Health
Vox’s coverage of all things health, including personal health, public health, mental health, and more.
![The world’s emotional status is actually pretty good, a new global report finds](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/GettyImages-1531398464.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.025138260432378%2C100%2C99.949723479135&w=2400)
But which country comes first in happiness completely changes depending on how you measure.
![The world’s emotional status is actually pretty good, a new global report finds](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/GettyImages-1531398464.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.025138260432378%2C100%2C99.949723479135&w=2400)
But which country comes first in happiness completely changes depending on how you measure.
![Will AI ever become conscious? It depends on how you think about biology.](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/VOX-AI_Consciousness-Final-copy.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=21.875%2C0%2C56.25%2C100&w=2400)
![Will AI ever become conscious? It depends on how you think about biology.](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/VOX-AI_Consciousness-Final-copy.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=7.8125%2C0%2C84.375%2C100&w=2400)
The debate that will steer the future of consciousness — and us.
![MDMA’s federal approval drama, briefly explained](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/GettyImages-1220396031.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
![MDMA’s federal approval drama, briefly explained](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/GettyImages-1220396031.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400)
MDMA looked like it was on a fast track for PTSD treatment. Now, an FDA committee is advising otherwise.
![Big Pharma claims lower prices will mean giving up miracle medications. Ignore them.](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/GettyImages-2163308489.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.669597327238%2C0%2C66.660805345525%2C100&w=2400)
![Big Pharma claims lower prices will mean giving up miracle medications. Ignore them.](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/GettyImages-2163308489.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0.0043959908563451%2C0%2C99.991208018287%2C100&w=2400)
The case against Medicare drug price negotiations doesn’t add up.
The latest in Health
![What you need to know about the new Covid-19 vaccine](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/gettyimages-2079109518.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=14.032175689479%2C0%2C71.935648621042%2C100&w=2400)
![What you need to know about the new Covid-19 vaccine](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/gettyimages-2079109518.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C3.6622884865696%2C100%2C92.675423026861&w=2400)
Who should actually get the jab, and when?
![The case of the nearly 7,000 missing pancreases](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/gettyimages-1244771286.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.724537037037%2C0%2C66.550925925926%2C100&w=2400)
![The case of the nearly 7,000 missing pancreases](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/gettyimages-1244771286.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0.08680555555555%2C0%2C99.826388888889%2C100&w=2400)
Organ companies are getting up to pancreas hijinks.
![What are extracurricular activities for?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/Extracurricular.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=28.234375%2C0.22617540899077%2C66.51484375%2C99.773824591009&w=2400)
Extracurriculars matter for more than college applications. Here’s why.
![Antibiotics are failing. The US has a plan to launch a research renaissance.](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/gettyimages-1026582844.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=19.463636363636%2C0%2C61.072727272727%2C100&w=2400)
But there might be global consequences.
![More than 4 billion people don’t have access to clean water at home](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/gettyimages-1236203134.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.669642857143%2C0%2C66.660714285714%2C100&w=2400)
![More than 4 billion people don’t have access to clean water at home](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/gettyimages-1236203134.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0.0044642857142918%2C0%2C99.991071428571%2C100&w=2400)
Researchers wildly underestimated how many people don’t have safe drinking water.
![Mpox never stopped spreading in Africa. Now it’s an international public health emergency. Again.](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/gettyimages-2163384885_eb3cde.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=17.156862745098%2C0%2C65.686274509804%2C100&w=2400)
![Mpox never stopped spreading in Africa. Now it’s an international public health emergency. Again.](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/gettyimages-2163384885_eb3cde.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0.73529411764706%2C0%2C98.529411764706%2C100&w=2400)
A first case outside of the continent has been detected in Sweden. What’s next?
![Why does it feel like everyone is getting Covid?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/gettyimages-2154183194.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
![Why does it feel like everyone is getting Covid?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/gettyimages-2154183194.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400)
Covid’s summer surge, explained
![Does being a gifted kid make for a burned-out adulthood?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/IMG_0078.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
How being labeled “gifted” can rearrange your life — for better and for worse.
![The youth mental health crisis is hitting LGBTQ+ teens hardest](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/gettyimages-1255159872.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=15.875%2C0%2C68.25%2C100&w=2400)
![The youth mental health crisis is hitting LGBTQ+ teens hardest](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/gettyimages-1255159872.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C1.1599511599512%2C100%2C97.680097680098&w=2400)
While better data is needed to understand just how wide the gap is, help doesn’t have to wait.
![Trump’s campaign against public health is back on](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/gettyimages-2164714718.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.663083207912%2C0%2C66.673833584175%2C100&w=2400)
![Trump’s campaign against public health is back on](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/gettyimages-2164714718.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.0053746103407519%2C100%2C99.989250779318&w=2400)
The former president says he’ll block funding for US schools that require vaccines.
![MDMA therapy didn’t get FDA approval. Now what?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/MDMA_option01_No.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
![MDMA therapy didn’t get FDA approval. Now what?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/MDMA_option01_No.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400)
The end of psychedelic prohibition will have to wait a little while longer.
![The surprising truth about loneliness in America](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/GettyImages-1466904928.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=20.588235294118%2C0%2C58.823529411765%2C100&w=2400)
![The surprising truth about loneliness in America](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/GettyImages-1466904928.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=5.8823529411765%2C0%2C88.235294117647%2C100&w=2400)
No one is immune to loneliness. But some are more at risk.
![How the seasons screw with your moral compass](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/cropped-compass-GettyImages-2149699571.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=18.718527522139%2C0%2C62.562944955721%2C100&w=2400)
![How the seasons screw with your moral compass](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/cropped-compass-GettyImages-2149699571.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=3.0777912832089%2C0%2C93.844417433582%2C100&w=2400)
Your morality isn’t as stable as you might think.
![The only child stigma, debunked](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/LedeImage_OnlyChild.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
Being an only child doesn’t mess you up for life. We promise.
![We have a drug that might delay menopause — and help us live longer](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/iStock-1495516791.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=21.875%2C0%2C56.25%2C100&w=2400)
![We have a drug that might delay menopause — and help us live longer](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/iStock-1495516791.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=7.8125%2C0%2C84.375%2C100&w=2400)
Ovaries age faster than the rest of the body. Figuring out how to slow menopause might help all of us age better.
![Humanity is failing one of its greatest moral tests](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/MarkHarris_VoxFinal_Marina.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
The long, maddening, glorious, vital fight against factory farming.
![Ditching factory farming can help prevent another pandemic](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/MarkHarris_Vox_AnimalWelfare.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
The neglected environmental and health benefits of fighting Big Meat — for humans.
![What happens when everyone decides they need a gun?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/AMERICAN_GUN_OWNERSHIP-37.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
We are living through an inflection point in America’s relationship with guns. There may be no going back.
![Africa is beating HIV. But the rest of the world is falling behind.](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/gettyimages-138000156.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.725507502207%2C0%2C66.548984995587%2C100&w=2400)
![Africa is beating HIV. But the rest of the world is falling behind.](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/gettyimages-138000156.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0.088261253309796%2C0%2C99.82347749338%2C100&w=2400)
Now isn’t the time to stop funding key public health programs.
![What if colon cancer screening didn’t involve poop?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1364905839.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
![What if colon cancer screening didn’t involve poop?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/GettyImages-1364905839.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400)
Blood-based biopsies could make screening less icky — if we can make them more accurate.
![Think like an Olympian](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/KerenLandman_Vox_SportsPsych.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
![Think like an Olympian](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/KerenLandman_Vox_SportsPsych.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400)
More of a mathlete than an athlete? A gold medal mindset can help you do almost anything better.
![Warren Buffett’s breakup with the Gates Foundation will hurt the world](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/GettyImages-632858732.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
![Warren Buffett’s breakup with the Gates Foundation will hurt the world](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/GettyImages-632858732.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400)
Buffett’s decision to put his money into a foundation controlled by his kids is a mistake.
![The bird flu doom loop](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/GettyImages-1459636363.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
![The bird flu doom loop](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/GettyImages-1459636363.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400)
![Feeling drained from the night before? It could be an emotional hangover.](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25369051/GettyImages_1439327690.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=18.26967326277%2C0%2C63.460653474459%2C100&w=2400)
![Feeling drained from the night before? It could be an emotional hangover.](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25369051/GettyImages_1439327690.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=2.4045098941555%2C0%2C95.190980211689%2C100&w=2400)
Here’s how to keep one from ruining your day.
![Free medical school won’t solve the doctor shortage](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/gettyimages-608564332_c559a6.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C8.25%2C100%2C83.5&w=2400)
![Free medical school won’t solve the doctor shortage](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/gettyimages-608564332_c559a6.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C22.166666666667%2C100%2C55.666666666667&w=2400)
Too many Americans can’t find a doctor. Michael Bloomberg is donating $1 billion to Johns Hopkins to try to change that.
![Energy drinks are everywhere. How dangerous are they?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/gettyimages-1265237517.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.791044776119%2C0%2C66.417910447761%2C100&w=2400)
![Energy drinks are everywhere. How dangerous are they?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/gettyimages-1265237517.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0.1865671641791%2C0%2C99.626865671642%2C100&w=2400)
Originally marketed squarely at young men, they’re now coming for women’s wallets.
![Is your kid addicted to their phone? Here’s how to set smart boundaries.](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/GettyImages-1875371289.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=15.621428571429%2C0%2C68.757142857143%2C100&w=2400)
![Is your kid addicted to their phone? Here’s how to set smart boundaries.](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/GettyImages-1875371289.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C1.5201883786966%2C100%2C96.959623242607&w=2400)
A definitive guide to managing your children’s tech.
![The controversy over Biden and Parkinson’s disease, explained](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/GettyImages-2159611750_a622a0.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
![The controversy over Biden and Parkinson’s disease, explained](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/GettyImages-2159611750_a622a0.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400)
Why speculation over the president’s health refuses to die down.
![America’s obsession with hot dogs, explained](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/How_We_Buy_Hot_Dogs.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
The strange ways we do (and don’t) consume glizzies.
![France’s elections showed a polarized country](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/gettyimages-2160460575.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.66091160221%2C0%2C66.67817679558%2C100&w=2400)
![France’s elections showed a polarized country](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/gettyimages-2160460575.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.0086311065078561%2C100%2C99.982737786984&w=2400)
France held back the far right. No one knows what’s next.
![The most crucial part of next year’s federal budget](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/gettyimages-1231531131.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=15.852601156069%2C0%2C68.294797687861%2C100&w=2400)
![The most crucial part of next year’s federal budget](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/gettyimages-1231531131.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C1.1919875864015%2C100%2C97.616024827197&w=2400)
The fight to fund Gavi, the international vaccine fund, explained.
![The existential struggle of being Black](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/gettyimages-1251264834.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.799073154585%2C0%2C66.401853690831%2C100&w=2400)
![The existential struggle of being Black](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/gettyimages-1251264834.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0.19860973187686%2C0%2C99.602780536246%2C100&w=2400)
A conversation with author Nathalie Etoke on Black existentialism and the case for tragic optimism.
![What if absolutely everything is conscious?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/05/OhniLisle_Vox.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
Scientists spent ages mocking panpsychism. Now, some are warming to the idea that plants, cells, and even atoms are conscious.
![What the Labour Party’s big win in the UK will actually mean](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/gettyimages-2160473917.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.660319878142%2C0%2C66.679360243717%2C100&w=2400)
![What the Labour Party’s big win in the UK will actually mean](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/gettyimages-2160473917.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.0095183704549768%2C100%2C99.98096325909&w=2400)
The UK is getting a new government. What is it promising to do?
![If it’s 100 degrees out, does your boss have to give you a break? Probably not.](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/gettyimages-1412316420.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.646622569653%2C0%2C66.706754860694%2C100&w=2400)
![If it’s 100 degrees out, does your boss have to give you a break? Probably not.](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/gettyimages-1412316420.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.03004807692308%2C100%2C99.939903846154&w=2400)
The US doesn‘t have federal heat protections. A standard would save lives. As a heat dome suffocates much of the East, it‘s becoming more apparent that we need better standards in the face of climate change.
![America’s international public health plan is too focused on Americans](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/gettyimages-1433271120.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.649803971165%2C0%2C66.70039205767%2C100&w=2400)
![America’s international public health plan is too focused on Americans](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/gettyimages-1433271120.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.025281253950197%2C100%2C99.9494374921&w=2400)
I spent years in Africa as an epidemiologist. Here’s what I saw.
![How dangerous is it really to have a baby in America?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/GettyImages-1802092951-2.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
![How dangerous is it really to have a baby in America?](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/GettyImages-1802092951-2.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400)
The debate over maternal deaths, explained.
![TikTok is full of bad health “hacks.” Here’s how to navigate them.](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/GettyImages-1718248545.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=24.996999879995%2C0%2C50.00600024001%2C100&w=2400)
![TikTok is full of bad health “hacks.” Here’s how to navigate them.](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/GettyImages-1718248545.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=12.495499819993%2C0%2C75.009000360014%2C100&w=2400)
Beer for a tan? Garlic cloves for sinuses? Don’t fall for the firehose of health BS online.
![I’m pregnant. I’m traveling. I’m terrified.](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/travelHeader.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.666666666667%2C0%2C66.666666666667%2C100&w=2400)
My family reunion is in South Carolina. Essential care for my high-risk pregnancy is not.
![Pregnancy in America is starting to feel like a crime](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/GettyImages-91497758.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=16.663410822426%2C0%2C66.673178355147%2C100&w=2400)
![Pregnancy in America is starting to feel like a crime](https://platform.vox.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/GettyImages-91497758.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0.0048832893837272%2C100%2C99.990233421233&w=2400)
The ripple effects of the fall of Roe extend far beyond abortion.