Researchers at McGill’s Centre of Genomics and Policy (CGP) have launched a first-of-its-kind guide to help Canadian health-care providers offer more inclusive, respectful and affirming care to intersex adults.

96 Global Health NOW: The Collapse of Malaria Care in Cameroon; What’s Driving Turkey’s Diabetes Spike? And The Fattest Fat Bear Week View this email in your browser October 2, 2025 Forward Share Post A nurse prepares a dose of malaria vaccine at a district hospital. Soa, Cameroon. April 17, 2024. Kepseu/Xinhua via Getty The Collapse of Malaria Care in Cameroon     For families in places like northern Cameroon, the cascading effects of U.S. aid cuts have resulted in a simple, stark reality: When their children contract malaria, there is increasingly nowhere to turn.     The unraveling of care in the region, where the U.S. had played a leading role in the malaria response for ~10 years, has led to a ~15% spike in malaria deaths in the first half of this year—notably among babies, medical workers say.     The current overview:     Loss of community health care: Today, 2,100+ of 2,354 U.S.-funded community health workers in Northern Cameroon are inactive—meaning no one is traveling to the region's most remote villages to administer care.     Critically low stocks of injectable artesunate, a lifesaving malaria drug once supplied through U.S. funds, mean that even families who reach health clinics have limited options for care.     Unknown toll: Even as cases and deaths escalate, researchers say they don’t know the true number, as data collection is also a casualty of funding cuts. As the toll of similar disruptions becomes clear in other African nations, health experts warn that years of hard-won gains in malaria control risk being reversed. 

• Cameroon had previously seen major progress, with deaths dropping from 1,519 in 2020 to 653 in 2024, largely thanks to funding from the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative. That fund now faces a 47% cut in the 2026 budget.  

Reuters via Yahoo News  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   59 people are still missing after an Indonesian school collapsed Monday in the town of Sidoarjo, but rescuers say they’re not seeing any more signs of life under the rubble; at least five students have been confirmed killed and ~100 injured after the building’s foundation pillars buckled during an unauthorized expansion. BBC  
  The DRC has reported seven new Ebola virus cases in the latest outbreak—making 64 cases total and 42 deaths—but there are signs that transmission is lessening, credited to surveillance and clinical care improvements, per a WHO African regional office update this week. CIDRAP      Australia pulled ~20 more sunscreens from shelves after a regulatory investigation exposed more brands for falling short of their advertised protection levels and raised “significant concerns” about a testing laboratory at the center of the scandal that started in June; the country has the world’s highest rates of skin cancer. The Independent    The Trump administration plans to block funding to groups that promote diversity policies abroad, in the same vein as the Mexico City Policy that prevents foreign groups receiving any U.S. global health funding from providing or promoting abortions—even if those activities are paid for with non-U.S. government funding. Politico  NONCOMMUNICABLE DISEASES What’s Driving Turkey’s Diabetes Spike? 
Diabetes rates in Turkey have risen sharply over the last 20 years, from 9.9% in 2002 to 16.6% in 2022—double the EU average, and the highest rate in the European region.    A range of factors is driving the rapid surge, say doctors and researchers, including:   

• Poor management: Many cases go undiagnosed or poorly treated; hospitalizations for uncontrolled diabetes far exceed OECD averages.

• Inadequate policy: Weak food industry regulations have led to an influx of cheap, sugary foods and drinks, and a lack of public health intervention means many people remain unaware of risks. 

• Obesity: 66.8% of Turkey’s population is overweight or obese, per a 2022 WHO Report—putting more people at risk for developing diabetes. 

DW   RIP JANE GOODALL DISASTERS Infections in the Wake of Pakistan’s Floods    Cholera, diarrhea, malaria, and dengue are surging as floodwaters recede in Pakistan—putting millions of displaced people at risk, say doctors.     Deadly deluge, widespread displacement: ~2.5 million people have been displaced by massive flooding along the Chenab River; the monsoon rains that started in June have now led to the deaths of ~1,000 people, including 250 children, per the UN.    Overcrowded camps, overwhelmed hospitals: Millions are now crammed into camps where poor sanitation, limited clean drinking water, and stagnant standing water create conditions for rapidly spreading disease.  

• And nearby hospitals in Multan report a doubling of cholera and malaria cases, with doctors treating ~100 patients daily for gastrointestinal issues. 

The Guardian   ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION The Fattest Fat Bear Week    Fat Bear Week was launched in 2014 to raise awareness of the ursine excellence in Alaska’s Katmai National Park. With a record 1.5 million public votes under its ever-expanding belt this year, it’s safe to say: We’re aware. 

• The contest tracks and celebrates Katmai bears’ widening waistlines as they prepare for winter hibernation.  

Weighing in at over 1,200 pounds, a voluptuous veteran, the “ludicrously capacious” 32 Chunk triumphed despite a broken jaw that threatened his salmon intake. 
  Undeterred, Chunk ended up “gaining girth beyond what anybody could have possibly imagined with that injury,” beamed superfan Naomi Boak, The Guardian reports. 
  Votes have closed for the year, but the most magical of livestreams is still live. In this corner of the internet, you may peep a majestic bear sitting pensively on a rock—or just an endless stream of a stream. Either way, it’s the ultimate diversion.  QUICK HITS A new documentary about a dastardly worm and a heroic effort by Jimmy Carter – NPR    Reproductive health challenges in coastal Bangladesh: a silent threat of water salinity – BMC Women’s Health    Risk of long COVID in children may be twice as high after a second infection – Medical Xpress    Walmart plans to remove artificial colors and other food additives from store brands by 2027 – AP    Black mamba venom has a deadly hidden second strike – University of Queensland via ScienceDaily    “You can’t see what you’ve never had to live”—Cultivating imagination and solution spaces in global health and development – PLOS Global Public Health     These 99 'lab hacks' will make your scientific work easier – Nature  Issue No. 2798
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Contributors include Brian W. Simpson, MPH, Dayna Kerecman Myers, Annalies Winny, Morgan Coulson, Kate Belz, Melissa Hartman, Jackie Powder, and Rin Swann. Write us: dkerecm1@jhu.edu, like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram @globalhealth.now and X @GHN_News.

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Nearly 42,000 people in Gaza are living with life-changing injuries from the ongoing conflict – including more than 10,000 children – as the health system collapses under relentless strain, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Thursday.

McGill University researchers have developed an artificial intelligence tool that can detect previously invisible disease markers inside single cells.

In a study published in Nature Communications, the researchers demonstrate how the tool, called DOLPHIN, could one day be used by doctors to catch diseases earlier and guide treatment options.

96 Global Health NOW: U.S. Government Shutdown Centers on Health Care; Bangladesh Bets on British Malaria Vaccine; and Inside China’s Detention Camps Plus: President Trump's deal with Pfizer to lower Medicaid drug prices View this email in your browser October 1, 2025 Forward Share Post The U.S. Capitol at dawn on October 1, in Washington, D.C. Al Drago/Getty Images Health Care Hangs in the Balance as U.S. Government Shuts Down    Funding for the U.S. government has halted amid a Congressional deadlock over federal health spending—further imperiling health agencies in an already tumultuous period, reports KFF Health News.    Subsidies at the center: The impasse centers on Affordable Care Act subsidies, set to expire after 2025. Democrats want an extension, as well as a restoration of Medicaid cuts enacted over the summer; Republicans demand reforms first. 

• Without renewed subsidies, insurers warn of double-digit premium increases.  

Health services at risk: If a shutdown drags on, impacts to health operations include:  

• ~40% of HHS workers furloughed 

• NIH clinical trials put on hold 

• FDA food safety efforts curtailed  

• Disease surveillance and local CDC support disrupted 

• Community health centers at risk of closure 

Drug price deal: Meanwhile, yesterday President Trump announced a deal with Pfizer to lower Medicaid drug prices and sell discounted drugs via a direct-to-consumer site dubbed TrumpRx.gov, reports NPR—part of an effort to align drug prices in the U.S. with those in other countries.  

• U.S. patients often pay nearly 3X more for prescription drugs than patients in other developed nations, where governments set rates, reports Reuters.  

• Prices on the TrumpRx site, launching in 2026, follow a “most-favored-nation” model, matching the lowest rates in other developed countries. The deal targets uninsured consumers, and experts say most Americans will see limited savings overall. 

More U.S. Health Policy News:     Trump orders $50M for AI in pediatric cancer research – Axios    Medicaid work requirements have not boosted insurance coverage or employment, study finds – British Medical Journal via Medical Xpress  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners
A surge of visceral leishmaniasis, also known as Kala-azar, has led a Kenyan county to declare a public health emergency; 850 infections of the deadly parasitic disease were recorded between June 2024 and August 2025. The Kenya Times    Rohingya urgently need an influx of international support, says the UN’s refugee chief, as in Myanmar they continue to “live with the threat of arbitrary arrest and detention, with restricted access to health care and education”; at the same time, the humanitarian response to the 1.2 million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh “remains chronically underfunded.” Anadolu Agency    Mpox response across Africa is being analyzed at a gathering of countries’ health officials and Africa CDC officials in Addis Ababa this week, per AllAfrica; meanwhile, vaccine experts are warning that waning immunity to smallpox ~50 years after the last vaccination campaign is leading to increased vulnerability to mpox, per Science Nigeria.    The rise of early-onset cancers in U.S. adults could be due to increased detection and overdiagnosis rather than a true spike in the disease, suggests a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, which looked at the eight cancers with the fastest-rising incidence among adults under 50. Euronews  MALARIA Bangladesh Bets on British Vaccine    Over the last decade, Bangladesh has made huge strides against malaria: Cases in the south Asian nation dropped from ~57,000 in 2014 to 13,000 in 2024. 

• But the disease has a final stronghold: The Chittagong Hill Tracts, a region bordering India and Myanmar, where ~90% of Bangladesh’s remaining malaria cases are found.   

In an attempt to eliminate the disease, researchers are traveling across the remote region to immunize thousands of villagers, in the first mass rollout in Asia of the British malaria vaccine R21.  

• Researchers say the approach could speed up elimination efforts in hard-to-reach areas exponentially, allowing more countries to follow the likes of China, Sri Lanka, and Belize in wiping out the illness. 

The Telegraph  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES HUMAN RIGHTS Inside China’s Detention Camps    A former schoolteacher coerced into working in mass detention camps in Xinjiang, China, has publicly spoken about the conditions inside, which included torture, forced labor, and forced sterilization.  

• Over 1 million Muslims from ethnic groups such as the Uyghurs have been detained in these high-security camps, which the Chinese government claims are vocational centers—but rights groups allege involve genocide. 

Eyewitness testimony: Qalbinur Sidiq, who is ethnically Uzbek, was a Chinese elementary school teacher before she was forced to work as a Chinese teacher in two camps. Sidiq, 55, was eventually sterilized against her will and reports seeing young women forcibly sterilized.     Sidiq received asylum in the Netherlands in 2019. Now, she speaks out against China’s policies toward Uyghurs and Muslim minorities.     Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty  QUICK HITS ‘Will my baby be born in a tent? Will it have food?’: what it’s like to be pregnant in Gaza – The Guardian    Listeria found in Walmart, Trader Joe’s meals may be linked to deadly outbreak – CNN    Kentucky has kicked people off food benefits using data that doesn’t tell the full story – AP    AI-generated ‘participants’ can lead social science experiments astray, study finds – Science     Should the Autism Spectrum Be Split Apart? – The New York Times (gift link) 

Manifesting isn't all "woo-woo." Science says you can train your brain – Axios Issue No. 2797
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Contributors include Brian W. Simpson, MPH, Dayna Kerecman Myers, Annalies Winny, Morgan Coulson, Kate Belz, Melissa Hartman, Jackie Powder, and Rin Swann. Write us: dkerecm1@jhu.edu, like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram @globalhealth.now and X @GHN_News.

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Immunisation experts at the UN World Health Organization (WHO) have warned that global protection against preventable diseases is under threat, in part because of an “information and trust crisis” regarding vaccines.

Jérôme Fortin, Paul Masset, and Simon Thebault have received the Future Leaders in Canadian Brain Research Award from Brain Canada for their research in brain cognition, brain cancer, and neurological disabilities.  

The McGill researchers are among 22 successful applicants from across the country. They will each receive $100,000 in research funding distributed over a period of two years. 

96 Global Health NOW: A New Vaccine for the Meningitis Belt; How Early Unions Endanger Girls; and Bologna Slows Down—and Sparks a Showdown View this email in your browser September 30, 2025 Forward Share Post A New Vaccine for the Meningitis Belt    A century of meningitis outbreaks across a wide strip of sub-Saharan Africa may be dramatically reduced thanks to a new vaccine that prevents the lethal disease.  

• Outbreaks from Senegal to Ethiopia have claimed tens of thousands of lives every few years.  

How will the new vaccine help? Men5CV targets the five Neisseria meningitidis bacteria that cause most epidemic meningitis across the belt. Bacteria can infect the meninges (the lining that surrounds the brain and spinal cord) and kill within hours, if untreated.  

• The vaccine has been distributed in Niger and Nigeria and will roll out in other countries soon.  

• Men5CV, developed by India’s Serum Institute of India and the Seattle-based PATH, is expected to cost $3 per dose. 

Why is there a meningitis belt? Dust storms across the region can cause sand and dust to damage people’s airways, allowing bacteria to enter the bloodstream and then lead to new infections of close contacts. 
  The Quote: “It’s a powerful new weapon that, with wider rollout, has the potential to protect millions of vulnerable people,” said the University of Southampton’s Michael Head. 
  The Telegraph  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   Hospitalized COVID-19 patients who inhaled heparin were half as likely to require ventilation and had a significantly lower risk of dying compared with those receiving standard care, per an Australian National University and King's College London study of data from ~500 patients across six countries. News Medical

A new, affordable human papillomavirus test delivers results in less than an hour with no specialized laboratory required, per research in Nature Communications led by Rice University, in collaboration with colleagues in Mozambique and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Rice University (news release)    More than 99% of people suffering first-time heart attacks, strokes, or heart failure also had at least one of four risk factors for cardiovascular disease: “suboptimal” high blood pressure, cholesterol, or blood glucose, or smoking, a prospective cohort study reveals—a far higher prevalence of warning signs than previous studies found. STAT 
  Opioid use disorder diagnoses among commercially insured U.S. patients soared ~40% post-pandemic—from 386 patients per 100,000 in 2021 to 539 patients per 100,000 in 2024, FAIR Health's Opioid Tracker shows; the hardest-hit states were Tennessee, West Virginia, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Delaware. Axios    U.S. and Global Health Policy News Trump’s USAID pause stranded lifesaving drugs. Children died waiting. – The Washington Post (gift link)    Fragile N.C. Residents Lose Medicaid Support for Food and Housing Health – The New York Times (gift link)    HHS would furlough nearly 32,500 in shutdown – Axios     Researchers are relieved at Trump’s likely pick for National Cancer Institute – Science

Energy Dept. adds ‘climate change’ and ‘emissions’ to banned words list – Politico 

Cannabis stocks soar after Trump shares video promoting drug’s use for seniors – The Guardian  CHILD MARRIAGE How Early Unions Endanger Girls    Child marriage—both formal and informal—continues to harm millions of girls globally, finds Plan International’s 2025 State of the World’s Girls report, which drew from interviews with 250+ girls across 15 countries.     Even in countries with laws prohibiting child marriage, there are few protections against cohabitations or informal marriages, reports CNN.  

• The report found that a significant number of girls in early unions face intimate partner violence and have lost access to education or employment. 

Lack of agency: The most common reasons girls in the study said they married young were economic hardship, familial pressure, and cultural norms.    Breakthrough in Bolivia: Bolivia has banned all marriages and unions under age 18 with no exceptions, in a major victory for girls’ rights, per Plan International. Previously, the law allowed for exceptions through parental or judicial authorization.
  Related: When I was married at 13 I was told refusal would end in my death. Now girls in Iraq as young as nine face the same fate – The Guardian (commentary)   GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES ROAD SAFETY Bologna Slows Down—and Sparks a Showdown     Last year, Bologna became Italy’s first major city to adopt a 30 km/h (19 mph) speed limit on most streets in an effort to reduce crashes, pollution, and noise. 

• Crash deaths dropped significantly in 2024, and no pedestrian deaths were recorded.  

However, the policy drew fierce opposition from conservative national leaders, who argued that the limit created a burden on industries that rely on drivers and have since moved to block enforcement and pursue legal challenges against the local policy. 
  Unclear future: Enforcement gaps and national pushback have weakened the policy’s impact, advocates say, and crash fatalities rose again in 2025. 

• But other Italian cities—including Milan and Rome—have now followed Bologna’s lead, issuing their own slow-street policies.  

Bloomberg CityLab  OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Halal concerns drive vaccine hesitancy as Indonesia fights measles outbreak – AP

‘I wanted to be dead’: Survivors of Assad’s prisons battle trauma and disease – The Telegraph    Louisiana issues warrant for California doctor accused of mailing abortion pills – The Guardian    Ecuadorian scientists cleared of criminal charges in COVID-19 testing case – Science     Mpox Outbreaks Expose Global Vulnerability As Smallpox Immunity Fades, Experts Warn – Science Nigeria    Gender differences in opioid and stimulant poisoning in the central region of Iran – Nature Scientific Reports    Gaps in the global health research landscape for mpox – BMC Medicine / BioMed Central BMC Medicine     Want to do disruptive science? Include more rookie researchers – Nature  Issue No. 2796
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Contributors include Brian W. Simpson, MPH, Dayna Kerecman Myers, Annalies Winny, Morgan Coulson, Kate Belz, Melissa Hartman, Jackie Powder, and Rin Swann. Write us: dkerecm1@jhu.edu, like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram @globalhealth.now and X @GHN_News.

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Doctors in Gaza are warning of a surge in respiratory illnesses as families – cut off from basic supplies – burn plastic and cardboard to cook and keep warm. They say the outbreak will worsen unless life-saving medicines, fuel and food are allowed into the devastated territory.

Faced with a deadly outbreak of cholera and a lack of sanitation infrastructure, one Haitian mother sparked a community movement that has transformed her neighbourhood – and saved multiple lives.

96 Global Health NOW: New Consensus to Tackle NCDs—Without the U.S.; Wrapping Babies in Malaria Protection; and Contraceptive Stigma in Sierra Leone View this email in your browser September 29, 2025 Forward Share Post Rural doctor Zhu Daqing (L) and another doctor measure a patient's blood pressure in Xinshui Village. Guizhou Province, China, July 19, 2023. Yang Wenbin/Xinhua via Getty New Consensus to Tackle NCDs—Without the U.S.    A UN declaration to address noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health will move forward with wide global support, despite being derailed by the U.S. at a High-Level General Assembly session, reports Health Policy Watch.     Broad support: The declaration sets 2030 targets for ongoing efforts in areas like tobacco reduction and hypertension control and introduces goals around mental health access for the first time, per the WHO. The draft was widely supported by UN blocs, with leaders of countries like the Philippines saying “the investment case is clear.”  
  RFK Jr.’s rejection: But the draft could not be adopted by consensus after U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that the country would “reject” the declaration. 

• Kennedy said the declaration overreached while failing to address key health issues—though he did not elaborate on those problems, reports NPR Goats and Soda. He also cited concerns over gender identity and abortion, though the declaration does not address either of those issues.  

• The declaration will still be submitted for a vote at the UN General Assembly in October; advocates remain optimistic about its adoption without U.S. support.  

Critical components missing: Key tax measures on unhealthy products were weakened by corporate lobbying, reports The Guardian.  

• “We saw specifically language changing from having countries implement health taxes … to now have countries consider health taxes, and we saw the removal of targets,” Mary-Ann Etiebet, president and CEO of Vital Strategies, told Bhekisisa’s Mia Malan (video). 

• And air pollution goals omitted any mention of fossil fuels, which “is like pledging to tackle smoking without mentioning tobacco,” said the Clean Air Fund’s Jane Burston, per Devex. 

GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES DATA POINT

~3.3 million
———————
The number of lives saved around the world by American foreign aid in 2023. —Our World in Data
  The Latest One-Liners   1,000+ children in Indonesia fell ill with food poisoning last week, per the BBC—bringing total cases to 6,000+ since January—in a spate of incidents tied to an ambitious push to deliver ~80 million free meals; President Prabowo Subianto defended the program today and announced steps to improve safety. The Jakarta Post     The U.S. FDA announced plans last Friday to review the safety of the abortion drug mifepristone, in a move that could lead to new dispensing restrictions. CBS    A distinct form of diabetes with symptoms meeting neither type 1 nor type 2 criteria has been named type 5 diabetes by the International Diabetes Federation in a commentary published in The Lancet Global Health that urges other health entities to adopt the name for the condition, which could affect ~25 million people. NPR Goats and Soda     Flu in U.S. children is leading to more cases of severe encephalopathy and related deaths, per new CDC data; the nation logged 280 pediatric flu deaths last year—the deadliest apart from the H1N1 pandemic in 2009–2010—as fewer children receive flu vaccines. NBC  U.S. and Global Health Policy News Ebere Okereke: America First in Global Health: How Africa Should Respond – Think Global Health (commentary)     Trump Cancels Trail, Bike-Lane Grants Deemed ‘Hostile’ to Cars – Bloomberg CityLab    ‘Completely shattered.’ Changes to NSF’s graduate student fellowship spur outcry – Science    White House considers funding advantage for colleges that align with Trump policies – The Washington Post (gift link)    Medical Groups Warn Against Visa Fees for Foreign Doctors – The New York Times (gift link) 

WHO Staff in Geneva Call for Freeze in Layoffs and Independent Review of Downsizing Plans – Health Policy Watch  MALARIA Wrapping Babies in a New Protection    Infants in Uganda spend much of their first two years carried snugly in cloth wraps called lesus. Such wraps could potentially provide even greater security against malaria once treated with mosquito repellent, finds a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.     Key findings: Among 400 pairs of moms and children who used baby wraps treated with permethrin—an insecticide commonly sprayed on bed nets and clothes—malaria infections fell by ~65%, per the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases.  

• The benefit held through 24 weeks, with fewer hospitalizations and no serious side effects. 

Wraps to address gaps: The wraps could offer low-cost protection for infants too young for vaccination.  

• “There’s a lot of the day when you’re not under a net. Baby wraps fill in some of those gaps when a net isn’t particularly helpful,” author Ross Boyce told MedPage Today.  

Thanks for the tip, Michael Macdonald!   GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES Thanks for the tip, Dave Cundiff!  FAMILY PLANNING Contraceptive Stigma in Sierra Leone    Stigma around contraceptive implants in women is an ongoing barrier to family planning in Sierra Leone, even as the country seeks to improve reproductive health services.    No women spared: The stigma applies both to single women, who are expected to abstain from sex, and to married women, who are encouraged to embrace having children.  

• “Societal pressure has driven many girls to remove the implant or switch to less visible methods,” said Eunice Dumbuya, an activist in Freetown.  

And yet: The country is seeing progress in access. Contraceptive prevalence is 24% for all women in Sierra Leone, per the country’s 2019 Demographic and Health Survey.  

• The country is part of the FP2030 initiative, which aims to make modern contraception available to all women and girls by 2030. 

IPS 

Related: Why more Kenyan women are turning to IUDs for family planning – The Standard OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS They fled war and sexual violence and found a safe space in Athens. Then the aid cuts hit – The Guardian

Hundreds of Israeli soldiers were badly wounded in Gaza. Here's what saved them – NPR Goats and Soda

The forgotten pandemic: Hong Kong influenza in Australia (1968–1970) – Medical Journal of Australia

For Indigenous Infants, This Devastating Virus Finally Meets a Formidable Foe – Scientific American

Twenty-Five Years of Mifepristone: How Activists Brought the Abortion Pill to America and Changed Reproductive Health Forever – Ms.

Nearly 7 in 10 COVID survivors tested didn't know they had a dulled sense of smell – CIDRAP

Some people tape their mouths shut at night. Doctors wish they wouldn’t – AP Issue No. 2795
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Contributors include Brian W. Simpson, MPH, Dayna Kerecman Myers, Annalies Winny, Morgan Coulson, Kate Belz, Melissa Hartman, Jackie Powder, and Rin Swann. Write us: dkerecm1@jhu.edu, like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram @globalhealth.now and X @GHN_News.

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Le devoir de mémoire est aussi celui de l’action vers la décolonisation.

World leaders have thrown their weight behind the first-ever United Nations global political declaration tackling noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health together.

Demonstration of an AI-powered tool during a live surgery at The Neuro

 

A surgical device powered by artificial intelligence (AI) was demonstrated live for the first time at The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital) in a historic step forward for the field of precision neurosurgery. SENTRY™, an innovative technology developed by Montreal-based Reveal and its university partners, can differentiate cancerous tissue from healthy tissue in real time, offering tangible hope to patients for better outcomes.

Demonstration of an AI-powered tool during a live surgery at The Neuro

 

A surgical device powered by artificial intelligence (AI) was demonstrated live for the first time at The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital) in a historic step forward for the field of precision neurosurgery. SENTRY™, an innovative technology developed by Montreal-based Reveal and its university partners, can differentiate cancerous tissue from healthy tissue in real time, offering tangible hope to patients for better outcomes.

Demonstration of an AI-powered tool during a live surgery at The Neuro

 

A surgical device powered by artificial intelligence (AI) was demonstrated live for the first time at The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital) in a historic step forward for the field of precision neurosurgery. SENTRY™, an innovative technology developed by Montreal-based Reveal and its university partners, can differentiate cancerous tissue from healthy tissue in real time, offering tangible hope to patients for better outcomes.

96 Global Health NOW: High Stakes, Shifting Landscapes on Climate Action; ‘Nightmare Bacteria’ on the Rise; and They’re Kind of a bIg Deal China, the world’s top emitter, pledged to cut emissions while U.S. sits on the sidelines at climate summit. View this email in your browser September 25, 2025 Forward Share Post People ride in heavily polluted fog on Wenhua West Road in Zaozhuang in China's Shandong province. January 3, 2024. CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images  High Stakes, Shifting Landscapes on Climate Action    Ten years on from the Paris Agreement, the “stakes could not be higher” as global warming accelerates, leading scientists and UN officials warned world leaders convened at the UN General Assembly yesterday.  

• 2024 was the first year global temperatures exceeded 1.5°C, the Agreement’s critical threshold—leading to extreme weather disasters and worsening health and infrastructure challenges in communities across the globe, reports UN News.  

Intervention still possible: If countries cooperate to transition to clean energy sources and eliminate food system waste, the under-1.5°C goal can still be reached, scientists said. And yesterday, most of the world’s leading powers signaled they were willing to do that, reports DW, which provided a rundown of where major players stand.  

• “We need new plans for 2035 that go much further, and much faster,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.  

New plans submitted: Ahead of COP30 in Brazil in November, 47 countries submitted updated climate plans, but big emitters like the EU and India have yet to show their new plans.     China makes a modest—but pivotal—pledge: The world’s top emitter pledged to cut emissions by 7%–10% by 2035 and expand clean energy, aiming for over 30% non-fossil fuel use. The relatively small goal could still be “transformative” globally, experts said.  
U.S. on the sidelines: The U.S. did not participate in the summit, with President Donald Trump roundly dismissing climate action as a “green scam,” reports The New York Times (gift link). Other global leaders appeared undeterred, with the EU’s climate commissioner saying the bloc would do the “exact opposite of what the U.S. is doing.”  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners
90% of global research and development funding is being spent on universities, nonprofits, and government agencies in high-income countries, finds a new report from Impact Global Health; while that money is directed to solve problems such as neglected diseases in LMICs, just 10% of the funding is going directly to LMICs themselves. Devex    A potential treatment for leishmaniasis has been identified in compounds found in Okinawan marine sponges, which effectively killed the disease-causing parasite while sparing human cells, finds a new study published in Marine Biotechnology; researchers are hopeful the treatment could also be used against other protozoan diseases. Tokyo University of Science via Phys.org    Over one-third of hospital-acquired infections involved drug-resistant bacteria, finds a new study published in eClinicalMedicine that drew on 34 hospital-based studies involving 20,658 patients across 18 countries. Medical Xpress    Basic services in health facilities—including reliable water, sanitation, hygiene, waste management, and electricity—have improved in 100+ countries that have made “unprecedented efforts”; however, billions are still served by facilities without those essential features. WHO  ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE ‘Nightmare Bacteria’ on the Rise    Infections from drug-resistant “nightmare bacteria” spiked ~70% in the U.S. between 2019 and 2023, finds a new report from CDC researchers published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.    Driving the increase: bacteria with the NDM gene, a resistance gene that makes treating infections extremely difficult.  

• Once rare, NDM-related infections rose 460%, with 1,800+ cases in 2023 across 29 reporting states. But that is likely only a partial picture, researchers say.   

• “The rise of NDMs in the U.S. is a grave danger and very worrisome,” said David Weiss, an infectious disease researcher at Emory University.  

Possible COVID link: Heavy antibiotic use during the pandemic may have fueled resistance.    AP  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES VACCINES New Protections for Newborns    Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a leading cause of newborn sepsis, meningitis, and lifelong disabilities—causing 400,000 infections, 91,000 infant deaths, and 46,000 stillbirths annually, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.     Yet it has long flown under the radar. It is often undetected in pregnancy, carried by 15% of women without symptoms.  

• While testing and antibiotic protocols have become standard in high-income countries, many cases go undetected worldwide.  

Vaccines on the horizon: A long-awaited maternal vaccine from Pfizer is now in phase 3 trials, and another vaccine from Danish company MinervaX is also under development.  

• “There has been incredible progress. But it has taken so long,” said physician Carol Baker, who proposed a GBS vaccine in 1976.  

Science   ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION They’re Kind of a bIg Deal     It’s “arguably the highlight of the scientific calendar.” Science’s “most whimsical and notorious honor.”      It’s the Ig Nobels, the prize for research that “makes people laugh, then think.” And year after year, it does.      It’s hard to pick a favorite from this year’s roster of ridiculousness. Some top choices investigate pressing issues like: 

• The growth rate of one man’s fingernail for 35 years 

• Whether cows painted like zebras deter flies  

• Lizards’ pizza preferences 

• Alcohol’s impact on how well bats can fly—and how well humans speak a foreign language 

The honors were presented in a digestion-themed evening that grumbled with entertainment, including research explained in 24 seconds, an operatic ode to gastroenterology, and paper planes pelting winners.     We can’t all win bIg, but can we at least be invited to the party?  QUICK HITS EU, WHO counter Trump's warnings on autism and pregnancy – Reuters     Sexually transmitted disease cases fall, but not syphilis in newborns – AP  
Phase 1 trial finds high dose of malaria monoclonal antibody is safe, elicits immune response – CIDRAP     New European Partnership on One Health AMR: €253 million for research and innovation against antimicrobial resistance – European Commission    Harvard Dean Was Paid $150,000 as an Expert Witness in Tylenol Lawsuits – The New York Times (gift link)   What to Know About MMR and MMRV Vaccines – Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Pubilc Health 
  The rare disease that stops us feeling fear – BBC  Issue No. 2794
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Contributors include Brian W. Simpson, MPH, Dayna Kerecman Myers, Annalies Winny, Morgan Coulson, Kate Belz, Melissa Hartman, Jackie Powder, and Rin Swann. Write us: dkerecm1@jhu.edu, like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram @globalhealth.now and X @GHN_News.

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For the first time, mental health is the focus of an official meeting of the General Assembly on Thursday, with world leaders expected to agree on a set of principles designed to drive global action to help alleviate the symptoms of those living with a complex variety of disorders.

96 Global Health NOW: A Surge of Diseases in Sudan; Centering Youth and Mental Health at UNGA; and Firearm Suicides Among Older Americans View this email in your browser September 24, 2025 Forward Share Post Patients receive treatment in the cholera isolation center at the refugee camps of western Sudan. Tawila, Darfur, August 14. AFP via Getty A Surge of Diseases in Sudan   In war-ravaged Sudan, medics are fighting their own multifront war against a surge of diseases overwhelming the country’s devastated health infrastructure, reports Al Jazeera.     Malaria, typhoid, and dengue are all on the rise amid the country’s rainy season—especially in Khartoum, which reported 5,000+ cases of those diseases and dozens of deaths in the past month.  

• Khartoum state’s health ministry recorded 14,012 dengue cases since January 2024, reports Sudan Tribune. Mobile clinics have been deployed throughout the region.   

Cholera has spread to all 18 states of Sudan, with 113,600+ cases and 3,000+ deaths nationwide. Darfur is particularly affected, reporting a high fatality rate, reports the AP.  

• The WHO has launched a vaccination campaign in the worst-hit areas, after weeks battling “access, transport and logistical challenges,” per UN News. The campaign aims to protect 1.86 million people, especially children, who are disproportionately affected. 

Hospitals are overcrowded and struggling to treat patients amid medicine and equipment shortages. 

• In conflict-affected areas, 70% of hospitals are non-operational; half of Khartoum’s hospitals have been destroyed.  

Related: Sudanese children face forced recruitment, sexual violence in war, official says – Sudan Tribune  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   Afghanistan’s malaria case count rose 21%+ from July to August, with ~13,000 infections, per the WHO’s latest update—which also notes declining but still-high caseloads of other diseases including respiratory infections, diarrhea, and measles, and warns that the August 31 earthquake has further taxed already overloaded health services. Kabul Now
  Consuming alcohol in any amount raises dementia risk, suggests a large combined observational and genetic study published in BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine; the findings also “challenge the notion that low levels of alcohol are neuroprotective.” Medical Xpress    Childhood exposure to chemicals in plastic household items has been linked to long-term health risks, per a new study published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health that found that three commonly used classes of chemicals—phthalates, bisphenols, and PFAS—can be tied to ongoing conditions like heart disease, asthma, infertility, and obesity, especially when encountered early in life. News Medical    A study linking apple cider vinegar to weight loss has been retracted by The BMJ Group; the study claimed drinking diluted apple cider vinegar could lead to dramatic weight loss, but a later investigation found irregularities in the data and that the results could not be replicated. ABC News (Australia)  U.S. and Global Health Policy News Death by aid cuts: how a decision in the US led to the loss of a mother in Yemen – The Guardian 
The nation where Trump’s aid cuts are colliding with a deadly Ebola outbreak: ‘What we feared has now happened’ – The Independent    Trump’s ‘tough it out’ to pregnant women meets wave of opposition by medical experts – STAT    Trump says Cuba has ‘virtually no autism.’ That’s news to Cuban doctors – CNN 

White House slashes medical research on monkeys and other animal testing, sparking fierce new debate – CBS GHN EXCLUSIVE Teenage girls planting a tree near homes destroyed by floods along the bank of the Mathare River. Nairobi, Kenya, June 5, 2024. Boniface Muthoni/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Centering Youth at the UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs and Mental Health
Tomorrow, for the first time, mental health will be at the heart of a UN meeting involving all member states at the heads of state level—presenting an opportunity to make mental health, and specifically young people’s mental health, an economic and moral priority, write a trio of authors at the center of the push.     At the UN High-Level Meeting on the Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health, taking place tomorrow in New York, governments will make political and financial commitments to mental health—but the negotiations to shape the outcomes have been underway for months.     The draft political declaration calls on all UN member states to take steps including: 

• Scaling up services, support, and treatment for mental health conditions. 

• Improving suicide prevention measures and addressing mental health stigma. 

• Regulating harmful digital environments in a way that protects young people’s rights.    

To improve young people’s lives around the world, these words need to be translated into action, the authors say—sharing examples of partnerships like the Being Initiative, a global, multistakeholder effort to promote investment in mental health led by Grand Challenges Canada, with partners including Science for Africa Foundation, Fondation Botnar, United for Global Mental Health, Orygen, and the UK’s Department for Health. 
  Nicole Bardikoff, Aline Cossy-Gantner, and Sarah Kline for Global Health NOW   READ THE FULL COMMENTARY GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES GUNS Firearm Suicides Among Older Americans    Gun suicides among Americans ages 70+ have risen steadily from 2009 to 2023, claiming 63,836 lives over that period, finds a new analysis of CDC data. 

• The trend worries researchers, as the demographic makes up a growing share of the U.S. population.  

Behind the uptick: A range of factors impacting older people: severe illness, isolation, lack of mental health support, financial pressures, and easy access to firearms.  

• The U.S. has a much higher suicide rate among older adults than Mexico or Canada, which have stricter gun laws. 

Most at risk: Older white men in rural areas.     Possible interventions: Doctors can do more to assess their older patients’ mental health and connect them to resources, say advocates. Gun sellers can also provide screening and resources.     The Trace  OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Decades after they endured forced contraception, Greenlandic women still suffer from the trauma – AP
  Toxic Air in Tanzania’s Port City Threatens Millions, Researchers Warn – IPS    Two new studies predict results of declining MMR uptake, restricting non-medical vaccine exemptions – CIDRAP    Endemicity, disability and neglect: Leprosy in Colombia 2007–2020 – PLOS    Officials, doctors urge vaccination amid 'concerning' surge in Chicago mpox cases – Chicago Sun Times    Chicago Has Hundreds of Thousands of Toxic Lead Pipes—and Millions of Unspent Dollars to Replace Them – Inside Climate News     The wellness industry needs to stop scaring people – STAT (commentary)    Ethicists flirt with AI to review human research – Science  Issue No. 2793
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Contributors include Brian W. Simpson, MPH, Dayna Kerecman Myers, Annalies Winny, Morgan Coulson, Kate Belz, Melissa Hartman, Jackie Powder, and Rin Swann. Write us: dkerecm1@jhu.edu, like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram @globalhealth.now and X @GHN_News.

Please send the Global Health NOW free sign-up link to friends and colleagues: http://www.globalhealthnow.org/subscribe

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  Copyright 2025 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All Rights Reserved. Views and opinions expressed in Global Health NOW do not necessarily reflect those of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health or Johns Hopkins University.


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