Disha Shetty

Science journalist • Health, climate & women • Alum @ColumbiaJournMA @ACJIndia • Grantee @pulitzercenter @iwmf @unraf • Awards @CoveringClimate @icfj @ICRC_nd

[Disha Shetty @dishashetty20]

In my latest for @HealthPolicyW, I report how more girls could finish school in the coming years if the recent Supreme Court ruling on menstrual health is implemented well.

[Health Policy Watch @HealthPolicyW]

🩸 India’s Supreme Court has ruled that menstrual health is a fundamental right.

The decision could help more girls stay in school by requiring gender-segregated toilets, menstrual health awareness sessions and menstrual hygiene products in schools.

But the impact depends on implementation: clean water, functional toilets, safe disposal systems, stigma reduction and sustained government support.

This is not only about periods. It is about education, dignity, health, gender equality and climate resilience.

🗞️➡️ https://t.co/GibKWAm3FQ

✍️@dishashetty20
@DesaiFoundation @PathfinderInt @worldneighbors @ippfsar @ippf @UN @WHO @UNICEF @PlanUK @SwachhBharatGov @swachhbharat @CeHDI_health
#MenstrualHealth #GenderEquality #GirlsEducation #GlobalHealth #HealthEquity

[Health Policy Watch @HealthPolicyW]

El Niño gives governments a window to prepare. Without faster action on health and fossil fuels, the dangers will grow deadlier. - @antonioguterres

📰➡️https://t.co/dvHplo8y2X

✍️ @dishashetty20
@WMO @UN #ClimateAndHealth #GlobalHealth

[Health Policy Watch @HealthPolicyW]

The @WHO & @UNICEF report continued progress in childhood immunisation: nearly 90% of infants received a first DTP dose in 2025.

But 13.5 million children remained completely unvaccinated👶

✍️@DishaShetty20
@IFPMA @gavi @MaphosaThabani @LaetitiaBigger
https://t.co/8I6RMTuVnL

[Health Policy Watch @HealthPolicyW]

Climate crisis in “overdrive” - António Guterres warns El Niño is fueling extreme heat, wildfires and record-hot seas.

✍️ @dishashetty20
@antonioguterres @WMO @UN

[Health Policy Watch @HealthPolicyW]

El Niño gives governments a window to prepare. Without faster action on health and fossil fuels, the dangers will grow deadlier. - @antonioguterres

📰➡️https://t.co/dvHplo8y2X

✍️ @dishashetty20
@WMO @UN #ClimateAndHealth #GlobalHealth

[Health Policy Watch @HealthPolicyW]

The @WHO & @UNICEF report continued progress in childhood immunisation: nearly 90% of infants received a first DTP dose in 2025.

But 13.5 million children remained completely unvaccinated.

✍️@DishaShetty20
@IFPMA @gavi @MaphosaThabani @LaetitiaBigger
https://t.co/8I6RMTunyd

[Health Policy Watch @HealthPolicyW]

The @WMO says dust from North African & Middle Eastern deserts can travel hundreds or even thousands of kilometres.

In 2025, record storms drove severe air pollution across China & the US-Mexico border.

✍️@dishashetty20
@CopernicusECMWF @cleanairfund
https://t.co/pO8ZU5zaDI

[Health Policy Watch @HealthPolicyW]

By 2050, annual cancer cases could rise 66.7% to 35 million, according to @WHO. But fewer than one in three countries currently include cancer care in universal health coverage. How can this gap be closed?

✍️@dishashetty20
@IARCWHO @etinosa_yvonne
https://t.co/jl95zvFDuE

[Health Policy Watch @HealthPolicyW]

Decades of environmental policies, advances in technology, & cleaner approaches to industry & transportation in Europe have paid off, resulting in a steady decrease in the emission of major air pollutants.

✍️@dishashetty20
@CleanAirFund @CopernicusECMWF
https://t.co/wyqkCxJFC0

[Health Policy Watch @HealthPolicyW]

Air pollution is declining in Europe, but climate extremes are complicating the picture. Heatwaves, wildfires, cold snaps and temperature inversions still triggered major pollution episodes in 2025.

✍️@dishashetty20
@CleanAirFund @CopernicusECMWF
https://t.co/wyqkCxJFC0

[Health Policy Watch @HealthPolicyW]

El Niño conditions are expected to bring more heatwaves, droughts, floods & wildfire-linked air pollution in the months ahead, @WMO warns. With major implications for human health, food systems & emergency preparedness.

✍️@dishashetty20
@UN @cleanairfund
https://t.co/wx9B4W3Mhe

[Health Policy Watch @HealthPolicyW]

El Niño conditions are expected to bring more heatwaves, droughts, floods & wildfire-linked air pollution in the months ahead, @WMO warns. With major implications for human health, food systems & emergency preparedness.

✍️@dishashetty20
@UN @cleanairfund

[Health Policy Watch @HealthPolicyW]

Climate projections are not abstract. The @WMO update points to wetter conditions in the Sahel, northern Europe, Alaska and Siberia — and a drier Amazon, raising forest fire risks.

✍️@dishashetty20
@metoffice @LeonHerm
https://t.co/BUhyl7HNI5

[Health Policy Watch @HealthPolicyW]

Climate projections are not abstract. The @WMO update points to wetter conditions in the Sahel, northern Europe, Alaska and Siberia — and a drier Amazon, raising forest fire risks.

✍️@dishashetty20
@metoffice @LeonHerm
https://t.co/BUhyl7HfSx

[Health Policy Watch @HealthPolicyW]

Snakebite envenoming can kill, paralyze or lead to amputations — and antivenom access remains limited and costly. Prof Mohammad Abul Faiz’s award at WHA79 puts a long-ignored public health crisis back in the spotlight.

✍️@dishashetty20
@Genevaforum @WHO
https://t.co/yosBQqleiv

[Health Policy Watch @HealthPolicyW]

The world is closer than ever to ending polio — but the final stretch is the hardest. Conflict, blocked access & a $2.3B funding gap are leaving children unreached in places like northern Yemen, Afghanistan & Pakistan.

✍️@dishashetty20 @Gavi @HananBalkhy
https://t.co/QEbdYifL1z

[Health Policy Watch @HealthPolicyW]

💉Northern Yemen shows what is at stake in the final push to end polio: 450 children paralysed, mass campaigns blocked since 2022, & health workers operating in dangerous conditions.

The tools exist — access & funding remain the test.

✍️@dishashetty20
https://t.co/V6Q9CNGVh6

[Health Policy Watch @HealthPolicyW]

The world is closer than ever to ending polio — but the final stretch is the hardest. Conflict, blocked access & a $2.3B funding gap are leaving children unreached in places like northern Yemen, Afghanistan & Pakistan.

✍️@dishashetty20
@Gavi @HananBalkhy
https://t.co/QEbdYifL1z

[Health Policy Watch @HealthPolicyW]

More than 500 suspected Ebola cases & 130 suspected deaths have been reported. @WHO warns that urban spread, displacement & cross-border movement could accelerate the outbreak.

✍️@stefancanderson & @dishashetty20
@MinSanteRDC @AfricaCDC @MinofHealthUG
https://t.co/xHlxtF1BFb

[Health Policy Watch @HealthPolicyW]

The @WHO is alarmed by the “scale and speed” of a Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak spreading through DRC and Uganda — a strain with no approved vaccine or therapeutics.

✍️@stefancanderson & @dishashetty20
@WHOAFRO @MinofHealthUG @MinSanteRDC @AfricaCDC @who
https://t.co/xHlxtF1BFb

[Health Policy Watch @HealthPolicyW]

@WHO recorded 579 attacks on health care in Ukraine in 2025, causing deaths and injuries among patients and health workers.

New attacks have continued into 2026, intensifying concern at WHA79.

✍️@DishaShetty20
@WHOUkraine @MoH_Ukraine @GermanyUNGeneva
https://t.co/IbyFaAdywc