For the first time, drug targeting genetic mutation shown to have positive impact in mice models

Hydrocephalus is a life-threatening condition that occurs in about 1 in 1,000 newborns and is often treated with invasive surgery. Now, a new study offers hope of preventing hydrocephalus before it even occurs.

96 Global Health NOW: Reproductive Care Collapses in Afghanistan Plus: Time to Chart a New Path to Africa’s Malaria-Free Future View this email in your browser January 29, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES Malaria deaths could spike to half a million across Africa over the next 25 years due to climate change, per new research published in Nature—which finds that shifting and extreme weather patterns could lead to an additional 123 million malaria cases across the continent. Carbon Brief    Two animal-borne pathogens pose a growing threat to humans, warns a new article publised in the CDC’s Emerging Infectious Diseases journal; the viruses, influenza D virus and canine coronavirus, have been “flying under the radar,” but conditions are shifting that have improved their capacity to spread among humans, researchers say. The Independent    HPV screening rates among underserved groups in Australia were “substantially boosted” through cervical sample self-collection programs, finds research published in The Lancet Public Health; participation was especially high among women who were 10+ years overdue for screening and those living in very remote areas. CIDRAP    Twice-yearly PrEP is slowly becoming more accessible to people in the U.S., as insurers gradually agree to cover the high-cost drug, Yeztugo—an injection of the drug lenacapavir. The Hill IN FOCUS Farida, 30, a midwife, monitors pregnant women close to delivering, at the provincial hospital's maternity department, on August 27, 2025, in Ghazni, Afghanistan. Elise Blanchard/Getty Images Reproductive Care Collapses in Afghanistan 
Women in Afghanistan increasingly have nowhere to turn to prevent pregnancies or find basic prenatal services, as the country’s reproductive care system deteriorates under the Taliban.     Birth control banned: The Taliban’s informal birth control prohibition started in 2023, with contraceptives swiftly disappearing from shelves and doctors forbidden from dispensing them—even for women whose lives could be threatened by pregnancy.     Clinic closed: Clinics accused of violating the Taliban’s orders face risk of closure; doctors have also been forced to close their doors after the sudden drop in international aid last year. 

• 440+ hospitals and clinics have closed or reduced services in Afghanistan in the last year, per WHO estimates. 

• Since then, women have been left largely to fend for themselves, with minimal to no prenatal care amid risky pregnancies, complications, and miscarriages.  

Dangers at home: Meanwhile, medical workers say most of the pregnant women they see are malnourished, and many women miscarry because of domestic violence and overwork.     The quote: “They broke her with fear, pregnancies and violence,” said the mother of one 36-year-old woman who has slipped into a "permanent state of confusion” after nine pregnancies and six miscarriages.     Zan Times, in partnership with The Guardian GHN EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY Faith, 3, vaccinated in the world's first malaria vaccine (RTS, S) pilot program, plays at home in Mukuli, Kenya, on March 7, 2023. Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images Time to Chart a New Path to Africa’s Malaria-Free Future
As wealthy countries cut assistance and malaria surges in parts of Africa, the continent’s leaders must chart a new path to a malaria-free future, write Corine Karema, Francine Ntoumi, and Garry Aslanyan in an exclusive GHN commentary. 

• The recent dramatic reduction in aid is disrupting core activities like disease surveillance, supply chains for medicines, and delivery of care.   

A leadership moment: Africa needs to invest more of its own resources. Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Uganda are taking steps to increase their health budgets. It’s time to accelerate those gains, the authors argue.      What’s needed:  

• All governments where malaria is endemic should have national elimination plans. 

• African institutions should set priorities, align partners around national plans, and demand accountability for results.  

• The African Union and other organizations can help coordinate efforts at the regional level, keeping malaria high on the political agenda. 

• Malaria programs need to engage other programs—like routine immunization, antenatal care, and community outreach—to get the newly approved malaria vaccines RTS,S and R21/ Matrix–M to people.   

The takeaway: Eliminating malaria can become, they write, a defining story of African leadership that safeguards lives for generations.
  Read the Full Commentary Here OPPORTUNITY Wellbeing With AI: What's Possible? 
Join the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Department of Mental Health for an urgent discussion on the risks, benefits, and practical applications of AI in mental health care. Laura Reiley, whose powerful op-ed described how her daughter Sophie Rottenberg took her life after months chatting with an AI therapist, will share her story. 

She will be joined by Thomas Insel, who formerly served as director of the National Institute of Mental Health and more recently led the Mental Health team at Verily (formerly known as Google Life Sciences), and Holly Wilcox, director and founder of the Johns Hopkins Center for Suicide Prevention.

The livestream of the event is open to the public, but registration is required. You will receive a link to the livestream with your registration confirmation.

• Monday, February 2, 2026, 12 p.m.–1:30 p.m. EST
• Learn more
• Register for the event

ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION Talk About the Weather
Year after year, epic snowstorms prove that behind every winter weather report is a comedian waiting in the wings. This week was no different across the U.S., with reporters and officials resorting to jokes and light shaming to keep people indoors.     A sampling:     “OPERATION BREAD AND MILK:” The Braintree, Massachusetts, police warned locals to chill out on hoarding supplies. “We’ve already seen the frantic look in your eyes,” they wrote. “You are … not launching a three-year mission to Mars.”     “Park it on the couch,” Kansas City, Missouri. The local fire department called out brazen drivers—or people trying to squeeze in a mani-pedi: “ Hush Jessica.”     These gems are important reminders of iconic past weather reports:     An anchorman’s “slow descent into madness.” A reporter delivered breaking updates using a rubber chicken for reference, and struggled to make a snow angel. “Is it great snowman snow? No, man, no.” Cincinnati, Ohio, 2025    “Honestly the hardest I’ve ever worked.” A Gen Z reporter works to build a snow throne “fit for a garden gnome” named Big Papi. Manchester, New Hampshire, 2022     “Oh, boy.” Less forecast, more Shakespearean monologue. A local weatherman warned that our “Paralyzing. Crippling. RECORD-breaking storm comes todaaaaay!!!!” Baltimore, Maryland, 2010   QUICK HITS Radical changes could be coming to ‘psychiatry’s bible’ – CNN  
 
Risk of maternal death during pregnancy greatly underestimated, study finds – Brown University (news release) 
 
‘Rise in insecurity, hostile environment affecting NTDs programme’ – The Guardian Nigeria 
 
Tanzania Among Seven Countries Included in the New Network to Strengthen Collaborative Disease Surveillance – Tanzania Times 
 
On Public Health and Human Rights in Minneapolis – Public Health On Call 
 
Eating snow cones or snow cream can be a winter delight, if done safely – AP Issue No. 2855
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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A preclinical study published in Nature has found evidence that the hippocampus, the brain region that stores memory, also reorganizes memories to anticipate future outcomes.

A preclinical study published in Nature has found evidence that the hippocampus, the brain region that stores memory, also reorganizes memories to anticipate future outcomes.

96 Global Health NOW: Grasping for Hope as Haiti Unravels; and Volunteer Vector Control in Bangladesh View this email in your browser January 28, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES The U.S. maternal syphilis rate spiked 28% from 2022 to 2024, per a new analysis from the National Center for Health Statistics; the latest uptick is part of a worsening trend that has involved a 200%+ rise in maternal syphilis over the past decade, which is leading to a surge of congenital syphilis in infants. CIDRAP    The Trump administration has directed Gavi to eliminate vaccines containing the preservative thimerosal as a precondition for continued funding; anti-vaccine groups have claimed that thimerosal causes autism, despite scientific evidence to the contrary. Devdiscourse 
Humanity’s risk of self-annihilation is closer than ever, say scientists who set the symbolic “Doomsday Clock” to 85 seconds to catastrophe yesterday—noting existential threats including nuclear war, climate change, risks of artificial intelligence, and biological disaster. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists    The WHO has issued global guidance for school lunches—limiting sugars, saturated fats, and sodium, while expanding pulses and whole grains; the agency says it will provide technical assistance to support countries in meeting the goal. UN News  IN FOCUS A person walks past cars burned and used as a barricade by armed gangs during clashes last week with Haitian security forces in Port-au-Prince. January 16. Clarens Siffroy/AFP via Getty Grasping for Hope as Haiti Unravels     Violence continues to roil Haiti as powerful gangs clash with state police—displacing civilians, gutting health care, and precipitating an ongoing exodus of foreign aid that the country has long depended on. 
  Continued escalation: 100+ violence victims have been treated in Port-au-Prince in just two weeks, per Médecins Sans Frontières—one of the few groups still providing medical care amid attacks from gangs, which control ~90% of the capital and have displaced more than 1.4 million people. 

• In 2025, 686 patients with violence-related injuries were admitted to MSF’s Tabarre Hospital. 47 were children under 14. 

Foreign aid falters: Dwindling aid has deepened the country’s security crises, including USAID cuts last year that canceled vital water restoration and earthquake reconstruction projects. 

• The aid exodus has also revealed the scale of national institutions’ dependence on foreign aid—something local leaders say must change, reports The Christian Science Monitor.

Local resilience: As international aid retreats, small-scale solutions and interventions are cropping up, including grassroots water infrastructure projects and a gang rehabilitation and job training center known as Haiti Teen Challenge.     No safe haven in the U.S.: Temporary Protective Status for Haitians is set to expire on Feb. 3, endangering ~350,000 Haitians’ U.S. legal status and livelihoods in the country, reports NBC Miami.   GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES MOSQUITO-BORNE DISEASES Volunteer Vector Control in Bangladesh    In Bangladesh, thousands of volunteers are taking mosquito control into their own hands, organizing weekly cleanups to collect trash from city streets and clear polluted waterways.     Background: Amid rapid population growth in cities like Dhaka, waterway pollution has increased and daily waste piles up. 

• The trash, combined with rainier, hotter weather, creates ideal breeding conditions for mosquitoes. 

Grassroots response: A youth-led clean-up movement, Bangladesh Clean, was formed 10 years ago. The group has now grown to 50,000+ volunteers.  

• “We are trying to change people’s mindset,” said university student Umme Kulsum Siddiki Brishti.  

Grist  OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS South Carolina Is America’s New Measles Norm – The Atlantic (gift link)   After Donations, Trump Administration Revoked Rule Requiring More Nursing Home Staff – The New York Times (gift link)    Antibiotic use in US meat production jumped 16% in 2024, report shows – The Guardian    How ‘gas station drugs’ remain legal – STAT (video)     Being a night owl may not be great for your heart but you can do something about it – AP    What the Rise of AI Scientists May Mean for Human Research – Undark    What ‘The Office’ and other TV shows get wrong about CPR – The Washington Post (gift link)  Issue No. 2854
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: Measles Marches Across Europe; Tributes to William Foege; and Classifying Postpartum Psychosis View this email in your browser January 27, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES

Mozambique’s worst floods in decades are sparking fears of cholera and other threats; several people have been killed by crocodiles roaming waterlogged neighborhoods and 300,000+ have fled their homes. The Telegraph

Airports in Thailand, Nepal, Taiwan and other Asian countries are stepping up health-screening measures after the confirmation of five Nipah virus cases in India’s West Bengal state, where ~100 people are quarantined following detection of the virus in a hospital last week. The Independent

The prevalence of two proteins connected to inflammation and stress supports the “weathering hypothesis” that systemic racism accounts for much of the difference between the average life expectancy of Black and white adults, per a new study published in JAMA Network Open. The Washington Post (gift link)

Australia is enduring a brutal heat wave as temperatures near 50C (122F) in parts of the country today; no deaths have been reported, though three wildfires are burning in Victoria. AP

IN FOCUS Luke Tanner, 7, receives the combined Measles Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccination at Neath Port Talbot Hospital. South Wales, April 20, 2013. Geoff Caddick/AFP via Getty Measles Marches Across Europe    Six European countries officially lost their measles-free status—and the U.S. is poised to follow—as the highly contagious virus resurges. 

• The WHO called for increased vaccination rates in the U.K., Spain, Austria, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, the countries removed from the list of measles-free countries, The Guardian reports. 

• European countries reported 127,000+ measles cases last year—the highest number since 1997, per The Telegraph. 

What’s behind measles in the U.K.? It’s not just vaccine hesitancy. Difficulty accessing general practitioners, especially in dense urban areas, is a significant problem.  
  Meanwhile in the U.S.: The 2,400+ cases in the last year are the “cost of doing business” in a free country that has lots of global travelers, CDC principal deputy director Ralph Abraham told reporters last week, per Undark. 

• “We have these communities that choose to be unvaccinated,” Abraham said. “That’s their personal freedom.” 

• The measles-free status of the U.S. depends on proof that the virus “has not circulated continuously in the nation for a year, between Jan. 20, 2025, and Jan. 20, 2026,” Undark reports. Scientists are reviewing South Carolina, Utah, Arizona, and Texas outbreaks to determine if they are linked.   

• The research will be completed in approximately two months. 

GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES: RIP BILL FOEGE More Tributes: ‪ ———— “We lost a giant in public health today … His legacy is the antidote to today’s antiscience, anti-vaccine rhetoric.” ‪ ––Krutika Kuppalli sharing William H. Foege, Key Figure in the Eradication of Smallpox, Dies at 89 – The New York Times (gift link)

“ …if I remain in India, too much attention would be directed toward the external support that India received, and it is very important that recognition be given to the accomplishments of the hundreds of thousands of Indians who really did the work.” ‪––Foege on his decision to leave India after the country was certified to be free of smallpox, recounted in Madhukar Pai’s tribute: William H. Foege, Key Figure in the Eradication of Smallpox, Dies at 89 – Forbes
“If you look at the simple metric of who has saved the most lives, he is right up there with the pantheon. Smallpox eradication has prevented hundreds of millions of deaths.” ––Tom Frieden, quoted in Leader in smallpox eradication, Dr. William Foege, dies at 89 – PBS MATERNAL HEALTH Classifying Postpartum Psychosis    As awareness of postpartum psychosis grows, U.S. psychiatrists are debating where the condition might fit into the DSM—psychiatry’s core diagnostic manual.    Background: Postpartum psychosis is a psychiatric disorder occurring in 1–2 out of 1,000 births. Weeks after delivery, symptoms of the disorder in new mothers—including those with no history of mental illness—can include paranoia or delusions. In the worst cases, it can lead to suicide or infanticide.    The debate: Advocates say a stand-alone DSM category would improve doctor training, research, and courts’ handling of such cases. 

• But experts can’t agree where in the manual the condition fits—bipolar, depressive, or psychotic disorder—and they fear a flawed definition could lead to misguided treatment or coercive interventions. 

The New York Times (gift link) Thanks for the tip, Peri Barest!    SPONSORED Cells to Society: The Building Blocks of a Public Health Career
Explore public health at your own pace with the first four courses in a series of 12 non-credit learning experiences from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Designed for those interested in public health careers, these flexible courses build foundational knowledge in key areas and deepen professional skillsets.
Explore the Courses QUICK HITS Ethiopia Declares End of Marburg Outbreak That Killed Nine – U.S. News & World Report     Tobacco companies win — again — in South Korean lawsuit over costs to treat sick smokers – The Examination    Russia Cuts Its Disability Count As War Against Ukraine Wounds Hundreds of Thousands – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty    Rejecting Decades of Science, Vaccine Panel Chair Says Polio and Other Shots Should Be Optional – The New York Times (gift link)    CDC Restores $5 Billion in Public Health Grants After 24-Hour Pause – U.S. News & World Report 

Has the golden age of global health ended? The health takeaways from Davos 2026 – Euronews    Ancient DNA Reveals Twisted Roots of Syphilis Go Back 5,500 Years – ScienceAlert  Issue No. 2853
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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

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For the first time ever, the World Health Organization (WHO) is providing recommendations for healthy and nutritious food in schools around the world.

96 Global Health NOW: Global Health sNOW Day View this email in your browser January 26, 2026 Forward Share Post Edmund Lowe Photography / Getty Creative 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. 2852
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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Dr William H. Foege, a legend in global public health, passed away on 24 January 2026. His life and legacy offer several lessons for global public health

The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a detailed statement regretting the United States decision to leave the UN agency, and declaring that it will leave both the US and the world less safe as a result.

96 Global Health NOW: The U.S. Has Left the WHO. What Now? View this email in your browser January 22, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES An ‘era of global water bankruptcy’ is now in effect, with irreversible consequences that mean “many regions are living beyond their hydrological means,” per a new UN report that calls for a shift from emergency thinking to long-term response and restructuring. CNN 
 
Cardiovascular disease fatalities dropped in the U.S. by 2.7% between 2022 and 2023, per a new report from the American Heart Association—but heart disease and stroke are still the nation’s leading cause of death, accounting for more than a quarter of all deaths in the U.S. in 2023. ABC News  
 
An infant formula recall affecting 18 countries has been issued by French dairy company Lactalis after some batches were flagged for a dangerous toxin; the recall marks the third major infant formula recall this year following other contamination incidents from Nestlé and Danone. France24 
 
Maternal genetic factors may shed new light on common factors behind pregnancy loss, finds new research published in Nature, which analyzed ~140,000 IVF embryos and found links between specific variations in a mother's DNA and their risk of miscarriage. Johns Hopkins University via Medical Xpress   IN FOCUS A sign with the WHO logo outside their headquarters in Geneva, on August 17, 2020. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images The U.S. Has Left the WHO
The U.S. formally leaves the WHO today, completing a yearlong withdrawal process begun on President Trump’s first day in office in 2025, and leaving a budgetary crisis and ruptured global health security in its wake, reports Reuters.   
 
Global fallout: The loss of the U.S.—once the WHO’s largest donor—has led the agency to make deep budget cuts and plan layoffs for nearly a quarter of its staff. 

• These losses, combined with the loss of U.S. cooperation, leaves the world less equipped to handle worldwide disease detection, response coordination, and intelligence sharing—crucial collaborations during recent global health crises like COVID-19 and the Ebola outbreak. 

Unpaid bills: As the U.S. departs, it is stiffing the organization ~$278 million in owed dues from both 2025 and from 2024—before Trump took office, reports STAT. The lapsed payments defy a 1948 U.S. law that likely will not be enforced. 
 
A path to return?: While global health leaders say they do not anticipate a U.S. return to the organization in the near future, former WHO advisor Peter Singer wrote in an op-ed for Think Global Health that some WHO reforms, including results-based accountability, could eventually lure the U.S. back.  
  
Related: Maga-backed researchers call for WHO to be ‘reformed or replaced’ on eve of US withdrawal – The Telegraph  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES ZOONOTIC DISEASES Pangolins and Pandemic Risk  
Pangolins are one of the most trafficked animals in the world, as demand for their scales and meat remains high in places like Laos—a major hub of illegal wildlife trade.     Rampant trafficking threatens the mammal with extinction and poses a global health security threat, say epidemiologists.  

• Pangolins' unique immune tolerance allows them to host pathogens undetected, and the animals’ long captivity with other species and humans in unsanitary spaces creates a risk for spillover.  

The Quote: “To me, this really is ground zero for disease emergence,” said University of Sydney virologist Edward Holmes, who described the trade as “both horrendous for the animals in question, and could easily spark another pandemic.”    The Telegraph ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION Should We All Just Lüften Up? 
Flinging the windows open for some fresh air: It’s an invigorating feeling now and again.  

In Germany, it’s much more than that. The practice of multiple daily airings—no matter the weather—is ingrained from childhood and for tenants, often a contractual obligation.  

Lüften-lite: But now, much to some Germans’ chagrin, American influencers have co-opted lüften under a new name: “house burping,” presenting it as a mere suggestion. A refreshing home hack, with no threat of eviction for noncompliance—or warning that over-commitment may ruin your relationship. 

Breeze-crossed lovers: For one German-American couple, the partner doing the heavy lüften-ing invited in cold air, chilly feelings, and one time, three bats, The Washington Post reports. His practice, which exceeded the lüften minimums required by his lease, left his American girlfriend cold and “confused,” and their love went out the open window like stale air caught in a crossbreeze. “Lüften is largely responsible for the fact that they’re no longer together.” 

QUICK HITS The US is on the verge of losing its measles elimination status. Here’s why that matters – AP 

Dozens Are Sickened by a Rare Fungal Infection in Tennessee – The New York Times (gift link) 

Study highlights impact of gender dynamics on antibiotic use – CIDRAP  

Vitamin D can help protect you against the flu, study suggests – The Independent

ActionAid to rethink child sponsorship as part of plan to ‘decolonise’ its work – The Guardian

Can your health records be sold for profit? A lawsuit says it’s happening. – The Washington Post (gift link)  
Trees — not grass and other greenery — associated with lower heart disease risk in cities – UC Davis Health  

Global buzzwords that will be buzzing in your ear in 2026 – NPR Issue No. 2851
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: Mpox’s Silent Spread; and U.K. Seeks a Road Safety Overhaul View this email in your browser January 21, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES U.S. lawmakers are pushing back against NIH cuts proposed by the Trump administration with a new Congressional bill that rejects a proposed 40% cut to the NIH budget and instead includes a $415 million increase and language that limits White House influence over grant funding. Axios  
 
The Africa CDC confirmed the cancelation yesterday of a U.S.-funded study on hepatitis B vaccines involving newborns in Guinea-Bissau, citing ethical concerns over the proposed research design—particularly the possibility of delaying access to a lifesaving vaccine for some newborn participants. Premium Times Nigeria 
 
Prenatal exposure to wildfire smoke may be associated with an increased likelihood of autism diagnosis by age 5, per a study published yesterday in Environmental Science & Technology; the strongest association was found among those exposed to more than 10 days of wildfire smoke in the third trimester. Tulane University via News Medical 
 
A coalition of U.S. health groups has expanded a lawsuit against HHS Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., challenging his agency’s “egregious, reckless, and dangerous” changes to the childhood vaccine schedule; the plaintiffs—which include the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Physicians, and the American Public Health Association—had already sued over the agency’s changes to COVID-19 vaccine policy. The Hill  IN FOCUS Social mobilizers wait for community members ahead of the launch of an mpox vaccination campaign at the General Hospital in Goma, DRC. October 5, 2024. Aubin Mukoni/AFP via Getty Mpox’s Silent Spread
Mpox may be spreading asymptomatically in parts of Africa, new research shows—a revelation that could have significant implications for understanding and preventing transmission, reports The Telegraph.  
 
Researchers analyzed new and historic blood samples from 176 Nigerian adults with no known mpox exposure and discovered something unexpected: ~3% had developed new mpox antibodies over nine months—indicating recent infection, finds the study published in Nature Communications, which was conducted by scientists at the University of Cambridge and the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria.  

• The research points not to “explosive spread”—but rather to persistent transmission via “sporadic chains of infection” shaped and potentially contained by past smallpox vaccination, per a university news release via Medical Xpress.  

• The study also found no major differences in immune responses between health care workers and the general population—meaning exposure isn’t limited to medical settings, reports CIDRAP.  

Potential public health impact: The insights could reshape surveillance and prevention, especially in mpox-endemic regions where blood tests could better reveal exposure and help target vaccination efforts rather than relying on symptoms alone. 

• “If we only look for obvious disease, we will miss part of the picture,” said Alash'le Abimiku, executive director of the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria.

GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES ROAD SAFETY U.K. Seeks a Road Safety Overhaul
U.K. officials have unveiled the country’s first comprehensive road safety strategy in over a decade, aiming to cut road deaths and serious injuries by 65% by 2035. 
 
Background: Advocates and officials say the reforms come after years of inaction, as the country falls further behind European road standards. 

• “For too long, progress on road safety has stalled. This strategy marks a turning point,” said U.K. transport secretary Heidi Alexander.  

Plans include:  

• Stricter alcohol limits and higher penalties for violators. 

• Mandatory eye tests for drivers ages 70+. 

• Longer learning periods for new drivers. 

• Automatic emergency braking in all new cars. 

• Increased penalties for uninsured motorists and those not wearing seatbelts. 

• Improved crash testing.

The Guardian QUICK HITS The divorce between the U.S. and WHO is final this week. Or is it? – NPR    Doctors in Minnesota decry fear and chaos amid Trump administration’s immigration crackdown – AP     One Year Later: The Effect of US ‘Chainsaw’ on Global Health – Health Policy Watch (commentary)     New report reveals shocking prevalence of illegal children’s homes – The Bureau of Investigative Journalism     Pharmacists' Risk of Suicide Higher Than the General Public – MedPage Today Thanks for the tip, Chiara Jaffe!     The activists taking on Brazil’s femicide crisis – via social media – The Telegraph     What lingers in ‘The Pitt’ is heartache. What’s missing is outrage – STAT (commentary)  Issue No. 2850
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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96 Global Health NOW: The Bacterial Detective Battling Superbugs in Nigeria; and Historic Clues for a Modern Medical Mystery View this email in your browser January 20, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES Unusually heavy rains across Mozambique in the last few weeks have triggered a “rapidly escalating emergency” affecting 513,000+ people—over half of them children, who are at an especially high risk in disease outbreaks, given compromised access to safe water and preexisting high malnutrition rates. UNICEF (news release)   
Chinese authorities are blocking online searches about the country's plunging births after official figures released yesterday showed the country's birth rate dipped to 5.63 per 1,000 last year—the lowest since the 1949 founding of the People's Republic. Newsweek    A personalized experimental drug based on mRNA technology halved melanoma patients’ risk of recurrence or death after five years compared with patients treated only with immunotherapy, per Moderna. The Washington Post (gift link) 
A new meta-analysis and systematic review of 43 studies concluded that taking Tylenol (also known as paracetamol) during pregnancy does not cause autism in children, per a Lancet Obstetrics, Gynecology & Women’s Health article; the review follows President Trump’s warning against taking the medication during pregnancy. AP  IN FOCUS: GHN EXCLUSIVE Iruka Okeke and her small team run a national surveillance project tracking antimicrobial resistance in Nigeria. Andrew Esiebo The Bacterial Detective Battling Superbugs in Nigeria    IBADAN, Nigeria—Inside a crowded University of Ibadan lab, Iruka Okeke and her dozen students are running a national surveillance project for one of Nigeria's—and Africa's—most understudied problems: antimicrobial resistance (AMR).  

• More than 1 million deaths in the WHO’s Africa region in 2019 were associated with bacterial AMR.  

• “AMR deaths threaten Africa’s future,” says Okeke.      

Big ambitions: Okeke founded the Nigeria National Surveillance Unit at the University of Ibadan’s College of Medicine in 2022. 

• She and her team use whole genome sequencing and other tools to understand how microbes inherit and spread resistant traits.  

• They’ve already investigated more than a dozen suspected outbreaks. 

• The lab—Nigeria’s first reference lab for AMR surveillance—obtains samples from three sentinel hospitals in Ibadan and sequences pathogenic bacteria, sharing data with the Nigeria CDC. 

Daily challenges: Doing science in Nigeria with limited resources isn’t easy.  

• “There are days I wake up, and I think, ‘Oh, gosh, there’s too many problems to solve—like how are you going to keep the electricity uninterrupted?’” Okeke says. “And then, there are days I wake up and think, ‘It’s amazing we’re doing this stuff that nobody else is doing.’”   

READ THE FULL STORY BY ABDULLAHI TSANNI DATA POINT

980,000
—————
The number of midwives needed across 181 countries—90% of them LMICs; improved access could potentially save 4.3m lives a year by 2035, per a new analysis by the International Confederation of Midwives. —The Guardian
  CANCER Historic Clues for a Modern Medical Mystery    U.K. scientists seeking to understand why colorectal cancer continues to rise sharply among young people are looking to hospital archives for leads.    The clues: A vast collection of century-old cancer samples stored at St. Mark’s Hospital in London.  

• The samples, which have been preserved in wax, are being sent to the Institute of Cancer Research for molecular tests that can identify DNA damage “signatures,” revealing possible triggers.  

The stakes: Bowel cancer rates in the U.K. have spiked 75% among people under age 24 since the early 1990s—mirroring a global phenomenon that still does not have a clear underlying cause.    BBC    Related: 

What science says about how weight-loss drugs affect cancer risk – The Washington Post (gift link) 

Sugar Land resident advances global cancer research while still an undergrad – The Fort Bend Star GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES QUICK HITS Napkins for bandages: How 11 doctors survived the siege of El Fasher – The Telegraph    The near death — and last-minute reprieve — of a trial for an HIV vaccine – NPR    The Obituary Of The US Childhood Immunization Schedule – Health Affairs (commentary)    Drug use disorders a growing public health concern in the Americas, PAHO study finds – The San Pedro Sun     Public Views About Opioid Overdose and People With Opioid Use Disorder – JAMA Network Open    More than half of mpox patients in 2022 outbreak experienced lasting physical effects: Study – ABC    Alzheimer's finger-prick test could help diagnosis – BBC  Issue No. 2849
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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