Health news round-up: vaccination, testosterone and neighbourhood health

This week, The Pharmaceutical Journal has reported on developments around the single national formulary, a ‘stark lack of government response’ on valproate redress, the potential for a pharmacy performers list, and plans for closer regulatory ties between the UK, India and the United States.

We have also covered a National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) appraisal that recommends finerenone as an option for treating heart failure with preserved or mildly reduced ejection fraction; a study that suggests stopping antipsychotics in patients with dementia reduces their risk of fracture and delirium; and a coroner’s concerns over a lack of national guidance on prescribing for hepatitis B reactivation.

Read on for more health news you might have missed this week.

Vaccination: MenB, Ebola, HIV and BCG

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has recommended a routine meningococcal B disease (MenB) programme for adolescents who received the jab in infancy and strongly supports a catch-up programme for adolescents who missed out on the childhood vaccination, the one-off 2026 offer or the recommended routine vaccination owing to their date of birth.

The government will now consider the JCVI’s recommendations before determining any NHS provision, while community pharmacies have called for the sector to be included in any roll-out.

Changes have been made to the current MenB vaccination ordering system for pharmacies, including reviewing stock and booking levels more frequently and allowing pharmacies to order more stock to accommodate walk-ins, Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has said.

A new vaccine to tackle Bundibugyo ebolavirus has begun recruitment for phase I human trials, the University of Oxford has announced. In addition, a new HIV vaccine has shown “unprecedented success” in a preclinical study published in Nature.

The anti-tuberculosis Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine may alter immune responses and amyloid-beta biomarkers, offering a potential biological explanation for previously observed associations between BCG vaccination and lower Alzheimer’s disease risk, the results of a study published in Communications Medicine has suggested.

Testosterone replacement therapy

More research is needed to fully understand the risks of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), and healthcare professionals should weigh the benefits against the risks, the Endocrine Society has said in a position statement.

TRT at a dosage that is similar to what a man would typically make has clear benefits for men with appropriately diagnosed hypogonadism and a disease that affects the testes, pituitary or hypothalamus as the cause, but testing is often inaccurate and could be improved by standardised testosterone assays, the Endocrine Society said. It added that where being overweight is the cause, weight loss is typically the first-line therapy.

Medicines in pregnancy, childbirth and lactation

Pregnant women, where safe and appropriate, should be routinely included in clinical research, the British Pharmacological Society has said in a position statement on medications in pregnancy and lactation. Healthcare clinicians need education on the topic, while risk communication strategies need to be standardised to provide balanced information about both medication use and the risks of untreated conditions, it added.

Separately, the findings of a study of 495,695 births (114,897 with epidural analgesia during labour) published in the British Medical Journal found no clinically significant increase in neonatal morbidity, death or childhood cerebral palsy associated with having an epidural.

Community pharmacy and neighbourhood health

Patient satisfaction with community pharmacy has continued to improve in 2026, the latest GP patient survey data has shown. In addition, the results of a Boots-commissioned survey revealed that 74% of people say high-street pharmacies are “essential”, with 71% welcoming local access to vaccinations, testing and diagnostics (72%), managing long-term conditions, such as diabetes and high blood pressure (71%), and weight-loss management (54%).

However, the sector is struggling: one-quarter of pharmacy owners took no salary in the past year, while pharmacies in England are owed £1.5m in unpaid items, CPE has said.

Also this week, NHS England has launched a consultation on proposed multi-neighbourhood provider and single neighbourhood provider contracting models to support neighbourhood health services.