96 Global Health NOW: Migrant Workers Stranded Between Worlds; and Dangers Flowing Downstream in Alberta View this email in your browser March 12, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES Health crises across the Middle East have escalated, including 18 WHO-verified attacks on health care in Iran and 25 such attacks in Lebanon since the initial strikes on Iran in February; meanwhile public health risks are rising as ~800,000 people face internal displacement. WHO    One-third of Americans say that to cover their health care expenses they have resorted to cutting daily spending—such as food or driving—or have had to borrow money to cover health bills, per a new survey from West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America, conducted with ~20,000 adults. CNN    Efforts to curb antimicrobial resistance have led to some recent “bright spots,” per the latest Antimicrobial Resistance Benchmark report, which highlighted the recent approval of two new gonorrhea drugs—zoliflodacin and gepotidacin—as a pivotal development for treating the infection as cases rise and standard treatments become less effective. CIDRAP    Two U.S. vaccine advisory panels are weighing the future of COVID-19 and flu vaccines, with the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices abandoning efforts to attack mRNA vaccines amid fears that such a move could harm Republicans in the midterms, per The Washington Post (gift link); meanwhile, FDA vaccine advisers to meet publicly for the first time since the Biden administration to recommend strains for fall flu shots, after last year’s meeting was canceled, per CIDRAP. IN FOCUS Essential and Exposed: Migrant Workers Stranded Between Worlds 
Across Asia and the Middle East, millions of migrant workers are critical to the health care, construction, and domestic labor sectors of the economy. And yet these migrants—many from Southeast Asia—are often left stranded and unprotected when conflict and illness strike.     Fired after falling ill: In some of Asia’s richest cities like Hong Kong and Singapore, migrant domestic workers who develop critical illnesses are often terminated, cutting them off from health care access and leaving them stuck between worlds, reports The Telegraph. 

• In many countries, employers are legally required to provide medical care—but face little recourse for sudden firings. Some workers are forced to return to their home countries without treatment while others remain stuck in legal limbo.

• “Then their situation deteriorates. It’s almost like a death sentence,” said Rachel Li, with the Hong Kong charity HELP for Domestic Workers 

Caught up in conflict: As the fallout from the U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran widens to the Gulf states, 24 million+ migrants in the region are stranded, reports Bloomberg via South China Morning Post.  

• Fatalities have been reported among Filipino, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi workers, and governments of migrants' home nations say they are preparing for emergency evacuations and potential repatriation.  

• Migrants have faced total abandonment in previous Middle East conflicts, often stuck without wages or travel documents. 

INFECTIOUS DISEASES Dangers Flowing Downstream in Alberta 
Indigenous groups in northern Alberta have become increasingly alarmed by signs of toxic pollution in their environment: Vanishing wildlife, contaminated fish, and surging cancer rates within communities.     The problems have flowed from Canada’s massive oil drilling operations, say scientists and advocates. 

• The sites rely on ponds to hold toxic wastewater, known as oil sands tailings—which may leak up to ~11 million liters of pollutants like arsenic, mercury, and other carcinogenic chemicals daily.  

And more contamination could be coming, warn community leaders: The Canadian government is considering allowing treated wastewater releases into the river system; but scientists say there are no methods for fully eliminating dangerous compounds.    The quote: “The food that kept us alive for thousands of years is killing us. Where do they expect us to go?” said Ron Campbell, an elder living in Fort Chipewyan.     The New York Times (gift link) SPONSORED Give to GHN Today
Global Health NOW helps you by providing critical news about research, emerging health threats, and solutions from around the world at no cost.     Can you help us today?      A gift from you helps sustain our work, ensuring that timely, trusted global health news and analysis remain available—without a paywall.      Bonus: A $35 gift not only helps us; it earns you a spiffy, limited-edition Hopkins sesquicentennial backpack!      Please give to Global Health NOW today!    Thank you! —Team GHN ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION This Is a Lot to Unpack 
Did you happen to lose a bionic knee on your red-eye from Boston to Los Angeles?   

It might be in Scottsboro, Alabama. 

In America’s mecca for orphaned luggage, the retailer Unclaimed Baggage has been collecting and reselling abandoned bags and their contents for 55+ years—and just published its latest Found Report. 

• “We often believe we've seen it all. But then we uncover something like a matching set of Samurai swords…,” says the company’s owner, Bryan Owens. 

To Owens, it’s not just stuff, but cultural study via suitcase. (How many shoulder pads went unclaimed in the ’80s?!)  

Our take is more psychological: What’s going through the mind of someone who bothers to pack a full beekeeping suit … or a teak didgeridoo … or a taxidermy deer form … and simply shrugs when it vanishes into the abyss?! If you don’t go looking for your suitcase full of rat poison … was it ever really yours?  

Does the fact that an orphaned Miss North Dakota USA 2025 costume clearly belongs to this person make its recovery more sad ... or less? Do they even want to be reunited?! 

All that to say: If you really care about your custom diamond-studded grills, we have two words of advice: Carry. On. 

QUICK HITS ‘Tour de force’ mouse study shows a gut microbe can promote memory loss – Science

Mental health crisis after 2023 Maui wildfires extends beyond burn zones – University of Hawaii at Manoa via Medical Xpress

Global Fund Faces $5bn Shortfall as France Slashes Support, EU Delays Pledge – Health Policy Watch

The Current Threat to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and Why It Matters – Annals of Internal Medicine (commentary)

The Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony Is Moving to Europe (after 35 years in the USA) – Improbable Research Issue No. 2879
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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Professors Wendell Nii Laryea Adjetey and Jill Baumgartner will lead innovative research focusing on anti-Black carceral systems and climate-related health risks respectively 

96 Global Health NOW: Solving the Global Stagnation in Physical Movement; and Reimagining Transit for Blind Commuters View this email in your browser March 11, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES The pipeline of new drugs to combat superbugs remains “worryingly thin,” shrinking by 35% in the last five years from 92 to 60 medicines in development, per a new Access to Medicine Foundation report; the Netherlands-based researchers predict that annual deaths linked to drug-resistant infections globally will double to 8 million by 2050. The Guardian
  China will boost its science spending, with officials announcing that the country’s overall research and development expenditure will increase by ~7% over the next five years, and that this year’s science and technology budget will increase 10% over 2025’s budget—amounting to billions in new investments. Nature    The FDA has walked back claims made by U.S. President Donald Trump and other administration officials about the drug leucovorin’s effectiveness for autism; while the agency approved the generic medication for a rare brain folate deficiency this week, officials estimate the condition impacts fewer than one in a million people in the U.S. AP
  Psilocybin shows promise as a smoking cessation tool, per a new study published in JAMA Network Open, which found that participants who received one dose of the psychedelic had 6X+ greater odds of being abstinent from cigarettes after six months than counterparts who relied on a nicotine substitute. NPR  IN FOCUS A Chinese martial arts teacher demonstrates an exercise to students in Freetown at the Confucius Institute University of Sierra Leone. October 15, 2024. Saidu Bah BAH/AFP via Getty Solving the Global Stagnation in Physical Movement     Over the last two decades, governments worldwide have adopted policies promoting physical activity. But physical activity prevalence in most countries remains unchanged, finds a new study published in Nature Health.  

• 1 in 3 adults and 80% of adolescents still fail to meet the WHO physical activity guidelines of ~150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity weekly. 

• While 92% of countries have policies that address movement, inactivity rates have remained flat since 2012. 

Why so ineffective? Narrow policy and poor implementation are likely limiting impact, say researchers in a related Nature commentary.  

• Most policies approach movement through a metabolic and cardiovascular health lens, rather than demonstrating the wide, holistic scope of benefits—including mental health improvements, improved immunity, and cancer prevention.  

Major equality gaps: In high-income nations, 30%+ of total physical activity comes from “choice-based” leisure like sports; in low-income nations, just 10% of physical activity is choice-based, with the remaining 90% related to transport and occupational necessity, reports News Medical.     Needed actions: Physical activity policy should emphasize not just individual impact but population-level benefits, and should be prioritized in community sectors beyond health care—including education and transportation, researchers told Medical Xpress. 

• “Physical activity should be embedded in the way we design our cities, helping create communities where people want to live and move more,” said the study’s principal investigator Andrea Ramírez Varela. 

GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES ROAD SAFETY Reimagining Transit for Blind Commuters   For blind commuters in the U.S., everyday barriers remain all too common in public transit and walkways, even in major cities like New York, where 200,000+ people report vision loss or blindness.  

• Two-thirds of New York’s subways are not ADA-compliant, and 90% of the city’s 40,000 intersections still lack audible crossing signals. 

Designing for inclusion: Advocates say improvements like tactile paving, curb ramps, and subway station elevators are emerging—but such shifts are often catalyzed by lawsuits. 

• Still needed: Real-time audio updates and improved cell and Wi-Fi connectivity, including in tunnels, are critical for maintaining accessibility and safety.  

Global examples: Cities like Tokyo, Sydney, and Marburg, Germany, have all made major shifts in making public transit safer and wayfinding more tactile for blind commuters.     Bloomberg CityLab   OPPORTUNITY Attend the Hopkins India Conference in DC   Hosted by the Gupta-Klinsky India Institute at Johns Hopkins University, the Hopkins India Conference will take place on April 1, 2026, at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Center in Washington, D.C. Under the theme Ideas, Innovation & Impact for a Shared Future, the conference brings together leaders from government, industry, academia, and civil society to explore India–U.S. collaboration across technology, health, education, and the global economy.     This year’s confirmed speakers include: 

• Namgya C. Khampa: Chargé d’Affaires and Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India in the U.S.
• Sunil Wadhwani: Cofounder and CEO, Mastech Inc. and IGATE
• Seema Chaturvedi: Founder and Managing Partner, Achieving Women Equity Funds 

  Learn more about the conference and register   QUICK HITS Ethiopia’s blame game after videos reveal starving displaced people in Tigray – The New Humanitarian    Seeking Abortion Care Across State Lines After the Dobbs Decision – JAMA Network Open     RFK Jr.’s vaccine advisers drop proposal to revisit covid-19 shot – The Washington Post (gift link)    Recent pandemic viruses, including SAR-CoV-2, spread directly to people without adaptation, researchers say – CIDRAP    Prison sentences for pair who attacked gay men hailed as sign of hope for Kenya’s LGBTQ+ community – The Guardian    Keep calm and be transparent: advice from scientists who retracted their papers – Nature    These diseases were thought to be incurable. Now AI is unlocking new treatments – BBC    Could acne be prevented with a vaccine? – Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance  Issue No. 2878
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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96 Global Health NOW: Iran Attacks’ Dangerous Fallout; and India Launches Pivotal HPV Vaccine Drive View this email in your browser March 10, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES Thousands of Black kidney transplant candidates in the U.S. got moved up on the transplant waiting list as part of an effort to help correct for an earlier race-based formula used to test kidney function—which made their kidneys appear healthier than they were, delaying transplant referral; that test was discontinued in 2022. AP
  Taking a daily multivitamin can slow some signs of biological aging; in older adults in a Nature Medicine study who took the daily supplement for two years certain biomakers of aging were slowed by around four months, compared with those who did not; the effect was greater in people who were already biologically older than their years. Nature
  The U.S. FDA signaled openness yesterday to considering e-cigarettes in flavors deemed appealing to adults, such as mint, coffees, teas, and spices—but would continue to reject fruit- and candy-flavored versions thought to be more appealing to teenagers that continue to flood the market. The New York Times (gift link)
  Stimulant prescriptions—mostly to treat ADHD—doubled among adults in Ontario since the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to a new study published in CMAJ; the findings may reflect improved recognition and treatment of adult ADHD, but the authors suggest more research to understand the causes and potential impacts of the rapid rise. CIDRAP IN FOCUS Smoke and flames rise at the site of airstrikes on an oil depot on March 7, in Tehran. Sasan/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Iran Attacks’ Dangerous Fallout
     Thousands of people killed or wounded, toxic rain, damaged water infrastructure, and regional instability have followed attacks by U.S. and Israel on Iran.     Casualties: At least 1,255 people—including 200 children and 11 health care workers—have been killed, Iran's deputy health minister Ali Jafarian told Al Jazeera yesterday.  

• 12,000+ people have been wounded—the majority of which are burn and crush injuries. 

Toxic rain: Israel’s bombardment of oil facilities has caused “a major environmental incident,” per the Conflict and Environment Observatory.   

• Black smoke billowed from Tehran facilities, posing “serious acute and long-term health concerns” for Tehran’s 9 million+ people. 

• Oil-heavy, toxic rain later fell on the city, NBC reports.   

Water war: Two desalination plants—one in Iran and the other in Bahrain—have been bombed, sparking concerns of more attacks on the region’s essential water facilities, per The New York Times (gift link).  

• The Iranian desalination plant provided water for 30 villages, said an Iranian official. 

• Much of the country has already endured a years-long drought—last year’s rainfall was nearly half the normal amount. 

Regional crisis: 700,000+ people—including 200,000 children—in Lebanon have been forced to leave their homes, according to UN News, as food insecurity and food prices increase in the region.     Related: 
U.S. Tomahawk Hit Naval Base Beside Iranian School, Video Shows – The New York Times (gift link)       Lebanon: Israel Unlawfully Using White Phosphorus – Human Rights Watch   GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES CERVICAL CANCER India Launches Pivotal HPV Vaccine Drive
    India has launched the world’s largest free HPV vaccination campaign, offering shots to ~11.5 million 14-year-old girls each year in an effort to prevent cervical cancer, reports The Telegraph.     Meeting a high burden: India accounts for roughly a quarter of global cervical cancer cases, reporting ~130,000 new cases and ~80,000 deaths each year from the disease.  

• The country has also historically had some of the lowest rates of HPV vaccination coverage in the world.  

Details: The campaign, which has been rolled out this month, will mostly use a single dose of Gardasil, per NDTV.    Thanks for the tip, Mira Johri!    OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS ‘Extraordinary cruelty’: images show longterm ‘starvation strategy’ in Sudan – The Guardian     Federal autism advisory board cancels first public meeting since overhaul – STAT    What Congress Doesn't Want to Hear About the Chemicals in Your Child's Body – Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health    Women in Leadership: Global Health's Missing Dose – Think Global Health (commentary)    A U.S. scholarship thrills a teacher in India. Then came the soul-crushing questions – NPR (commentary)  Issue No. 2877
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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96 Global Health NOW: How Political Messaging Rapidly Reshapes Care; and China’s Push for a ‘Childbirth-friendly’ Culture View this email in your browser March 9, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES At least 13 hospitals and health sites have been hit during the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran, per the WHO, and evacuation orders have forced health facility closures in Lebanon; the WHO’s logistics hub for global health emergencies in Dubai has also paused operations, threatening emergency supply requests to 25 countries and Gaza. The Guardian    A landmark human rights ruling has ordered Peru to pay reparations for the 1997 death of an Indigenous woman who died while undergoing forced, government-ordered sterilization; the Inter-American Court of Human Rights judgment is the first to address the policy, which systematically targeted impoverished and Indigenous women in the 1990s. AP    UK women experiencing miscarriage often face further trauma and distress due to inadequate follow-up care, per a new report by the UK’s Miscarriage Association, which found that ~65% of 1,000+ women reported insufficient follow-up care and that ~42% of those who sought mental health support did not receive it. The Independent 

Top U.S. FDA vaccine regulator Vinay Prasad will leave the agency at the end of April; his departure follows controversial decisions including declining to review Moderna’s new mRNA flu vaccine application (a decision that was later reversed) and rejecting approvals for multiple rare disease drugs. Axios  IN FOCUS Pills spill out of an open bottle of Tylenol brand pain reliever medication, in New York City, on November 3, 2025. Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty How Political Messaging Rapidly Reshapes Care    In the weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump claimed that Tylenol causes autism, emergency room prescriptions of the medication to pregnant women dropped ~10%, finds new research published in The Lancet—a reflection of how swiftly political messaging can influence health behaviors, reports the AP.    The statement: At a September 2025 White House briefing, Trump warned pregnant women against taking Tylenol, generically known as acetaminophen and paracetamol, claiming it could cause autism—over physician recommendations and widespread scientific consensus that there is no causal link.  

• He also touted leucovorin as a promising autism treatment for children, despite no new supporting evidence. 

The study: An analysis of hospital electronic health records found that acetaminophen orders in emergency departments for pregnant women plunged quickly, reaching a ~20% decrease in the third week after the briefing, reports CIDRAP. Use in non-pregnant women did not change.  

• Prescriptions returned to earlier levels by December, but scientists say the research does not account for cold and flu season, or reflect the rates of acetaminophen taken at home, reports The New York Times (gift link). 

The bigger picture: The findings show “just how much political leaders can steer health behavior even when there has been no change in the evidence for these therapies,” said coauthor Michael Barnett in a Brown University news release.     Impact on children’s prescribing: Meanwhile, outpatient leucovorin prescriptions for children spiked ~71% after Trump’s statements, despite limited evidence that it helps most autistic children—further demonstrating how “political messages are driving and impacting care,” pediatrician Susan Sirota told the AP.   GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES POPULATIONS China’s Push for a ‘Childbirth-Friendly’ Culture    Chinese authorities have released a five-year plan to cultivate a “childbirth-friendly society” in an effort to boost the country’s falling population rate.    Background: China’s population contracted for a fourth consecutive year in 2025 as the birth rate plunged to a record low, per data released in January.     Policies include: Improved reproductive health services, housing support for families with children, and improved policies on free preschool education.      Plus: Preparing for a “silver economy”: Officials also acknowledged an urgent need for policies that meet the needs of a rapidly aging population, as the number of people ages 60+ is poised to reach 400 million by 2035.  

• Priorities include increasing medical care services, plus “refining the social security system.”  

Reuters via The Straits Times  SPONSORED Train Here. Change the World.    Fast-track your education with the Summer Institutes at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Choose from over 125 credit or noncredit courses in public health to gain experience and get ahead. Built for busy schedules, classes range from a single day to a few weeks and can be taken on-campus or online.

• Learn more and register for courses 

QUICK HITS Measles patients in Utah are developing severe complications, including anemia and liver inflammation, health officials say – NBC    Can a “Living Drug” Cure Autoimmune Diseases? – The New Yorker    Cancer patients ditch NHS for private chemotherapy – The Telegraph    Monopolies like Nestlé Used COVID to Discredit Breast Milk: Study – Mexico Solidarity    The surprising way breast cancer screenings could reveal heart disease – The Washington Post (gift link)    Dozens advocate for academic research amid funding cuts at UNC rally – Raleigh News & Observer    Reconnecting with culture through innovative Indian Health Service programming – ICT/ IndiJ Public Media Thanks for the tip, Cecilia Meisner!    Jarring alarms out, quieter alerts in. New firehouse dispatch systems aim to ease stress – AP Issue No. 2876
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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96 Global Health NOW: The Addiction-Fighting Promise of GLP-1s; and Punished for Pregnancy Loss in El Salvador Plus: Just a Little R & R.I.P. View this email in your browser March 5, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES Chile has eliminated leprosy—the first country in the Americas to do so and the second globally; WHO and PAHO verified the achievement after the country reached 30+ years without a locally acquired case, the result of decades of surveillance, early detection, treatment, and monitoring. WHO    Cuts to RNA vaccine research threaten to stall three decades of high-stakes scientific research into infectious diseases, cancer, and vaccine development, per a cross-sectional study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open, which found that RNA technology had the potential to “impact virtually every aspect of human health.” CIDRAP    Breast cancer cases worldwide among women are expected to reach ~3.56 million by 2050, up from ~2.30 million cases in 2023, finds a new statistical analysis, which projected that the mounting burden will disproportionately affect “the world's most vulnerable populations” and “will further exacerbate health inequalities across the globe without decisive immediate action.” The Lancet Oncology    Global sea levels could be far higher than previously understood, as inaccurate modeling has led to the levels being underestimated, finds new research published in Nature that could “significantly” affect current and future assessments of climate change on coastal communities. The Guardian  IN FOCUS Basak Gurbuz Derman/Getty Images The Addiction-Fighting Promise of GLP-1s    A large new study adds to building evidence that GLP-1s could be a powerful tool in curbing and even preventing addiction to a wide range of substances, offering new insights and new hope in the field of addiction treatment, reports NBC News.    Details: The study, published in the BMJ, followed 600,000+ U.S. veterans with type 2 diabetes, and compared the impact of GLP-1 drugs to another diabetes treatment.    Strong risk reductions: Those with existing substance-use disorders who took the GLP-1s saw the following outcomes, per Scientific American: 

• 31% fewer ER visits 

• 26% fewer hospitalizations 

• 39% fewer overdoses 

• 25% fewer suicide attempts 

• 50% fewer drug-related deaths 

Meanwhile, GLP-1 users without prior addiction showed a 14% lower risk of developing substance use disorders to alcohol, nicotine, cannabis, cocaine, and opioids.    Across-the-board-impact: The GLP-1 drugs had a consistent effect across a range of substance types, suggesting a future clinical approach to addiction's root causes. 

• “[Existing] treatments have been targeting substances one at a time, when the right target was craving, the engine that drives addiction across substances,” wrote lead study author Ziyad Al-Aly in a STAT commentary.  

Growing insight: Researchers believe GLP-1s quiet ‘drug noise’ by acting on brain reward and impulse control circuits—similar to quelling food cravings when treating obesity.  

• Or in the words of one Rhode Island mother who was able to reach sobriety from alcohol with the help of a separate pilot program that used GLP-1s: “I could walk past those bottles and not care,” she told WBUR’s Here & Now. 

Next steps: While scientists say the findings are groundbreaking, they emphasize that randomized trials are still needed before GLP-1 drugs can be recommended as standard addiction treatments, reports Science. GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS Punished for Pregnancy Loss in El Salvador    After years of slow but sustained progress freeing women jailed under El Salvador’s total abortion ban, advocates warn that President Nayib Bukele’s suspension of due process is leading to renewed criminalization of pregnancy loss.    Background: El Salvador has long had one of the world’s harshest anti-abortion laws, with women facing criminal suspicion and even arrest for obstetric emergencies including miscarriages and stillbirths.  

• Still, steady advocacy between 2009–2023 led to the release of 81 women imprisoned for abortion-related charges. 

Renewed crackdown: Starting in 2022, Bukele suspended a range of civil liberties in an emergency declaration known as the “state of exception” to combat gang violence.  

• Since then, ~29 women have faced prosecution following miscarriages or obstetric emergencies—“a new spiral of criminalization against women,” said advocate Morena Herrera.  

The Guardian  OPPORTUNITY Global Mental Health Speaker Series: “Who is the Provider?” 
Mental health care is delivered in many ways and by many people across diverse settings around the world. The 2026 Virtual Speaker Series from the Johns Hopkins Center for Global Mental Health convenes practitioners, researchers, policymakers, and community leaders to explore a central question: Who provides mental health support, and in what contexts?    Lara Gregorio, LCSW, of 4C Mental Health kicks off the monthly virtual series on March 11, 2026. Subsequent sessions will feature speakers from around the world, including Kenya’s Kenyatta National Hospital, Utrecht University, the University of Zimbabwe, King’s College London, and more.  

• Held via Zoom the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 9 a.m. ET 

• Learn more and register 

CORRECTION Capital A-Minus 
Michael Bourgon brought us so much joy with his side-splitting account of a turkey face-off last week. And how did we thank him? By misspelling his home city. Canada's capital, no less. It’s Ottawa, of course—not Ottowa. We regret the error. Please don’t send the turkeys after us.—The Editors  ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION Just a Little R & R.I.P. 
It can be hard to get certain workaholic types to chill out. Spas and meditation retreats just don’t always cut it for the “I’ll-rest-when-I’m-dead” set.     But a coffin just might do the trick!     A Japanese wellness trend promotes reclining in a coffin as a way to put things in perspective, reports The Times. (Such perspective can be gained via closed-or open-lidded casket options.)     In this case, the box is not a final resting place: A typical 30-minute coffin-lying stint (which can cost ~2,000 yen, or $12–$13 USD) offers just enough time “to gaze at life through being conscious of death,” explains designer and custom coffin-maker Mikako Fuse.    Immortalize your memento mori: “Cute coffins” are bedecked with Instagrammable designs including ginghams and florals, reports Vice. It's all part of making existential dread, the inevitability of mortality, and the staring into oblivion ...“bright and not so scary."  QUICK HITS Scientists create autism panel, citing RFK Jr.’s politicization of research – The Washington Post (gift link)   Emergency supplies for nuclear or chemical attack distributed across Middle East, says WHO – The Telegraph    Sudan Declared 'Cholera Free' Amid Rise in Dengue, Malaria, Measles – Dabanga via AllAfrica    Study warns of underrecognized Lassa fever threat with global implications – UNC Health via Medical Xpress    Navigating conversations with children about war, conflict and other traumatic events – AP Issue No. 2875
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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96 Global Health NOW: Stemming the Tide of Stigma; and An Aid Vacuum Leading to Violence View this email in your browser March 4, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES The UN issued an urgent call for the protection of civilians amid the Israeli and U.S. airstrikes against Iran, which are displacing thousands and disrupting humanitarian services as violence and instability spreads through the Middle East; UN officials also called for a “prompt, impartial and thorough investigation” into the Saturday airstrike that hit a Minab school, killing dozens—many children—and injuring dozens more. UN News    26 Médecins Sans Frontières staffers remain unaccounted for a month after two of the organization’s medical facilities in South Sudan’s Jonglei State were attacked, per an MSF statement that said the staff fled with much of the local population into rural regions with limited communication connectivity amid ongoing violence. The Independent 
A breakthrough shipment of 11 routine vaccines to South Sudan’s South Kordofan state will “restore lifesaving immunization services” to communities cut off from vaccine deliveries since July 2023 because of conflict and siege; the two truckloads of supplies include shots for TB, polio, and measles, and the pentavalent vaccine. Save the Children 
  U.S. maternal deaths dropped in 2024, per a new CDC analysis that found that 649 mothers died in 2024 during pregnancy or shortly after giving birth, compared to 669 in 2023—a continued decline from a COVID-19 era spike; the report also found the Black maternal death rate was 3X+ that of the white and Hispanic rates. AP  IN FOCUS Stemming the Tide of Stigma    The health impacts of stigma on people with mental illness can be severe—including delays in seeking treatment, lower-quality care, and reduced rates of recovery.     A push for policy: Such impacts are why stigma reduction must play a critical role not just in grassroots advocacy but in national health policy, say Danish health authorities, who adopted a sustained anti-stigma initiative in 2021, reports The New York Times (gift link). 

• “Stigma has such an effect that people do not seek psychiatric services,” said Niels Sandø, the former director of prevention and inequity at the Danish Health Authority, who explained that to strengthen overall treatment, “we have to do something about the stigmatization.” 

What Denmark’s anti-stigma program looks like: Denmark’s “One of Us” program recruits people with lived experience of mental illness to serve as trained “ambassadors” who share their stories with professionals in hospitals, schools, and police settings—key places where people with mental health illness can encounter help or further harm.     Early impact: Initial evaluations suggest that after meeting the ambassadors, 98% of Danish health workers feel more equipped to meet and care for patients with mental disorders, and 89% said they expected to change their behavior to be less stigmatizing.  

• Such policy-based priorities resonate with a key message of 2022 Lancet Commission guidance: “We cannot change the status quo on mental health without tackling stigma and discrimination.” 

GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES VIOLENCE  An Aid Vacuum Leading to Violence
The abrupt closure of U.S.-funded youth programs in Colombia’s Chocó province last year has left thousands of at-risk young people without a stable source of community, leading gangs to fill that role.     Background: Violence prevention programs like Youth Resilience and Black Boys Chocó once provided mentoring, leadership training, and social activities like dance to thousands of young people, helping to keep them out of gangs.  

• But in the months since USAID funds ceased, those initiatives have struggled to stay afloat.  

Gangs fill the void: Meanwhile, armed groups now run their own social activities and offer jobs in illegal mining and drug economies, drawing many youths back toward gangs and unraveling years of prevention work, advocates say.    Devex OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS A new single-pill treatment for HIV shows promising results – NPR 
Delays in awards and funding calls worry NIH-funded researchers – Science    Leana S. Wen: The CDC is in chaos. But here’s where it’s devastating. – The Washington Post (commentary)    How Kennedy Is Trying to Revamp Medical School – The New York Times (gift link)     Investigation finds ‘secretly’ added chemicals of unknown safety in US food supply – CNN    Syngenta says it will stop making pesticide linked to Parkinson’s disease – The Guardian    Climate shocks, not just warming, threaten malaria control efforts in Africa – Nature    Why Is America Fixated on Protein? – Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Issue No. 2874
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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Clashes along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border have continued for a seventh straight day, with humanitarian access to affected areas still restricted, the UN said on Wednesday.

96 Global Health NOW: India’s ‘Blood Deserts’; and A ‘Game Changer’ for Sleeping Sickness View this email in your browser March 3, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES U.S. health officials asked to postpone a PAHO-convened panel to review the U.S. measles elimination status, originally set for April, until November—after the midterm elections; the Health and Human Services Department said it needs more time to analyze its measles data. The New York Times (gift link)
  The malaria vaccine is reducing hospitalizations and deaths of children in northwestern Nigeria, state health workers say, with hospital cases declining up to 50% a year after the malaria vaccine was added to the routine immunization schedule in Nigeria’s Kebbi State; 200,000+ children have received at least a first dose. Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance
  A UN drug alert blocked a shipment of chemicals that could have produced ~1.4 to 3.3 tons of fentanyl—up to 1.6 billion potentially lethal doses; the UN International Narcotics Control Board released news of the March 2025 seizure as an “international success story” to demonstrate the importance of the early warning system. UN Wire
  Consumer Reports found heavy metals in more than half of infant formulas it tested in the U.S.—despite an FDA pledge to tighten oversight; 26 of 49 formulas contained inorganic arsenic at or above CR's level of concern; more than a quarter of the products tested revealed PFAS, “forever chemicals,” and three exceeded CR’s lead level of concern, though CR stressed none of the levels were high enough to cause immediate harm. Axios  IN FOCUS Employees of a private company donating blood in a LG Mega Blood Donation Camp. March 27, 2025, Noida, India. Sunil Ghosh/Hindustan Times via Getty India’s ‘Blood Deserts’    Families of patients needing donated blood in India routinely post desperate pleas on social media because the blood system in states like Jharkhand lacks sufficient supplies, per an IndiaSpend investigation. 

• Large parts of India are considered “blood deserts” where local timely, affordable demand goes unmet in at least 75% of transfusion cases.  

• Patients with the inherited blood disorder thalassemia require frequent blood transfusions, so unreliable blood supplies can make tracking down the correct blood group an ordeal for each procedure.   

Shortfall: While the government claims that 70% of blood donation is voluntary, critics say it falls far short of that goal. (Voluntarily donated blood to blood banks is less likely to transmit disease than replacement blood given by relatives or others.) 
Unreliable blood testing: Even when donor blood is obtained, procedures for testing the blood for HIV and other pathogens aren’t always followed. 

• Three members of a Jharkhand family were infected with HIV in January after the mother received a blood transfusion during labor, according to the Indian Express. 

Blood donation rate: Though India’s blood donation rate is twice the average of lower middle-income countries, it’s less than a third of that of high-income countries, IndiaSpend reports in a second article.  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES NEGLECTED DISEASES A ‘Game Changer’ for Sleeping Sickness  
A new treatment for sleeping sickness is being heralded as “truly spectacular”—and a potential key toward eliminating the parasitic disease by 2030, reports Science.   The disease is spread through bites of tsetse flies in sub-Saharan Africa and dramatically impacts the nervous system. It is almost always fatal if left untreated.     The new drug acoziborole—a one-dose, three-pill treatment for sleeping sickness made by Sanofi—received endorsement from the European Medicines Agency last week, paving the way for approval across Africa, reports the AP.     What makes it different:  

• The pill treats both mild and severe cases, eliminating invasive diagnostics that can include spinal taps. 

• It is one dose and easily transportable to remote regions. 

• And it is effective: A study found that 95%+ of treated patients were cured after 18 months.  

“It’s a game changer,” said Wilfried Mutombo, a sleeping sickness expert leading the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative’s clinical operations in West and Central Africa.  OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Threat of Child Malnutrition in Iran Amid U.S.-Iran Conflict – Hunger Notes

US Speeds up Signing of Bilateral Health Agreements, DRC Lawyers Challenge Minerals Deal – Health Policy Watch    Acting CDC director Bhattacharya urges measles vaccines – The Hill     Egyptian Women Are Still Being Asked to Prove Their Virginity – More to Her Story (commentary)    States Move to Limit Access to H.I.V. Treatment – The New York Times (gift link)    Malawi bans dual jobs for health workers – DW (audio)     Made-in-America Guns Are Fueling Death and Destruction in Mexico – The Intercept    Will the next World Food Programme chief answer to Trump? – The New Humanitarian    Should tick safety be as popular as 'slip, slop, slap'? – ABC Australia  Issue No. 2873
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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Pre-teens who struggle to control their video gaming habits are more likely to have psychotic-like experiences a year later, a new study has found.

McGill University researchers and colleagues at Maastricht University found that 12-year-olds who showed signs of problematic gaming were more likely to experience mild paranoia, unusual beliefs or disturbed perceptions at age 13.

96 Global Health NOW: Warnings of Human Toll as Middle East Conflict Widens; and High-Impact, Home-Based Prevention View this email in your browser March 2, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces deliberately targeted and killed people with disabilities during and after the takeover of El Fasher last October, per a Human Rights Watch report published last week drawing on interviews with 22 survivors and witnesses. The New Humanitarian 
Both the DRC and Guinea have forged health cooperation agreements with the U.S.—the latest of several bilateral deals the U.S. has made in Africa after dismantling its former USAID health funding last year; Guinea’s agreement totals ~$143 million in funding over the next five years, per Reuters via Yahoo!, and the DRC’s agreement totals $1.2 billion through 2030, per Devidiscourse.    Spain reported a possible infection with the swine flu virus—the A(H1N1)v variant—that may have been transmitted between humans, but a Catalonia region health official said the risk of transmission to other people was very low; the WHO is conducting additional tests to confirm the diagnosis and rule out contamination or external interference. Reuters via Yahoo!    Meningococcal B vaccine is not effective at preventing gonorrhea infection in high-risk groups, per the results of a randomized controlled trial presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Infections last week ; the findings show that gonorrhea incidence among gay and bisexual men with a history of gonorrhea infection was essentially the same whether they received the vaccine or a placebo. CIDRAP  IN FOCUS Severe damage is seen at Gandi Hospital, in northern Tehran, following U.S. and Israeli joint strikes on the Iranian capital, on March 2. Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Warnings of Human Toll as Middle East Conflict Widens
   As conflict spreads rapidly across the Middle East following joint U.S.-Israel strikes across Iran this weekend, global leaders are warning against escalating humanitarian impacts throughout the region—including attacks on health care and other civilian institutions:     “Health facilities are protected under international humanitarian law,” asserted WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in response to “extremely worrying” reports that Tehran's Gandhi Hospital was struck during bombardment, per NDTV's report—details that WHO leaders were still working to verify today.  

• In Israel, health care facilities have moved operations underground and to other protected spaces, reports the Times of Israel.  

Humanitarian groups are investigating reports of a strike on a primary school in Minab in southern Iran, after Iranian authorities reported ~150 killed, per France24; U.S. and Israeli leaders have not confirmed the attack.  

• UNESCO has decried such a strike as “a grave violation of humanitarian law.” 

Meanwhile, UN leaders called for immediate de-escalation, per UN News, as ongoing fallout could lead to “destruction on a potentially unimaginable scale ... across the Middle East region,” warned Volker Türk, the High Commissioner for Human Rights: 

• “As always, in any armed conflict, it is civilians who end up paying the ultimate price,” said Türk. 

GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES HIV/AIDS High-Impact, Home-Based Prevention    New HIV infections can be dramatically reduced through targeted, home-based care, finds a large-scale study out of Kenya and Uganda, which saw new infection rates cut 70%.     Details: The Sustainable East Africa Research in Community Health (SEARCH) study involved ~80,000 people across 16 communities with 8–16% HIV prevalence, all located in rural regions where access to clinics was difficult.  

• ~500 community health workers delivered tests and PrEP/PEP drugs directly to homes and coordinated follow-up care via smartphone apps. 

• Overall, the intervention led to a 4X increase in use of anti-HIV drugs in people who were not infected with the virus.   

Future impact: Utilizing the “community precision health” model plus the adoption of long-acting injectables could push incidence near zero, researchers say.     Science    Related: Kenya to offer patients free six-month HIV 'breakthrough' prevention jab – RFI  DATA POINT

1,100+
————
US measles cases so far in 2026, per the CDC—with a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Outbreak Response Innovation tracker placing the number of confirmed cases at 1,153 since January 1.—CNN

Related: Measles outbreaks are costing the U.S. millions of dollars. The true losses can't be counted. – NBC LETTER TO THE EDITOR Correcting the Story on Australia’s Cigarette Taxes     Regarding the February 17 GHN summary on a New York Times article (gift link) highlighting the recent increase in illicit cigarettes in Australia, the newspaper missed crucial parts of this important story. As noted, when cigarette taxes and prices increase dramatically, some smokers may shift to illicit cigarettes.      However, experiences in other countries including the U.K. and Montenegro demonstrate that straightforward measures to secure the supply chain mitigate the illegal market. In the U.K., prices are comparable to Australia’s, but illicit trade is a manageable ~10%. They did this through strong policies including registering vendors who are adequately punished for tax violations; placing their customs officials in source countries through mutual agreements; and developing a tracking and tracing system for all tobacco products that permits tax authorities to know precisely where products are.      Australia, however, has done little along these lines, which is their real challenge. Contrary to this reporting, higher taxes are not the central problem but rather a proven public health success.     Jeffrey Drope, PhD  QUICK HITS White House stalls release of approved US science budgets – Nature     More Parents Say 'No' to Vitamin K Shots for Newborns – MedPage Today    Why new doctors aren't specializing in infectious diseases – Axios

Families Defend Disability Services Amid Medicaid Cuts – KFF Health News

Ivermectin is making a post-pandemic comeback, among cancer patients – NPR     Why We Vaccinate Our Dogs and Cats – Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health   Issue No. 2872
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 2026 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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UN human rights chief Volker Türk warned on Friday that the Epstein and Gisèle Pellicot scandals are an illustration of intensifying threats to women and girls forced to suffer in silence.

Part of the largest CIHR-led cancer prevention investment, McGill researchers will develop approaches to reduce cancer risk and improve early detection 

96 McGill Perspectives on Global Health: February 2026 Issue February 2026 View this email in your browser 
NEWSLETTER

This February, 

We are highlighting some recently published articles on the blog:

🔹 Loss of Measles Elimination Status in Canada
🔹 Still Here: How Colonialism Keeps TB Around 
🔹 Malignancy in Academia: An Editorial on the Academic Hidden Curriculum of Dysfunction
🔹 Sex Ed in the U.S. is Under Assault - Our Health, Rights and Relationships Are at Stake
🔹 The Indigenous Health Centre of Tiohtià:ke: A Necessity, not a Luxury
🔹 In Conversation with La Maison Bleue

Not to mention...
🔹 Spotlight Awards are Open! Winter 2025 Call for Health Experiences IS OPEN! Apply today!

Thank you for being part of our community. Enjoy the read! 💙✨

-->  Selected Articles for this Month  Loss of Measles Elimination Status in Canada “Still, the anxiety around this outbreak is not mere frustration at a disease we thought we buried. It is a troubling hint of the vaccine-resistant future that may be waiting ahead." - Author: Becca Winkelaar --> Still Here: How Colonialism Keeps TB Around "The historical trajectory of TB in Canada, particularly its disproportionate impact on Indigenous populations, serves as a poignant illustration of [...] social determinants at play."
- Author: Hillary Wright --> Malignancy in Academia: An Editorial on the Academic Hidden Curriculum of Dysfunction “Academia is often idealized as a space of growth, curiosity, and knowledge creation. But glossy mission statements and institutional pride often mask a more uncomfortable reality: a silent curriculum of power, inequity, and waste (1). From medical school in Egypt, graduate training in Canada, and through the professional experiences, I have witnessed systems that differ in form but share common dysfunction. I have made mistakes. I remained silent, learned, and watched many others quietly endure the same.”
 - Author: Moustafa Laymouna --> Sex Ed in the U.S. is Under Assault - Our Health, Rights, and Relationships Are at Stake “Sex education in America has long shifted with each administration, its content dictated by politics rather than public health. Federal funding priorities and Department of Education guidelines now serve as partisan tools in a culture war over our bodies and identities. But political ideology should not determine our right to accurate, life-saving information."
 - Authors: Maya Ueoku, Lila Aspin, Aleeyaa Alam --> The Indigenous Health Centre of Tiohtià:ke: A Necessity, not a Luxury "In spotlight is the Indigenous Health Centre of Tiohtià:ke (IHCT), a community health centre that provides necessary care to First Nations, Inuit, and Métis in the Montréal area and to those visiting the area. Approaching its 10th anniversary, the clinic is a celebration of hard work, determination, and compassion – removing barriers, delivering culturally sensitive care, and doing so with no charge to its clientele."
 - Author: Hillary Wright --> In Conversation with La Maison Bleue "Last semester, I had the privilege of volunteering at La Maison Bleue (LMB), a social perinatal organization with five branches across Montreal. LMB works with at-risk pregnant women and families, with a mission to reduce social inequalities and promote optimal child development. During my time there, I saw this mission come to life: children meeting with psychoeducators to assess their learning development, mothers attending workshops on Canada’s immigration process, and families bonding in the waiting room. The organization does more than just provide healthcare and social services; it fosters a community, oftentimes for people who might otherwise lack one." 
- Author: Bridget Li -->  In the Spotlight
  This month, we wanted to highlight a recently published piece by Juwel Rana, former Editor-in-Chief of the McGill Global Health Journal Long-term exposure to fine particulate matter and diabetes in Bangladeshi adults: Can clean air targets curb the rising diabetes burden? In a nationally representative 2022 study of Bangladeshi adults, higher long-term exposure to PM2.5 was associated with increased diabetes risk, with cleaner air targets potentially reducing national diabetes prevalence by up to 7.5%.    Click on the link to read more! -->  Share your Perspective on Global Health
  We are excited to announce our Winter 2026 Call for Papers in the following area:

• Health Experiences

The Health Experiences theme includes and is not limited to personal experiences with healthcare, illness, or an impactful clinical rotation you completed during your studies.

We encourage writers to explore creative aspects of this theme. For example, how do cultural practices or the arts allow us to better understand the illness experience and personalize the care people receive?  What are creative solutions to public health challenges?  

 Click here for submission guidelines.

You can submit your article, photo essay or article pitch to us by emailing us at: globalhealthblog@mcgill.ca. --> Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest information and experiences in global health! Subscribe Follow us on social media  --> Copyright © 2017 McGill Global Health Programs, All rights reserved.

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96 Global Health NOW: Somalia’s Severe Food Insecurity; How Dentists are Driving Antibiotic Overuse Plus: Let’s Talk Turkey … Attacks View this email in your browser February 26, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES ~$900 million in U.S. funds designated for two public health emergency preparedness programs lack coordinated oversight, finds a new Government Accountability Office report, with the two HHS programs—the Public Health Emergency Preparedness program and the Hospital Preparedness Program—both failing to adequately track state and local emergency readiness. CIDRAP     Assisted dying legislation has passed in Jersey, making it the second British Isles region to pass such a statute following the Isle of Man; however, advocates warn that the law’s enactment could be slowed due to delays in the final approval process known as royal assent. The Independent     A “cocktail” of plastic particles and chemicals has been identified in microwavable meals, finds a paper by Greenpeace International that analyzed 24 recent scientific studies on such products. Euronews   Hundreds of international scientists could face increasing restrictions from the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology, with 3-year work limits, reduced access to labs, and some scientists from certain countries potentially losing all access as a part of proposed new rules. Science  IN FOCUS A man and children eat together at a camp as people receive food aid packages in Mogadishu, Somalia, February 25. Halil Ibrahim Sincar/Anadolu via Getty Images Somalia’s Severe Food Insecurity
The number of Somalis facing acute food insecurity has nearly doubled since last year, impacting a “staggering” 6.5 million people, as deepening drought, ongoing conflict, exorbitant food prices, and reduced aid all lead to deteriorating conditions, reports UN News. 

• And drought conditions are expected to remain “dire” through the spring, triggering further hunger across southern, central, and parts of northern Somalia—taking a particular toll on farming families, pastoralists, and people who are displaced, per the new IPC monitoring report. 

Children at extreme risk: 1.8+ million children under five are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition this year, including ~483,000 experiencing severe wasting—the deadliest form of malnutrition.     Flagging aid: The crisis has been further compounded by a drop in humanitarian assistance, with food aid reaching only 17% of the 4.8 million people in need in January 2026, reports Anadolu Ajansı. 

• Since aid cuts last year, there has been a “significant reduction in the availability of nutrition treatment services,” including preventive treatment, supplemental feeding and therapeutic clinics, and early detection and referral services for children.  

Call for intervention: The IPC is calling for an urgent influx of food aid and WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) assistance to high-risk “hotspot” areas. GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES INFECTIOUS DISEASES How Dentists are Driving Antibiotic Overuse  
U.S. dentists are prescribing antibiotics at increasing rates, contributing to rising antimicrobial resistance, while failing to install systems to prevent overuse, reports CIDRAP in its investigative series, “Antibiotic Aftershocks.”     By the numbers: Dentists issued 27 million+ antibiotic prescriptions in 2025—a 6% increase since 2020.  

• 80% of antibiotic prescriptions in dentistry are unnecessary, finds one 2019 study.  

Climbing clindamycin usage: The increase includes 2.3 million prescriptions for clindamycin, a high-risk drug with a link to deadly C. difficile infections, per one of CIDRAP’s reports.  

• Clindamycin ranks as the second-most prescribed dental antibiotic despite experts’ calls to minimize it. 

Siloed stewardship: While hospitals and health systems have adopted mandatory antibiotic stewardship programs, private dental offices lack similar oversight, shared patient records, or incentives to curb misuse.    Related:
  Curbing overuse of dental antibiotics proves daunting – CIDRAP    How to avoid inappropriate dental antibiotics – CIDRAP OPPORTUNITY Nominations Open for Fries Awards for Health
Do you know someone who has achieved a major accomplishment in health? Nominate them for the CDC Foundation’s Fries Awards for Health.

• The Fries Prize for Improving Health, a $100,000 prize, is awarded to an individual who has made major accomplishments in health improvement, with emphasis on recent contributions to health, and with the general criteria of the greatest good for the greatest number of people.

• The Elizabeth Fries Health Education Award, a $50,000 prize, recognizes a practitioner or scholar who has made a substantial contribution to advancing the field of health education or health promotion through research, program development, or program delivery.   

Nominations are open until April 4, 2026! 

• Learn how to submit a nomination  

• Learn more about the CDC Foundation Fries Awards for Health 

ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION Let’s Talk Turkey … Attacks 
When Ottowa lab tech Michael Bourgon encountered two brazen birds on his walk home from work last week, he tried to be cordial.  

“Hey, what’s up turkeys?” he greeted. 

But they had come for blood, aggressively following Bourgon and giving him “the business,” he told CBC’s Ottowa Morning. As they pecked around his ankles, he quickly realized: “Whatever this is, I don’t want it.”  

His next thought: “Please don’t let me be the guy who goes viral for kicking a turkey in the face.” Instead, he gently kicked snow around the birds, which only provoked them further.  

Then, a stunning rescue.  

“Hey, hop in!” a perfect stranger called from a white SUV, despite Bourgon looking—self-described—“like the Unabomber.” 

We know all this thanks to another hero: Quick-thinking passerby Jody Paul knew “a naturally funny situation” when he saw one, and captured the must-watch video.  

But it didn’t stop there. Bourgon still had to face work—and the turkeys—the next day, and the next.  

“By round three, I was ready”—with some turkey face-off strategies for us all: Stand your ground, and don’t be “chaseable.”  

“Doormats get walked on,” he advised. “Don’t put up with the turkey nonsense.” 

QUICK HITS Group unveils 10-year blueprint to reduce blindness – The Guardian Nigeria    Newly released 2025 scorecard unveils progress and setbacks on health and gender equality across Southern Africa – WHO    More pregnant Americans are skipping prenatal care, CDC finds – Axios     Scientists discover a key to staying mentally sharp in old age – CNN     When the next global health crisis strikes, will we be ready in 100 days? – Devex Issue No. 2871
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 2026 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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Spending time in nature, even briefly, triggers changes in the brain that calm stress, restore attention and quiet mental clutter, a new study has found.

Researchers at McGill University and colleagues at Adolfo Ibáñez University in Chile have examined more than 100 brain-imaging studies from various disciplines. The result is one of the most comprehensive reviews to date of how the brain responds to nature.

An international early warning system blocked a shipment of chemicals used to make fentanyl that could have produced up to 1.6 billion potentially lethal doses, the UN narcotics control body said on Thursday.

96 Global Health NOW: Scrutiny of Shifting U.S. Aid Strategy; and Antiquated, Isolated TB Care View this email in your browser February 25, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES Guinea-Bissau has terminated a controversial U.S.-funded hepatitis B vaccine trial that was suspended earlier over ethics concerns, as it would deny half of all enrolled babies a birth-dose inoculation in the country, which carries one of the world’s heaviest burdens of hepatitis B infections. Menafn     15 U.S. states are suing to reverse changes to federal recommendations that reduced from 17 to 11 the number of diseases children are routinely vaccinated against, contending that the changes were not based on scientific evidence; HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., CDC acting director Jay Bhattacharya, and their respective agencies are named as defendants. The New York Times (gift link)    Cervical cancer rates in young U.S. women vary “substantially” by state, based on HPV vaccine uptake, as states with low vaccination rates see minimal progress, per a new study from the American Cancer Society; overall, rates have dropped 27% among U.S. women ages 20–31 since the introduction of the vaccine. CIDRAP    ~6 in 10 U.S. women will have some type of cardiovascular disease in the next 25 years, per a scientific statement published today in Circulation, which also forecasts “surges” in health factors that contribute to cardiovascular disease, including high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes. Medical Xpress  IN FOCUS Health workers assist a patient inside a tent at Kuwadzana polyclinic. Harare, Zimbabwe, November 18, 2023. Shaun Jusa/Xinhua via Getty Scrutiny of Shifting U.S. Aid Strategy    As the new “America First” health aid strategy moves toward more transactional agreements, Zimbabwe has rejected a proposed $367 million health package from the U.S.—citing a “lopsided” deal that “undermines the sovereignty and independence of Zimbabwe as a country” and that compromises established global health frameworks, per Business Insider Africa.     Objections: Zimbabwe’s leaders halted the talks over U.S. requirements for Zimbabwe to share sensitive biological and population data without guaranteed access to resulting medical innovations, reports Reuters via CNBC Africa. Zimbabwe leadership was also concerned about efforts to fold in mineral deals.  

• In response, the U.S. embassy in Harare said health assistance for HIV/AIDS, malaria, and maternal and child health would be wound down. 

Bigger picture: Zimbabwe’s withdrawal comes as a growing number of African nations sign onto such bilateral agreements—which global health experts say resemble China’s former government-to-government aid model, per NPR.  

• Now, China is moving away from such bilateral deals, investing instead in self-described “small and beautiful” health projects while strengthening WHO ties and global health partnerships. 

Meanwhile: The U.S. State Department is seeking to overhaul its international disaster response system, proposing a new Bureau of Disaster and Humanitarian Response that will separate international relief from migration policy, reports Devex.     Related:     What $50 Billion for U.S. Foreign Affairs Changes for Global Health – Think Global Health (commentary)  
  How debt relief for developing countries could help reverse the devastating consequences of UK aid cuts – The Independent  
  Little Clarity on Legality of Trump’s Foreign Aid Shutdown One Year After – Foreign Policy    GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES TUBERCULOSIS Antiquated, Isolated Care
   In northern Cameroon, patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis are often confined in hospital wards for months, unable to see their families or interact with their community until they test negative.    “We’re just here,” said TB patient Asta Djouma, who has been in isolation since October.     Outdated model: This sanitarium model was abandoned in many countries decades ago. The WHO has recommended home-based care for most TB patients for the last 15 years, citing research that shows people on home treatment do better mentally and medically.  

• But policy change in Cameroon and other low-income countries has lagged as health systems lack funds to monitor at-home care. 

Ongoing battle: ~40,000 people developed TB in Cameroon in 2024.      The New York Times (gift link)        Related:  
  Rapid sequencing approach could transform tuberculosis surveillance and care – Yale School of Public Health / Yale University
  Tuberculosis funding cuts could cost households up to $80 billion – CIDRAP   OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Trump cites health care issues in Greenland saying he’s sending a hospital ship. His claims are off – AP

As measles cases climb, these 9 diseases threaten comebacks – The Washington Post (gift link)

Hundreds of American nurses choose Canada over the U.S. under Trump – NPR

Bhattacharya’s growing power in Trump's HHS worries health experts – The Hill

There’s a Measles Alert in My Area. Now What? – Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Major Chinese funder to stop paying fees for 30 pricey open-access journals – Science

New Type Of Vaccine Could One Day Give Universal Protection Against Colds, Flu, COVID – IFLScience Issue No. 2870
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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96 Global Health NOW: The Power of Polio Influencers in Malawi; and Fiji’s ‘Tsunami’ of HIV Infections View this email in your browser February 24, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES Renewed fighting in South Sudan has displaced nearly 280,000, damaged health facilities and hindered humanitarian aid operations, and fueled the spread of cholera; UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher warns it amounts to a “perfect storm” of conflict, climate shocks, and deprivation. UN News 
The U.S. FDA will drop the two-study requirement for new drug approvals—eliminating the longtime standard of requiring two rigorous studies—in an attempt to speed up the availability of certain medical products. AP 
Hepatitis B vax rates in the U.S. have slipped in the last couple of years to 73.2% in August 2025, researchers from Harvard and the UC San Diego School of Medicine found—reversing an era of growth with a high of 83.5% in 2023. JAMA
  Cannabis use among adolescents increases the risks of being diagnosed with bipolar and psychotic disorders, as well as anxiety and depression, years later, per a new longitudinal study in JAMA Health Forum that analyzed data on 460,000 teenagers in Northern California for a 25–year period. NPR  IN FOCUS Health worker Mable Njunga marks a door in Lilongwe, Malawi, indicating the home's children under 5 have had the polio vaccine. March 20, 2022. Amos Gumulira / AFP via Getty The Power of Polio Influencers in Malawi    The detection of poliovirus in sewage treatment plants in Blantyre, Malawi, triggered a massive vaccination drive in the past week. But health authorities are fighting more than the virus. 

• 1.3 million children have been vaccinated against the disease in four days with supplies airlifted by the WHO, The Guardian reports.  

Successful but: The rapid response has also run into indifference, misinformation, and reluctant parents. 

• At a Blantyre school, one in 10 students remained at their desks during a vaccination drive because their parents didn’t give consent.  

• One parent told The Guardian: “I feel my child has had enough vaccines in her life.” 

Creative persuasion: Logic and evidence often fail in communities already persuaded by misinformation on social media, said a Unicef polio manager sitting with a group of mothers. So she said health workers turn to influencers: 

• “You can give [a mother] any argument. It doesn’t matter. And then you have a local influencer walk in, and he says ‘vaccinate’, and she just hands you the child.” 

Meanwhile in the U.S.: Polio survivors are incensed by a federal vaccine committee chair’s recent assertion that polio vaccination should be optional, per another Guardian article. One survivor warns that many polio experts have retired and are taking their expertise with them.  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES HIV/AIDS Fiji’s ‘Tsunami of Infections’    Over the course of just five years, Fiji has become home to the world’s fastest-growing HIV outbreak, with cases surging from 147 in 2020 to 1,226 in the first half of 2025 alone. 

• And without intervention, Fiji health officials warn that number could swell to ~25,000 cases by 2029.   

Driving the epidemic: A boom in methamphetamine use has led to a rise in needle- and paraphernalia-sharing and other high-risk trends increasing transmission.   

• But at-risk populations are expanding beyond people who use drugs: 33 babies were born with HIV in early 2025. 

Lagging health response: While Fijian officials are budgeting for a more robust response, the country currently has limited testing and harm reduction infrastructure, and minimal stocks of antiretrovirals or PrEP.    The Telegraph    Related:  
Drugs, denial and stigma: the babies and children swept up in Fiji's HIV nightmare – The Guardian 
Zimbabwe rolls out long-acting HIV drug, among first countries to do so – PBS  DATA POINT

2881
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The number of attacks on health care in Ukraine—including health workers, facilities, and ambulances—documented by the WHO since the full-scale war began on February 24, 2022. —WHO CORRECTION In a Top Story last week that covered the displacement of children in Ukraine, we said “Five years into Ukraine’s war” … but we should have said, “As the war in Ukraine enters its fifth year.” Thanks for flagging that error, Angeline Sawaya! SPONSORED Cells to Society: The Building Blocks of a Public Health Career
   Considering a career in public health? The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is now offering online, noncredit courses for adult learners who are thinking about a career change, are seeking ways to be more helpful in their local communities, or are simply curious about how public health works. Explore available courses and register today to get a preview into a formal public health education.       Explore the Courses  QUICK HITS Destitute survivors of south-east Asia’s cyberscam farms an ‘international crisis’ – The Guardian    South Africa regulator backed by the food industry blocks ad on sugar’s health risks – The Examination    NIH research grant funding rates plummeted in 2025 – Science    Study: Antibiotic resistance threatens 30-year decline in deaths from lower respiratory infections – CIDRAP     Vaccine skeptic stepping down from No. 2 post at CDC – Axios    Biohackers and wellness influencers are pushing nicotine as part of their ‘stacks’ – STAT Thanks for the tip, Cecilia Meisner! 
How a Syrian refugee built a global mental health lifeline for displaced communities – Arab News  Issue No. 2869
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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96 Global Health NOW: Global Health sNOW Day View this email in your browser February 23, 2026 Forward Share Post iStock/Getty Global Health SNOW Day
GHN is off today due to inclement weather and reduced operations at Johns Hopkins University. We plan to be back tomorrow with all the latest global health news! —Dayna Issue No. 2868
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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