As per the latest data released by Transforming Access to Student Outcomes in Higher Education (TASO) and the Policy Institute at King's College London, the number of UK students reporting mental health difficulties tripled. The estimate reveals that around 300,000 students could now be experiencing mental health struggles. Of the total, 18% of students reported some kind of mental health issue in 2024.

As per the reports, this estimate is triple what was reported in 2017, where it was at 6%. Experts also say that Covid-19 pandemic is "often considered to have contributed to this, it does not explain the ongoing rise in mental health difficulties." Another reason could also be the "changing definition and increasing openness about mental health" which has led to a rise in numbers. The report notes, "This trend pre-dates the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. Although these factors play a part in students' deteriorating mental health, they cannot therefore be the only explanation."

How Did The Report Conclude?

The report drew data collected over the latest Student Academic Experience Survey of 93,212 students. From the survey, it was found that there exist significant disparities between demographic groups, with women being twice as likely to report mental health difficulties, about 22% as compared to men, at 11%.

What Did The Results Reveal?

The results revealed that students who identified as LGBTQ experienced the highest rates of mental health challenges. This has actually lessened the hope that conditions for LGBTQ students are improving, which may not have been a positive case.

Of them, 42% are bisexual and lesbian students, whereas last year it was 35% and 32% respectively. The report also noted that mental health difficulties among lesbian women and gay men rose three times the rate of straight people, and among bisexual and asexual people, it was twice as high. For trans students, the number jumped from 25% in 2023 to 40% in 2024.

Is The LGBTQ+ Prone To Mental Health Crisis?

As per the Child Mind Institute, being LGBTQ+ does not cause mental health problems, but because these kids often face factors like rejection, discrimination and violence, they are at a higher risk of challenges including depression, anxiety, and even attempting suicide.

A UTAH Health study quotes Anna Docherty, PhD, LP, assistant professor of psychiatry at Huntsman Mental Health Institute that, "likely with any identity, feeling different - or worse, unaccepted as you are is a significant risk factor of mental health struggle." The data reveals that LGBTQ+ teens are six times more likely to experience symptoms of depression than non-LGBTQ+ identifying teens. They are also more than twice as likely to feel suicidal and more than four times as likely to attempt suicide. In the US alone, 48% of transgender adults report that they have considered suicide in the last year, compared to 4% of the overall population.

What Do These Findings Mean?

TASO's academic lead and professor of public policy at King's College London, Michael Sanders said, "LGBTQ students and women bear the brunt of the rise in declining mental health and urgent action is needed to understand and address these trends."

The death of a 16-year-old San Francisco boy has sparked concerns about the arrival of cychlorphine, a synthetic opioid that experts describe as 10 times more potent than fentanyl.

Dante Paul Lacourte died at his home on April 7 after taking drugs that contained cychlorphine. His death was the first confirmed cychlorphine-related overdose reported in San Francisco. The drug had already been linked to dozens of deaths elsewhere in the US.

The case has led to four arrests till now. San Francisco police said they seized more than 20,000 counterfeit pills, along with firearms, during searches connected to the investigation into the teenager's death.

What Is Cychlorphine?

Cychlorphine is a synthetic opioid that has crept up in the illicit drug supply in the last few years. It was first identified in the US in 2024 and belongs to a growing group of highly potent synthetic opioids.

The White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy warned in April that cychlorphine could be “up to ten times more potent than fentanyl” and linked it to 55 deaths across the US between 2025 and 2026. Tennessee has recorded the largest number of confirmed deaths so far.

Fentanyl is already notorious for being an extremely powerful opioid. Cychlorphine adds another layer of risk to an illicit drug supply that is already difficult to predict.

Also read: US FDA To Hold Psychedelic Drug Hearing Amid Trump Push: What It Means For Depression, PTSD

Users May Not Realise It Is There

Cychlorphine can be mixed into other drugs or pressed into counterfeit prescription pills, meaning someone may believe they are taking a familiar medication when the tablet actually contains a much more powerful opioid.

This was one of the concerns highlighted in the San Francisco case. Police said counterfeit pills had been seized from earlier, unrelated investigations and subsequently tested positive for cychlorphine, suggesting the drug was already circulating through multiple sources.

Another problem with cychlorphine is detection. Fentanyl test strips do not detect cychlorphine, so a negative fentanyl test does not mean a drug is free from cychlorphine.

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It Can Cause A Fatal Overdose

Like other powerful opioids, cychlorphine can suppress the central nervous system and slow or stop breathing.

Its high potency means very small amounts can potentially produce profound opioid effects.

Experts say the drug also increases the risk that a person could move rapidly from intoxication to life-threatening respiratory depression.

Naloxone, commonly known as Narcan, can reverse opioid overdoses, but the response to these extremely potent synthetic opioids can be complicated.

The New York Times reported that multiple doses of Narcan may be needed to reverse cychlorphine's effects, while people responding to an overdose may have only one or two doses available.

Also read: US FDA Launches Expedited IND Pilot To Speed Up Drug Trials

Officials Are Worried About Its Spread

San Francisco health officials say the emergence of cychlorphine shows how quickly the illicit drug supply can change.

Daniel Tsai, director of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, said, “What we see now with cyclorphine, a new category of synthetic opioids potentially 10 times more potent than fentanyl, of course, it’s a great cause for concern.”

He also stressed that the safest way to avoid the risk is not to take counterfeit pills or illicit drugs. San Francisco is now working on wastewater surveillance that could help detect cychlorphine and other novel drugs before they are identified through an overdose death.

The Ebola Bundibugyo virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is showing early signs of slowing in some areas, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a hybrid press briefing, Tedros said there were “encouraging signs” that the response was gaining ground, while warning that the epidemic continues to grow and cause deaths.

“We are now starting to see encouraging signs that we are gaining ground.”

Where Is Ebola Transmission Falling?

According to Tedros, transmission is declining in some of the worst-affected parts of Ituri province.

Other signs of progress include:

• South Kivu has reported no new cases since May.
• More than 1,700 people have recovered.
• After four months, the epidemic has remained mostly contained in northeastern DRC.
• Trials of treatments and post-exposure prophylaxis are picking up speed, helped by increased community engagement.
• Vaccine trials are expected to begin in the coming weeks.

Is The Ebola Epidemic Winding Down?

Not yet. Tedros stressed that the “epidemic continues to grow, and continues to kill.”

More than 7,200 cases and over 3,500 deaths have been reported across seven provinces.

Although transmission has declined in parts of Ituri, it is falling from a high level. In the past week alone, around 300 new cases and 160 deaths were reported from Ituri, accounting for nearly half the national total, the WHO chief said.

In North Kivu, meanwhile, cases are rising rapidly. Over the past two weeks, the number of weekly cases has almost doubled, from about 100 to more than 200.

“The area is so vast that it is hard to speak of a single epidemic. It is many outbreaks, in many places. We must get the response right in every one of them,” Dr Tedros said.

Ebola Cases Were Also Falling In Some Health Zones

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Last week, Congolese Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba said transmission of the Bundibugyo virus had declined, with daily cases falling from about 120 at the peak in mid-August to around 80.

“We are fighting a very dangerous virus that is killing many of our people. Today, we can say that the outbreak is under control,” he said.

“At one point, we were recording about 120 cases per day; today, we’re seeing about 80 per day. So the number of new cases is decreasing every day.”

Kamba said 10 of the 62 affected health zones had reported no new cases for more than 22 days. Six health zones had gone more than 42 days without a new case, while four had gone more than 21 days without one.

He described the figures as “encouraging” but stressed that people must remain fully mobilized and not lower their guard.

DRC’s 17th Ebola Outbreak

The outbreak, caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, was declared by the WHO on May 15. It is the DRC’s 17th Ebola outbreak since the virus was first identified in 1976.

It is also the second-deadliest Ebola outbreak on record, behind the West African outbreak that lasted from 2014 to 2016.

Clinical trials of vaccines and treatments against the Bundibugyo virus are ongoing. The DRC also received more than 70,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine last month. Ervebo is approved for protection against the more common Zaire Ebola virus.

US President Donald Trump has nominated Dr Nicole Saphier to serve as US Surgeon General, making her the third person he has chosen for the position.

Saphier’s nomination comes after Trump withdrew the nomination of Dr Casey Means in April after her confirmation stalled in the Senate. Trump had earlier withdrawn his first nominee, Fox News medical contributor Dr Janette Nesheiwat, following questions over her academic credentials.

Saphier will need to be confirmed by the Senate before she can take up the position. She is appearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee on Wednesday for her confirmation hearing.

Who Is Dr Nicole Saphier?

Saphier is the director of breast imaging at Memorial Sloan Kettering Monmouth, according to her profile on the New York-based cancer centre’s website. She earned her medical degree from Ross University School of Medicine in Barbados and completed fellowships at Mayo Clinic, according to the profile.

She is also a former Fox News contributor and has been a public voice on issues including breast cancer prevention, COVID-19 policies, vaccines and chronic disease.

“Dr. Nicole Saphier is an accomplished physician who has practiced radiology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering and has been an outspoken voice on breast cancer prevention, intrusive COVID-19 mandates, the politicization of science, and the federal government’s role in America’s chronic disease epidemic,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement.

“She has been a powerful asset for President Trump and works tirelessly to deliver on every facet of his MAHA agenda,” Desai added.

Saphier Faces Questions On Vaccines And Public Health

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While senators may scrutinise Saphier’s credentials and professional background, she is also expected to face questions about how she would navigate Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s public-health policies if confirmed.

Vaccination policy is likely to be a major focus. The administration has moved to reconsider aspects of federal vaccine guidance, while measles outbreaks have raised concerns among public-health experts.

Lawmakers from both parties have criticised Kennedy’s positions on vaccines, and senators are expected to question Saphier about whether she would take a stronger stance in support of vaccination if confirmed.

Saphier has questioned the need for every newborn to receive the hepatitis B vaccine at birth, a longstanding recommendation that the Trump administration has also sought to change.

At the same time, she has disagreed with Trump and Kennedy on some health issues. In an interview with The Associated Press last year, she said Trump’s warnings about pregnant women taking Tylenol were oversimplistic and “patronizing.”

Saphier's Social Media And Supplement Business

Also read: Dr. Erica Schwartz Confirmed As CDC’s First Permanent Director In Nearly A Year

Saphier also has a significant social-media presence, with about 147,000 followers on Instagram. Her profile identifies her as the creator of DropRx, a brand of liquid herbal supplements.

According to her financial disclosure and ethics forms, Saphier will divest holdings in a range of companies, including those in the food, soda and pharmaceutical industries.

Her ethics agreement also states that, if confirmed by the Senate, she will resign from DropRx, her dietary and herbal supplement company, and Empower MD, which owns DropRx.

What Will Senators Ask Nicole Saphier?

Vaccination policy is expected to be a major focus of Saphier’s confirmation hearing.

Senators are also expected to question the nominees about the cancellation of government grants and the US opioid crisis.

Saphier is appearing before the HELP Committee alongside Chris Klomp, Trump's nominee for Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Timothy Westlake, his pick to lead the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.