Media Monitoring: 22nd January – 4th February

Patients facing suspected lung cancer could get answers sooner under a new NHS pilot using artificial intelligence and robotic technology to help doctors reach hard-to-detect cancers earlier, with fewer invasive tests.
The new approach uses AI software to rapidly analyse lung scans and flag small lumps that are most likely to be cancerous, and a robotic camera is then used to guide biopsy tools through the airways with far greater precision than standard techniques.
The pilot comes alongside plans for the NHS to expand lung cancer screening, ensuring every eligible person is invited for checks in less than five years, no matter where they live, continuing the Government’s drive to tackle inequalities in cancer outcomes as part of the National Cancer Plan.

Conducted between November 2024 and March 2025, the research collected 679 survey responses and engaged 66 individuals through interviews and focus groups. The findings emphasise a fundamental principle: patients prioritise devices that accommodate their lives, with meaningful choice central to this experience.
Across multiple device categories – including wound care, respiratory support, diabetes monitoring, urology products, and sensory aids – patients highlighted that suitability is highly individual. Beyond clinical efficacy, factors such as comfort, usability, portability, and aesthetics consistently shape the way individuals interact with their devices.
A recurring insight is that medical devices should support patients to live fully with their conditions, rather than define or restrict their daily lives. Devices that fail to align with personal needs risk undermining both the intended therapeutic effect and the quality of life they are designed to protect.

The King’s College London study is the first to evaluate whether diagnosis rates have recovered after emerging from the pandemic. Published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), it uses anonymised data from over 29 million people in England.
The pandemic had an unprecedented impact on healthcare systems around the world, leading to abrupt decreases in diagnosis rates for a wide range of diseases.
Of the 19 major conditions analysed, diagnoses of depression were 27.7% lower than expected compared with pre-pandemic trends. Diagnoses were also lower than expected for asthma (16.4%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, 15.8%) and osteoporosis (11.5%).

The World Health Organization (WHO) Member States this week advanced their negotiations on the Pathogen Access and Benefit‑Sharing (PABS) system in a resumed session of the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) on the WHO Pandemic Agreement. The PABS system is a core element of the agreement adopted by the World Health Assembly (WHA) in May 2025.
During the session held on 20–22 January 2026, Member States continued text‑based negotiations on outstanding issues in the draft annex and exchanged views aimed at narrowing differences and identifying areas of convergence.
Established by the WHA, the IGWG is tasked, as a priority, with drafting and negotiating the PABS system, which is intended to enable safe, transparent and accountable sharing of pathogens with pandemic potential and their genetic sequence information, alongside the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their use, including vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.

The King’s Fund examine what the shift from hospital to community could mean for research and innovation in the NHS and how others view this shift.

A recent study led by Stanford Medicine demonstrates that artificial intelligence can predict the medical outcomes of premature newborns using data from blood samples collected shortly after birth.
Researchers developed an AI-based tool capable of analyzing these blood spots to forecast individual health trajectories for preterm infants.
The study highlights the potential of this technology in providing early insights into the medical needs of premature babies, who often face complex and unpredictable health challenges.