96 Global Health NOW: ‘Catastrophic’ Interruptions in HIV/AIDS Care; Judge Orders Agencies to Restore Health Data; The ‘Queen of Cholera’ View this email in your browser February 12, 2025 Forward Share Post Sister Sally Naidoo administers an HIV test on a young boy at the Right To Care AIDS clinic. January 27, 2012, Johannesburg, South Africa. Foto24/Gallo Images via Getty ‘Catastrophic’ Interruptions in HIV/AIDS Care

The American aid freeze is already disrupting HIV/AIDS care and research that could cost lives and “set back efforts to beat the AIDS epidemic by years,” reports the Telegraph.

Current landscape: Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said there would be a 90-day reprieve for “life-saving” HIV treatment funded by PEPFAR—but many programs have already closed.

• The reprieve does not cover prevention services; preventive anti-HIV medicine is available only to pregnant and breastfeeding women. Condom services and educational programs also remain shuttered. 

• Plus: Major African HIV vaccine and prevention trials are on hold. 

South Africa in the spotlight: The Trump administration’s decision to target South Africa for funding cuts is a major blow to the country with the highest number of people living with HIV globally, reports Bloomberg.

• While PEPFAR-funded projects are allowed to apply for waivers, many clinics are uncertain if they are eligible, reports Bhekisisa. 

Impact on women and girls: In sub-Saharan Africa, the aid freeze is having a “catastrophic” impact on women and girls—who are disproportionately affected by the virus, reports NBC News.

• Toll: The UN AIDS agency said this week that dropped U.S. support could lead to 6.3 million AIDS deaths by the end of the decade. 

Related:

How the gutting of USAID is reverberating around the world: Worry, despair, praise – NPR Goats and Soda

How USAID dismantling could impact noncommunicable diseases – Devex

OPPORTUNITY Join GHN in DC for an Evening of Remarkable Stories    GHN and the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health will host a special live storytelling event spotlighting the remarkable experiences of refugees in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health community.

Storytellers from Afghanistan, Myanmar, South Sudan, Sudan, and Syria will share firsthand accounts of living and working amid humanitarian crises, fleeing conflict, and shaping impactful roles in public health. 

Frances Stead Sellers, an associate editor of the Washington Post and a host of Washington Post Live, will moderate the event. Sellers has reported extensively on public health and disaster response. 

All are welcome for this evening of inspiring stories. If you are in the D.C. area, we hope youʼll join us. 

Registration is required. Reception to follow.

Extraordinary Journeys: Stories of Refugees Fleeing Conflict and Shaping Global Health

• Wednesday, March 5, 6–7:30 p.m. 
• Hopkins Bloomberg Center in Washington, D.C. (555 Pennsylvania Avenue NW)

The Latest Childhood cancer medications will be distributed by a new program created by the UN and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, in an effort to treat 120,000 children in 50 countries “where needs are greatest” over the next five to seven years. UN News

Doctors and patients in China are raising alarms over what they say are ineffective generic drugs procured through a process favoring the lowest cost—a system that could encourage manufacturers to cut corners to win contracts. BBC

Most U.S. workers with chronic conditions that need to be managed during work hours—such as diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and asthma—haven’t told their employers, a new Harvard poll has found. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

STI cases in Europe spiked in 2023, with notable increases among young people, per a new annual report from the European CDC; gonorrhea in particular surged 31%, and antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea was cited as an emerging threat. Euronews GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES DATA Judge Orders Agencies to Restore Health Data  
A U.S. federal judge yesterday ordered federal health agencies to restore websites and datasets pulled late last month by the Trump administration, NPR Shots reports.
 
Judge John Bates said the sudden loss of the data jeopardizes the work of clinicians and public health, ultimately harming everyday Americans. He issued the temporary restraining order in response to a lawsuit filed by advocacy groups representing physicians and consumers. 
                 
Data slated to return:

• Information for patients about HIV testing and HIV prevention medication.


• Guidance on contraceptives.


• Datasets that show vulnerability to natural disasters and emergencies.


• An action plan to improve enrollment of underrepresented populations in clinical trials.

Post-purge changes: Many web pages that were pulled have since reappeared on CDC, FDA, and HHS websites, but it’s unclear how much has been modified; scientists have said that some CDC data have been altered and some pages have been removed.
 
The big question: Will the Trump administration comply with court orders? The Christian Science Monitor reports that the Trump administration is adopting a combative stance, arguing that it’s the judiciary that’s overstepping—calling into question the longstanding balance of powers.
 
More headlines:
 
Democrats unveil legislation in bid to halt USAID elimination – The Hill
 
Johns Hopkins leaders: NIH cuts put lifesaving medical research and care at immediate risk – The Hub
 
Trump’s NIH challenges the model that underlies U.S. scientific dominance – The Washington Post INFECTIOUS DISEASES The ‘Queen of Cholera’
The International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) is known internationally as a crown jewel of South Asian science. 

Its queen? Firdausi Qadri, who has spent her career studying enteric diseases—focusing mainly on demonstrating the benefits of simple, cheap oral cholera vaccines and advocating for their use. 

But her work is an uphill battle. Oral vaccines have not eliminated cholera, and plans to curtail the disease both globally and in Bangladesh are off track:

• The number of available vaccines is limited, due to global demand.


• Bangladesh’s government isn’t investing in vaccination.


• The vaccine’s protection window is limited.


• Many cholera-prone countries still lack clean drinking water and sanitation.

Qadri, 73, works six days a week and remains undaunted—and confident that cholera can be vanquished.

Science
 
Related: Dirty water and endless wars: why cholera outbreaks are on the rise again – The Guardian GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES QUICK HITS Survey shows nurses around the world suffered high levels of pandemic stress – CIDRAP

As vaccination rates decline, widespread outbreaks of diseases like measles and polio could reemerge – CBS

Cash as medicine: How Brazil slashed TB by tackling poverty – The Telegraph

In one of the Marines’ most iconic jobs, a stunning pattern of suicide – The Washington Post (gift article)

‘The new generation is different’: In Djibouti, activists lobby to end female genital mutilation – UN News

Your brain is full of microplastics: are they harming you? – Nature

For Many, Weight-Loss Drugs Are Pricey. Expanding Access Is Hard. – Undark

Asian five-year-olds in England 70% more likely to have tooth decay than average – The Guardian

Want to Smoke Outdoors in Milan? Better Be Far From Other People. – The New York Times (gift article) Issue No. 2674
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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

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


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The World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed deep concern over the impact of US funding cuts on critical global health initiatives, warning they pose a direct threat to public health efforts worldwide.

96 Global Health NOW: Disappearing Databases; Judge Halts NIH Payment Cuts; and Sweden’s Influx of Firearms View this email in your browser February 11, 2025 Forward Share Post A CDC worker at the Emergency Operations Center activated to assist public health partners in responding to the novel coronavirus outbreak. Courtesy James Gathany/CDC; photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images Disappearing Databases 
Researchers are alarmed by the Trump administration’s removal of crucial health data from federal websites—and fear other databases may follow, reports Undark. 

• Regular CDC reports that have been delayed or are incomplete include FluView and HIV surveillance data. 

Muddled MMWR: The administration has also exerted “unprecedented influence” over the CDC’s medical research publication, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, reports CBS News. 

• The release of three bird flu studies has been stalled for weeks. 

Impact: “It’s that sort of disruption that is equally endangering our ability to do research and evaluation to understand what’s going on in our community,” said Amy O’Hara, president of the Association of Public Data Users. 

• Teams of researchers are rushing to compile their own datasets and DIY sites.

Related: NOAA told to search grant programs for climate-related terms – Axios GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   Ugandan journalists report a blackout on news about the country’s Ebola cases, linking the government’s lack of clear communication to a spread of disinformation about the virus and expressing concern that business interests are influencing the flow of information. The Independent Uganda
 
Fifteen measles cases—mostly in school-aged children—have been reported in South Plains, Texas, a small county with one of the state’s highest rates of vaccine exemptions; some of the cases appear to be connected to private religious schools. AP
 
PAHO warned of an increased risk of dengue outbreaks amid increased circulation of serotype three (DENV-3) in the southern hemisphere of the Americas. Prensa Latina

Nevada confirmed the state’s first human infection from H5N1 avian flu yesterday in a Churchill County dairy farm worker exposed to sick cows; while the report didn’t specify a genotype, the D1.1 genotype—different than the B3.13 involved in early dairy cattle outbreaks—was identified in the county’s cattle recently. CIDRAP Trump Transition News US foreign aid freeze wreaks havoc for HIV treatment in Africa – The World

U.S. exit from WHO: Potential impacts for smallpox virus biosafety – IDSA Science Speaks (commentary)

The USAID "Lifesaving" Waiver Is a Mirage Without Sufficient Staffing – Think Global Health (commentary)

USAID and CDC Halt of Support to Global Polio Eradication Threatens Worldwide Campaign – Health Policy Watch

US decision to cut ties with WHO hurting polio eradication efforts – Devex

Trump’s USAID cuts raise concerns over Ebola outbreak in Uganda – Anadolu Ajansı

The World Health Organization makes us all safer – Bangor Daily News

Don’t expect the courts to save us from Donald Trump – Vox RESEARCH Judge Halts NIH Payment Cuts  
In response to a lawsuit by 22 states attorneys general, a federal judge yesterday temporarily stopped the Trump administration from making dramatic cuts to NIH payments for research.

• Judge Angel Kelley in Boston set a hearing for Feb. 21, STAT reports


• The AGs said the change that caps at 15% payments for indirect costs—including administrative and facilities costs—would have “immediate and devastating” effects, Inside Higher Ed reports. Average indirect costs are 28% of direct research cost.

More legal action: Two more lawsuits were filed yesterday:

• Associations connected to the nation’s medical, pharmacy, and public health schools, as well as hospitals in Boston and the New York area filed the second lawsuit, STAT reports. In response, late last night Judge Kelley ordered a nationwide temporary pause on the NIH plans to slash the indirect cost payments, per STAT.


• The third lawsuit came from education organizations and public and private universities.

Republican senator speaks out: The NIH’s attempt to cut the payments is a “poorly conceived directive” that potentially violates federal law, said Maine Sen. Susan Collins, per The Hill.

The Quote: “If the NIH notice remains in effect, SUNY institutions will face a Sophie’s Choice—either redirect funding from other essential programs or be forced to end lifesaving NIH-funded research programs prematurely,” said Ben Friedman, chief operating officer of the Research Foundation for the State University of New York, said in a statement to the court.

Related: Trump maintains funding freeze at NIH, defying court order – Popular Information (commentary) GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES GUNS Sweden’s Influx of Firearms
As Sweden faces its worst mass shooting in history, the country is being forced to reckon with a growing gun violence scourge.

• The shooting at an adult education campus in Orebro killed 11, and highlights Sweden’s shift from a “peaceful, high-trust society” to one struggling with gang-related crime, right-wing nationalism, and easier firearm access. 


• “You ask yourself, ‘Can you be safe in today’s Sweden?’” said Andreas Sundling, a student at the school. 

Shifting landscape: In the early 2000s the number of annual gun murders in the country was in single digits. Now, as illegal firearms are being trafficked in from the Balkans, violence has risen: In 2024, there were 296 shootings, resulting in 44 deaths and 66 injuries.

The Times NEGLECTED DISEASES How Guinea Stopped Sleeping Sickness 
Twenty years ago, Guinea was once the country with the highest number of sleeping sickness cases in West Africa. But as of this year, the country managed to eliminate the NTD as a public health problem, the WHO announced.

What did it take? Shifting strategies—and a great deal of perseverance.

Background: Sleeping sickness, or Human African Trypanosomiasis, is transmitted by the Trypanosoma parasite spread by tsetse flies. The disease can lead to sleep disorders and psychosis—and can be fatal.

• Initial elimination efforts—including mass screening and treatment—were ineffective. From 2012 onward, the focus shifted to vector control.

True blue targets: Researchers discovered that tsetse flies are attracted to the color blue, so they developed tiny blue fabric screens coated with insecticide to attract and kill tsetse. The so-called “tiny targets” approach has made a massive dent in cases. 

Treatment gains traction: The development of the drugs fexinidazole and acoziborole offers further hope that the disease can be vanquished.  

El Pais OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS ‘Left like luggage’: Disabled, sick and injured victims flee Sudan’s genocide – The Telegraph

Cholera Outbreak Kills Over 100 in Angola – Ministry – News Central Africa

Flu season in the US is the most intense it’s been in at least 15 years – AP

As measles cases rise, a new book warns parents not to underestimate the disease – NPR Shots

Hundreds Of Russian Soldiers Hospitalized, Treated In North Korea, Report Says – RFE / RL

Man dies of asthma attack after inhaler cost skyrockets to more than $500 – The Washington Post (gift article)

Congestion Relief Zone is Also a CRASH Relief Zone: Data – Streetsblog NYC (commentary)

Zimbabweans try to outpace death at an exercise club in a cemetery – AP Issue No. 2673
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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SUPPORT US
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  Copyright 2025 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All Rights Reserved. Views and opinions expressed in Global Health NOW do not necessarily reflect those of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health or Johns Hopkins University.


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A new UN-partnered project to distribute essential childhood cancer medicines has begun in Uzbekistan and Mongolia, the first rollout for a project due to be piloted in six countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

Projects include important research on Parkinson’s, glioblastoma and dementia

 

Projects include important research on Parkinson’s, glioblastoma and dementia

 

Projects include important research on Parkinson’s, glioblastoma and dementia

 

Projects include important research on Parkinson’s, glioblastoma and dementia

 

Projects include important research on Parkinson’s, glioblastoma and dementia

 

Projects include important research on Parkinson’s, glioblastoma and dementia

 

Projects include important research on Parkinson’s, glioblastoma and dementia

 

Projects include important research on Parkinson’s, glioblastoma and dementia

 

Projects include important research on Parkinson’s, glioblastoma and dementia

 

Projects include important research on Parkinson’s, glioblastoma and dementia

 

Projects include important research on Parkinson’s, glioblastoma and dementia

 

Projects include important research on Parkinson’s, glioblastoma and dementia

 

Projects include important research on Parkinson’s, glioblastoma and dementia

 

Projects include important research on Parkinson’s, glioblastoma and dementia

 

Projects include important research on Parkinson’s, glioblastoma and dementia

 

Projects include important research on Parkinson’s, glioblastoma and dementia