Steps to reduce disparities in UK health equity  World Health Expo
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Against a backdrop of shifting geopolitical dynamics, economic uncertainty and ongoing humanitarian emergencies, global public health is undergoing upheaval. As delegates gathered in Geneva this week for the 2025 World Health Assembly (WHA), the urgency of sustaining momentum in disease eradication efforts was clear. Among the many pressing issues discussed, polio eradication remained a top priority.
Member State remarks and Rotary International’s call to action
During the Assembly, Member States reaffirmed their full support for achieving and sustaining a polio-free world, acknowledging WHO and its partners’ efforts to see the job done. Voicing concern about ongoing variant outbreaks and the need for interruption of wild poliovirus transmission in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Member States called for continued resourcing to the effort, and smart integration of polio functions within broader public health services. Other key themes were strengthened routine immunization – including with inactivated polio vaccine – through coordination with GAVI, and the needs for strong oral polio vaccine cessation planning and the safe and secure containment of polioviruses in research and vaccine manufacturing facilities.
As discussions unfolded, Rotary International – a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative – highlighted the urgent need for sustained political and financial support to ensure the final push toward eradication. Judith Diment MBE, Chair of Rotary International’s Polio Eradication Advocacy Committee, confirmed Rotary’s ongoing commitment and urged WHO Member States to remain “resourceful, resilient, and resolved” to see eradication achieved, stressing the dangers of faltering at this stage of the game.
WHO African Region: Progress and ongoing challenges in the Lake Chad Basin
Encouragingly, circulating variant polioviruses – which predominantly affect the African continent – continue to show a downward trend. In 2024, 312 cases were recorded globally, compared to 529 in 2023. This year, 52 cases have been reported to date.
In the WHO African Region, efforts to stop the spread of variant polioviruses have intensified. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, ten African countries have conducted vaccination rounds, protecting nearly 54 million children with at least one dose of polio vaccine.
The welcome appointment of Professor Mohamed Yakub Janabi as the new WHO Regional Director for Africa promises renewed leadership to the region’s fight against polio.
A major milestone was celebrated during the Assembly: the successful closure of the variant poliovirus type 1 outbreak in Madagascar. This achievement reflects the unwavering commitment of African governments, health workers, communities, and GPEI partners in stopping the virus and protecting children across the region.
However, significant challenges remain in the Lake Chad Basin, one of the sub-regions most affected by the circulation of variant poliovirus type 2. A combination of operational challenges, insecurity, inaccessibility, and climate-related disruptions allows the virus to thrive among under-immunized populations. Cross-border population movements through porous borders further complicate eradication efforts, necessitating a robust, urgent, and coordinated response among affected countries to ensure every child is reached with polio vaccine.
WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region: The endemic frontline, Gaza, and Horn of Africa
Meanwhile, in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region, Afghanistan and Pakistan remain the last strongholds of wild poliovirus. Data for 2024 shows an increase in wild poliovirus cases in both countries, with Pakistan reporting 74 cases, and Afghanistan 25, compared to 6 cases per country in 2023.
While renewed and strengthened operational approaches to urgently reverse this trend are already having an impact, the situation remains fragile. This year presents a critical opportunity to capitalize on progress and finally end transmission.
Gaza, occupied Palestinian territory, was a key focus at the Assembly as Member States underscored the imperative to ensure aid, including vaccinations, be allowed to enter. No further cases have been reported since 2024, but the risk of resurgence remains high. WHO, alongside its partners, was commended on efforts to negotiate a humanitarian pause for a vaccination campaign that reached more than 560,000 children – a critical public health intervention delivered under extraordinarily difficult conditions. WHO reinforced the call for an immediate ceasefire and unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid at scale to protect children’s health and ensure every eligible child is reached. With its partners, WHO remains on standby to support additional rounds as soon as access can be secured.
Momentum to end the ongoing variant poliovirus transmission in the Horn of Africa reached an all-time high with health ministers from Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Yemen meeting with GPEI partners to renew their promise to end the protracted polio outbreaks in the region.
Polio transition planning and post-certification strategy
At the Assembly, Member States discussed ensuring the long-term sustainability of public health infrastructure and assets, including integrating critical polio eradication functions into national health systems as part of the transition process. In the context of reduced funding for global health, transition planning is more vital than ever to ensure that valuable polio knowledge, assets, and infrastructure are retained and repurposed in polio-free countries to build strong, resilient, and equitable health systems. In this context, countries also discussed updating the vision for sustaining a post-polio world.
Polio eradication highlighted at WHA side events
Polio eradication was also featured in a WHA side event on outbreaks, where global health leaders discussed the broader challenges of disease resurgence, including measles and cholera. The event emphasized the need for investments, innovations and integration to strengthen surveillance, improve vaccine coverage, and prevent outbreaks. Speakers highlighted the role of routine immunization, cross-sector partnerships, and innovative techniques – including wastewater monitoring and digital disease modeling for surveillance and the use of electronic registries for immunization in low-resource settings – as critical tools in controlling preventable diseases.
Other side events also highlighted the importance of integration and sustained political commitment. A high-level session on defeating malaria, meningitis and polio through integrated solutions showcased how joint campaigns are reaching children in fragile settings. Meanwhile, the first in-person meeting of the Polio Legacy Challenge, sponsored by Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, demonstrated strong regional solidarity and a shared vision to support health systems and polio eradication in Afghanistan.
Recognizing leadership in public health
A highlight of this year’s Assembly was the awarding of WHO’s Dr. Lee Jong-wook Memorial Public Health Prize to Professor Helen Rees of South Africa, for her outstanding contributions to public health. Professor Rees, a globally recognized expert in infectious diseases and vaccine policy, and chair of the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee, was honored for her decades of leadership in immunization and disease prevention.
Looking forward: Ensuring resilient funding to achieve eradication
As the WHA concludes, the world stands at a crossroads – sustained commitment and strategic investments are essential to ensure polio eradication becomes a reality. At the Assembly, stakeholders were urged to consider innovative financing approaches, through debt swaps, catalytic investments, or integrating polio into broader health financing instruments. This will allow for a more diverse, resilient funding base, critical to sustaining operations in the final mile, while improving children’s overall immunity and ensuring health systems in developing countries remain strong.
As this decisive moment in public health unfolds, one truth remains unwavering: polio eradication can and must be achieved. The GPEI and its partners reaffirmed their dedication to delivering a world free of polio – a global public good from which all nations will benefit equally. But this final stretch requires resilience, vigilance, and the collective will to see the mission through. Now is the time to stay the course, ensuring that no child, anywhere, is left vulnerable to this preventable disease.
Global Polio Eradication Initiative
World Health Organization
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Total Senior Care to host expanded Senior Health & Fitness Fair Wednesday  Olean Times Herald
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ClassPass has fundamentally changed the boutique fitness industry since its inception in 2013, giving wellness enthusiasts around the world the ability to try new studios at the touch of a button, all without being tied down to a long-term membership. 
But not everyone is a fan of the popular platform that lets people book fitness classes and wellness appointments at discount rates. Some studio owners complain that the service cannibalizes their business since they earn less revenue from ClassPass bookings than traditional ones. Rival booking services have even cropped up claiming to offer a better deal for small business owners. 
Proponents of ClassPass point to its ability to serve as a powerful marketing tool at scale, connecting studios with a vast amount of potential new clients who can become long-term members, a service the platform effectively provides for free. 
While the truth may be somewhere in the middle, ClassPass CEO Fritz Lanman believes the platform does a lot more good than harm for boutique fitness studios, especially if it’s used properly – and he’s got the data to back that assertion up. 
Athletech News spoke with Lanman and several fitness owners and executives who’ve seen positive results from ClassPass to get their takes on why the platform is beneficial for the industry.
Much of the debate around whether ClassPass cannibalizes business stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of how the platform works, Lanman argues. 
ClassPass isn’t meant to function as the primary way a fitness studio fills its class spots; it’s designed to help studios fill otherwise empty seats with paying customers they likely wouldn’t have reached on their own.
“ClassPass’ goal is to help businesses monetize unfilled class and appointment spots with clients they would not have attracted themselves, at prices that maximize their revenue on that excess capacity,” Lanman tells ATN.

This type of service is especially important in an industry like fitness, Lanman argues, since class spots are perishable – if someone doesn’t show up for Jane’s 7:00pm yoga class, that revenue is lost forever. There also tends to be a lot of excess capacity (unfilled seats) in the fitness industry, so a service like ClassPass solves a problem many studio owners face. 
In essence, ClassPass’ entire reason for existing is to help fitness and wellness brands drive “incremental revenue,” or money they wouldn’t have earned without the platform. 
It does this quite well, according to the numbers. The average Mindbody business sees a 29% increase in incremental revenue after six months on ClassPass, the platform says. While ClassPass only has access to this type of data for businesses that use Mindbody software (the two brands are affiliated), there’s reason to believe the same holds true for businesses that use other providers.
In all, ClassPass estimates that 99.5% of its partners gain incremental revenue from being on the platform. What’s more, the company says it’s injected $1.6 billion of revenue into the global wellness economy since the COVID shutdowns of 2020.
Solidcore, one of the fastest-growing brands in boutique fitness, uses the platform primarily to “sell excess inventory,” and fill up “off-peak classes,” according to the brand’s vice president of strategy and insights Gillian Almeida
“ClassPass has been an invaluable partner in helping us optimize revenue while ensuring our direct business remains the priority,” Almeida says. “We’re data-driven at Solidcore, and in every way we’ve analyzed it, our ClassPass revenue has been truly incremental.”

A common fear among fitness business owners is that their loyal members will flee to ClassPass for cheaper prices. Why spend $200/month on a single membership when you join a platform that lets you sample many different studios, often for less money than you were originally paying? 
This seems like a perfectly reasonable concern, in theory. But there are a couple of key reasons why it doesn’t play out that way in reality, Lanman says. 
For one, ClassPass users tend to occupy a distinct demographic: younger, more price-sensitive consumers who crave variety. They aren’t usually the types of clients seeking an unlimited membership plan at a single studio (at least not in the beginning). 
Data shows that 94% of ClassPass users are new to the studios they visit, and 56% are new to group fitness entirely. 
The other main reason why a studio’s loyal members typically don’t jump ship and become full-time ClassPass users: they don’t get the same in-class experience. 
“Availability for ClassPass users is unpredictable, prices are unpredictable and they don’t get to choose their machine/bike/mat, or benefit from policies specific to direct bookers,” Lanman admits. 
The platform does this to incentivize people to pay for full-time memberships if there’s a studio they really like. That strategy appears to be working. 
ClassPass reports that after an initial three-month “shopping” period, 91% of its users’ subsequent visits were to the same two to three studios in 2024. For businesses able to deliver a strong experience, there’s an opportunity to win new members.
“You’re creating that first starting point with ClassPass, that first step through the door…and then they hopefully fall in love with all the different services we have,” says Karen Abouzeid, the founder of MIYU Beauty and Wellbeing, a yoga and Pilates studio in Virginia. 
As a result, ClassPass converts more users to direct studio members than it takes from studios, Lanman reports.

ClassPass’ other chief selling point: free exposure. It doesn’t cost any money to list on ClassPass, and brands that appear on the platform gain access to over two million users – a mom-and-pop Pilates studio can find itself listed next to group fitness giant Barry’s on someone’s app. 
This can be very helpful for new brands looking to make it in the crowded, competitive world of boutique fitness. 
“It’s amazing exposure, especially for a new business,” says Steph Rountree, the founder of Bolt Fitness in Chicago. “Every client that comes in ClassPass is an opportunity for that gym. You never know down the line if maybe they’re going to join your gym. Maybe they’re going to buy a pack from you; maybe they’re going to buy your merchandise, and that’s one (more) person walking around with your branding.”
And while it’s true that studios earn less from a ClassPass booking than they would from a normal purchase (anywhere from 40 to 90% of the standard retail price depending on demand level) it’s possible for brands to recoup those costs by not having to run as many ads or offer discounted rates to get people inside their doors. 
“When businesses account for the discounts they offer and the marketing costs they incur when selling directly, they can often earn more per spot through ClassPass,” Lanman says.
 

It’s clear that ClassPass presents some compelling benefits for boutique fitness brands. While none of these data points and customer testimonials should serve to minimize the real-life concerns some business owners have expressed when using ClassPass, Lanman is confident the platform is driving the boutique fitness industry forward.
As evidence, he points to the platform’s impressive retention rate: last year, 95% of businesses that made over $50/month on ClassPass chose to stay. 
“If a partner finds that ClassPass is not serving them for whatever reason, they are free to leave the platform whenever they want,” he says. “The fact that very, very few do is strong validation that the model we have built works as designed.”
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I'm your neighborhood reporter for Manitowoc and the Lakeshore region.
MANITOWOC (NBC 26) — May is recognized as Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to reflect on the importance of mental well-being and to explore various avenues for support. In Manitowoc County, a unique and innovative therapy program involving horses is helping children find hope and healing.
Watch the story of healing through horses:
At Crossfire Ranch in Manitowoc County, eight specially trained horses play a vital role in therapeutic sessions designed for children facing emotional and relational challenges.
Founder Heidi Gossen emphasizes the significant impact that these animals have on the kids.
“Primarily, we work with youth that are in a tough spot emotionally and relationally,” Gossen explains.
Through interactions with the horses, children develop a deeper understanding of their feelings and learn how to manage their emotions.
For instance, Gossen describes one horse that exhibits signs of anxiety. By helping this horse remain calm, the children are simultaneously learning to self-soothe.
Cammie Wheeler, a mother of two daughters who participate in the program, says that the therapy helps her children understand the importance of empathy.
“It helps them build awareness of others’ needs, knowing that the horse is comfortable and taken care of before they ride it,” Wheeler shared.
This Mental Health Awareness Month, Gossen emphasizes that the work isn’t over.
“We always talk about the stigma, and there still is—it’s a hush that we still have,” she said. “Whatever the issue is, it’s okay to talk through those things and not be ashamed or embarrassed. Keeping the conversation open is crucial.”
For those interested in learning more about the transformative experiences at Crossfire Ranch or to meet one of their equine companions, the ranch is hosting a Discovery Tour on June 8th.
Click here for more information about the ranch.
We cover stories making an impact in Manitowoc. This is your home to stay on top of what is changing in Manitowoc and why it matters to you and your family. We want to hear from you! Click here and tell us what we should be covering in your neighborhood.

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Ferguson warns ‘cruel’ Medicaid cuts would rip health care from 200K WA residents  The Olympian
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