96 Global Health NOW: ‘New Levels of Horror’ as Attacks on Health Care Increase; Eroded Protections for Children; and Poisonous Profits View this email in your browser May 19, 2025 Forward Share Post Rescue workers provide medical aid to a wounded patient in a hospital damaged by a Russian drone strike on March 1, in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Ivan Samoilov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty ‘New Levels of Horror’ as Attacks on Health Care Increase
Health workers, hospitals, and clinics were attacked in 3,623 incidents in 2024, finds a new report from the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition—a record figure that reflects an increasing disregard for humanitarian law, reports The Guardian. 

The attacks are up 15% from 2023 and 62% from 2022, including, bombings, looting, armed facility takeovers, and the detention of health workers. 

By the numbers: 

• 927 health care workers were killed, 473 were arrested, and 140 were kidnapped. 


• 1,111 incidents led to damaged and destroyed health facilities. 


• The numbers are likely an undercount, the report states. 

Hotspots: More than a third of the attacks (1,300+) occurred in Gaza and the West Bank, with hundreds more occurring in Ukraine, Lebanon, Burma (Myanmar), and Sudan.

Increased devastation: Explosive weapons accounted for 48% of incidents last year—an increase as drone strikes become more common, reports IPS.

No recourse: The rise in attacks reflects a “complete erosion in the respect for international humanitarian law and the responsibility to protect healthcare in conflict,” said Christina Wille, who led the report’s data collection. GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners
Yellow fever cases in the Americas more than tripled in 2024, with five countries confirming 212 cases and 85 related deaths—a 40% case-fatality rate, per a new WHO report; Brazil recorded the highest number of cases and fatalities. CIDRAP

The FDA has approved Novavax’s COVID-19 shot, but has included new restrictions: The vaccine is approved for use only in adults 65+, or those ages 12–64 with health problems putting them at increased risk from COVID. AP

Girls with healthier diets tend to get their first periods later, regardless of BMI, per an observational study in Human Reproduction from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center that looked at the records of 7,500+ children ages 9–14; more research is needed to understand the linkage. NBC

Bangladesh’s air pollution could be lowered by a simple intervention: stacking bricks fired in kilns differently, finds a new study published in Science; the improved stacking pattern improves the airflow and efficiency of kilns, reducing black smoke emissions. NPR Goats and Soda IMMIGRATION POLICY Eroded Protections for Children
The U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), historically tasked with protecting immigrant children, is increasingly aiding immigration enforcement under the Trump administration, per a joint report by ProPublica and the Texas Tribune.

Shift in role: The ORR was formed to play a humanitarian role, assisting unaccompanied migrant children. 

• But in the last several months, current and former staffers say the office is being forced to share data used to target children and their sponsors for deportation.

Added risk: Critics say the shift will make already vulnerable children more susceptible to dangerous living and working conditions out of deportation fears. 

Forgoing medical care: Meanwhile, migrants fearing ICE are going without vital medical services for medical conditions including chronic illness, high-risk pregnancies, and injuries, doctors told The New York Times (gift link). 

• Children are especially at risk when their parents avoid the medical system. 

GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH Poisonous Profits
Despite being a potent neurotoxin, mercury remains the primary method for extracting gold from ore in West Africa’s booming informal mining sector. 

• Miners mix the liquid metal into crushed ore, then heat the mixture to evaporate the mercury, leaving the gold behind.


• Once released, mercury spreads through air, water, and soil. After heavy rains, it contaminates rivers, poisons fish, and accumulates up the food chain.

The process is cheap, effective—and dangerous: Mercury exposure can cause irreversible brain damage, developmental delays, birth defects, tremors, and loss of vision, hearing, and coordination. 

According to the UN Environment Programme, artisanal and small-scale gold mining is the largest global source of mercury emissions.

For many, the risk is worthwhile: Senegalese gold processors earn $370–$745 per month—more than double the national average salary.

AP

ICYMI: Peru’s Illegal Mining Surges … and Destroys – Global Health NOW OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Spike in Saudi Mers cases sparks outbreak fears ahead of Hajj – The Telegraph

Reports of sexual violence in Eastern DRC surge by almost 700% in March as armed conflict intensifies – ActionAid via ReliefWeb

Africa Turns to Mpox Lessons to Fight Cholera – Africa CDC & Cholera Plan to Map Hotspots in Five African Countries – Africa CDC

‘The fans just circulate hot air’: how indoor heat is making life unbearable in India’s sweltering cities – The Guardian

US brain drain: Nature’s guide to the initiatives drawing scientists abroad – Nature

How do middle-aged folks get dementia? It could be these proteins – University of California - San Francisco via ScienceDaily

Why we fall for fake health information — and how it spreads faster than facts – Kansas Reflector (commentary)

TikTok brings ‘raw milk’ craze to Britain – despite it being 45 times more likely to put you in hospital – The Telegraph

A pickled pepper maker knows exactly how hard it is to switch to natural food dyes – NPR Shots Issue No. 2727
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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