Top public health news stories 2025
From threats to public health funding to tackliing textile waste, public health professionals turned to The Nation’s Health in 2025 to stay up on the field. Check out what grabbed their attention and catch up on important stories you may have missed.
Browse and share our top news stories of the year:
1. Growing US consumption of ultra-processed foods raises concerns about health harms
American consumption of ultra-processed foods has risen overall, with most people eating at least one packaged or pre-made food with every meal. While some of the foods offer nutritional benefits, many contain high levels of fat, sugar and salt, which can contribute to poorer health.
2. Scientific journals facing political interference
Private health science journals, including APHA’s American Journal of Public Health, have attracted interference from the Trump administration, raising concerns about federal overreach.
3. Medicaid cuts could harm access to care for millions
As the Trump administration looks for ways to fund its policy agenda, Medicaid is a target for federal funding cuts. With more than 72 million people receiving benefits through the program, experts are concerned about the implications for public health.
4. Public health harnessing AI to boost research
From food safety inspectors using algorithms to predict restaurant violations to tribal communities deploying machine learning to prevent suicides, AI is transforming work to protect and improve public health.
5. Immigrants bypassing care in wake of deportation fears
Many immigrants, including those with legal status, have been avoiding health care visits and sidestepping services they qualify for in the wake of rapid and frequent deportations by the Trump administration.
6. Textile waste a growing issue as Americans consume more
Discarded clothing and products such as carpets, footwear and towels are piling up in landfills around the globe, causing a variety of harm to human health and the environment. While U.S. consumers and businesses may have options to donate, repurpose and repair used textiles, the majority of them are discarded into municipal waste streams.
7. Predatory journals can harm health research, hold back academic progress
Many researchers are unaware that journals that appear reputable online may be fake. Being duped into publishing in them can damage reputations, impact career goals and result in a well-researched study missing its target, journal publishing experts say.
8. Public health communicators finding promise in AI tools
Across the country, public health communicators are using AI to draft plain-language messages, deploy chatbots and carefully create culturally relevant images.
9. Wildfire survivors suffer mental, physical health effects long after flames are extinguished
Wildfires can do more harm to communities than floods, extreme heat and other climate-related disasters. Public health leaders are monitoring the mental and physical health of survivors, who are growing in number as wildfires become more common.
10. US primary care system in dire need of investment as insurance payments to providers fall
The primary care sector has struggled for years with underinvestment and low reimbursement rates, increasing patient needs and a shortage of providers. The crisis may have reached a tipping point.
11. Movement for ‘medical freedom’ jeopardizes public health
From raw milk to unfluoridated water to disproven disease treatments, a growing movement in the U.S. is embracing an unscientific and sometimes dangerous approach to health.
12. As stores close, Americans losing access to pharmacy services
U.S. pharmacies have been closing at an alarming rate, with more than 90,000 shuttering their doors over the past 10 years. Closure rates are especially high for independent pharmacies, with about 40% calling it quits in recent years. Nearly half of U.S. counties are now considered “pharmacy deserts.”
13. Environmental justice work caught up in Trump orders on DEI
Health challenges associated with poor drinking water, contaminated soil, air pollution and more are often targeted through environmental justice work. But workforce and funding cuts are putting federally supported work in jeopardy.
14. Health officials keeping watchful eye on H5N1 mutations in US
As the bird flu outbreak that has killed millions of poultry and cattle across the U.S. dragged on, scientists warned that the H5N1 virus was only a few mutations away from evolving to person-to-person transmission.
15. US immigration detention scale-up sets stage for public health crisis
As the number of people in detention swells, public health experts warn that overcrowding will worsen dangerous living conditions and inadequate care.
16. Surge in US poverty would ignite public health crisis, experts warn
With cuts to social programs looming and rising costs for essential items, low-income households are expected to face even greater challenges in meeting basic needs.
17. Cuts to occupational health agencies imperil US workforce
The ability of federal agencies to quickly take action on threats to worker health is increasingly in jeopardy, endangering the lives of workers nationwide.
18. Millions to lose health insurance as harmful new policies take effect
Rising insurance costs, Medicaid policy changes and other federal changes will harm the health of Americans, experts predict.
19. Future of US public health oversight uncertain in wake of HHS upheaval
Once home to 28 divisions that worked to improve and protect public health in every corner of the nation, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has become unrecognizable.
20. Critical public health science endangered by cuts to federal research
The cancellation of more than 800 grants at the National Institutes of Health — which was sucessfully challenged in court by APHA — alarmed scientists and left public health research in jeopardy.
