Has your resilience ever been fractured? Do you yearn to express solidarity in a pragmatic way? Have you signed an MOU? (Or even heard of an MOU?) These sentences contain some of the buzzwords likely to be relevant in the world of global health and development in 2026 according to our informal survey of 20 experts who work in the field.
Teachers have almost no authority over student behaviors or academic grading, and are given little, if any, respect from administrators, parents or even students. Instead, students have all the authority but no responsibility for their success. Students do (or don't do) whatever they wish, while empty-handed teachers are left to take the blame. Teachers no longer have the ultimate tool of flunking students.
What do these battles have in common: the war on drugs, the war on cancer, the war on poverty, the war on obesity, and the war on terror? If you guessed they're all wars we've largely failed to win, you're right. Consider the War on Drugs-launched in the 1970s with billions spent and countless lives impacted, yet addiction rates remain stubbornly high. Or the War on Poverty, declared in the 1960s, which made progress but never eradicated poverty.
CVS told KQED that "Our understanding is that the COVID-19 vaccine is covered by most insurance plans at no cost for eligible patients," but that patients should still "check with their insurer to determine whether the updated COVID-19 vaccine is covered by their individual health plan." Blue Shield and United Healthcare did not respond to KQED's request for confirmation that they will indeed cover the shots for eligible patients before the CDC's recommendation is released.