GLOBAL NEWS — The world may be losing some of the extraordinary confidence in science that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, raising serious questions about whether scientists, governments and health institutions can maintain public trust in an increasingly divided world.
New findings from the Wellcome Global Monitor, a major international study conducted with Gallup, suggest that confidence in science has weakened from pandemic-era highs, although the overall picture is more complex than a simple collapse in public trust.
According to STAT’s October 10 reporting, the latest survey found that 26% of respondents worldwide expressed a lot of trust in science, compared with 52% of Americans. The survey covered more than 140,000 adults across 140 countries.
The findings suggest that the next great challenge for the scientific community may not simply be developing breakthrough medicines, vaccines or new technologies. It may be convincing people that those advances are trustworthy, accessible and relevant to their lives.
Pandemic-Era Confidence Is Proving Difficult to Sustain
The COVID-19 emergency dramatically transformed the relationship between the public and scientific institutions.
Scientists became household names, vaccine research dominated international headlines, and governments relied heavily on scientific recommendations to respond to the unprecedented public health crisis.
An earlier Wellcome Global Monitor study found that 80% of respondents worldwide trusted science at least somewhat during the pandemic, while 77% expressed at least some trust in scientists.
The proportion reporting a lot of trust reached 41% for science and 43% for scientists, with both measures increasing by nine percentage points compared with 2018.
That earlier study surveyed more than 119,000 people across 113 countries and territories between August 2020 and February 2021.
However, declining confidence from an exceptional pandemic-era peak does not necessarily mean most people have stopped trusting science.
The latest findings indicate that confidence varies considerably across societies, with some communities maintaining strong support while others remain skeptical about scientific institutions and their influence on public policy.
America Reports Strong Trust in Science — But Deep Divisions Remain
One of the latest survey’s most striking findings comes from the United States.
Despite years of political battles over vaccines, pandemic restrictions and public health decisions, Americans reported considerably higher levels of strong trust in science than the global average.
Approximately 52% of Americans reported a lot of trust in science, compared with 26% globally.
However, the national average conceals significant differences between population groups.
STAT’s analysis found that 71% of American college graduates believed science benefits most people, compared with just 47% of Americans without four-year degrees.
Differences also emerged between urban and rural populations, as well as religious and nonreligious respondents.
Interestingly, these divisions do not necessarily indicate that traditionally skeptical communities are becoming uniformly more hostile to science. Growing confidence among highly educated and secular Americans has also contributed to widening differences.
The findings highlight a challenge for policymakers: a country may demonstrate strong overall confidence in scientific research while remaining deeply divided over its benefits, applications and influence on society.
Britain Offers Another Warning About Scientific Trust
Separate research commissioned by Wellcome and released in April 2026 found that 84% of British respondents continued to trust science at least somewhat.
However, the proportion expressing a lot of trust declined from 63% in 2020 to 34% in the newer study.
The research identified concerns about political influence, commercial funding and the independence of scientific institutions.
Nearly four in ten respondents also reported that excessive information made it difficult to determine what was true about science.
These findings suggest that public skepticism is not always directed at scientific knowledge itself.
People may also question who funds research, how governments interpret scientific evidence and whether ordinary citizens benefit from technological and medical breakthroughs.
What the Findings Mean for the Philippines and Southeast Asia
For the Philippines and neighboring Southeast Asian countries, the findings raise important questions about health communication, vaccine confidence and equitable access to scientific progress.
Historically, the region has demonstrated considerable support for science.
In the 2018 Wellcome Global Monitor, 32% of Philippine respondents were classified as having high trust in scientists, while 52% reported medium trust.
During the pandemic, Southeast Asia was among the regions experiencing substantial increases in strong trust in science.
These figures come from earlier surveys and should not be mistaken for new Philippine-specific results from the latest global study.
Nevertheless, the latest findings underline the importance of maintaining credible communication between scientists, health professionals, government institutions and the communities they serve.
For ASEAN governments, public confidence could influence the reception of future vaccination campaigns, disease-prevention programs, emerging medical technologies and climate-related health warnings.
Scientists Face a Bigger Challenge Than Misinformation
Additional research published by Wellcome and RAND Europe in June 2026 found little evidence of a universal collapse in trust in science.
Instead, researchers identified five qualities necessary for scientific institutions to build lasting public confidence: expertise, integrity, benevolence, transparency and responsiveness.
The analysis suggested that small but vocal groups expressing distrust can exert influence beyond their numbers, particularly through public debates and social media.
A separate July 2026 editorial in Nature similarly argued that the scientific community must improve transparency, communicate uncertainty and engage more openly with the public.
These findings challenge the assumption that misinformation alone explains weakening scientific confidence.
Scientific institutions may also need to demonstrate greater accountability, communicate their findings more clearly and show that research delivers meaningful benefits to the broader population.
The Bigger Picture: A New Battle for Public Confidence
The Wellcome findings arrive as governments confront increasingly complex challenges involving public health, emerging technologies and environmental risks.
Scientific breakthroughs alone may not be enough to secure public cooperation if significant sections of society believe their concerns are ignored or that the benefits of innovation are reserved for a privileged few.
The challenge is particularly important for policymakers attempting to balance expert recommendations with public concerns.
The central question is no longer only whether people believe in science. It is whether scientific institutions can demonstrate that their work deserves public confidence.
As the world moves further beyond the COVID-19 era, the future of scientific progress could depend as much on rebuilding relationships with communities as on developing breakthroughs inside laboratories.
The world may still believe in science — but maintaining that confidence could become one of the defining challenges of the years ahead.
