC, a perfect storm is making the virus hard to stop
Members of the Congolese Red Cross carry the coffin of a woman suspected of having died of Ebola, at a cemetery in Bunia in June. Photograph: Jospin Mwisha/AFP/Getty Images Did you know that there is a major Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and it’s on track to be the deadliest ever? It is already the second-worst Ebola outbreak in history, with the fastest community transmission we have ever seen.
As Ebola kills thousands in DRC, a perfect storm is making the virus hard to stop
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The US public is fed up with RFK Jr. To really ‘make America healthy again’, it should look to Europe
Robert F Kennedy Jr at the inaugural Make America Healthy Again summit in Washington DC, November 2025. Photograph: Rod Lamkey/AP I’m just back from my home country, the United States. I always enjoy visiting, but every time I go between the US and my adopted home of Europe, I’m keenly aware of disparity in health: Americans live much shorter lives and spend more of their lifetime in poor health.
This is how seriously a patient’s skin colour can affect the quality of medical care they receive
Black woman recovering in hospital bed. Photograph: Blend Images/Alamy I always know someone is going to say something racist when they start a sentence with, “I’m not racist, but …” Nobody likes to think they would ever discriminate against someone based on the colour of their skin – and some people seem increasingly uncomfortable about acknowledging that such discrimination exists at all in the world.
This is how seriously a patient’s skin colour can affect the quality of medical care they receive
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Fit with just five minutes' exercise a day? I don't believe it
We live in an increasingly polarised world – and I'm not talking about politics, I'm talking about exercise. There's a fitness community obsessed with constant optimisation and hacks : how can you get from 50 press-ups to 100, from an eight-minute mile to seven minutes, or increase your deadlifts from body weight to double or triple body weight – ideally using just “one weird trick” or novel method no one has seen before. It seems as if no one is happy with basic fitness or steady progress.
Fit with just five minutes’ exercise a day? I don’t believe it
‘While I love the idea of ‘only five minutes’, it’s simply not true from the data we have.’ Photograph: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images We live in an increasingly polarised world – and I’m not talking about politics, I’m talking about exercise.
Right now, we could be living through a hantavirus disaster. The world avoided that, and this is why
Passengers evacuated from the MV Hondius land in Tenerife, 10 May 2026. Photograph: Chris McGrath/Getty Images passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship where the hantavirus outbreak first occurred finished their isolation periods this past Sunday. This is a public health success story worth celebrating, because so many worse results were possible.
Right now, we could be living through a hantavirus disaster. The world avoided that, and this is why
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Kanceri tani është një histori e së mirës, së keqes dhe shëmtuarës - por, edhe e shpresës
Është e natyrshme të përqendrohemi te përparimet e mëdha, por ka shumë sfida në Britani dhe në mbarë botën. Nuk ekziston një zgjidhje magjike, por ka vend për optimizëm. Burimi: The Guardian Përkthimi: Telegrafi.com Kanceri shkakton pothuajse një në gjashtë vdekje në mbarë botën çdo vit - rreth 10 milionë në total. Ky është një numër tronditës, por ai gjithashtu fsheh realitetin se disa lloje kanceri janë më vdekjeprurës se të tjerët.
Cancer is now a story of the good, the bad and the ugly – but also hope
Cancer causes nearly one in six deaths worldwide every year, some 10 million all told. That is a stunning number, but it also masks the reality that some cancers are more deadly than others. We have become remarkably good at detecting and treating melanoma and prostate cancer, for example, and today five-year survival rates for those cancers are well over 90% in most rich countries. Others, such as pancreatic cancer, are more difficult.
Ebola in the DRC needs the world’s attention now – if your neighbour’s house is on fire, you don’t wait and watch
A poster about Ebola at a border crossing between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 18 May 2026. Photograph: Badru Katumba/AFP/Getty Images At the weekend the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) a “public health emergency of international concern”.
Dangerous days lie ahead after the outbreak of hantavirus
By Devi Sridhar / The Guardian Hantavirus: the disease you wish you had never heard of, as visions of the COVID-19 pandemic flash through your head. I have seen lots of breathless coverage and some bizarre takes on social media, so I imagine many people are confused as to what is going on. Let me start by saying that this is not the COVID-19 pandemic — only COVID was COVID. Previous hantavirus outbreaks have been contained (although none were on a cruise ship).
The hantavirus outbreak has been well-handled – but there are still dangerous days ahead
A passenger evacuated from the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius in Tenerife, Spain, 10 May 2026. Photograph: Jorge Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images Hantavirus: the disease you wish you’d never heard of, as visions of the Covid pandemic flash through your head. I’ve seen lots of breathless coverage and some bizarre takes on social media, so I imagine many people are confused as to what’s going on. Let me start by saying that this isn’t the Covid pandemic – only Covid was Covid.
The hantavirus outbreak has been well-handled – but there are still dangerous days ahead
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A game-changer for good health? Scientists believe ‘we are when we eat’
‘Sometimes I just want a piece of chocolate cake, although I know a fruit salad would be a nutritionally better choice.’ Photograph: Guerilla/Alamy Reduce your calories. Eat more vegetables. Limit soft drinks and junk foods. For years, even decades, this has been the advice for those wanting a healthy body weight, lower blood pressure and better markers of metabolic health. Most weight-loss advice has focused on either what to eat (and what to avoid), or how much to eat.
The UK’s gradual ban on smoking is a PR success
By Devi Sridhar / The Guardian Last week saw the passage in the UK of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which has a very ambitious aim: to create a “smoke-free generation” and eventually end smoking forever in the UK. Quite simply, anyone born on or after January 1, 2009, would never be legally able to buy tobacco products. From 2027, the minimum legal age for the sale of tobacco would increase by one year (from the current age of 18) every year.
A non-controversial public health policy? The UK’s gradual ban on smoking has been a PR success
UK parliament has passed a bill implementing a phased tobacco ban for anyone born on or after 1 January 2009. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA Last week saw the passage of the tobacco and vapes bill, which has a very ambitous aim: to create a “smoke-free generation” and eventually end smoking for ever in the UK. Quite simply, anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 will never be legally able to buy tobacco products.
Even without social media, phones have a subtle, damaging effect on our mental health
‘Every time a notification pops up on my phone, I can feel my stress levels rising.’ Illustration: Getty Images When I first started teaching at Oxford in 2005, I would offer “office hours” a couple of times a week. They were literally that – time for students to come by my office and chat about anything on their mind. Emails were formal and for rare occasions, with the expectation that most issues would be discussed in person.
Even without social media, phones have a subtle, damaging effect on our mental health
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Kent’s meningitis outbreak taught me that post-Covid Britain is not as divided as many feared
A student receives the meningitis B vaccine at the University of Kent, Canterbury, March 2026. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Roughly six years ago, the UK went into its first lockdown as an emergency response to Covid-19. Since then, the government’s many Covid policies, from severe restrictions on our movement to the test-and-trace debacle, have been picked apart. One of the questions I am most often asked is whether we’re better prepared for the next pandemic. It’s been tricky to answer.
Meningitis outbreak in England: cause for concern?
Although meningitis is a terrible disease, the outbreak in Canterbury is not the start of a new pandemic, The Daily Telegraph is convinced: “Meningitis B has the opposite profile to Covid. It is vastly rarer, and much slower to spread, but it attacks children and young people more than the old. Nine out of 10 cases cases affect children under five, with a second peak occurring among those aged around 16-23. It is also a much more dangerous disease, with a mortality rate of one in 10.
Meningitis is back – and here is why
Students queue for antibiotics at the University of Kent in Canterbury on 17 March 2026. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA With the tragedy of two young people dying, and a further 13 confirmed cases, meningitis is back in the headlines in the UK, prompting public concern and worry about the risk. What’s happening and why? Meningitis has been an ongoing public health concern for decades.
Other countries are streets ahead of the UK on childhood obesity. Here’s what they’re doing differently
‘Ultraprocessed foods often make up the bulk of school lunches, while at home, fast food and packaged options are often the cheapest choice for families.’ Photograph: Tom Viggars/Alamy Despite health and fitness being more in vogue than ever, childhood obesity rates continue to rise. A new report from the World Obesity Federation warns that by 2040, the number of five- to 19-year-olds globally who are obese could increase from 180 million to 227 million.
I’ve seen some bizarre exercises online. If I were an influencer, this is the one workout I’d recommend
Public health evidence suggests that doing cardio exercises, resistance training and mobility training will help you live longer. Photograph: Hraun/Getty Images Are you still keeping up with your 2026 resolution to exercise more? Or perhaps you’re just trying to survive the winter doldrums, with exercise the last thing on your mind. Whatever it is, social media is alight with fitness influencers showing off all kinds of bizarre and viral exercise trends. Take squats, a core exercise move.
Trump has pulled the US out of the World Health Organization – here’s why that’s sheer hypocrisy
Donald Trump signing an executive order withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization, Washington, 20 January 2025. Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP Donald Trump is persistent. In his first term as president, he withdrew the US from the World Health Organization (WHO) on 6 July 2020, giving the necessary one-year notice period. Soon after, Joe Biden was elected, and he reversed this executive order within days of being in office, reinstating the US support for the agency on 20 January 2021.
Air pollution kills thousands a year in the UK and abroad – why isn’t there a bigger uproar?
Traffic in Lewisham, south London, in 2020. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA Breathwork is everywhere, whether it’s in yoga studios, corporate retreats or self-help reels. We’re told to “just breathe”. Be mindful. Lower our stress levels. Inhale. Exhale. In the yogic tradition, bringing clean air into our lungs and our body (pranayama in Sanskrit) is about purifying and detoxing, and then exhaling what we don’t need.
The WHO learned to love ‘anti-obesity’ jabs in 2025. I don’t fully agree, but I get it
If there has been a hot topic in health in 2025, it’s definitely been GLP-1s, colloquially referred to as “anti-obesity” jabs. These medications, taken weekly as an injection into the abdomen, result in significant weight loss and, despite being developed to manage type 2 diabetes in those with metabolic disorders, have become mainstream in many countries as a treatment for obesity.
Don’t call it a ‘super flu’ – but the NHS is right to be worried this winter
‘The current level of hospitalisations usually occurs in January, but it’s happening a month earlier.’ Photograph: Julian Claxton/Alamy You might be feeling stressed out seeing the headlines about “super flu” and comparing the current winter health challenges with 2020 and Covid. Amid all the noise, it’s difficult to know how bad this flu really is – and how much is political spin. I should start by saying “super flu” is not a scientific term or one used by any academics or clinicians I work with.
健康寿命を延ばす施策が各国で加速する──特集「THE WIRED WORLD IN 2026」
過去1世紀にわたり、平均寿命は一貫して延び続けてきた。しかし、それも5年前までの話だ。 例えば米国では、パンデミックや慢性疾患、暴力、薬物の過剰摂取などの影響で、2019年には78.8歳だった平均寿命が、22年には76.4歳に低下している。英国でも同様の傾向が見られ、男性の平均寿命は17～19年の79.2歳から20～22年には78.6歳に下がった。この数字は新型コロナウイルス感染症の影響だけでなく、以前から生じていた深刻な公衆衛生上の課題を浮き彫りにした。 近年のこうした傾向に、世界中の医療政策担当者は強い危機感を抱いている。そのため各国政府は、単に平均寿命を延ばすだけでなく健康寿命を延ばすことに、これまで以上に注力していくだろう。 具体的には、早期の疾病や死亡につながる主なリスク要因──不健康な食生活、運動不足、喫煙や電子たばこの使用、大気汚染、危険な交通環境、メンタルヘルスの悪化、医療への不平等なアクセス──への対策を推進していくと考えられる。 なかでも、超加工食品の摂取と肥満・慢性疾患との関連を示す証拠は増えていて、政府にこうした食品の規制を求める声が高まっている状況だ。...
Interviewing future medical students gave me that rare thing: hope for the NHS
Medical students at Huddersfield University, November 2024. Photograph: Gary Calton/The Observer When I mentioned to colleagues in the NHS that I was helping with admissions interviews for medical students, several responded with the same wry smile and weary shrug: “Do they know what they’re getting into?” Anyone working with the health service over the past few decades has seen the job conditions get tougher, salaries stagnate and idealism erode within a crumbling system.
Vote for competent leaders, not entertainers – that’s what I wish the Covid report could say
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Vote for competent leaders, not entertainers – that’s what I wish the Covid report could say
‘The UK government took the worst path, leading to tens of thousands of deaths and a draconian lockdown.’ Photograph: Matthew Chattle/Shutterstock It feels as though a collective amnesia has set in around Covid-19. We all just want to move forward and pretend it didn’t happen. But, as the saying goes, those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
Covid vaccines may increase the lifespan of cancer patients – this could be a game changer
‘In an observational study, vaccinated cancer patients lived a median of 37.3 months compared with 20.6 months in the unvaccinated group.’ Photograph: Patrick T Fallon/AFP/Getty Images I’m often asked whether we’re better prepared for the next pandemic. It’s a mixed answer, but the bright spot is scientific progress on vaccines. The Covid vaccines were produced faster than any previous effort, and are credited with saving millions of lives from 2021 onwards.
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