Postpartum hemorrhage, severe bleeding after childbirth, is a leading cause of maternal mortality around the world. But many of these deaths can be prevented—and a real-time blood-monitoring technology called viscoelastic testing (VET) could play a crucial role. Though used in parts of Europe, VET is not yet a standard part of maternity care in the United States. A new sweeping review from the Southern California Evidence Review Center, part of the Keck School of Medicine of USC, brings U.S. hospitals a step closer to improving treatment of maternal hemorrhage with VET. The study, just published in the International Journal of Obstetric Anesthesia, includes a summary of findings from 156 research publications. The study was commissioned by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) and included interviews with patients, clinicians and policymakers. The review revealed that VET holds promise, but that high-quality research on its use for maternity care is limited. A major takeaway is the need for a large-scale, U.S.-based research study to test VET’s effectiveness in this context, as well as a broader professional consensus about when and how the technology should be applied. Insights from the report can help guide policy, research priorities and other key decisions around the use of this technology.

Health funders would likely have a better return on investment and a stronger position in the global funding crisis if Africans had greater decision-making influence and voting power in global health institutions.

This is an assertion in an article published on 15 September 2025 in the prestigious BMJ Global Health journal.

Social media use has long been part of the everyday lives of most children and adolescents. Many of them exhibit risky, and in some cases even addictive, behaviour. While social media use can certainly have positive effects for young people, intensive use can negatively impact mental, emotional, and social well-being, leading to symptoms such as depression and anxiety, impaired attention, and sleep problems. In a discussion paper published by the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the researchers involved therefore recommend applying the precautionary principle. In the paper “Social Media and the Mental Health of Children and Adolescents”, they give policy recommendations to protect children and adolescents from the negative effects of social media, for example by setting a minimum age for access or by restricting certain functions. The paper was published on 13 August 2025 and an English translation is now available.