COVID-19, Measles, H5N1 Avian Flu and Other Health and Virus UK and World News Update 1st May 2026
COVID, flu and other respiratory ailments are at very low levels in the UK, Europe, and the US... ahhh bliss. New variant B.3.2 isn’t doing anything much right now, and certainly isn’t increasing overall cases (although it is a bit harder on young people than other variants). So if you have a cough, sneezes and sore eyes, consider hayfever...
The cost of getting prescription drugs into the UK continues to rise, and pharmacists are warning it's becoming impossible to get them at the prices the NHS will pay, and some drugs are increasingly hard to get at all.
The NHS list prices are lower than much of Europe, so with shortages due to disruption to flights and shipping channels, plus increases in the price of oil pushing up transportation costs, wholesalers would rather sell any stocks they do have to other countries.
210 drugs are currently on an NHS concessions list, which means the NHS will pay extra as it knows they're unavailable at NHS list price, but even the concessions list is becoming out of date and pharmacists are having to pay the shortfall out of their own money.
The BBC has spoken to pharmacists and one gave an example of someone's epilepsy meds. They didn’t even have the whole prescription, yet what they could give left them £9 out of pocket.
This is not a situation that can carry on for long, and it will kill people.