Free, online training program strengthens training and brings specialized care to communities across Quebec

A healthcare telementoring program housed at The Neuro and supported by the Transforming Autism Care Consortium (TACC) is expanding its reach after achieving designation as an ECHO Superhub. Under the direction of Julie Scorah, PhD, this milestone ensures that specialized knowledge reaches underserved communities.

96 Global Health NOW: What Do American Kids Learn About Sex? It Depends Who You Ask.; ‘Flying Blind’ on Measles; and Museum Medication View this email in your browser March 25, 2025 Forward Share Post GLOBAL HEALTH NOW EXCLUSIVE Klaus Vedfelt, Getty Creative What Do American Kids Learn About Sex? It Depends Who You Ask.
The U.S. has no national requirements for teaching sex education in schools—leading to a patchwork of policies and teachings across states, districts, and even individual schools.
 
Popular but scarce: Over 90% of parents and guardians in the U.S. support their children receiving comprehensive sexuality education (CSE)—which incorporates complete and age-appropriate information about sexuality, according to the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United Status (SIECUS). 

However, only 38% of all high schools and 14% of middle schools in the U.S. cover all of the CDCʼs priority sexual health topics, which include CSE topics like condom use and STD prevention.
 
Despite the lack of requirements, federal grants still play an important—and sometimes paradoxical role in sex ed teachings. Federal funding is available for programs rooted in CSE—and abstinence-only teachings. This can result in both approaches being taught in the same school, Allison Macklin, policy director of SIECUS.
 
“Itʼs the students that suffer from this confusion in information,” she says.
 
ʼChilling effectʼ: While there have not been direct attacks on sex education, policy recommendations that target DEI, gender identity, and restroom access for trans people have raised concerns about the future of funding for CSE providers, says Macklin.
 
But advocates remain determined to broaden access to CSE across the country. “The urgency that people feel to make sure their kids have vital, lifesaving information—that is driving a real commitment to making sure kids get this information,” says Emily Cabral of Wholly Informed Sex Ed (WISE), a nonprofit that provides CSE. 
 
Annalies Winny, Global Health NOW
  READ THE FULL STORY GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   Lab tests have confirmed that the cause of a mysterious illness that killed 53 people and sickened 943 in the northwest DRC was malaria, per the National Public Health Institute; health officials are still waiting on results from water, food, and other samples sent abroad for testing. Reuters via Deccan Herald
 
Avoidable deaths increased in all U.S. states from 2009 to 2021, while such deaths decreased in other high-income countries. JAMA Internal Medicine

MIT engineers have devised a new, less painful way to deliver certain drugs, such as long-lasting contraceptives, in higher doses by injecting them as a suspension of tiny crystals, administered through a narrow needle. News Medical
 
Parisians voted in a referendum to close 500 more city streets to cars and remove 10% of the current parking spots as part of a push by Mayor Anne Hidalgo to make the city friendlier to pedestrians, bikers, and greenery. Bloomberg CityLab Trump Administration News Trump nominates Susan Monarez for CDC director, elevating from acting role – CBS
Trump administration cancels at least 68 grants focused on LGBTQ health questions – AP

NIH ends future funding to study the health effects of climate change – ProPublica

Don’t take scientific progress for granted – The Baltimore Sun (commentary)

USAID cuts have disastrous consequences for global push to end TB – Context (commentary)

What RFK Jr.’s plans for baby formula mean for parents – The 19th MEASLES ‘Flying Blind’ Without Surveillance    The U.S. decision to stop funding the global measles surveillance infrastructure could have dire consequences at a time when the disease is rapidly gaining ground, reports NPR Goats and Soda.

Background: The Global Measles and Rubella Laboratory Network is comprised of 700+ labs in 150+ countries. 

• The network plays a key role in identifying and tracking measles strains worldwide.


• It also mobilizes an early outbreak response in affected communities.

While it is run by the WHO, it has been funded by the CDC since its inception 25 years ago. The Trump administration’s exit from the WHO means the network now "faces imminent shutdown,” while growing outbreaks are being reported across the globe. 

• “This network is a backbone of health defense,” says Tom Frieden, former CDC director and president and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives. “If it collapses, the U.S. and the rest of the world will be flying blind.”

Meanwhile, in Australia: Public health leaders warn the country could be “fertile ground” for measles after five cases were confirmed in Victoria; Australia is below the WHO-recommended 95% vaccination rate, reports The Guardian.

Related:

Should You Get a Measles Vaccine Booster? – Yale Medicine

'I'm worried it's getting worse': Texas measles outbreak grows as families resist vaccination – NBC GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES MENTAL HEALTH Museum Medication
A Swiss town is launching a new medical intervention for its residents: Free tickets to the museum.

The town of Neuchâtel has initiated a two-year pilot project covering the costs of “museum prescriptions” ordered by doctors who believe patients could benefit from a jaunt in the town’s four museums.

Fact-based (and artifact-based) medicine: The project is based on a 2019 WHO report that found the arts can bolster mental health and lower the risk of cognitive decline.

• There are also physical benefits, say doctors who have issued scripts to patients who need more physical activity out of the house. 

So far: ~500 prescriptions have been distributed in the town of 46,000, and town leaders hope to expand the program.

AP OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS A war within the war: Ukraine's ill children – The New York Times (gift link)

Despite progress, HIV stigma and discrimination continue to bubble beneath the surface in Thailand – UNAIDS

23andMe bankruptcy underscores health privacy gaps – Axios

World's first case of bird flu in sheep detected in England - The Guardian

South Sudan: Delivering baby on the road at 2am just another day for midwife – The Irish Examiner

Public health on the ground at Kenya's Kakuma Refugee Camp – UC Berkeley School of Public Health

Why IUD insertions are painful for many patients and what can be done better – PBS NewsHour

Reducing traffic in Barcelona by 25% would prevent around 200 premature deaths a year linked to pollution – ISGlobal - Barcelona Institute for Global Health Issue No. 2696
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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The number of children around the world dying before their fifth birthday stands at a record low – but this achievement is under threat due to a chronic lack of investment in routine humanitarian work and interventions, the head of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), said on Tuesday.

96 Global Health NOW: How to Keep Traction in the TB Fight?; Fewer Eyes on Food Safety; and Preschool Parasite Prevention View this email in your browser March 24, 2025 Forward Share Post A tuberculosis patient at a government-run tuberculosis hospital. Allahabad, India, November 6, 2019. Ritesh Shukla/NurPhoto via Getty How to Keep Traction in the TB Fight?
World TB Day arrives at a critical juncture for the world’s most fatal infectious disease. 

• Despite gains in some countries against the disease, that “progress remains fragile,” said Hans Henri Kluge, the WHO’s Regional Director for Europe, per Reuters—and U.S. cuts to global TB interventions could undo decades-long efforts.
   
• In South Africa, a “tsunami” of NIH grant cuts is gutting anti-TB efforts, with termination letters sent out over the weekend, reports Science. Up to 70% of the country’s HIV and TB research is funded through NIH, per Bhekisisa. 

Today, a statement from the WHO Regional Office for Africa called for “renewed commitment” to the TB fight, including increased funding. 

A global uptick: 

• Europe saw a 10% rise in child TB infections in 2023. 


• In the U.S., TB cases rose by over 15% from 2022 to 2023, and an outbreak in Kansas City continues to perplex officials, reports PBS News.

Good news: TB treatment continues to evolve as four new studies show major innovations, per News Medical, including rapid diagnostics and a nasal spray for tuberculous meningitis.

Related:

A Late-Stage Tuberculosis Vaccine is Making its Way Through Clinical Trials – Contagion Live

A roadmap for integrating nutritional assessment, counselling, and support into the care of people with tuberculosis – The Lancet Global Health

Everything Is Tuberculosis: A Conversation With John Green – Public Health On Call GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   UNICEF condemned the looting of supplies from Khartoum’s Al Bashair Hospital—including 2,200 cartons of ready-to-use therapeutic food for children suffering from malnutrition; iron and folic acid supplements for pregnant and lactating women; and midwife kits and other supplies meant for mothers, newborns, and children. UN News
 
Ohio, Maryland, and Alabama are among the U.S. states reporting new measles cases, with 378 cases—including 309 in Texas—confirmed in the first few months of 2025; 11 other states have also confirmed cases. The Guardian

A fake CDC webpage alleging that vaccines cause autism has been removed from the website of the Children’s Health Defense—an anti-vaccine nonprofit started by now-U.S. health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who ordered the page’s removal following outcry over the weekend. The New York Times (gift link)

Safety nets installed on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge reduced suicides by 73% and increased third-party interventions when someone was at imminent risk of jumping from the bridge, per a study published in Injury Prevention. The Washington Post (gift link) DATA POINT REGULATION Fewer Eyes on Food Safety 
Food safety advocates are raising alarms about vulnerabilities in the U.S. food system as budget cuts hit an already underfunded system. 

Cuts on the table: A $34 million cut to the FDA could reduce the number of employees and labs devoted to product safety. Already, freezes on government spending have kept staff from purchasing food to perform routine tests for bacteria and PFAS.

Key committees shut down: Committees overseeing meat and poultry inspection and microbiological criteria for foods have been issued stop-work orders—upending in-progress initiatives to prevent pathogens. 

Stakes: Last year, ~500 people were hospitalized and 19 died from foodborne illnesses with a known cause—2X more than in 2023. 

The Quote: “It’s as if someone, without enough information, has said, What’s a good way to save money on our automobiles? Let’s just take out the seatbelts and airbags, because do we really need them?” said Darin Detwiler, a food safety consultant. 

The New York Times (gift link)  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES NEGLECTED DISEASES Preschool Parasite Prevention
Earlier this month, nearly 3,000 preschoolers in Uganda received the first preventive treatment tailored for their age group for schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease affecting ~240 million people worldwide. 

• ~50 million preschool-age children globally are at risk of getting schistosomiasis. 


• Untreated, the disease can affect cognitive development and cause malnutrition, anemia, and organ damage or death. 

The treatment, derived from a well-established drug used to treat the disease in school-age children and adults, was made available through the ADOPT pilot program from the Pediatric Praziquantel Consortium.

More pilots are planned throughout Uganda and in other countries such as Côte d’Ivoire and Kenya in the coming months, with discussions underway on piloting the drug in Senegal and Tanzania.

Devex OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Study finds foreign aid sanctions set back decades of progress on maternal and child mortality – Stanford Report

‘Chaos and Confusion’ at the Crown Jewel of American Science – The New York Times (gift link)

Global AIDS program teetering after Trump admin’s shock-and-awe – Politico

The COVID Mistake No One Talks Enough About – The Atlantic

New friction surfaces over replicating research – Axios

Lawsuits Against Diversity Initiatives in Science Multiply – Undark

Reporter's notebook: 8 theories why fentanyl deaths are plummeting – NPR Issue No. 2695
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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Amid continuing uncertainty about the impact of deep US funding cuts to humanitarian work worldwide, the head of the UN agency coordinating the fight against HIV-AIDS warned that an additional 6.3 million people will die in the next four years, unless support is reinstated.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Friday strongly condemned the looting of vital humanitarian supplies from Al Bashair Hospital in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, warning that the theft puts thousands of malnourished children and mothers at risk.

Dans ces temps des plus sombres, nous avons besoin de la lumière des artistes.

96 Global Health NOW: How a ‘Safer’ Opioid Caused a New Devastation; How to Keep Doing Global Health; and Rootsy Music German drugmaker Grünenthal promoted tapentadol as “less addictive” than other opioids. View this email in your browser March 20, 2025 Forward Share Post A building on the premises of the pharmaceutical company Grünenthal in Aachen, Germany, on December 10, 2020. Oliver Berg/picture alliance via Getty How a ‘Safer’ Opioid Caused a New Devastation 
Across the globe, prescriptions of the painkiller tapentadol have spiked over the last five years—eclipsing oxycodone in some countries—as the drug’s German maker Grünenthal promotes the drug as a “less addictive” option to other opioids.

But as prescriptions have increased, so have reports of addiction, overdose, and death. And the claims the company has made about the drug’s safety have “no convincing evidence,” finds an investigation by The Examination and journalistic partners in 10+ countries. 

Background: Grünenthal’s efforts to promote tapentadol have involved:

• Funding studies in medical journals to support its claim of relative safety

• Paying millions to doctors, medical organizations, and patient groups across Latin America and Europe

• Educational messaging about the drug’s “minimum potential of abuse” that downplayed respiratory side effects, and marketing the drug as “highly effective” for chronic pain—a tactic that flouts safety guidelines from the WHO, US, and UK

Global impact: 

• In Australia: Coroners have reported dozens of tapentadol-related overdose deaths.

• In India: Psychiatrists are seeing a trend of teenage boys injecting tapentadol.

• In the U.S.: Addiction doctors warn of an uptick in tapentadol dependency.

Blind spot: Many countries are not tracking tapentadol-related dependency, meaning the true scope of the problem remains largely unknown. 

The Examination 

Related: Trump administration extends opioid emergency as fentanyl deaths drop – NPR  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners
Extreme heat last year has “reshaped the planet,” inflicting permanent damage on glaciers, oceans, and ecosystems, and signaling a near future filled with devastating heat waves, details from the World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Global Climate report show. The Independent

As bird flu spreads on commercial poultry farms, the USDA today announced two new biosecurity assessment programs—one offering onsite surveying of wildlife hazards and the other reviewing farms’ biosecurity plans; meanwhile, the agency provided more details about “highly pathogenic” H7N9 avian flu detected at a Mississippi farm. CIDRAP

Uganda’s Ministry of Health has started a 42-day countdown to declare the country Ebola-free after two more patients recovered from the virus and were discharged from treatment facilities; of 12 patients with confirmed cases, 10 have recovered and two have died. NilePost

The Jynneos mpox vaccine was 58% effective against mpox infection overall after one dose, and 84% effective in people without HIV—but was only 35% effective in those with HIV, per an observational combined study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. CIDRAP GHN EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY Sunitha, an Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA), checks on a pregnant woman outside her house on May 18, 2021, in Mysuru, India. Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty How to Keep Doing Global Health: Tips from the Global South
In the face of U.S. cuts to global health initiatives, two global health researchers from India share three experience-based strategies in a GHN commentary. 

Change who you work for. 

• At times, global health researchers can forget who they should work for because of a system and a culture that forces researchers to think about “fundable” ideas, write Siddhesh Zadey and Dhananjaya Sharma.

• “If you’re in global health, you work for the underprivileged, underserved people … [not] the funders,” they write.

Change what you work on. 

• When you do not have money, you have to be creative about what you work on. Researchers should ask themselves, do we truly need another randomized controlled trial to answer the question?

Walk the talk. 

• “Perhaps, the crisis is an opportunity for the ‘topmost’ to rekindle their volunteering spirit by lending their expertise and time to those most adversely affected by the defunding initiatives,” write Zadey and Sharma.

Siddhesh Zadey and Dhananjaya Sharma for Global Health NOW GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES NEUROLOGICAL ILLNESSES A Mysterious ALS Cluster 
A decade ago, neurologists were startled when they discovered a cluster of 16 ALS cases around the tiny mountain village of Montchavin in France. 

Elusive origin: ALS is rare, and its underlying causes are still being researched. Hereditary genetic factors figure in 10-15% of cases—but none of the Montchavin patients had a family history of ALS. 

• Researchers have also looked into environmental factors like industrial chemicals and air pollution, but found no links. 

Focus on fungi: One researcher eventually found that all of the patients had eaten false morels, a toxic mushroom sometimes sought and eaten as a delicacy. 

• While some scientists say the theory needs further study, others say it is similar to a cluster in Guam, which was linked to ingestion of a cycad plant. 

El País ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION Rootsy Music
We all did some wacky things during pandemic lockdown days. So it’s not exactly surprising to hear that in 2020 biologist-turned-musician Tarun Nayar connected his synthesizer to a salmonberry bush. What is surprising: The plant was alive with the sound of music.

“I could actually ‘listen’ to the salmonberry bush,” says the Montreal-based Nayar—who describes the process of converting natural (and non-audible to human ears) bioelectric signals into hypnotic electronic music as “biodata sonification,” per Atlas Obscura. 

Mic check: In the past five years, Nayar has tuned into the everyday symphonies emitting from plants and fungi—enjoyed by his growing audience across YouTube and TikTok—with mushrooms like chanterelles and amanitas serving as especially compelling muses.

And the fandom goes both ways: Mushrooms, apparently, make for an enthusiastic audience, finds a study published last year in Biology Letters: Researchers found that playing sound to a green microscopic fungus, Trichoderma harzianum, led to growth rates 7X faster than fungus grown in silence, reports The New York Times (gift link).  QUICK HITS Trump administration weighing future of CDC's HIV prevention division – Reuters

US evangelical groups urge Trump to spare HIV/Aids program from aid cuts – The Guardian

Toxic ‘sea foam’ kills animals and leaves surfers with breathing problems and blurred vision – The Telegraph

Popular ADHD TikTok videos often do not accurately reflect symptoms, experts say – Euronews

How will ‘Little Scandinavia’ experiment play out in U.S. prisons? – Science Issue No. 2694
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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Three cities that share a healthy vision for their residents won UN World Health Organization awards on Thursday for their smoke-free parks, clean air initiatives and obesity-busting school lunch initiatives.

96 Global Health NOW: Strategies Diverge as Bird Flu Spreads; Interrupted Agent Orange Cleanup; and Factory Farms and the Rise of Superbugs Bird flu is a “transboundary threat,” says UN View this email in your browser March 19, 2025 Forward Share Post Lohmann Brown chickens stand outside a barn at Meadow Haven Farm, in Sheffield, Illinois, on August 4, 2015. Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images Strategies Diverge as Bird Flu Spreads 
As bird flu continues to ravage U.S. poultry farms, UN officials warn that the virus has reached “unprecedented” scale and requires a coordinated global response, reports The Hill. 

• In a briefing held yesterday, UN Food and Agriculture Organization leaders outlined H5N1’s mounting toll: hundreds of millions of lost poultry, ~300 newly affected wild bird species in the last four years, increasing spillover into mammals, and food security risk, per UN News.

Call to action: Describing the virus as a “transboundary threat,” the agency called on countries to improve surveillance, expand lab capacity, consider vaccination plans, and promote risk management through biosecurity.

Kennedy’s tack: Meanwhile, health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has floated a strategy to let H5N1 “run through the flock” to identify immune birds, reports The New York Times (gift link)—which veterinary scientists say would pose a wide range of hazards: 

• Every infection is an opportunity for H5N1 to evolve into a more virulent form dangerous to mammals and humans. 

• Farmed poultry have low genetic diversity and weak immune systems, resulting in painful deaths in ~100% of infected flocks. 

• Such a strategy would also mean longer quarantines and lost revenue.

The Quote: “It’s a recipe for disaster,” said Gail Hansen, a former state veterinarian for Kansas. GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners
The measles outbreak in western Texas has grown to 279 cases—nearly reaching the total number confirmed for all of 2024 (285 cases), according to new state data published yesterday, ABC News reports; Texas public health officials say the outbreak could take a year to contain, according to STAT.

Ongoing dengue transmission in parts of the U.S. led the CDC to issue a Health Alert Network notice yesterday with updated testing guidance; infections have been increasing globally for the past five years, with the Americas region seeing pronounced surges. CIDRAP

Smoking rates have risen in some regions of England for the first time since 2006, finds a new study published in the journal Addiction; researchers found that smoking increased 10% in southern England between 2020 and 2024. The Guardian

Climate change is accelerating, finds the new State of the Global Climate report—with global temperatures, greenhouse gas emissions, and sea levels reaching record highs in 2024, reports CBS News; meanwhile, researchers say heart disease could double or triple in the next 25 years if current heat trends continue, per a study published in the European Heart Journal, reports Al Jazeera. FOREIGN AID CUTS Interrupted Agent Orange Cleanup
Efforts to clean up an enormous chemical spill at an air base in Vietnam have been halted by USAID cuts—putting hundreds of thousands of people at risk of poisoning, U.S. diplomats and human rights groups say. 

Background: Remediation efforts at the Bien Hoa air base were started in 2019, when the U.S. government committed $430 million+ to help clean up widespread dioxin contamination that dates back to the Vietnam War—when the U.S. brought the toxin to the country. 

Halted work: The sudden USAID shutdown meant work immediately stopped, leaving pits with dioxin-contaminated soil exposed at the cusp of the country’s rainy season. 

High risk: With enough rain, dioxin could flood into nearby communities’ food supply and contaminate a major river flowing into Ho Chi Minh City. 

ProPublica GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE Factory Farms and the Rise of Superbugs
Conditions at factory farms across Europe “paint a bleak picture of animal welfare,” with animals living in cramped grassless pens coated with filth.

Such farming practices are also fueling the rise of antibiotic-resistant superbugs on the continent, including MRSA.

How? Animals in poor feedlot conditions are more likely to contract infections, which has led to a decades-long overdependence on antibiotics. Now, once easily treatable illnesses don’t respond to drugs. 

• The meat industry is responsible for 73% of global antibiotic use.

The stakes: ~700,000 people globally die every year from infections caused by resistant bacteria. By 2050, this number could rise to 10 million.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

Related: The Many Costs of Cheap Chicken – Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health magazine OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS What will happen if Trump cuts the US’s Global Fund contributions? We work it out – Bhekisisa

‘It’s back to drug rationing’: the end of HIV was in sight. Then came the cuts – The Guardian

Trump dministration considers plan to eliminate CDC's HIV prevention division – NBC

Private equity ‘gobbling’ up care facilities for people with disabilities – STAT

What’s in store for US science as funding bill averts government shutdown – Nature

Epilepsy Patients in Africa Fight Stigma and Neglect – IPS Issue No. 2693
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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Since becoming only the second Alzheimer’s-modifying drug to gain American FDA approval in 2023, sales of lecanemab, known by its brand name Leqembi, have risen steadily, reaching $87-million USD in the last quarter of 2024.

NeuRo Genomics Initiative will help better understand rare and aging-related neurological disorders affecting Canadians

 

A project led by Ziv Gan-Or, MD, PhD, at The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital) of McGill University and Martine Tétreault, PhD, at Université de Montréal has received more than $8 million to sequence the genomes of 8,700 people, to map the role of genetics in neurological disorders.

96 Global Health NOW: Tedros Details Human Costs of U.S. Cuts; Moving Beyond Stigma in Mexico; and The Bureaucrat Bridging Gaps View this email in your browser March 18, 2025 Forward Share Post A woman and her child attend a medical consultation at a mobile clinic operated in partnership with USAID. Port-au-Prince, Haiti, November 29, 2024. Clarens Siffroy SIFFROY/AFP via Getty Tedros Details Human Costs of U.S. Cuts  
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had a request yesterday for the U.S.: reconsider its cancellation of global health support or withdraw the funds slowly giving countries time to prepare, STAT reports.

• “The U.S. administration [is] within its rights to decide what it supports and to what extent,” Tedros said at a news conference. “But the U.S. also has a responsibility to ensure that if it withdraws direct funding for countries, it’s done in an orderly and humane way that allows them to find alternative sources of funding.”

Impact of U.S. cuts:

• Malaria: An additional 15 million cases and 100,000+ deaths are possible this year because of stockouts or supply chain problems with malaria diagnostics, medications, and insecticide-treated bed nets.


• HIV: Eight countries are experiencing “substantial disruptions” to antiretroviral supplies and will run out of medicines within months, Health Policy Watch reports.


• TB: 27 countries in Africa and Asia are dealing with disruptions to diagnosis and treatment as well as “collapsing” surveillance systems, Tedros said.

Don’t ask Bill: Philanthropist Bill Gates has been lobbying the U.S. administration to continue funding vital global health programs and warned that no foundation could fill in the gap left by U.S. funding cuts, Reuters reports.

Related:
 
UK aid cuts will undermine global health and pose a risk to children's lives – The BMJ
 
Eighty percent of WHO-supported facilities in Afghanistan risk shutdown by June – WHO GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   The U.S. reported its first outbreak of H7N9 bird flu since 2017, on a farm of 47,654 commercial broiler breeder chickens in Noxubee, Mississippi; H7N9 has a higher death rate—killing 40% of people infected since 2013—than the H5N1 strain that killed one person in the U.S. earlier this year. CBC

A midwife and one of her employees were arrested and charged with performing illegal abortions at a health clinic near Houston; they are the first to be criminally charged under the state’s strict abortion ban. The Texas Tribune

Gender-affirming hormone therapy was associated with lower rates of moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms among 3,592 trans and nonbinary people prescribed the treatment compared to those who didn’t receive the treatment, finds a study spanning 48 months of follow-up. JAMA Network Open
 
The Trump administration removed a 2024 surgeon general's advisory on the public health impacts of gun violence and a related webpage from the Health and Human Services website (still available here); guns are the leading cause of death for children and teens in the U.S. Axios More Trump Administration News ____________________________________________________________As bird flu continues to spread, Trump administration sidelines key pandemic preparedness office – CNN

Trump administration cuts funding to long-term diabetes study: Report – The Independent

Scientists Say NIH Officials Told Them To Scrub mRNA References on Grants – Cancer Health

The VA will deny gender dysphoria treatment to new patients – NPR

Trump Administration Aims to Eliminate E.P.A.’s Scientific Research Arm – The New York Times (gift article)

Overseas universities see opportunity in U.S. ‘brain drain’ – Science DATA POINT HARM REDUCTION Moving Beyond Stigma in Mexico
For years, Mexico has taken a “prohibitionist, hardline approach” to drug use, reinforcing a stigma that ties drug use to other criminal activities.

But recently, health advocates have been taking a different tack—toward harm reduction.

• One example: Checa tu Sustanciae (Check Your Substance) provides a way for people at events like music festivals to test drugs for fentanyl and other adulterants, and also equips those people with naloxone and practical information. 

The Quote: “The best way to reduce your risks is not to consume at all. But if you have made the decision to consume, we want you to have as much information as possible so you can take care of yourself,” said Zara Snapp, director of drug policy advocacy organization Instituto RIA.

AP GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES DISEASE DETECTIVES The Bureaucrat Bridging Gaps
Consider this maddening prospect: A 5-year-old girl in Texas is diagnosed with a rare brain-eating amoeba—and none of her doctors know the cure.

Meanwhile, in California, researchers had recently discovered an effective antibiotic remedy. But that paper never reached the doctors in Texas. 

This tragic disconnect all too frequently leads to preventable suffering and death. But in a must-read narrative, Michael Lewis examines the mission of an FDA worker “buried under six layers on an agency organizational chart” who is seeking to solve the problem by creating a database for rare diseases and treatments, called CURE ID.

Despite the database’s lifesaving potential, the question remains: Will anyone use it? 

The Washington Post (gift link)  RESOURCES QUICK HITS Afghanistan: Security Council renews UN mission as WHO warns of health catastrophe – UN News

Mexican president pledges stronger missing persons efforts after mass grave found – Reuters

With measles on the rise, two-dose vaccine strategy is 'more important than ever' Northwestern Now – Northwestern University (news release)

Injectable PrEP use leads to zero new HIV infections among gay, trans and non-binary Brazilians – aidsmap

The Silent Struggle: MamaCare360 Pushes to Prioritize Maternal Mental Health in Nigeria – Global Citizen

Nearly 50 million people sign up call for clean air action for better health – WHO

Why We Don’t Want to Talk About the COVID-19 Pandemic – Georgetown University

An Old Drug With A Hidden Talent – Bloomberg Issue No. 2692
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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  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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Research Talk
Thursday April 3, 2025, 4:30 to 6:00 pm
2001 McGill College Ave. Room 606

Research Talk
Thursday April 3, 2025, 4:30 to 6:00 pm
2001 McGill College Ave. Room 606

Research Talk
Thursday April 3, 2025, 4:30 to 6:00 pm
2001 McGill College Ave. Room 606

$400,000 will fuel public-private collaboration to discover new disease biomarkers

 

A new project co-led by Thomas Durcan, PhD, Director of The Neuro's Early Drug Discovery Unit, and overseen by Mathilde Chaineau, PhD, the EDDU’s program manager, will receive $400,000 in support from Génome Québec. In partnership with Nardin Nakhla and Armstrong Murira from the Montreal-based company Simmunome, Durcan and Chaineau will develop a computational model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) on which to test for new biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

96 Global Health NOW: Cholera Deepens Ethiopia's Health Crisis; India’s Off Its Elimination Target; and The Rise of New Nicotine View this email in your browser March 17, 2025 Forward Share Post Two women carry a patient at the emergency ward of the Suhul General Hospital. Shire, Ethiopia, October 11, 2024. Michele Spatari/AFP via Getty Cholera Deepens Ethiopia's Health Crisis 
A swiftly-spreading cholera outbreak poses a new threat to Ethiopia, which is already coping with a broken health system in its war-scarred northern Tigray region, reports Al Jazeera. 

Cholera outbreak: ~31 people have died from a cholera outbreak that has sickened 1,500+ people over the past month, per Médecins Sans Frontières.

• The scope of the outbreak is widening as more people arrive in Ethiopia after fleeing violence in neighboring South Sudan. 

Cut aid: Meanwhile, over 1 million people in the Tigray region face hunger and mounting health threats as USAID-funded programs are frozen and dismantled, reports the AP. 

• Food deliveries have been halted to a camp of 20,000+ people in Tigray. While USAID waivers to continue distributing U.S. grain have been granted, the payments system is still nonfunctional. 


• Also halted: HIV medication programs, vaccination efforts, and care for women who were raped during the civil war. 

The Quote: “We will just die in silence,” said Haile Tsege, a 76-year-old displaced man. 

Another “alarming” outbreak: In the DRC, a “catastrophic deterioration of health services” amid conflict is contributing to a cholera outbreak in North and South Kivu, where cases have increased by ~40% since last week, warns the IRC (news release). 

Related: Namibia's cholera-free decade ends with one confirmed case – Reuters GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   Tanzania declared its Marburg virus outbreak over late last week after 42 days with no new cases since the death of the last confirmed case; the outbreak—the country’s second known brush with the virus—led to two confirmed and eight probable cases (all deceased). WHO Regional Office for Africa (news release)
 
Saudi Arabia has reported four MERS infections, including two deaths, over the past few months from the Hail, Riyadh, and Eastern provinces; all four of the infected men had underlying medical conditions, and only one had indirect contact with dromedary camels and their raw (unpasteurized) milk. CIDRAP

An oral antiviral successfully protected monkeys from Ebola infections, per a new study published in Science Advances; researchers determined the drug, Obeldesivir, protected 100% of rhesus macaques exposed to a highly potent variant of Ebola. The Independent

A rise of laughing gas usage and injuries in the U.S. has led the FDA to issue a warning about nitrous oxide—which is being sold in colorful packaging and fruity flavors; inhaling the gas can cause dangerously low blood pressure, leading to loss of consciousness and injuries. AP Cuts to Health & Science ____________________________________________________________ Fear spreads that NIH will terminate grants involving South Africa – Science

Young scientists see career pathways vanish as schools adapt to federal funding cuts – AP

In wake of federal funding cuts, Johns Hopkins scales back USAID-supported work around the globe – The Hub

‘My career is over’: Columbia University scientists hit hard by Trump team’s cuts – Nature

Can NIH overturn a court order blocking it from slashing overhead payments? Unlikely, one expert says – Science

‘Fund research not Tesla trucks’: The HIV casualties of Trump’s war on science – Bhekisisa

Her research grant mentioned ‘hesitancy.’ Now her funding is gone – The Washington Post (gift article) TUBERCULOSIS India’s Off Its Elimination Target 
In 2018, India’s leaders vowed to eliminate TB by 2025. But the goal remains out of reach due to a confluence of factors, including: 

Spending: While spending on TB care and prevention has increased, the government allocated only two-thirds of the money needed, as per its own National Strategic Plan, for ending TB, data show. 

Shortages: Providers frequently run out of critical medications, especially for drug-resistant TB. There were several instances of nationwide shortages in 2024, advocates say. 

• The nation’s TB program is also coping with manpower and infrastructure shortages. 

Deficient diagnostics: The government has spent well below its budget on testing.

Catastrophic expense: 45%+ of patient families suffer “catastrophic expenses” while seeking care for TB in India, per a 2024 paper.

IndiaSpend

Related: The World’s Deadliest Infectious Disease Is About to Get Worse – The Atlantic GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES TOBACCO The Rise of New Nicotine
White snus—pure nicotine mixed with filling agents, wrapped into cellulose pouches—was originally designed to help Swedish women quit smoking.

But marketed in the U.S. under brand names like Zyn, it’s found a foothold with men, thanks to “manosphere” champions like Joe Rogan. And business is booming.

• Zyn’s producer, Swedish Match, says ~70% of canisters in the U.S. are purchased by men. 


• In the first quarter of 2024, Philip Morris International shipped 131.6 million Zyn canisters to the U.S.—an 80% increase from the same period in 2023. 

Cigarette alternatives like Zyn present an opportunity for Big Tobacco to expand their business in the “new nicotine” market. And, despite nicotine’s negative health effects, addiction researchers are acknowledging the importance of smokeless tobacco products in the fight against cigarettes.  

The New Yorker

Related: What We Know (and Don’t) About Nicotine Pouches – Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Accounts of child survivors shed light on surge of rape and sexual violence in conflict-torn DRC – CNN

Measles remains a danger to health even years after an infection – NPR Shots

Keeping With Kennedy’s Advice, Measles Patients Turn to Unproven Treatments – The New York Times (gift article)

Africa's defining moment: the time to lead the HIV response is now – The Lancet Global Health (commentary)

All creatures great and culled: inside the global bird flu poultry slaughter – The Telegraph

KFF Poll Finds Most Republicans Do Not Trust CDC on Bird Flu – KFF Health News

As AI nurses reshape hospital care, human nurses are pushing back – AP

The Unequal Impacts of Abortion Bans – Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Giving blood linked to lower risk of pre-cancer gene – BBC Issue No. 2692
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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The rapid spread of the highly infectious avian flu virus H5N1 has reached an “unprecedented” scale, wiping out hundreds of millions of birds worldwide and increasingly spilling over into mammals, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned on Monday.

The Security Council on Monday extended the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) for another year, as UN agencies reported sharp declines in resources for lifesaving aid.