Healthy World, Secure Britain

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Healthy World, Secure Britain is a campaign backed by health and care workers in the UK to raise awareness of how investing in global health efforts means safety and strength at home.

Why this matters now

Protecting the NHS

Protecting the NHS

The NHS has never been under such a huge amount of strain. Strengthening our ability to detect and treat diseases abroad will mean fewer infectious diseases reach the UK reducing the burden on an overstretched health system.

Preventing infectious disease in the UK

Preventing infectious disease in the UK

Infectious diseases do not respect national borders. By detecting and treating diseases at source, we can prevent them from reaching us here at home in the UK in the first place.

Ending disease through UK science and tech

Ending disease through UK science and tech

As a world leader in science and technology, our experts can end diseases globally - and deserve to be recognised and celebrated for it.

What's happening in the NHS

Prof Onn Min Kon

NHS consultant

Prof Onn Min Kon

“We must stop diseases like TB at source. TB ‘anywhere’ is TB ‘everywhere’. It is unsurprising that TB cases are still rising after funding to tackle it in other countries has been reduced. Global health security must sit alongside medical equipment, drugs and diagnostics in the doctor’s bag of the 21st century.”

Dr Franki Lander

NHS HIV consultant

Dr Franki Lander

“In general practice, global health feels local. I see the impact of infectious disease, travel, and delayed prevention every week. Stopping diseases like TB and malaria at source reduces pressure on GP services and keeps communities safer. This is about protecting the NHS, not charity.”

Prof Aubrey Cunnington

Paediatric infectious diseases consultant

Prof Aubrey Cunnington

“Protecting health in the UK requires stopping diseases like malaria and TB at source. These diseases don't respect borders, so rising cases are a predictable consequence of funding to tackle them in other countries being decimated. If politicians retreat from investing in global health security today, it means we will see more devastating diseases tomorrow.”

Who we work with

Healthy World, Secure Britain is a campaign funded by the Gates Foundation. The campaign works with healthcare professionals and health organisations across the UK, including doctors, nurses, researchers, and professional bodies. Together, we focus on how investment in global health protects patients, strengthens the NHS, and helps keep Britain secure.

Who we work with

Data hub

The latest trends in global health.

Malaria

RISING

After years of progress, global malaria cases rose during and after the Covid-19 pandemic, reversing earlier declines. Although case numbers fluctuate year to year, the overall trend since the mid-2010s shows a sustained increase, with global cases now at their highest level in more than two decades.

Imported malaria cases in the UK broadly reflect these global trends. After a temporary decline during the pandemic, driven by reduced international travel, cases rose again as travel resumed, reaching their highest level since 2001 in 2023. Despite a modest fall in 2024, case numbers remain well above pre-pandemic levels.

Tuberculosis (TB)

RISING

TB rates in England are rising, and current trends indicate that TB incidence in England is not declining fast enough to meet the WHO elimination target. This chart compares observed TB incidence in England with the pathway required to meet the WHO End TB target of a 90% reduction by 2035, relative to 2015 levels.

Global TB rates increased during the Covid-19 pandemic. While incidence varies year to year, progress has been insufficient to keep the world on track to meet WHO international targets. This chart shows global TB incidence over time alongside the WHO End TB milestones, which aim for a 90% reduction in TB incidence by 2035 compared with 2015 levels.

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)

RISING

The estimated burden of antibiotic-resistant bloodstream infections in England has increased over recent years, with total episodes rising again after a dip during the early pandemic period. In 2024, Enterobacterales, including E. coli, K. pneumoniae and K. oxytoca, dominated the burden, accounting for 85.1% of all antibiotic-resistant bacteraemia episodes. This domestic trend mirrors a worsening global picture. Worldwide, more than 40% of E. coli and over 55% of K. pneumoniae isolates are now resistant to third-generation cephalosporins, a mainstay of treatment for severe infections, underscoring antimicrobial resistance as a growing threat both in the UK and internationally.

Campaign updates

The latest from the campaign.