Global Health & Wellbeing Good News in March 2026
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Quick summary of all the most inspiring good news regarding health and wellbeing around the world.
Water From Dry Air: Professor Omar Yaghi, who grew up in a refugee community in Jordan, said he was inspired by the hardships he endured in a home with no running water or electricity. The Nobel laureate’s remarkable eco-friendly device can provide clean water if central supplies are knocked out by a hurricane or drought and could be a life saver for vulnerable communities.
Healthier Future: A decade ago, Bogotá was one of Latin America’s most polluted cities, with pollutant concentration levels that were seven times worse than the World Health Organization’s limits. Today, the city has reduced air pollution by 24 percent - dramatically improving public health for its 8 million residents. “Bogotá is living proof of how cities can cut air pollution, fight climate change and give their residents healthier futures.”
Don’t Worry, Be Happy: Cheese and wine aren’t the only things that get better with age: many older adults also show significant improvements in their physical and cognitive health over time, according to a new study. The point is: cognitive decline is "not inevitable." The reason why seems to lie in how we think about getting older.
Common Sense: England is to ban smoking and vaping in cars carrying children; it will also be banned in playgrounds and outside schools and hospitals.
Cleaner Cooking Fuels: In 2000, only 7 percent of people in Indonesia had access to clean cooking fuels. That number has now risen to 91 percent. Clean cooking fuels emit much lower levels of harmful air pollutants, and their widespread adoption has sharply reduced indoor air pollution - and deaths associated with it.
Dementia Smart Glasses: These new lightweight smart glasses and an augmented reality app, help people living with dementia remember loved ones, objects, and daily activities - hailed as “revolutionary”.
Bitter-Sweet Success: Croatia has announced it has freed itself from the scourge of landmines, 31 years after the country’s civil war. "This is not just a technical success - it is the fulfillment of a moral obligation to the victims of mines and their families."
Profound Impact: Out of 193.6 million rural households in India, more than 157.9 million now have tap water today, thanks to the efforts of Jal Jeevan Mission, a government program first launched in 2019 with the aim of providing piped drinking water to every rural household in the country.
Beginning of The End: Sleeping sickness is a notorious disease. A single bite from a tsetse fly carrying the parasite is all it takes to infect someone, and can kill. Now, a new drug - acoziborole - holds the promise of helping the World Health Organization meet its goal of eliminating the disease by 2030.
Miracle Berry: A species of red berry native to Africa and now grown in Florida is helping cancer patients reclaim the ability to enjoy food (by removing the metallic taste of 'chemo mouth') thanks to the berry’s properties which aptly bears a “miracle” moniker. “Miracle berry” is known as àgbáyun in its West African home.
Prostate Cancer: A new immunotherapy drug for treating prostate cancer has shown “remarkable” results in an early clinical trial after being given to people with advanced prostate cancer that had stopped responding to other treatments. Almost half of those treated with the VIR-5500 drug saw their tumour shrink after taking the drug, according to the UK’s Institute of Cancer Research.
23: The number of countries that have eliminated mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis, reports the World Health Organisation. Denmark is the latest, and the first in the EU.
Paris Air: Over the past two decades, Paris has eliminated 50,000 parking spaces and traded streets for bike lanes and green spaces. And now, an independent analysis found that levels of fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide levels have both decreased by half since 2005.
Vaccination Campaign: India has launched world’s largest HPV vaccination campaign, targeting millions of adolescents each year to prevent cervical cancer. Delivered for free in public clinics, the campaign could dramatically reduce deaths in the coming decades - cervical cancer causes about 80,000 deaths a year in India, roughly a quarter of the global burden.
Africa Lights Up: More than $50 billion has now been committed to a plan to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030. In an age of foreign aid cut-backs, Mission 300 is one of the most important philanthropic initiatives in the world.
Hats Off to Poland: A generation ago, Poland rationed sugar and flour while its citizens were paid one-tenth what West Germans earned. Today, the economy of the country has edged past Switzerland to become the world’s 20th largest. It’s an extraordinary leap from the post-Communist ruins of 1989-90 to European growth champion, which economists say has lessons on how to bring prosperity to ordinary people.
Relax Earthlings: NASA has announced that asteroid Y24 will not hit Earth or the Moon in 2032 after all. Phew!