96 Global Health NOW: The Collapse of Malaria Care in Cameroon; What’s Driving Turkey’s Diabetes Spike? And The Fattest Fat Bear Week View this email in your browser October 2, 2025 Forward Share Post A nurse prepares a dose of malaria vaccine at a district hospital. Soa, Cameroon. April 17, 2024. Kepseu/Xinhua via Getty The Collapse of Malaria Care in Cameroon     For families in places like northern Cameroon, the cascading effects of U.S. aid cuts have resulted in a simple, stark reality: When their children contract malaria, there is increasingly nowhere to turn.     The unraveling of care in the region, where the U.S. had played a leading role in the malaria response for ~10 years, has led to a ~15% spike in malaria deaths in the first half of this year—notably among babies, medical workers say.     The current overview:     Loss of community health care: Today, 2,100+ of 2,354 U.S.-funded community health workers in Northern Cameroon are inactive—meaning no one is traveling to the region's most remote villages to administer care.     Critically low stocks of injectable artesunate, a lifesaving malaria drug once supplied through U.S. funds, mean that even families who reach health clinics have limited options for care.     Unknown toll: Even as cases and deaths escalate, researchers say they don’t know the true number, as data collection is also a casualty of funding cuts. As the toll of similar disruptions becomes clear in other African nations, health experts warn that years of hard-won gains in malaria control risk being reversed. 

• Cameroon had previously seen major progress, with deaths dropping from 1,519 in 2020 to 653 in 2024, largely thanks to funding from the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative. That fund now faces a 47% cut in the 2026 budget.  

Reuters via Yahoo News  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   59 people are still missing after an Indonesian school collapsed Monday in the town of Sidoarjo, but rescuers say they’re not seeing any more signs of life under the rubble; at least five students have been confirmed killed and ~100 injured after the building’s foundation pillars buckled during an unauthorized expansion. BBC  
  The DRC has reported seven new Ebola virus cases in the latest outbreak—making 64 cases total and 42 deaths—but there are signs that transmission is lessening, credited to surveillance and clinical care improvements, per a WHO African regional office update this week. CIDRAP      Australia pulled ~20 more sunscreens from shelves after a regulatory investigation exposed more brands for falling short of their advertised protection levels and raised “significant concerns” about a testing laboratory at the center of the scandal that started in June; the country has the world’s highest rates of skin cancer. The Independent    The Trump administration plans to block funding to groups that promote diversity policies abroad, in the same vein as the Mexico City Policy that prevents foreign groups receiving any U.S. global health funding from providing or promoting abortions—even if those activities are paid for with non-U.S. government funding. Politico  NONCOMMUNICABLE DISEASES What’s Driving Turkey’s Diabetes Spike? 
Diabetes rates in Turkey have risen sharply over the last 20 years, from 9.9% in 2002 to 16.6% in 2022—double the EU average, and the highest rate in the European region.    A range of factors is driving the rapid surge, say doctors and researchers, including:   

• Poor management: Many cases go undiagnosed or poorly treated; hospitalizations for uncontrolled diabetes far exceed OECD averages.

• Inadequate policy: Weak food industry regulations have led to an influx of cheap, sugary foods and drinks, and a lack of public health intervention means many people remain unaware of risks. 

• Obesity: 66.8% of Turkey’s population is overweight or obese, per a 2022 WHO Report—putting more people at risk for developing diabetes. 

DW   RIP JANE GOODALL DISASTERS Infections in the Wake of Pakistan’s Floods    Cholera, diarrhea, malaria, and dengue are surging as floodwaters recede in Pakistan—putting millions of displaced people at risk, say doctors.     Deadly deluge, widespread displacement: ~2.5 million people have been displaced by massive flooding along the Chenab River; the monsoon rains that started in June have now led to the deaths of ~1,000 people, including 250 children, per the UN.    Overcrowded camps, overwhelmed hospitals: Millions are now crammed into camps where poor sanitation, limited clean drinking water, and stagnant standing water create conditions for rapidly spreading disease.  

• And nearby hospitals in Multan report a doubling of cholera and malaria cases, with doctors treating ~100 patients daily for gastrointestinal issues. 

The Guardian   ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION The Fattest Fat Bear Week    Fat Bear Week was launched in 2014 to raise awareness of the ursine excellence in Alaska’s Katmai National Park. With a record 1.5 million public votes under its ever-expanding belt this year, it’s safe to say: We’re aware. 

• The contest tracks and celebrates Katmai bears’ widening waistlines as they prepare for winter hibernation.  

Weighing in at over 1,200 pounds, a voluptuous veteran, the “ludicrously capacious” 32 Chunk triumphed despite a broken jaw that threatened his salmon intake. 
  Undeterred, Chunk ended up “gaining girth beyond what anybody could have possibly imagined with that injury,” beamed superfan Naomi Boak, The Guardian reports. 
  Votes have closed for the year, but the most magical of livestreams is still live. In this corner of the internet, you may peep a majestic bear sitting pensively on a rock—or just an endless stream of a stream. Either way, it’s the ultimate diversion.  QUICK HITS A new documentary about a dastardly worm and a heroic effort by Jimmy Carter – NPR    Reproductive health challenges in coastal Bangladesh: a silent threat of water salinity – BMC Women’s Health    Risk of long COVID in children may be twice as high after a second infection – Medical Xpress    Walmart plans to remove artificial colors and other food additives from store brands by 2027 – AP    Black mamba venom has a deadly hidden second strike – University of Queensland via ScienceDaily    “You can’t see what you’ve never had to live”—Cultivating imagination and solution spaces in global health and development – PLOS Global Public Health     These 99 'lab hacks' will make your scientific work easier – Nature  Issue No. 2798
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: U.S. Government Shutdown Centers on Health Care; Bangladesh Bets on British Malaria Vaccine; and Inside China’s Detention Camps Plus: President Trump's deal with Pfizer to lower Medicaid drug prices View this email in your browser October 1, 2025 Forward Share Post The U.S. Capitol at dawn on October 1, in Washington, D.C. Al Drago/Getty Images Health Care Hangs in the Balance as U.S. Government Shuts Down    Funding for the U.S. government has halted amid a Congressional deadlock over federal health spending—further imperiling health agencies in an already tumultuous period, reports KFF Health News.    Subsidies at the center: The impasse centers on Affordable Care Act subsidies, set to expire after 2025. Democrats want an extension, as well as a restoration of Medicaid cuts enacted over the summer; Republicans demand reforms first. 

• Without renewed subsidies, insurers warn of double-digit premium increases.  

Health services at risk: If a shutdown drags on, impacts to health operations include:  

• ~40% of HHS workers furloughed 

• NIH clinical trials put on hold 

• FDA food safety efforts curtailed  

• Disease surveillance and local CDC support disrupted 

• Community health centers at risk of closure 

Drug price deal: Meanwhile, yesterday President Trump announced a deal with Pfizer to lower Medicaid drug prices and sell discounted drugs via a direct-to-consumer site dubbed TrumpRx.gov, reports NPR—part of an effort to align drug prices in the U.S. with those in other countries.  

• U.S. patients often pay nearly 3X more for prescription drugs than patients in other developed nations, where governments set rates, reports Reuters.  

• Prices on the TrumpRx site, launching in 2026, follow a “most-favored-nation” model, matching the lowest rates in other developed countries. The deal targets uninsured consumers, and experts say most Americans will see limited savings overall. 

More U.S. Health Policy News:     Trump orders $50M for AI in pediatric cancer research – Axios    Medicaid work requirements have not boosted insurance coverage or employment, study finds – British Medical Journal via Medical Xpress  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners
A surge of visceral leishmaniasis, also known as Kala-azar, has led a Kenyan county to declare a public health emergency; 850 infections of the deadly parasitic disease were recorded between June 2024 and August 2025. The Kenya Times    Rohingya urgently need an influx of international support, says the UN’s refugee chief, as in Myanmar they continue to “live with the threat of arbitrary arrest and detention, with restricted access to health care and education”; at the same time, the humanitarian response to the 1.2 million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh “remains chronically underfunded.” Anadolu Agency    Mpox response across Africa is being analyzed at a gathering of countries’ health officials and Africa CDC officials in Addis Ababa this week, per AllAfrica; meanwhile, vaccine experts are warning that waning immunity to smallpox ~50 years after the last vaccination campaign is leading to increased vulnerability to mpox, per Science Nigeria.    The rise of early-onset cancers in U.S. adults could be due to increased detection and overdiagnosis rather than a true spike in the disease, suggests a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, which looked at the eight cancers with the fastest-rising incidence among adults under 50. Euronews  MALARIA Bangladesh Bets on British Vaccine    Over the last decade, Bangladesh has made huge strides against malaria: Cases in the south Asian nation dropped from ~57,000 in 2014 to 13,000 in 2024. 

• But the disease has a final stronghold: The Chittagong Hill Tracts, a region bordering India and Myanmar, where ~90% of Bangladesh’s remaining malaria cases are found.   

In an attempt to eliminate the disease, researchers are traveling across the remote region to immunize thousands of villagers, in the first mass rollout in Asia of the British malaria vaccine R21.  

• Researchers say the approach could speed up elimination efforts in hard-to-reach areas exponentially, allowing more countries to follow the likes of China, Sri Lanka, and Belize in wiping out the illness. 

The Telegraph  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES HUMAN RIGHTS Inside China’s Detention Camps    A former schoolteacher coerced into working in mass detention camps in Xinjiang, China, has publicly spoken about the conditions inside, which included torture, forced labor, and forced sterilization.  

• Over 1 million Muslims from ethnic groups such as the Uyghurs have been detained in these high-security camps, which the Chinese government claims are vocational centers—but rights groups allege involve genocide. 

Eyewitness testimony: Qalbinur Sidiq, who is ethnically Uzbek, was a Chinese elementary school teacher before she was forced to work as a Chinese teacher in two camps. Sidiq, 55, was eventually sterilized against her will and reports seeing young women forcibly sterilized.     Sidiq received asylum in the Netherlands in 2019. Now, she speaks out against China’s policies toward Uyghurs and Muslim minorities.     Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty  QUICK HITS ‘Will my baby be born in a tent? Will it have food?’: what it’s like to be pregnant in Gaza – The Guardian    Listeria found in Walmart, Trader Joe’s meals may be linked to deadly outbreak – CNN    Kentucky has kicked people off food benefits using data that doesn’t tell the full story – AP    AI-generated ‘participants’ can lead social science experiments astray, study finds – Science     Should the Autism Spectrum Be Split Apart? – The New York Times (gift link) 

Manifesting isn't all "woo-woo." Science says you can train your brain – Axios Issue No. 2797
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: A New Vaccine for the Meningitis Belt; How Early Unions Endanger Girls; and Bologna Slows Down—and Sparks a Showdown View this email in your browser September 30, 2025 Forward Share Post A New Vaccine for the Meningitis Belt    A century of meningitis outbreaks across a wide strip of sub-Saharan Africa may be dramatically reduced thanks to a new vaccine that prevents the lethal disease.  

• Outbreaks from Senegal to Ethiopia have claimed tens of thousands of lives every few years.  

How will the new vaccine help? Men5CV targets the five Neisseria meningitidis bacteria that cause most epidemic meningitis across the belt. Bacteria can infect the meninges (the lining that surrounds the brain and spinal cord) and kill within hours, if untreated.  

• The vaccine has been distributed in Niger and Nigeria and will roll out in other countries soon.  

• Men5CV, developed by India’s Serum Institute of India and the Seattle-based PATH, is expected to cost $3 per dose. 

Why is there a meningitis belt? Dust storms across the region can cause sand and dust to damage people’s airways, allowing bacteria to enter the bloodstream and then lead to new infections of close contacts. 
  The Quote: “It’s a powerful new weapon that, with wider rollout, has the potential to protect millions of vulnerable people,” said the University of Southampton’s Michael Head. 
  The Telegraph  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   Hospitalized COVID-19 patients who inhaled heparin were half as likely to require ventilation and had a significantly lower risk of dying compared with those receiving standard care, per an Australian National University and King's College London study of data from ~500 patients across six countries. News Medical

A new, affordable human papillomavirus test delivers results in less than an hour with no specialized laboratory required, per research in Nature Communications led by Rice University, in collaboration with colleagues in Mozambique and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Rice University (news release)    More than 99% of people suffering first-time heart attacks, strokes, or heart failure also had at least one of four risk factors for cardiovascular disease: “suboptimal” high blood pressure, cholesterol, or blood glucose, or smoking, a prospective cohort study reveals—a far higher prevalence of warning signs than previous studies found. STAT 
  Opioid use disorder diagnoses among commercially insured U.S. patients soared ~40% post-pandemic—from 386 patients per 100,000 in 2021 to 539 patients per 100,000 in 2024, FAIR Health's Opioid Tracker shows; the hardest-hit states were Tennessee, West Virginia, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Delaware. Axios    U.S. and Global Health Policy News Trump’s USAID pause stranded lifesaving drugs. Children died waiting. – The Washington Post (gift link)    Fragile N.C. Residents Lose Medicaid Support for Food and Housing Health – The New York Times (gift link)    HHS would furlough nearly 32,500 in shutdown – Axios     Researchers are relieved at Trump’s likely pick for National Cancer Institute – Science

Energy Dept. adds ‘climate change’ and ‘emissions’ to banned words list – Politico 

Cannabis stocks soar after Trump shares video promoting drug’s use for seniors – The Guardian  CHILD MARRIAGE How Early Unions Endanger Girls    Child marriage—both formal and informal—continues to harm millions of girls globally, finds Plan International’s 2025 State of the World’s Girls report, which drew from interviews with 250+ girls across 15 countries.     Even in countries with laws prohibiting child marriage, there are few protections against cohabitations or informal marriages, reports CNN.  

• The report found that a significant number of girls in early unions face intimate partner violence and have lost access to education or employment. 

Lack of agency: The most common reasons girls in the study said they married young were economic hardship, familial pressure, and cultural norms.    Breakthrough in Bolivia: Bolivia has banned all marriages and unions under age 18 with no exceptions, in a major victory for girls’ rights, per Plan International. Previously, the law allowed for exceptions through parental or judicial authorization.
  Related: When I was married at 13 I was told refusal would end in my death. Now girls in Iraq as young as nine face the same fate – The Guardian (commentary)   GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES ROAD SAFETY Bologna Slows Down—and Sparks a Showdown     Last year, Bologna became Italy’s first major city to adopt a 30 km/h (19 mph) speed limit on most streets in an effort to reduce crashes, pollution, and noise. 

• Crash deaths dropped significantly in 2024, and no pedestrian deaths were recorded.  

However, the policy drew fierce opposition from conservative national leaders, who argued that the limit created a burden on industries that rely on drivers and have since moved to block enforcement and pursue legal challenges against the local policy. 
  Unclear future: Enforcement gaps and national pushback have weakened the policy’s impact, advocates say, and crash fatalities rose again in 2025. 

• But other Italian cities—including Milan and Rome—have now followed Bologna’s lead, issuing their own slow-street policies.  

Bloomberg CityLab  OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Halal concerns drive vaccine hesitancy as Indonesia fights measles outbreak – AP

‘I wanted to be dead’: Survivors of Assad’s prisons battle trauma and disease – The Telegraph    Louisiana issues warrant for California doctor accused of mailing abortion pills – The Guardian    Ecuadorian scientists cleared of criminal charges in COVID-19 testing case – Science     Mpox Outbreaks Expose Global Vulnerability As Smallpox Immunity Fades, Experts Warn – Science Nigeria    Gender differences in opioid and stimulant poisoning in the central region of Iran – Nature Scientific Reports    Gaps in the global health research landscape for mpox – BMC Medicine / BioMed Central BMC Medicine     Want to do disruptive science? Include more rookie researchers – Nature  Issue No. 2796
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: New Consensus to Tackle NCDs—Without the U.S.; Wrapping Babies in Malaria Protection; and Contraceptive Stigma in Sierra Leone View this email in your browser September 29, 2025 Forward Share Post Rural doctor Zhu Daqing (L) and another doctor measure a patient's blood pressure in Xinshui Village. Guizhou Province, China, July 19, 2023. Yang Wenbin/Xinhua via Getty New Consensus to Tackle NCDs—Without the U.S.    A UN declaration to address noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health will move forward with wide global support, despite being derailed by the U.S. at a High-Level General Assembly session, reports Health Policy Watch.     Broad support: The declaration sets 2030 targets for ongoing efforts in areas like tobacco reduction and hypertension control and introduces goals around mental health access for the first time, per the WHO. The draft was widely supported by UN blocs, with leaders of countries like the Philippines saying “the investment case is clear.”  
  RFK Jr.’s rejection: But the draft could not be adopted by consensus after U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that the country would “reject” the declaration. 

• Kennedy said the declaration overreached while failing to address key health issues—though he did not elaborate on those problems, reports NPR Goats and Soda. He also cited concerns over gender identity and abortion, though the declaration does not address either of those issues.  

• The declaration will still be submitted for a vote at the UN General Assembly in October; advocates remain optimistic about its adoption without U.S. support.  

Critical components missing: Key tax measures on unhealthy products were weakened by corporate lobbying, reports The Guardian.  

• “We saw specifically language changing from having countries implement health taxes … to now have countries consider health taxes, and we saw the removal of targets,” Mary-Ann Etiebet, president and CEO of Vital Strategies, told Bhekisisa’s Mia Malan (video). 

• And air pollution goals omitted any mention of fossil fuels, which “is like pledging to tackle smoking without mentioning tobacco,” said the Clean Air Fund’s Jane Burston, per Devex. 

GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES DATA POINT

~3.3 million
———————
The number of lives saved around the world by American foreign aid in 2023. —Our World in Data
  The Latest One-Liners   1,000+ children in Indonesia fell ill with food poisoning last week, per the BBC—bringing total cases to 6,000+ since January—in a spate of incidents tied to an ambitious push to deliver ~80 million free meals; President Prabowo Subianto defended the program today and announced steps to improve safety. The Jakarta Post     The U.S. FDA announced plans last Friday to review the safety of the abortion drug mifepristone, in a move that could lead to new dispensing restrictions. CBS    A distinct form of diabetes with symptoms meeting neither type 1 nor type 2 criteria has been named type 5 diabetes by the International Diabetes Federation in a commentary published in The Lancet Global Health that urges other health entities to adopt the name for the condition, which could affect ~25 million people. NPR Goats and Soda     Flu in U.S. children is leading to more cases of severe encephalopathy and related deaths, per new CDC data; the nation logged 280 pediatric flu deaths last year—the deadliest apart from the H1N1 pandemic in 2009–2010—as fewer children receive flu vaccines. NBC  U.S. and Global Health Policy News Ebere Okereke: America First in Global Health: How Africa Should Respond – Think Global Health (commentary)     Trump Cancels Trail, Bike-Lane Grants Deemed ‘Hostile’ to Cars – Bloomberg CityLab    ‘Completely shattered.’ Changes to NSF’s graduate student fellowship spur outcry – Science    White House considers funding advantage for colleges that align with Trump policies – The Washington Post (gift link)    Medical Groups Warn Against Visa Fees for Foreign Doctors – The New York Times (gift link) 

WHO Staff in Geneva Call for Freeze in Layoffs and Independent Review of Downsizing Plans – Health Policy Watch  MALARIA Wrapping Babies in a New Protection    Infants in Uganda spend much of their first two years carried snugly in cloth wraps called lesus. Such wraps could potentially provide even greater security against malaria once treated with mosquito repellent, finds a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.     Key findings: Among 400 pairs of moms and children who used baby wraps treated with permethrin—an insecticide commonly sprayed on bed nets and clothes—malaria infections fell by ~65%, per the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases.  

• The benefit held through 24 weeks, with fewer hospitalizations and no serious side effects. 

Wraps to address gaps: The wraps could offer low-cost protection for infants too young for vaccination.  

• “There’s a lot of the day when you’re not under a net. Baby wraps fill in some of those gaps when a net isn’t particularly helpful,” author Ross Boyce told MedPage Today.  

Thanks for the tip, Michael Macdonald!   GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES Thanks for the tip, Dave Cundiff!  FAMILY PLANNING Contraceptive Stigma in Sierra Leone    Stigma around contraceptive implants in women is an ongoing barrier to family planning in Sierra Leone, even as the country seeks to improve reproductive health services.    No women spared: The stigma applies both to single women, who are expected to abstain from sex, and to married women, who are encouraged to embrace having children.  

• “Societal pressure has driven many girls to remove the implant or switch to less visible methods,” said Eunice Dumbuya, an activist in Freetown.  

And yet: The country is seeing progress in access. Contraceptive prevalence is 24% for all women in Sierra Leone, per the country’s 2019 Demographic and Health Survey.  

• The country is part of the FP2030 initiative, which aims to make modern contraception available to all women and girls by 2030. 

IPS 

Related: Why more Kenyan women are turning to IUDs for family planning – The Standard OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS They fled war and sexual violence and found a safe space in Athens. Then the aid cuts hit – The Guardian

Hundreds of Israeli soldiers were badly wounded in Gaza. Here's what saved them – NPR Goats and Soda

The forgotten pandemic: Hong Kong influenza in Australia (1968–1970) – Medical Journal of Australia

For Indigenous Infants, This Devastating Virus Finally Meets a Formidable Foe – Scientific American

Twenty-Five Years of Mifepristone: How Activists Brought the Abortion Pill to America and Changed Reproductive Health Forever – Ms.

Nearly 7 in 10 COVID survivors tested didn't know they had a dulled sense of smell – CIDRAP

Some people tape their mouths shut at night. Doctors wish they wouldn’t – AP Issue No. 2795
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: High Stakes, Shifting Landscapes on Climate Action; ‘Nightmare Bacteria’ on the Rise; and They’re Kind of a bIg Deal China, the world’s top emitter, pledged to cut emissions while U.S. sits on the sidelines at climate summit. View this email in your browser September 25, 2025 Forward Share Post People ride in heavily polluted fog on Wenhua West Road in Zaozhuang in China's Shandong province. January 3, 2024. CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images  High Stakes, Shifting Landscapes on Climate Action    Ten years on from the Paris Agreement, the “stakes could not be higher” as global warming accelerates, leading scientists and UN officials warned world leaders convened at the UN General Assembly yesterday.  

• 2024 was the first year global temperatures exceeded 1.5°C, the Agreement’s critical threshold—leading to extreme weather disasters and worsening health and infrastructure challenges in communities across the globe, reports UN News.  

Intervention still possible: If countries cooperate to transition to clean energy sources and eliminate food system waste, the under-1.5°C goal can still be reached, scientists said. And yesterday, most of the world’s leading powers signaled they were willing to do that, reports DW, which provided a rundown of where major players stand.  

• “We need new plans for 2035 that go much further, and much faster,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.  

New plans submitted: Ahead of COP30 in Brazil in November, 47 countries submitted updated climate plans, but big emitters like the EU and India have yet to show their new plans.     China makes a modest—but pivotal—pledge: The world’s top emitter pledged to cut emissions by 7%–10% by 2035 and expand clean energy, aiming for over 30% non-fossil fuel use. The relatively small goal could still be “transformative” globally, experts said.  
U.S. on the sidelines: The U.S. did not participate in the summit, with President Donald Trump roundly dismissing climate action as a “green scam,” reports The New York Times (gift link). Other global leaders appeared undeterred, with the EU’s climate commissioner saying the bloc would do the “exact opposite of what the U.S. is doing.”  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners
90% of global research and development funding is being spent on universities, nonprofits, and government agencies in high-income countries, finds a new report from Impact Global Health; while that money is directed to solve problems such as neglected diseases in LMICs, just 10% of the funding is going directly to LMICs themselves. Devex    A potential treatment for leishmaniasis has been identified in compounds found in Okinawan marine sponges, which effectively killed the disease-causing parasite while sparing human cells, finds a new study published in Marine Biotechnology; researchers are hopeful the treatment could also be used against other protozoan diseases. Tokyo University of Science via Phys.org    Over one-third of hospital-acquired infections involved drug-resistant bacteria, finds a new study published in eClinicalMedicine that drew on 34 hospital-based studies involving 20,658 patients across 18 countries. Medical Xpress    Basic services in health facilities—including reliable water, sanitation, hygiene, waste management, and electricity—have improved in 100+ countries that have made “unprecedented efforts”; however, billions are still served by facilities without those essential features. WHO  ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE ‘Nightmare Bacteria’ on the Rise    Infections from drug-resistant “nightmare bacteria” spiked ~70% in the U.S. between 2019 and 2023, finds a new report from CDC researchers published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.    Driving the increase: bacteria with the NDM gene, a resistance gene that makes treating infections extremely difficult.  

• Once rare, NDM-related infections rose 460%, with 1,800+ cases in 2023 across 29 reporting states. But that is likely only a partial picture, researchers say.   

• “The rise of NDMs in the U.S. is a grave danger and very worrisome,” said David Weiss, an infectious disease researcher at Emory University.  

Possible COVID link: Heavy antibiotic use during the pandemic may have fueled resistance.    AP  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES VACCINES New Protections for Newborns    Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a leading cause of newborn sepsis, meningitis, and lifelong disabilities—causing 400,000 infections, 91,000 infant deaths, and 46,000 stillbirths annually, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.     Yet it has long flown under the radar. It is often undetected in pregnancy, carried by 15% of women without symptoms.  

• While testing and antibiotic protocols have become standard in high-income countries, many cases go undetected worldwide.  

Vaccines on the horizon: A long-awaited maternal vaccine from Pfizer is now in phase 3 trials, and another vaccine from Danish company MinervaX is also under development.  

• “There has been incredible progress. But it has taken so long,” said physician Carol Baker, who proposed a GBS vaccine in 1976.  

Science   ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION They’re Kind of a bIg Deal     It’s “arguably the highlight of the scientific calendar.” Science’s “most whimsical and notorious honor.”      It’s the Ig Nobels, the prize for research that “makes people laugh, then think.” And year after year, it does.      It’s hard to pick a favorite from this year’s roster of ridiculousness. Some top choices investigate pressing issues like: 

• The growth rate of one man’s fingernail for 35 years 

• Whether cows painted like zebras deter flies  

• Lizards’ pizza preferences 

• Alcohol’s impact on how well bats can fly—and how well humans speak a foreign language 

The honors were presented in a digestion-themed evening that grumbled with entertainment, including research explained in 24 seconds, an operatic ode to gastroenterology, and paper planes pelting winners.     We can’t all win bIg, but can we at least be invited to the party?  QUICK HITS EU, WHO counter Trump's warnings on autism and pregnancy – Reuters     Sexually transmitted disease cases fall, but not syphilis in newborns – AP  
Phase 1 trial finds high dose of malaria monoclonal antibody is safe, elicits immune response – CIDRAP     New European Partnership on One Health AMR: €253 million for research and innovation against antimicrobial resistance – European Commission    Harvard Dean Was Paid $150,000 as an Expert Witness in Tylenol Lawsuits – The New York Times (gift link)   What to Know About MMR and MMRV Vaccines – Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Pubilc Health 
  The rare disease that stops us feeling fear – BBC  Issue No. 2794
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: A Surge of Diseases in Sudan; Centering Youth and Mental Health at UNGA; and Firearm Suicides Among Older Americans View this email in your browser September 24, 2025 Forward Share Post Patients receive treatment in the cholera isolation center at the refugee camps of western Sudan. Tawila, Darfur, August 14. AFP via Getty A Surge of Diseases in Sudan   In war-ravaged Sudan, medics are fighting their own multifront war against a surge of diseases overwhelming the country’s devastated health infrastructure, reports Al Jazeera.     Malaria, typhoid, and dengue are all on the rise amid the country’s rainy season—especially in Khartoum, which reported 5,000+ cases of those diseases and dozens of deaths in the past month.  

• Khartoum state’s health ministry recorded 14,012 dengue cases since January 2024, reports Sudan Tribune. Mobile clinics have been deployed throughout the region.   

Cholera has spread to all 18 states of Sudan, with 113,600+ cases and 3,000+ deaths nationwide. Darfur is particularly affected, reporting a high fatality rate, reports the AP.  

• The WHO has launched a vaccination campaign in the worst-hit areas, after weeks battling “access, transport and logistical challenges,” per UN News. The campaign aims to protect 1.86 million people, especially children, who are disproportionately affected. 

Hospitals are overcrowded and struggling to treat patients amid medicine and equipment shortages. 

• In conflict-affected areas, 70% of hospitals are non-operational; half of Khartoum’s hospitals have been destroyed.  

Related: Sudanese children face forced recruitment, sexual violence in war, official says – Sudan Tribune  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   Afghanistan’s malaria case count rose 21%+ from July to August, with ~13,000 infections, per the WHO’s latest update—which also notes declining but still-high caseloads of other diseases including respiratory infections, diarrhea, and measles, and warns that the August 31 earthquake has further taxed already overloaded health services. Kabul Now
  Consuming alcohol in any amount raises dementia risk, suggests a large combined observational and genetic study published in BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine; the findings also “challenge the notion that low levels of alcohol are neuroprotective.” Medical Xpress    Childhood exposure to chemicals in plastic household items has been linked to long-term health risks, per a new study published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health that found that three commonly used classes of chemicals—phthalates, bisphenols, and PFAS—can be tied to ongoing conditions like heart disease, asthma, infertility, and obesity, especially when encountered early in life. News Medical    A study linking apple cider vinegar to weight loss has been retracted by The BMJ Group; the study claimed drinking diluted apple cider vinegar could lead to dramatic weight loss, but a later investigation found irregularities in the data and that the results could not be replicated. ABC News (Australia)  U.S. and Global Health Policy News Death by aid cuts: how a decision in the US led to the loss of a mother in Yemen – The Guardian 
The nation where Trump’s aid cuts are colliding with a deadly Ebola outbreak: ‘What we feared has now happened’ – The Independent    Trump’s ‘tough it out’ to pregnant women meets wave of opposition by medical experts – STAT    Trump says Cuba has ‘virtually no autism.’ That’s news to Cuban doctors – CNN 

White House slashes medical research on monkeys and other animal testing, sparking fierce new debate – CBS GHN EXCLUSIVE Teenage girls planting a tree near homes destroyed by floods along the bank of the Mathare River. Nairobi, Kenya, June 5, 2024. Boniface Muthoni/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Centering Youth at the UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs and Mental Health
Tomorrow, for the first time, mental health will be at the heart of a UN meeting involving all member states at the heads of state level—presenting an opportunity to make mental health, and specifically young people’s mental health, an economic and moral priority, write a trio of authors at the center of the push.     At the UN High-Level Meeting on the Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health, taking place tomorrow in New York, governments will make political and financial commitments to mental health—but the negotiations to shape the outcomes have been underway for months.     The draft political declaration calls on all UN member states to take steps including: 

• Scaling up services, support, and treatment for mental health conditions. 

• Improving suicide prevention measures and addressing mental health stigma. 

• Regulating harmful digital environments in a way that protects young people’s rights.    

To improve young people’s lives around the world, these words need to be translated into action, the authors say—sharing examples of partnerships like the Being Initiative, a global, multistakeholder effort to promote investment in mental health led by Grand Challenges Canada, with partners including Science for Africa Foundation, Fondation Botnar, United for Global Mental Health, Orygen, and the UK’s Department for Health. 
  Nicole Bardikoff, Aline Cossy-Gantner, and Sarah Kline for Global Health NOW   READ THE FULL COMMENTARY GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES GUNS Firearm Suicides Among Older Americans    Gun suicides among Americans ages 70+ have risen steadily from 2009 to 2023, claiming 63,836 lives over that period, finds a new analysis of CDC data. 

• The trend worries researchers, as the demographic makes up a growing share of the U.S. population.  

Behind the uptick: A range of factors impacting older people: severe illness, isolation, lack of mental health support, financial pressures, and easy access to firearms.  

• The U.S. has a much higher suicide rate among older adults than Mexico or Canada, which have stricter gun laws. 

Most at risk: Older white men in rural areas.     Possible interventions: Doctors can do more to assess their older patients’ mental health and connect them to resources, say advocates. Gun sellers can also provide screening and resources.     The Trace  OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Decades after they endured forced contraception, Greenlandic women still suffer from the trauma – AP
  Toxic Air in Tanzania’s Port City Threatens Millions, Researchers Warn – IPS    Two new studies predict results of declining MMR uptake, restricting non-medical vaccine exemptions – CIDRAP    Endemicity, disability and neglect: Leprosy in Colombia 2007–2020 – PLOS    Officials, doctors urge vaccination amid 'concerning' surge in Chicago mpox cases – Chicago Sun Times    Chicago Has Hundreds of Thousands of Toxic Lead Pipes—and Millions of Unspent Dollars to Replace Them – Inside Climate News     The wellness industry needs to stop scaring people – STAT (commentary)    Ethicists flirt with AI to review human research – Science  Issue No. 2793
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: Trump Links Autism With Tylenol; Russia’s Infected Troops; and ‘Nicotine-Free’ Vapes Not Free of Health Concerns View this email in your browser September 23, 2025 Forward Share Post President Trump (C) takes questions after making an announcement on “significant medical and scientific findings for America’s children” at the White House. September 22, Washington, D.C. Andrew Harnik/Getty Trump Links Autism With Tylenol    President Trump dispensed dubious medical advice from the White House yesterday, telling pregnant women about a dozen times to avoid taking Tylenol (known as acetaminophen in the U.S., or paracetamol in most countries), the AP reports.     Trump told pregnant women to “fight like hell” not to take Tylenol, claiming the medication would increase the autism risk in their children, per The Atlantic (gift link).      What does the evidence say? No definitive scientific evidence has linked Tylenol use by pregnant mothers with autism in their children, NPR reports, though the FDA will be updating drug labels to advise that they avoid acetaminophen. 

• An Environmental Health article in August that analyzed 46 previous studies found 27 had significant links between prenatal acetaminophen use and neurodevelopmental disorders. 

• However, study co-author Ann Bauer, a University of Massachusetts epidemiologist, told NPR the U.S. government “may be jumping the gun,” adding: “I think those of us in the research community would like to see stronger evidence.” 

Trump on vaccines: The president also advised spreading out vaccinations, overturning the current immunization schedule, per The New York Times (gift link), as heads of HHS, NIH, FDA, and Medicare/Medicaid stood behind him. 

• Medical experts like New York University bioethicist Art Caplan said the president’s guidance was irresponsible.  

Related: The drug Trump plans to promote for autism shows real (and fragile) hope – The Washington Post (gift link)   GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   Measles cases are up 31-fold in the Americas this year, per PAHO, with 11,300+ confirmed infections and 23 deaths recorded in 10 countries as of mid-September compared to 358 cases for the same period last year, with 71% of cases in unvaccinated people; Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. accounted for 96% of cases. Firstpost

Violence and abuse by patients against staff in GP clinics are widespread globally and usually triggered by long waiting times and providers’ refusal to prescribe requested drugs, according to new research analyzing 50 previous studies from 24 countries. The Guardian

The Heritage Foundation urged the FBI to add a new designation to its list of domestic violent extremist groups for Transgender Ideology-Inspired Violent Extremism, claiming violence from trans people and allies is increasing, although trans people make up less than 1% of mass shooters and are much more likely to be victims than perpetrators of violence. The Advocate

In China, AMR-attributable deaths in children under 5 declined by 95% over the past three decades but rose by 68% among people 65+, per a study in BMC Medicine; the authors attribute the mortality reduction in young children partially to pneumococcal vaccination and WASH efforts, and the increased mortality among older people to chronic health issues and weakened immune systems. CIDRAP THE QUOTE
  “High blood pressure is like a battering ram.” —————————— Tom Frieden, President/CEO, Resolve to Save Lives, speaking at a UNGA side event this morning on the toll of hypertension as “every second of every day, the blood is slamming against the brain, heart, and kidneys.”  
  INFECTIOUS DISEASES Russia’s Infected Troops    Russia has formed military units composed of soldiers with HIV, hepatitis, and other diseases, deploying them in segregated units on the front in eastern Ukraine. 

• The troops are outfitted in armbands and bracelets that signal their illness.  

A growing crisis: The move speaks to a mounting health emergency within the Russian military, which is seeing surging cases of HIV, hepatitis, and tuberculosis.  

• The number of Russian soldiers with HIV was 20X higher at the end of 2023 than it was at the start of the war.   

• Infections have spread via syringes and other contaminated medical instruments used by Russian battlefield medics, as well as by rising drug use, say Ukrainian officials.  

Risk to Ukrainian troops: Ukrainian soldiers say they have received no guidance on interacting with wounded or killed Russian troops, raising contamination concerns. 
The Telegraph    Related: Despite U=U, concerns about sharing HIV status persist among older people – aidsmap  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES SMOKING ‘Nicotine-Free’ Vapes Not Free of Health Concerns    Nicotine-free products are swiftly gaining popularity worldwide—and are largely unregulated outside Europe, raising safety concerns among researchers. 
  Background: Products like Spree Bar, Happy Hippo, and Outlaw Dip are made with nicotine analogs—synthetic chemicals like 6-methyl nicotine—to provide what manufacturers describe as an alternative, less-addictive buzz.  
  Risk remains: But some of the analogs may be more potent and addictive than nicotine, say researchers. And some “safe” ingredients may be included in unsafe concentrations—or may pose risks when inhaled versus digested.  

• Plus: Bright packaging and candy-like flavors may attract and hook underage users. 

No oversight: “These products were intentionally designed to bypass regulation,” said Sven Eric Jordt, a researcher at Duke University. 
  The Examination  OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Special edition: Your essential UNGA primer – Devex    Ebola outbreak in the DRC: why is it so deadly? – Nature     Teen pregnancies up for the first time in 14 years – BBC    Bill Gates pledges $US912 million to AIDS and malaria non-profit as US cuts funding – ABC Australia    For-Profit Corporations Are Buying Up More Psychiatric Hospitals. Some Flout Federal Law With Scarce Repercussions. – ProPublica    TB stigma in India: A narrative review of types of stigma, gender differences, and potential interventions – PLOS Global Public Health    Ticks are migrating, raising disease risks if they can't be tracked quickly enough – KFF Health News     Scientists discover microplastics deep inside human bones – Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo via ScienceDaily    If A.I. Can Diagnose Patients, What Are Doctors For? – The New Yorker  Issue No. 2792
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: A Volatile Vaccine Panel; Danes’ Cancer Care; and Housing, Health, and Climate Change Confusion and concern followed last week's key CDC vax panel meeting. View this email in your browser September 22, 2025 Forward Share Post Martin Kulldorff (C) is seen during a meeting of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. September 19, Chamblee, Georgia. Elijah Nouvelage/Getty A Volatile Vaccine Panel
   Confusion and concern followed a key U.S. vaccine advisory panel’s meeting last week, as it narrowed recommendations for some vaccines, tabled other controversial votes, and engaged in “chaotic” debate, reports NPR Shots.     The result: The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which advises the CDC and is now composed of members hand-picked by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., backed away from its most controversial proposals.    But: Medical experts warned that the meetings reflected a politicization of medicine that will lead to the “erosion of the committee’s integrity,” per The Washington Post (gift link).     Takeaways:     COVID-19 vaccine: ACIP voted against a proposal requiring prescriptions for COVID-19 vaccines but voted to limit recommendations for the shot to adults aged 65+ and those with health conditions. People under 65 should consult their doctor before getting vaccinated, the committee said.     MMRV vaccine: The panel recommended limiting the use of the combined measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) vaccine in children under 4, saying instead that MMR vaccine and varicella vaccine be administered separately for that age group. 

• But: ACIP voted that children in federal programs like Vaccines for Children can still access the combined shot.  

Hepatitis B: ACIP voted to “indefinitely postpone” ending universal newborn hepatitis B vaccination in favor of a more targeted approach, after backlash from pediatric experts who said the move would endanger vulnerable children, reports Politico.  
  Related:     Why universal COVID-19 vaccine guidance offers stronger protection than high-risk-only policies – News Medical   Winner of mRNA Nobel Prize says ACIP member’s claim that Covid vaccines persist is “absolutely impossible” – STAT     Several Northeastern States and America’s Largest City Announce the Northeast Public Health Collaborative – NYC Health (news release)  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   Ebola has claimed 31 lives in the DRC’s Kasai Province outbreak—a sharp increase over the 16 reported September 14—with 48 confirmed and probable cases so far, the WHO said late last week. UPI

A flesh-eating disease in Nigeria has killed seven people and infected 67 others in the remote community of Malabu; federal health officials say bacterial disease Buruli ulcer is the primary suspect but confirmation is still pending. The Guardian (Nigeria)    China extended the prison sentence of Covid whistleblower Zhang Zhan for another four years in prison for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” according to Reporters sans Frontières. The Independent 
  Stanford University scientists have created the first-ever AI-designed virus; the virus, discussed in a preprint paper bioRxiv last week, has a unique mission: targeting and killing Escherichia coli (E. coli). Nature  U.S. and Global Health Policy News
______________________________________________ Trump admin reportedly set to link autism to Tylenol use in pregnancy – CNBC     The Trump Administration’s Response to Congo’s Ebola Outbreak Isn’t Normal, Infectious Disease Leaders Say – NOTUS 
  ‘America First’ Global Health Strategy Commits to Funding Medicines and Health Workers – In Time-Limited, Bilateral Deals – Health Policy Watch 
  Despite fear of retaliation, hundreds of federal workers urge Congress to protect medicine and science – STAT    This Geriatrics Training Program Escaped the Ax. For Now. – The New York Times (gift link)   DATA POINT

39%
———
Americans who have confidence that RFK Jr. is providing trustworthy public health information, per a new poll. —Annenburg Public Policy Center / University of Pennsylvania
  CANCER Lessons From the Danish Care Model    UK health policymakers creating a new NHS, long-range cancer care plan are looking to Denmark for guidance.    Major strides: From 1995 to 1999, Denmark's five-year survival rate for rectal cancer was ~48%; by 2014, that rate had risen to 69%.  
  How? Denmark’s health system has implemented benchmarks for quick diagnoses followed up by immediate treatment, home chemotherapy administration, and upgraded hospital screening equipment. 

• "They are diagnosing cancer earlier, people are surviving longer, more people are taking up screening – all of those factors as well as investment in workforce and kit are critical components of a cancer plan,” says Cancer Research UK’s Michelle Mitchell. 

BBC GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES HOUSING At the Nexus of Climate Change and Health 
Housing is supposed to play a “frontline role” when it comes to protecting human health.     But as climate change accelerates, housing’s role has become more complex, per a new Lancet Public Health paper.    Multidirectional impact: Housing is “a contributor, an outcome, and a mediator” of climate-health interactions, the paper finds: 

• Contributor: The construction and operation of homes increase greenhouse gas emissions.  

• Outcome: As extreme weather events increase, housing is increasingly affected—becoming unsafe and unaffordable.  

• Mediator: Suitable, adaptive housing can protect humans from harmful exposure. 

Push for better policy: The authors urge system-wide housing reforms, from construction to energy policy, to improve resilience, equity, and sustainability. 
The Lancet Public Health  OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS UN ‘gravely alarmed’ by deteriorating situation in Sudan’s el-Fasher – Al Jazeera    An HIV Outbreak in Maine Shows the Risk of Trump’s Crackdown on Homelessness and Drug Use – KFF Health News Thanks for the tip, Chiara Jaffe!     Amendments to the International Health Regulations enter into force worldwide – News Medical      Extreme weather events can have lasting health effects, researchers find – Spectrum News  
  Mouth Microbes Linked to Pancreas Cancer Risk – MedPage Today    The importance of language in medical training materials – Michigan Health Lab    How did assaults on science become the norm — and what can we do? – Nature (book review)  Issue No. 2791
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 091825: Sounding Alarm Over the CDC; Malawi’s Inner Turmoil Over Tobacco; and a Nigerian Chef’s Jollof Rice Joy View this email in your browser September 18, 2025 Forward Share Post Former CDC Director Susan Monarez testifies before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. September 17, Washington, D.C. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Sounding Alarm Over the CDC     Former top CDC officials are warning that the American public health system is headed to a “very dangerous place” as decisions become increasingly politically driven, reports the AP.

Political interference alleged: Yesterday, former CDC director Susan Monarez and chief medical officer Debra Houry testified before a Senate committee that under health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a culture of fear had taken hold at the agency—already hollowed out by mass firings and traumatized by a shooting at agency headquarters last month, reports STAT. 

• As CDC scientists are sidelined, they are being replaced with appointees internally dubbed “politicals,” who have little to no scientific background, said Houry.  

Vaccine panel under scrutiny: The hearing took place on the eve of the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel meetings this week, during which major changes to the vaccination schedule for children will be considered—including delaying the hepatitis B shot. 

• Monarez said she feared infectious diseases like polio could be poised for a comeback: “I believe we will have our children harmed by things they don’t need to be harmed by.” 

Insurance industry pushback: Major insurers preemptively said yesterday that they would continue to take an “evidence-based approach” and continue to cover vaccines, reports The New York Times (gift link). 
  States offer alternative guidance: Groups of states, including some on the West Coast and in the Northeast, are now forming health “alliances” to maintain evidence-based recommendations that the CDC is now rebuffing.    Related:     Turning Against Vaccines, America Is a Global Outlier – The New York Times (gift link)    Who to Trust if You Can’t Trust the CDC – The Atlantic (gift link)  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   Several hundred mercenaries from Colombia—many of them young men “barely out of their teens”—are fighting alongside Rapid Support Forces on the frontlines in Sudan’s war; one of the men says he and many others were tricked by false promises of private security jobs in the UAE, then sent to Sudan. The Telegraph   

Views of U.S. mental health policy are consistent across political party lines when it comes to a need to expand voluntary, community-based mental health services, a cross-sectional study found; however, the public is less supportive of involuntary mental health care policies, though Republicans expressed more support than others. JAMA Network Open   Eye care in Uganda is among the most underfunded health services in the country, meaning people there face a higher risk of blindness due to a paucity of eye care services, per a report released by Sightsavers. Monitor   Switching clocks twice a year in the U.S. is harmful to health in numerous ways, disrupting circadian rhythms in ways that contribute to stroke and obesity, finds a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which found that remaining in either standard time or in daylight saving time reduced such risks. Stanford Medicine via ScienceDaily  SMOKING Malawi’s Inner Turmoil Over Tobacco   Tobacco is considered “green gold” in Malawi, contributing to 15% of Malawi’s GDP, 60% of exports, and 23% of tax revenue. 

That makes it difficult to enact critically needed policy reforms that could reduce smoking and save lives, health advocates say.     Wreaking havoc on health: Smoking is widespread among youth, with tobacco use contributing to rising cases of tuberculosis, along with cancer, and other diseases. 

• It has been linked to ~ 5,400 deaths, 7.4% of the country’s total mortality. 

Undermined by the government: Instead of receiving support from Malawi’s public officials, efforts to curb smoking are being actively eroded by a government bent instead on promoting increased tobacco production.  
  The Telegraph  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH A Stranded Stockpile of Contraceptives     In a warehouse in Belgium, $9.7 million worth of contraceptives are sitting in limbo.     Background: Before the Trump administration’s freeze on foreign aid, the medications and devices were once destined for five low-income countries in Africa. Now, they’re scheduled for incineration.     Call for release: But this week, Belgian officials have reported they are still intact, prompting 70+ aid organizations to call for the contraceptives, which have already been paid for, to be passed along to their intended recipients before they expire between 2027 and 2031.    Impact by the numbers: Per the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition, the destruction of the stockpile could lead to:  

• 362,000 unintended pregnancies 

• 161,000 unplanned births 

• 110,000 unsafe abortions 

• 718 preventable maternal deaths 

NPR Goats and Soda    Related: Women’s rights activists rally in Belgium fearing US plans for birth control supplies – AP  ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION She Made the Most of It: Nigerian Chef’s Jollof Rice Joy    At first glance, it’s hard to tell: Is the pot gigantic, or are the people tiny? Turns out, it’s the former.      Armed with oar-sized utensils and dwarfed by a colossal, custom-built pot, Nigerian chef Hilda Baci and her gaggle of assistants have secured the Guinness World Record for the largest serving of jollof rice, an iconic West-African dish, AP reports. Ghana, Nigeria’s jollof rice rival, may retaliate.     Rice to the top: It took “nine hours of fire, passion, and teamwork,” and a near-collapse as the dish was crane-lifted to the weigh-in—but the record was set: 19,356 pounds, 9 ounces. 

Not her first record rodeo: A 93-hour cook-off in 2023 gave Baci her first brush with Guinness greatness, only to be dethroned just a year later. 
  Nevertheless, Baci’s ambitions inspired others who dream of doing the most … of anything, really, including applying makeup, or giving the longest speech. The only thing harder than achieving that accolade, surely, is listening to it.  QUICK HITS Afghanistan faces ‘perfect storm’ of crises, UN warns – UN News    Can Drug Users Be Forced Into Rehab? Trump Says Yes. So Do 34 States. – The New York Times (gift link)    Putin Marks Another Break From International Norms As Russia Exits Anti-Torture Pact – RFE/RL    How UK aid cuts will lead to global health programme closures—and deaths – The BMJ    Bipartisan bill seeks to reinstate national suicide hotline for LGBTQ+ youth – The 19th
  Special Olympics Launches Global Health Report to Tackle Inequities faced by People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities – Special Olympics (news release)

Gas stove makers quietly delete air pollution warnings as they fight mandatory health labels – Grist    As California installs more artificial turf, health and environmental concerns multiply – Los Angeles Times    How one op-ed sparked high-level talks at Nedlac, treasury and the presidency on cheaper food – Bhekisisa  Issue No. 2790
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: UN Accuses Israel of Genocide in Gaza; Researchers’ Growing Resistance; and Gaming Addiction Treatment in Australia Israel’s military campaign is being conducted with “intent to destroy” Palestinians in Gaza, finds independent commission View this email in your browser September 17, 2025 Forward Share Post Eight-year-old Youssef Ali Hussein's family carries his body after he died from Guillain-Barre syndrome at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza, on September 16. Abdallah F.s. Alattar/Anadolu via Getty UN Accuses Israel of Genocide in Gaza    The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry has formally accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza—the first such official UN assessment, reports The Telegraph.     The issue of ‘intent': The Commission concluded that Israel’s military campaign is being conducted with “intent to destroy” Palestinians in Gaza—a critical legal threshold for genocide, which the committee said intent was inferred from military operations, blocked food aid and starvation, and public statements by Israeli leaders.     The 72-page report states that Israel committed four of five acts laid out in the 1948 Genocide Convention: killing, inflicting serious harm, creating life-threatening conditions, and preventing births, per UN News. The fifth act, the forcible removal of children, was not alleged.    International reaction: All 153 countries that signed the Genocide Convention are legally obligated to act to prevent genocide, said the Commission—which urged countries to halt arms transfers to Israel. 

• Israel has rejected the report, calling it based on “Hamas falsehoods” and saying the October 7 massacre two years ago was an act of genocide. The U.S. is expected to oppose the findings.  

• Meanwhile, five British MPs have urged their government to back a UN-led military intervention, reports Middle East Eye.  

What’s next: Ultimately, the International Court of Justice will have to decide if a case of genocide has been proven or not. A case against Israel has been brought by South Africa.  

• Meanwhile, Israel has launched a new ground invasion in Gaza City—as international pressure grows for a ceasefire, reports the AP. 

GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners
Opioid-related deaths in England and Wales in the past decade were 55% higher than previously recorded, amounting to 13,000+ heroin and opioid deaths missed in official statistics from 2011 to 2022, according to a King’s College London study. BBC     The CDC has revoked telework permissions for employees with disabilities and paused all new approvals for such accommodations pending HHS updates to a broader telework policy; the move follows the Trump administration’s January directive to “terminate remote work arrangements” for federal employees. STAT     A whistleblower lawsuit brought by a former kidney transplant program director alleges sweeping corruption, bias, and greed across the U.S. organ donation and transplant system, taking aim at stakeholders including nonprofits, government contractors, and transplant centers. The Washington Post (gift link)    An algorithm that projects outbreaks’ impacts even with incomplete data could guide decisions on when to implement or relax policies like masking, social distancing, or quarantine, finds a study published in PLOS Computational Biology Sept. 3; the algorithm uses data as it’s available versus preset schedules and thresholds to determine optimal timing for nonpharmaceutical interventions. Medical Xpress  U.S. and Global Health Policy News   Kennedy's vaccine panel expected to recommend delaying hepatitis B shot in children – NPR    House panels charge U.S. National Academies with producing partisan studies – Science     Mississippi declares infant deaths emergency as CDC program that could have helped is halted – The Guardian    Experts warn loss of USAID endangers the fight against deadly TB – CIDRAP    Scientists decry NIH pledge to end some human fetal tissue research – Science  POLICY Researchers’ Growing Resistance    Scientists in the U.S. are increasingly pushing back against drastic cuts to government research, using a range of tactics:    Legal action: Growing numbers of researchers are joining class action lawsuits to reinstate grants and preserve funding for institutions like the NIH.     Tracking grants: Activists are cataloging cuts through public databases like Grant Witness, tracking hundreds of terminated grants, revealing disproportionate cuts to research supporting certain minority groups.     Whistle-blowing: Government scientists are informing lawmakers and journalists about internal policy violations. 
  Public outreach: Outward-facing projects like Science Homecoming and Your Neighborhood Scientist aim to rebuild public trust by connecting scientists and their work with their local communities.    Nature  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES MENTAL HEALTH Pioneering Gaming Addiction Treatment in Australia    Since 2022, ~300 people have sought treatment for gaming addiction at Fiona Stanley Hospital in Perth, Australia—the nation’s first public hospital to treat the increasingly prevalent disorder.  

• ~500,000 Australians may be affected by addiction to videogaming, say researchers, who describe isolation, depression, and aggression as common symptoms as compulsive gaming disrupts school, work, and family life. 

• Most patients at the Fiona Stanley facility are 15–19 years old. At the clinic, they are slowly reconnected to daily activities and routines.  

More tools needed: The clinic’s practitioners and other researchers say schools and physicians need more resources to flag and screen at-risk youth so treatment can begin earlier. 
  ABC Australia  QUICK HITS Amid rising violence in Colombia, girls and women are being held as sex slaves: ‘No woman is safe’ – The Guardian 

Studies show mostly poor long-COVID protection for Paxlovid – CIDRAP
  Fentanyl: Germany prepares for synthetic drugs crisis – DW     Injury prevention is in danger from federal cuts – Baltimore Sun (commentary)     How billions of hacked mosquitoes and a vaccine could beat the deadly dengue virus – Nature   Issue No. 2789
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: A Troubling Snapshot of Women’s Health; Europe's Fungal Threat; and Indigenous Ingredients Elevate School Lunch Global conflict, aid cuts, and movements against gender equality threaten women’s wellbeing View this email in your browser September 16, 2025 Forward Share Post An elderly woman and malnourished children look on after spending two days without a meal in Moroto, Uganda. July 22. Hajarah Nalwadda/Getty Images A Troubling Snapshot of Women’s Health 
Women’s health gains in past decades have been overshadowed by persistent challenges and inequities compared with men, per a UN Women report published yesterday. 
  Warnings:  

• 10% of women still live in extreme poverty, and 351 million women and girls will face extreme poverty by 2030. 

• 64 million more women than men are food insecure. 

• Anemia rates in women ages 15–49 are expected to rise to 33% in 2030 from 31.1% today. 

• 676 million women and girls lived within 50 kilometers of a “deadly conflict event” in 2024—a number not seen since the 1990s. 

Advances: 

• Maternal mortality fell by 39.3% from 2000 to 2023. 

• More girls than boys are enrolling in and completing school worldwide.    

Key threats: global conflict, aid cuts, and movements against gender equality, The Guardian reports. 
Funds infusion needed: The world spends $2.7 trillion on its militaries each year, but $420 billion annually could advance gender equality, said UN Women’s Sarah Hendriks.  
The Quote: “It can seem very hopeless, but in actual fact, we can choose a world where millions more women do not remain trapped in poverty or sidelined from power or exposed to violence,” Hendriks said.  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners
100,000+ people in northern South Sudan have been displaced by floods and another 300,000 people are at risk in the coming weeks, per a UNHCR official; the inundation threatens to cut off communities and worsen food insecurity. UN News 
Pakistan launched its first-ever human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination campaign yesterday, targeting girls ages 9–14 in Sindh, Punjab, Azad Kashmir, and Islamabad; the two-week effort seeks to protect millions from cervical cancer caused by HPV. Arab News    Rwanda is seeing an alarming uptick in malaria cases—rising 45% in 2024—after nearly a decade of steady declines, according to officials; the country is now reconsidering whether to accept malaria vaccines it once declined. News Medical 
An analysis of 26 countries across the Americas highlights the persistent challenge of drowning in the region even as some countries make progress with disaster warning systems and water safety campaigns; the report found that just two of the countries studied have a government-led national drowning prevention strategy. PAHO  DRUG RESISTANCE European Hospitals’ Formidable Fungal Threat    A drug-resistant fungal infection has gained a foothold in European hospitals, proliferating “from isolated cases to becoming widespread in some countries,” the European Centre for Disease Control warned in a report last week.     Rapid rise: The fungus Candidozyma auris has only been detected within the last decade; but since 2013, 4,000+ people have been infected across 18 countries.  

• 1,346 cases were reported in 2023 alone—a 67% jump from the previous year. 

Deadly foe: C. auris thrives in health facilities, surviving on surfaces from windowsills to stethoscopes, and resists most disinfectants and antifungals.  

• ~60% of infected patients die within 90 days.  

The Telegraph   Related: Epidemiological and microbiological characterization of Candidozyma auris (Candida auris) isolates from a tertiary hospital in Cairo, Egypt: an 18-month study – Nature GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES NUTRITION Elevating School Lunch in India With Indigenous Ingredients     Schools in India’s rural Meghalaya state have a new recipe for boosting school attendance and combating malnutrition—and it includes Himalayan chives, cured dry fish, and berry pickle.     Local, farm-grown, and foraged ingredients are now a central part of school lunches in the region, thanks to an initiative introduced by the North East Society for Agroecology Support (Nesfas) to make school lunches more nutrient-rich, diversified, sustainable, and climate-resilient. 

• The effort also seeks to support local farmers and teach children about the Indigenous foods within their vicinity. 

Early impact: A one-year assessment of the initiative found that 92% of students fall within a healthy weight range.  

• Improved attendance and energy levels have also been reported, leading local officials to scale up the project.  

The Guardian OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS ‘Critical’ to Complete Pandemic Agreement by UN Meeting in 2026 – Health Policy Watch 
Online misinformation putting women off contraceptive pill, study finds – The Guardian    Study reveals hidden causes of heart attacks in younger adults, especially women – Medical Xpress     Why 1 in 6 U.S. parents are rejecting vaccine recommendations – The Washington Post (gift link)   Over half of US healthcare workers plan to switch jobs by next year, survey finds – Reuters     Another Mediterranean diet benefit: Better gum health, say UK scientists – Euronews       Reducing Tobacco Use Worldwide — A New Perspective Series – The New England Journal of Medicine    When’s the best time to get a flu shot? Doctors explain – The Independent Issue No. 2788
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: A Rising Dual Threat; Supporting Medics’ Mental Health; and Nairobi's Shrinking Green Spaces View this email in your browser September 15, 2025 Forward Share Post Boatmen sleep inside mosquito nets on their boats on the Buriganga River in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on June 24. Syed Mahamudur Rahman/NurPhoto via Getty A Rising Dual Threat 

Hospitals in Bangladesh have been overwhelmed by “intense, overlapping outbreaks” of both dengue and chikungunya—a trend that doctors say is becoming more frequent and severe, reports The Telegraph. 

• 33,800+ dengue cases and 132 deaths have been reported this year. 

• Chikungunya, in decline since 2017, is rapidly resurging.  

Wider outbreaks: The two diseases are from different viral families and require different medical treatments, but are spread by the same mosquitoes, leading to simultaneous outbreaks and strained health systems in places like Brazil and Sri Lanka.  

Compounded by climate change: ~18% of dengue cases can be attributed to rising temperatures—which may lead to 4.6 million additional infections annually, finds a new study published in PNAS.  

• “This is not just hypothetical future change, but a large amount of human suffering that has already happened because of warming-driven dengue transmission,” said study author Erin Mordecai, per Inside Climate News.  

Inequality’s impact: The mosquito-borne diseases disproportionately affect marginalized populations in places like Brazil, per a study published in The Lancet Regional Health Americas—with higher hospitalization, mortality rates, and years of life lost among Black and Indigenous groups, reports Agência Cenarium. 

Meanwhile in Europe: France reported 382 local chikungunya cases this summer, up from just one last year, reports Politico Europe.

GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners
The U.S. government destroyed $10 million of contraceptives destined for low-income countries; a USAID spokesperson said the stockpile included products that induce abortion, but an inventory list “showed this statement was false.” The Telegraph     Nearly 60% of Japanese in their 20s either never drink alcohol or consume it less than once per month, according to a new marketing survey; young people cited poor tolerance for alcohol, taste, and health concerns. South China Morning Post    Mothers and babies in England are endangered by a “toxic” cover-up culture pervasive in the NHS, in which doctors and hospital staff fail to report problems, say health leaders involved in a national maternity investigation focusing on 14 NHS trusts. The Guardian    Labor laws to protect workers in extreme heat are increasing worldwide, but they are barely keeping pace with the rapidly intensifying risks brought on by climate change. The New York Times (gift link)  CONFLICT Supporting Medics’ Mental Health 
As the war in Ukraine grinds on, many of the country’s battlefield medics caring for injured soldiers are themselves facing increasing mental strain.  

• 30% of Ukrainian medical workers say they struggle to manage emotions “without self-harm or harming others,” found a survey last year by the International Rescue Committee. 

• Many medics came from civilian professions and had minimal preparation for the physical and emotional toll of war.  

A different kind of battlefield retreat: A Ukrainian charity, Repower, aims to support medics facing burnout by taking them on recovery getaways abroad, where they can rest and learn about psychological coping tools.    Critical reminder: “There is life outside of war,” said Pasha, one of the ~900 Ukrainian medics who have joined the retreats. 
  The Christian Science Monitor 
  Related: Ukraine: Life in a mined village – DW (video)    GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES CLIMATE Nairobi's Shrinking Green Spaces  
Air quality in Nairobi is steadily worsening, with pollution levels 3.5X above the WHO’s safe limit for particulate matter (PM2.5)—levels that have been linked to chronic illnesses and up to ~1,400 premature deaths annually.     Driving the problem: Emissions from traffic, industry, and burning; but also the ongoing loss of “green buffers”—parks, tree-lined corridors, and urban canopies—to development.  

• Nairobi has 6.56 square meters of green spaces per capita, below the WHO's guideline of 9–10 square meters.   

• The vanishing green means the loss of essential air filtration, even as emissions increase.  

The Quote: “It felt like the city I depend on for survival was slowly choking me,” said fruit seller James Muro, who developed a lung infection from polluted air.     Health Policy Watch 

Related: Warning of climate breakdown and soaring heat deaths a ‘wake up call’ for Australia, PM says – The Guardian   OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Congo's Ebola outbreak spreads as cases double – Healio     ‘They raped us one by one’: East Timor’s forgotten women of war – The Telegraph    
Child dies from complication of measles contracted years earlier – AP     Hot spots shift in Africa’s mpox battle as cholera activity spikes in Chad and Republic of Congo – CIDRAP    Methanol poisoning: a diffuse health disaster – The Lancet    Being too thin can be deadlier than being overweight, Danish study reveals – Science News via European Association for the Study of Diabetes      Water and sanitation fall through the cracks of development – Devex    The government wants more people to breastfeed. Experts say paid parental leave could help. – The 19th  Issue No. 2787
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 Global Fund’s Endangered Footholds; Hantavirus Hits Russian Troops; and Looking For Love … at a Snail’s Pace View this email in your browser September 11, 2025 Forward Share Post A mother and child wait as her child gets registered to receive a malaria vaccine at Apac General Hospital. Apac District, Uganda, April 8. Hajarah Nalwadda/Getty The Global Fund’s Endangered Footholds    In a swiftly changing global health climate, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will channel its resources to the world’s poorest countries—which Fund leaders warn are highly vulnerable to a resurgence of the three diseases amid sudden aid cutoffs, reports Reuters via The Independent. 

• "We're skewing our resources even more to the very poorest countries," said Peter Sands, CEO of the Global Fund, who added that leaving countries like Sudan to fend for themselves amid conflict, climate change, and disease “is morally repugnant.”  

Major gains—now at risk: The Fund’s 2025 results report highlights major milestones: 70 million lives saved since 2002, and a 63% drop in the combined death rate from the three diseases, per a news release. 

• But those gains now face the threat of erosion as contributions from donor governments falter.  

Malaria progress is most susceptible, warned Sands—who pointed to the impact of singular circumstances like the Pakistan floods, which can quickly lead to massive case increases, reports Geneva Solutions.  

• 100,000+ additional malaria deaths are anticipated this year, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and among children. 

GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners
DRC towns affected by the latest Ebola outbreak have erected checkpoints to restrict population movements and placed the Kasai’s Bulape zone under confinement as cases ticked up this week; aid workers warn the response is underfunded. The Transmission – University of Nebraska Medical Center     The risk of death from chronic illnesses including cancer, heart disease, and diabetes dropped in four out of five countries between 2010 and 2019, per a study published in The Lancet that drew from data in 185 countries. Nature    Unproven treatments for Lyme disease are on the rise, including lasers, herbal remedies, and electromagnets—which researchers warn could be ineffective or dangerous. AP    Incarcerated people who received medication for opioid use disorder were “significantly” more likely to continue treatment six months after release, finds a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine; such treatment was also linked with a 52% lower risk of fatal overdose. UMass Amherst (news release)  RADAR Hantavirus Hits Russian Troops    Hantavirus has sickened at least three soldiers from the Akhmat Battalion, a Chechen special forces unit fighting in southeastern Ukraine.  

• The disease is spread by exposure to infected rodent urine, droppings, or saliva and cannot be transmitted person-to-person. 

• It has a fatality rate of up to 38%; the most severe form typically begins with flu-like symptoms and can progress to fever and abdominal pain, bleeding from the eyes, and kidney failure. 

• No antiviral treatments are available; two existing vaccines target specific strains and are only approved for use by South Korea and China. 

Health intelligence firm Airfinity ties the outbreak to poor living conditions and uncontrolled rodent populations at the front lines.      The Quote: “Mice are everywhere. We wake up because they run across us. We even wrestle over cans of condensed milk,” a Russian medic with the unit told Pravda.    The Telegraph GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES MALARIA Education vs. Infection    Teaching people strategies about how to prevent malaria has a powerful impact on reducing cases—comparable to the impact of spraying insecticide, finds a new study published in The Lancet Global Health.     Details: A study in rural Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire found that combining bed-net use with malaria education—like how to use bed nets effectively, how to encourage a mosquito-free household environment, and when to seek early treatment—reduced malaria cases by 22%.     Implications: The study offers the first epidemiological evidence that malaria education can meaningfully reduce infection rates, and could be an effective tool used alongside other core malaria-prevention strategies, per a related commentary:  

• “As funding landscapes shift, malaria control programmes and their implementing partners must diversify strategies to sustain progress against the disease,” wrote the commentary authors, researchers at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. 

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance     Related:     New study reveals hidden risks of 'silent' malaria infections – Medical Xpress     The resurgence of malaria in Africa is an avoidable crisis—here's what we must do – The BMJ (commentary)

A New Malaria Drug Can Treat Infants—If Health Systems Support It – Think Global Health (commentary)  ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION Looking For Love … at a Snail’s Pace    Snails have a 1 in 40,000 chance of being anatomically at-odds with most of their species. Ned the snail is the 1—spiraling left instead of the usual right. 
  Giselle Clarkson, a home gardener in New Zealand, encountered the rare left-coiled snail among some leaves, named him after the left-handed Simpsons character, and set out to find him a mate—with the help of New Zealand Geographic magazine.   
  Left out of love: Ned just needs a snail he can connect with. Literally. Left-coiling and right-coiling snails can’t align their sex organs to procreate.   
  But as with many matchmaking missions, it’s unclear whether this matchee cares that he’s single or if he even wants kids. But that hasn’t stopped Clarkson. 
  “I have never felt this stressed about the welfare of a common garden snail before,” she told ABC.  QUICK HITS When the Law Limits Choice: Nigeria’s Policies are Undermining Sexual Justice – Nigeria Health Watch    Time to 'stop tolerating women's pain and suffering': Melinda Gates-backed research initiative raises $100M – Fierce Biotech    After 17 Years, DNA Tied a Man to Her Rape. Under Massachusetts Law, It Was Too Late. – ProPublica    About 2,000 people may have been exposed to measles at Utah event – Salt Lake Tribune    Kids with COVID had a 50% to 60% higher risk of depression, anxiety in 2021, researchers say – CIDRAP    Marburg Virus Disease in Rwanda, 2024 — Public Health and Clinical Responses – New England Journal of Medicine     West Nile virus cases running higher than normal, prompting health warnings – AP    Insomnia Raises Dementia Risk in Healthy Older Adults – MedPage Today     EU to slash food and fast fashion waste – DW    Dr. Peter Hotez takes the war against science very personally – NPR Goats and Soda  Issue No. 2786
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: MAHA Roadmap for Children’s Health; Influencers in South Africa’s Cigarette Debate; and Cholera’s Climb in Africa RFK, Jr. calls U.S. children’s health as “an existential crisis.” View this email in your browser September 10, 2025 Forward Share Post Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appears before the Senate Finance Committee in Washington, D.C., on September 4. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images The MAHA Roadmap for Children’s Health Released    The Trump administration released its long-anticipated report yesterday to “Make Our Children Healthy Again,” aimed at addressing a rise in chronic diseases in children—a trend Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. describes as “an existential crisis for our country,” reports NPR Shots.     The commission listed four drivers of chronic disease and outlined broad responses to each—prompting mixed reactions from public health researchers.  

• Diet: The report warns about the impact of processed foods, calling for new dietary guidelines promoting whole foods. It also calls for limiting the inclusion of processed foods in government food programs, while increasing access to items like whole milk in schools.  

• Inactivity: The commission also points to “unprecedented” inactivity among children, calling for more guidance around screen time and for more physical activity in schools—including the return of the Presidential Fitness Test.  

• Chemical exposure: The report warns that children are exposed to increasing levels of synthetic chemicals linked to disease—but avoids any major pesticide regulations, which critics described as a big win for the food industry, reports Politico.  

• Overmedicalization: The report also points to “a concerning trend of overprescribing medications to children” and proposes a new vaccine framework focused on “medical freedom.”  

Reactions: Public health researchers and advocates say the report's goals, while sweeping, lack guidance on implementation, and are being undermined by other moves from the Trump administration—including cuts to food assistance, Medicaid, and scientific research, as well as the risks stemming from Kennedy’s moves to overhaul vaccine policy.    More U.S. Health Policy News:    Trump announces crackdown on pharmaceutical advertising – Politico    Supreme Court temporarily allows Trump to pause billions in foreign aid   – CNN    Fired CDC Director Susan Monarez to testify to Senate panel – The Hill    Another US doctors' group breaks with federal policy, recommends COVID-19 vaccines for all adults – Reuters GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners
Obesity has superseded hunger as the top malnutrition issue facing children globally, per a new UN report that highlights the widespread marketing of ultra processed foods as a key driver of the trend; 1 in 10 teenagers and school-age children live with obesity. The Guardian    44% of people with diabetes worldwide are undiagnosed, finds an analysis published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, which looked at data from 204 countries and territories from 2000 to 2023. CNN    THC may disrupt human egg cells, leading to the wrong number of chromosomes and potentially to infertility or miscarriage, finds a study published in Nature Communications that analyzed the impact of chemicals in cannabis on female fertility. Science Alert    Long COVID is “highly prevalent” worldwide, finds a global analysis published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases; meanwhile, a second study of long COVID in adolescents published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases finds that most symptoms reported by teens in 2022 were resolved three months post-infection. CIDRAP  TOBACCO Deploying Influencers in South Africa’s Cigarette Debate 
As new tobacco legislation makes its way through South Africa’s Parliament, industry opponents are tapping social media influencers to carry their key talking points—and cast a misleading picture about the bill.    Background: The legislation, the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Control Systems Bill, aims to prohibit the sale of loose cigarettes, among other restrictions.  

• ~20 influencers have been posting that the bill will threaten the livelihoods of informal traders, a key industry message, and that the prohibition is part of a “secretive” government conspiracy.  

• Health advocates and scientists say the misinformation is a deliberate tactic to sway public opinion against the government’s efforts to curb tobacco usage.  

Bhekisisa  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES INFECTIOUS DISEASES Cholera’s Climb in Africa     Cases of cholera in Africa have doubled over the past three years, with more than 230,000 cases across 23 countries and 5,000 deaths attributed to the disease.     Cholera, which people can get from contaminated water or food, is easily treatable. However, in half a dozen countries 1% of patients are dying from the disease, exposing large gaps in care.  

• Death can occur within several hours. 

• Severe dehydration from nausea and vomiting shuts down internal organs. 

• Annually, there are between 1.3 and 4 million cases worldwide. 

Taking action: Over the next six months, an emergency plan from Africa CDC and the World Health Organization will roll out, which includes hundreds of treatment centers and outpatient care locations and 10 million oral cholera vaccine doses.     NPR  OPPORTUNITY: WEBINAR TOMORROW! QUICK HITS Missing limbs and loved ones, Gazan children begin treatment journey abroad – Reuters    NHS to trial revolutionary blood test that could speed up Alzheimer’s diagnosis – The Independent    CDC finds 4% drop in US death rate in 2024. Experts say decline may be due to COVID – AP   'We have basically destroyed what capacity we had to respond to a pandemic,' says leading epidemiologist Michael Osterholm – Live Science    Childhood play replaced by screens: Kenyan study warns of rising double burden of malnutrition – Daily Nation    Issue No. 2785
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: Women Denied Aid in Afghanistan; Contraceptive Gaps in Sub-Saharan Africa; and Mass-Producing Mosquitoes in Brazil View this email in your browser September 9, 2025 Forward Share Post An Afghan women and her children sit in a makeshift camp in the aftermath of an earthquake, in the Nurgal district, Kunar Province, on September 4. Stringer/AFP via Getty Women Denied Aid in Afghanistan  
In the devastation following Afghanistan’s 6.0-magnitude earthquake Sunday, humanitarian workers are struggling to reach more survivors, per UN News—with a narrow, one-way mountain road partially blocked by large rocks from landslides the only way to get to affected areas. 

• ~40,000 people have been impacted by the earthquake, and 5,000+ homes have been destroyed in eastern Afghanistan.  

Emergency responders are trying to prioritize aid to women, children, and locals with disabilities, but female survivors have been deprived of care as Taliban-enforced gender rules prevent male first responders and doctors from assisting them—even in emergencies, reports The New York Times (gift link).     Pushed aside, passed over: After the quake, which killed 2,200+ and injured 3,600+, women reported being pushed aside or passed over in emergency rooms. Male medical teams reported being hesitant even to pull women from rubble. 

• “Being a woman here means we are always the last to be seen,” said a 19-year-old mother. 

The WHO has called for authorities to ease restrictions on female aid workers, saying their presence is essential, especially as women are not permitted to travel for care without male guardians, per Ariana News.    A deepening care crisis: With women currently barred from medical education and training, the shortage of female medical providers will only worsen, per Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   The DRC health ministry has reported 32 Ebola cases and 15 deaths—including the index patient, a 34-year-old pregnant woman, and two of the health workers who cared for her; the cases are from Kasai province, which borders Angola. CIDRAP 
Contaminated metal at an industrial site in Indonesia may be the source of radioactive material that led to massive recalls of imported frozen shrimp, per the International Atomic Energy Agency; efforts are underway to halt more U.S.-bound shipments. AP 
Canadian researchers say that sepsis should be recognized as a public health emergency, highlighting significant gaps in policies and training standards throughout Canada and calling for a coordinated national action plan to address sepsis. CBC    Extreme heat drove increased sugar consumption in U.S. households in 2004–2019, especially in the form of sugar-sweetened beverages, with greatest impacts among disadvantaged groups; projected future increases in temperature and sugar consumption point to the need “to explore dietary adaptation to climate change.” Nature  U.S. and Global Health Policy News As Covid surges in the US, Americans can’t get vaccinated: ‘terrified I might kill somebody’ – The Guardian 
Minnesota, New York issue executive orders promoting access to COVID vaccines – CIDRAP 
How to get a coronavirus vaccine and who’s eligible amid limited access – The Washington Post (gift link)    Trump downplays domestic violence in speech about religious freedom – The 19th     Trump shares video highlighting discredited theory linking vaccines to autism – Politico     As US retreats from global health, corporations must fill the void – The Hill (commentary) FAMILY PLANNING Contraceptive Gaps in Sub-Saharan Africa    Long-acting birth control methods like IUDs and implants remain underutilized in many sub-Saharan African countries, with nearly 4 in 5 women depending on short-term methods, finds a new study published in International Health.     Findings: On average, 21.7% of sexually active women ages 15–49 use long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs), with wide disparities among countries. 

• Benin, Mali, and Tanzania lead in use, due to high availability, strong family planning services, and community outreach.  

• Namibia, Niger, and Togo have the lowest rates due to disjointed health infrastructure, misinformation, and cultural barriers. 

Improving access: Researchers recommend a “multi-pronged approach” to expanding access to LARCs, including training providers, strengthening supply chains, and boosting educational campaigns.     The Conversation (Q&A)  DATA POINT

~48 million
——————
U.S. adults who say they have been or are being treated for depression; the rates for those under age 30 now exceed 1 in 4, per a new pair of surveys. —Gallup
  DENGUE Mass-Producing Mosquitoes in Brazil 
The sprawling Wolbito do Brasil facility in Curitiba is abuzz with innovation—and the drone of millions of mosquitoes. 
  It is the world’s largest “mosquito factory”—producing 100 million eggs of a modified Aedes aegypti mosquito each week in scaled-up efforts to combat dengue and Zika. 

• The modified mosquitoes, dubbed “wolbitos,” are infected with Wolbachia, a bacterium that blocks virus transmission and is passed to offspring.  

Operational hurdles: The facility has had to overcome a range of logistical challenges: fine-tuning climate control, switching blood sourcing, ensuring some insecticide resistance, and cultivating community buy-in in the face of misinformation. 
  Taking flight: The factory released its first wolbitos last month in Santa Catarina and plans to release more soon in Brasilia. 
  Nature 
  Related: Inside a mosquito factory – Nature (video)  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Nepal lifts social media ban after 19 killed in protests – BBC    This is what could happen to a child who doesn't get vaccinated – NPR Goats and Soda    States Heading Toward Constitutional Showdown Over Abortion Shield Laws – The New York Times (gift link)    Another Man Gets a Pig Kidney as Transplant Trials Are Poised to Start – MedPage Today    Dividends from death – Science    Sweeteners in diet drinks may steal years from the brain – American Academy of Neurology via ScienceDaily    There’s a Secret to a Nearly Painless IUD – Slate    New York City Hospital Staff Learn Planet-Friendly Health Care – Think Global Health (commentary)    Can researchers stop AI making up citations – Nature  Issue No. 2784
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: August 2025 Recap View this email in your browser September 8, 2025 Forward Share Post A medical worker disinfects a local Ebola treatment center during a 2021 outbreak in North Kivu province, northeastern DRC. March 21, 2021. Alain Uaykani/Xinhua via Getty Ebola Outbreak Tests Shaky Global Health Ground    A new Ebola outbreak in the DRC is sparking global health security concerns in a destabilized public health landscape, as practitioners fear depleted resources and disrupted leadership will hamper response efforts.  
  Rapid transmission: So far 15 deaths and 28 cases have been reported in the DRC outbreak, which started after a pregnant woman showing symptoms of hemorrhagic fever was admitted to the hospital in late August. The health workers who treated her also became ill, reports The Telegraph.  

• The nation’s health system has already been weakened by intensified conflict and by U.S. aid cuts, reports the AP. 

Urgent response: The WHO has deployed experts and emergency supplies; meanwhile, vaccines are being sent from Kinshasa to contain the spread.  
  Bigger picture: As the outbreak spreads, the U.S. faces major setbacks in pandemic preparedness, per The Atlantic (commentary, gift link), as the White House has dismantled key biosecurity offices, slashed CDC’s staff and shaken up its leadership, withdrawn from the WHO, and weakened global health ties and surveillance. 

• “With no warning, we will have less ability to stop the disease at its source, and less power, if it reaches our shores, to save American lives,” the commentary’s authors write. 

GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   Mpox is no longer an international health emergency, per the WHO, given “sustained declines in cases” in the DRC, Burundi, Sierra Leone, and Uganda; however, the Africa CDC confirmed it still constitutes a continental public health emergency, pointing to rising cases in Ghana, Liberia, Kenya, Zambia, and Tanzania. Al Jazeera 
A new anti-gay law introduces prison sentences of up to five years and a fine for those who “promote homosexuality” in Burkina Faso, formerly a relatively safe space in West Africa for the gay community. The Guardian     A new bat-borne pathogen, dubbed the Salt Gully virus, has been identified in Australia’s flying foxes, though there have been no reports of human spillover; the virus is related to Nipah and Hendra viruses. The Telegraph    A federal report on alcohol consumption and links to cancer has been pulled back by the HHS and will not be submitted to Congress; U.S. Dietary Guidelines will instead be shaped by an industry-favored competing report that found that moderate alcohol consumption was healthy. The New York Times (gift link)  AUGUST MUST-READS Wartime Russia Is Losing the Battle Against HIV 
  War has significantly disrupted HIV prevention and care in Russia.    
By the numbers: In the first year of the war alone, the recorded incidence of HIV among military personnel soared by 40X+—and the proportion of Russian HIV patients receiving antiretroviral therapy has dipped below 50% for the first time in many years.     Wartime barriers:  

• Amplified anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment in the country, the removal of NGOs assisting in HIV care, and blood transfusions and the reuse of syringes in wartime field hospitals. 

The Moscow Times   
  The Troubled Fight Against Polio    The WHO and its partners came close to scoring a huge win against polio in 2021—recording just five cases of the natural virus that year. But last year, the poliovirus eluded vaccination efforts and caused 99 cases.     In a deeply reported investigation, the AP blames misinformation, mismanagement, a flawed strategy, and the oral vaccine—highlighting particular challenges to vaccination in Afghanistan and Pakistan (the only countries with uninterrupted polio transmission).      But still: 3 billion children have been vaccinated and ~20 million people have avoided paralysis since the Global Polio Eradication Initiative’s founding in 1988. 

• “There’s so many children being protected today because of the work that was done over the past 40 years. ... Let’s not overdramatize the challenges, because that leads to children getting paralyzed,” says Jamal Ahmed, WHO’s polio director. 

AP 
 
  Dispatches from ‘Molar City’    Los Algodones, Mexico, nicknamed “Molar City,” is home to ~5,500 residents—and 1,000+ dentists.   

• The town has become known for its sprawling network of dental clinics that draw 1 million+ Americans seeking affordable dental care. 

• A root canal in Molar City can cost less than one-fifth of what it would across the border 10 minutes away, making the town “part Lourdes and part Costco” for medical tourists, writes journalist Burkhard Bilger—who details his own quest pursuing dental care in Los Algodones. 

The New Yorker  AUGUST EXCLUSIVE A resting female Aedes aegypti mosquito. CDC/ Amy E. Lockwood, MS World Mosquito Day 2025: A New World, Crises, and Opportunities    
Malaria still packs a major punch (~263 million malaria cases and 597,000 malaria deaths in 2023, per the WHO), but the toll of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes—the vector for dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever, and Zika—is rapidly expanding, eclipsing Anopheles as our greatest mosquito challenge, Michael B. Macdonald wrote in a commentary to mark World Mosquito Day (August 20). 

• For dengue, the toll jumped from 6.5 million+ cases and 7,300 global deaths in 2023 to 14 million cases and 10,000 deaths in 2024. 

• Yet, unlike malaria, Aedes-borne viruses attract little funding.

What’s needed: An all-society, bottom-up approach to guide malaria and dengue control efforts, led by a new generation of public health field entomologists grounded in new technologies as well as ecology, biology, and community engagement.  READ THE FULL COMMENTARY BY MICHAEL MACDONALD GOOD READS FOR AUGUST Tips from GHN Readers      Ahead of GHN’s August break, we asked GHN readers for summer reading recommendations. Thanks to all who shared suggestions! 

• The Education of an Idealist and A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, both by Samantha Power —Lorina McAdam, Auradou, France 


• Sick Souls, Healthy Minds: How William James Can Save Your Life by John Kaag —Lorenn Walker, Waialu, Hawaii, USA 


• Dismissed: Tackling the Biases that Undermine Our Health Care by Angela Marshall 
• Madame Restell: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Old New York’s Most Fabulous, Fearless, and Infamous Abortionist by Jennifer Wright —Hannah Schoon, Utah, USA


• Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio —Michael Kowolik, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA 


• Escape on the Pearl: The Heroic Bid for Freedom on the Underground Railroad by Mary Kay Ricks —Stephan Gilbert, Bowie, Maryland, USA 

And, to close us out, here are a few audio books suggested by Peter Kilmarx, of Bethesda, Maryland, USA:  

• On Call by Tony Fauci (He narrates the book with his Brooklyn accent, which is wonderful. “Go figure.”) 
• Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver 
• Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari 
• Caste by Isabel Wilkerson 

GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES MALARIA Burkina Faso’s About-Face on Gene Drives 
Last month, the international nonprofit Target Malaria released 16,000 genetically modified mosquitoes in Burkina Faso—a major step forward in the effort to fight malaria through genetic intervention, and the first release of its kind in Africa.     Sudden shift: A week later, police raided a key partner research institute, suspended all Target Malaria activity, and ordered insecticide spraying to destroy released mosquitoes.     Why? Opposition to the gene drive effort has been fueled by misinformation, rising anti-Western sentiment, and conspiracy theories claiming that the project—which aims to suppress the population of malaria-carrying mosquitoes—seeks to sterilize people.     Future unclear: Scientists say the move is a major setback for gene-driven research in Africa and could have a chilling effect on future gene drives, despite years of investment.     Science  OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Ishaan Tharoor: In Sudan and Afghanistan, disaster upon disaster – The Washington Post (commentary; gift link)    Harvard victory leaves scientists feeling vindicated but uncertain – Science    Millions of Britons face higher risk of heart failure due to dirty air, study suggests – The Guardian    The silent killer increases your risk of stroke and dementia. Here's how to control it – NPR Shots    RFK Jr slings accusations and defends public-health upheaval at fiery hearing – Nature    U.S. will fulfill Biden-era pledge to provide HIV prevention breakthrough to millions – Science 
   Powerful new painkiller ADRIANA shows promise in ending opioid dependence – Kyoto University via ScienceDaily  Issue No. M-August 2025
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: Ebola Outbreak Tests Shaky Global Health Ground; Burkina Faso’s Gene-Drive Reversal; and Cuts Undermine Quest for Autism’s Cause View this email in your browser September 8, 2025 Forward Share Post A medical worker disinfects a local Ebola treatment center during a 2021 outbreak in North Kivu province, northeastern DRC. March 21, 2021. Alain Uaykani/Xinhua via Getty Ebola Outbreak Tests Shaky Global Health Ground    A new Ebola outbreak in the DRC is sparking global health security concerns in a destabilized public health landscape, as practitioners fear depleted resources and disrupted leadership will hamper response efforts.  
  Rapid transmission: So far 15 deaths and 28 cases have been reported in the DRC outbreak, which started after a pregnant woman showing symptoms of hemorrhagic fever was admitted to the hospital in late August. The health workers who treated her also became ill, reports The Telegraph.  

• The nation’s health system has already been weakened by intensified conflict and by U.S. aid cuts, reports the AP. 

Urgent response: The WHO has deployed experts and emergency supplies; meanwhile, vaccines are being sent from Kinshasa to contain the spread.  
  Bigger picture: As the outbreak spreads, the U.S. faces major setbacks in pandemic preparedness, per The Atlantic (commentary, gift link), as the White House has dismantled key biosecurity offices, slashed CDC’s staff and shaken up its leadership, withdrawn from the WHO, and weakened global health ties and surveillance. 

• “With no warning, we will have less ability to stop the disease at its source, and less power, if it reaches our shores, to save American lives,” the commentary’s authors write. 

GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES EDITOR'S NOTE Global Health NOW More Than Ever     Hey Readers,      Could I ask a favor? Share GHN with a friend, family member, or colleague.     We all know smart, engaged people who could benefit from GHN. Please take a moment to invite them into GHN’s community.      Just send them GHN’s free subscribe link and a few kind words. You’ll help them and help GHN!     Many thanks,   Brian    PS: If you invite someone to subscribe, please let me know so I can thank you in an upcoming issue.  SHARE GHN'S SUBSCRIBE LINK The Latest One-Liners   Mpox is no longer an international health emergency, per the WHO, given “sustained declines in cases” in the DRC, Burundi, Sierra Leone, and Uganda; however, the Africa CDC confirmed it still constitutes a continental public health emergency, pointing to rising cases in Ghana, Liberia, Kenya, Zambia, and Tanzania. Al Jazeera 
A new anti-gay law introduces prison sentences of up to five years and a fine for those who “promote homosexuality” in Burkina Faso, formerly a relatively safe space in West Africa for the gay community. The Guardian     A new bat-borne pathogen, dubbed the Salt Gully virus, has been identified in Australia’s flying foxes, though there have been no reports of human spillover; the virus is related to Nipah and Hendra viruses. The Telegraph    A federal report on alcohol consumption and links to cancer has been pulled back by the HHS and will not be submitted to Congress; U.S. Dietary Guidelines will instead be shaped by an industry-favored competing report that found that moderate alcohol consumption was healthy. The New York Times (gift link)  U.S. and Global Health Policy News RFK Jr slings accusations and defends public-health upheaval at fiery hearing – Nature    RFK Jr. says anyone who wants a covid shot can get one. Not these Americans. – The Washington Post (gift link)     U.S. will fulfill Biden-era pledge to provide HIV prevention breakthrough to millions – Science    Amesh Adalja: Risk-Based COVID Vaccination Gets It Right. Here's What RFK Jr. Gets Wrong. Government leaders have created confusion and controversy – MedPage Today (commentary)    World Health Organization says US CDC needs to be protected – Reuters  MALARIA Burkina Faso’s About-Face on Gene Drives 
Last month, the international nonprofit Target Malaria released 16,000 genetically modified mosquitoes in Burkina Faso—a major step forward in the effort to fight malaria through genetic intervention, and the first release of its kind in Africa.     Sudden shift: A week later, police raided a key partner research institute, suspended all Target Malaria activity, and ordered insecticide spraying to destroy released mosquitoes.     Why? Opposition to the gene drive effort has been fueled by misinformation, rising anti-Western sentiment, and conspiracy theories claiming that the project—which aims to suppress the population of malaria-carrying mosquitoes—seeks to sterilize people.     Future unclear: Scientists say the move is a major setback for gene-driven research in Africa and could have a chilling effect on future gene drives, despite years of investment.     Science  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES AUTISM The Cuts Undermining Kennedy’s Quest for a Cause    The Department of Health and Human Services plans to release a report this month that will reportedly link autism to use of acetaminophen and certain vitamin deficiencies during pregnancy, reports NPR Shots—despite a lack of robust research to prove such claims.    Establishing the cause of autism has been a key part of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s platform. But U.S. researchers who have long studied environmental links to autism say the federal government’s cuts to research work against that very goal, reports ProPublica via Undark.  

• $40+ million in federal autism research grants, including those looking at autism’s ties to chemicals and pollution, have been canceled under the Trump administration.   

• “We’re talking about probably decades of delays and setbacks,” said Alycia Halladay, chief science officer at the Autism Science Foundation.  

Related: Kennedy's autism data project draws more than 100 research proposals, sources say – Reuters  OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Ishaan Tharoor: In Sudan and Afghanistan, disaster upon disaster – The Washington Post (commentary; gift link)    Harvard victory leaves scientists feeling vindicated but uncertain – Science    Millions of Britons face higher risk of heart failure due to dirty air, study suggests – The Guardian    The silent killer increases your risk of stroke and dementia. Here's how to control it – NPR Shots    The World Needs a Medical-Research Overhaul – Project Syndicate (commentary)    FDA warns of H5N1 avian flu detection in raw cat food – CIDRAP Thanks for the tip, Cecilia Meisner!     Madelyn Rowley: Column: An international accident shaped my perspective on American health care – The Daily Tar Heel (commentary)     Powerful new painkiller ADRIANA shows promise in ending opioid dependence – Kyoto University via ScienceDaily  Issue No. 2783
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 Rising Toll of PEPFAR’s Pause; The Philippines’ Sex Ed Debate; and Pelting the Town Red advocates are demanding the release of already-approved and critically needed PEPFAR funds that have yet to be disbursed. View this email in your browser September 4, 2025 Forward Share Post A counsellor with the AIDS Support Organization talks to people during an HIV clinic day at TASO Mulago service center. Kampala, Uganda, February 17. Hajarah Nalwadda/Getty The Rising Toll of PEPFAR’s Pause    As HIV programs across Africa take stock of a mounting human toll from PEPFAR-related disruptions to care this year, advocates are demanding the release of already-approved and critically needed PEPFAR funds that have yet to be disbursed, reports The Guardian.     Escalating impact: Abrupt interruptions to HIV/AIDS programs in Tanzania and Uganda this year have led to babies being born with HIV, increased life-threatening infections, drug shortages, and clinic closures, according to a new report by Physicians for Human Rights.     Fears of a ‘dark future’: The PHR report also found that public trust in domestic government, U.S. foreign aid, and HIV care has been undermined—with interviewees expressing fears of a “dark future” of increased infections and fewer resources for care.     Frozen funds: While Congress ultimately exempted PEPFAR from widespread aid cuts, the Trump administration has reportedly withheld ~$3 billion of those funds, which will disappear when the fiscal year ends on September 30. 

• Activists rallied near the White House yesterday, protesting the freeze and demanding immediate release of the funds, per another report by The Guardian.  

“They are impounding those funds. That is not legal,” said Atul Gawande, former assistant administrator for global health at USAID, who spoke at the protest.
Related: HIV is on the rise among older Africans, but care and research overlook this group – lessons from Kenya and South Africa – The Conversation (commentary)  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   Climate change may shift the geographic distribution of India’s “Big Four” venomous snakes—cobra, krait, Russell’s viper, and saw-scaled viper—into previously low-risk northern and northeastern states, per a PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases study led by researchers from India’s Dibru-Saikhowa Conservation Society and colleagues. Times of India 
A single shot of the antibiotic, benzathine penicillin G (BPG), is just as effective as the often-used 3-dose regimen in treating early stages of syphilis, according to a New England Journal of Medicine study; authors say the findings could help simplify treatment at a time when BPG is in short supply globally, and syphilis rates are “alarmingly high.” CIDRAP 
Treatment guidelines for tungiasis, a neglected tropical parasitic disease affecting millions globally, have been newly published by PAHO; the disease, caused by sand fleas that burrow into the skin, especially affects children and older adults, causing severe pain and physical impairment. PAHO 
Dengue disease severity in humans is exacerbated by waning immunity to Japanese encephalitis vaccination, a phenomenon that particularly affects people in areas like Nepal, which has long had vaccination for Japanese encephalitis but is now dealing with increasing dengue, and which speaks to “the complex nature of flavivirus immunity.” Science Translational Medicine  U.S. Vaccine Policy News F.D.A. Official Overruled Scientists on Wide Access to Covid Shots – The New York Times (gift link)    West Coast states band together to provide vaccine recommendation after RFK Jr. replaces CDC panel – NBC    7 burning questions for RFK Jr. as he faces senators on CDC turmoil and more – STAT    Can you get a COVID shot? Here’s your fall vaccine guide – PBS    Trump "worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize" for COVID vaccines, Pfizer CEO says – Axios  TEEN PREGNANCY The Philippines’ Sex Ed Debate     Pregnancies among adolescent girls, 10–14, are on the rise in the Philippines, surging 38% since 2019. While the crisis is sparking national concern, the deeply Catholic nation is divided on solutions.     Education gap: Many teens in the Philippines report receiving little to no reproductive health education, even on key topics like consent and contraception.  

• Child and teen pregnancies in the country are among the highest in Asia, and abortion is illegal in all circumstances. 

Legislative clash: A bill to standardize comprehensive sex education and open access to sexual health services was introduced in 2022 but has long been stalled—fiercely opposed by conservative and Catholic groups.  

• The latest version of the bill was refiled last month. 

CNN  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES CHAGAS Dormant Danger in California    ~100,000 Californians may be unknowingly infected with Chagas disease, a potentially fatal parasitic illness that can lie undetected for years before triggering severe cardiac problems, reports The Los Angeles Times.  
  Insidious impact: Chagas is caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi carried by bloodsucking insects called “kissing bugs.” 

• While the disease has been reported in 30 U.S. states, it is most prevalent in California, where four species of the insect have been identified. 

• Researchers say confirmed cases are “just the tip of the iceberg,” estimating ~300,000 people in the U.S. could have it.  

Push for public health interventions: That is why researchers are urging U.S. health agencies to recognize Chagas as endemic, detailed in Emerging Infectious Diseases.  

• Such a designation could increase surveillance and prevention efforts, per Texas A&M AgriLife. 

OPPORTUNITY Last Call for Early Bird Registration Rates for ICFP 2025!  Join fellow researchers, practitioners, and policymakers at the International Conference on Family Planning 2025 in Bogota, Columbia, November 1–6, to exchange groundbreaking insights, spark collaborations, and shape the future of the sexual and reproductive health rights field. 

• Early Bird registration ends TODAY, September 4
• Learn more & register

ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION Pelting the Town Red  
Some people scold their children for fighting.     But back in 1945, when youths in Buñol, Spain, began pummeling one another with tomatoes, it was summarily agreed: Let’s do this every year!     80 years later, they’re still at it.     Billed as the world’s largest annual food fight, the town’s Tomatina festival unites 120 tons of inedible, overripe tomatoes (custom grown for the event) with 20,000+ battle-ready punters.    There is one rule: to avoid injury, squish the tomato, then throw.    For one manic hour, red bullets rain over the skies of Buñol, leaving competitors exhausted and “ankles deep in this tomato puree,” said Buñol deputy mayor Sergio Galarza.    As if this wasn’t enough of a fever dream already … within hours of close of play, the streets are hosed down and “cleaner than before.” Like nothing ever happened.     AP  QUICK HITS Elham Al-Oqabi: In Yemen as in Gaza, bombs and starvation are stealing the lives of our children – The Guardian (commentary)    Finding strength amid sleepless nights: Ukraine’s hidden mental health toll – UN News    The pregnancy risk almost no one knows about – The Washington Post (gift link)    The Baby Died. Whose Fault Is It? – WIRED    Sweeteners can harm cognitive health equivalent to 1.6 years of ageing, study finds – The Guardian    Ko to serve as president of global infectious disease organization – Yale School of Public Health (news release)    National Academies report outlines ways Trump administration could simplify research regulations – STAT     Land mines and tuberculosis are no match for Tanzanian rats sniffing out danger and disease – AP  Issue No. 2782
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: Warfare Over Welfare; Reviving Pediatric Health in Sudan; and India’s Diabetes Epidemic View this email in your browser September 3, 2025 Forward Share Post Mortar shells move along a conveyor at General Dynamics in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on August 20. Aimee Dilger/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Warfare Over Welfare     The global arms industry should be viewed as a commercial determinant of health, similar to tobacco and fossil fuels, a new landmark series in The BMJ asserts.     Beyond war zones: One analysis outlines how arms production and use fuel long-term public health crises by:   

• Disrupting health and food systems  

• Diverting funds from critically needed health infrastructure 

• Increasing deadly access to firearms in civilian settings 

• Harming the environment through pollution and contamination 

Low-income regions are consistently most vulnerable to such detrimental impacts.  
  Industry influence: Much like the tobacco, alcohol, and fossil fuel industries, arms companies use lobbying, media, research funding, and “militainment” to shape policy and public perception, found another analysis of industry tactics.  
  Confronting the machine: The health sector must challenge the arms industry with the same resistance applied to Big Tobacco or Big Oil, argued editors in one of the series’ op-eds—exposing harms, advocating for peace and disarmament, and pushing for a shift in government spending from weapons to public welfare.  

• “It is often argued that there are no winners in war—only losers. This is not quite true. There is always a winner, and that is the arms industry.” 

GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   Respiratory infections from suspected COVID-19 or flu are surging in Gaza, where malnutrition renders many vulnerable to severe illness and depleted medical supplies complicate response efforts; 94 cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome have also been reported, with 10 associated deaths. The Telegraph      Papua New Guinea confirmed its first human case of paralytic polio—in an unvaccinated 4-year-old boy who developed acute flaccid paralysis caused by circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2, establishing that the virus has transitioned from environmental detection to direct impact, per the WHO. CIDRAP    An over-the-counter nasal spray, azelastine, may help prevent COVID-19 infection and a range of respiratory infections including the flu and RSV, finds a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine that showed the antihistamine works as an antiviral. NBC News    1,000+ federal health employees have called for HHS Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to resign in a letter arguing that he has “put the health of all Americans at risk” by spreading misinformation, undermining the CDC, and cutting the federal health workforce. CNN  U.S. and Global Health Policy News House GOP keeps NIH funding Trump wanted to cut – Axios     Trump’s HHS Agrees to Restore LGBTQ+, Reproductive Health Data – Bloomberg Law  
Trump Wants Proof That Covid Vaccines Work. It’s Easy to Find – The New York Times (gift link)      Big shakeups to the childhood vaccination schedule could be nearing – STAT     Vaccines are becoming an electoral liability for Republicans – STAT (commentary)      What to know about a Texas bill to let residents sue out-of-state abortion pill providers  – AP  GHN EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY Two-year-old Riham Ata lies on a gurney in one of Al-Buluk Hospital's severe malnutrition wards. Omdurman, Sudan, April 26. Giles Clarke/Avaaz via Getty Scarred by War, Saved by Care: Reviving Pediatric Health in Sudan  
In Sudan, childhood has become a casualty of war.     The war that erupted between rival forces in April 2023 has spiraled into a humanitarian emergency, writes Habab Iraqi, a Sudanese emergency medicine intern now based in Saudi Arabia.     Sudan’s children have suffered the most:   

• Some 15 million children now need humanitarian aid. 

• This year, 3.2 to 4 million Sudanese children under 5 will face life-threatening malnutrition.   

How can Sudan’s children be saved? Developed countries and international organizations must immediately step up to stabilize the situation and build back pediatric health infrastructure.      The takeaway: Reviving pediatric care in Sudan is more than just a humanitarian priority; it is a test of whether the world will protect Sudanese children’s futures during one of the worst wars of our time, Iraqi writes in an exclusive GHN commentary.     Ed. Note: Read Iraqi’s commentary for details on essential next steps.    READ THE FULL COMMENTARY BY HABAB IRAQI GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES NONCOMMUNICABLE DISEASES India’s Diabetes Epidemic   India now accounts for a quarter of all global diabetes cases, with ~212 million people living with the disease—8X as many as in 1990, and likely surpassing China and the U.S. combined.    How it happened: A combination of factors created the perfect conditions for diabetes to thrive.  

• The consumption of imported fast foods: Sales of ultra-processed foods in India have risen by ~13% every year since 2011. 

• Genetic traits: People of South Asian heritage are more likely to develop diabetes at a much lower BMI, even within what is considered a healthy weight range. 

• Urbanization: Around 35% of Indians now live in cities, compared to 18% in the 1960s; by 2030, that number is expected to rise to 40%. 

The Telegraph   OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Confessions of an Ex-Anti-Vaxxer – Maclean’s    Laid-off USAID workers struggle to find work as new job cuts approach – Devex    USAID's enduring impact on anaemia management must be preserved – The Lancet (commentary)    ‘No place in children’s hands’: under-16s in England to be banned from buying energy drinks – The Guardian   
Vote by Dutch lawmakers threatens major primate research center – Science     The new faces of cancer: Young, outspoken and online – The Washington Post (gift link)      These scientists found Alzheimer's in their genes. Here's what they did next – NPR Shots    Analysis of NEJM Abstracts Confirms the Value of Peer Review – MedPage Today    There’s something in the water. Khayelitsha’s kids want you to see it – Bhekisisa   Issue No. 2781
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: Foundering CDC Awash in Troubles; How Displacement Erodes Global Health Security; and When Fear Goes Viral View this email in your browser September 2, 2025 Forward Share Post CDC staff and supporters outside of the agency's headquarters. Atlanta, Georgia, August 28. Dustin Chambers/Bloomberg via Getty Foundering CDC Awash in Troubles    The ouster of its director, resignations by top staff, and massive cutbacks to programs threaten to overwhelm the U.S. CDC, causing some to question whether the vaunted public health agency will survive.      Updates: 

• Nine former CDC directors who served Republican and Democratic presidents called a slew of actions by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “unacceptable” in a New York Times op-ed yesterday.  

• The Trump administration tapped investor and HHS deputy director Jim O’Neill to be CDC acting director, per the AP. O’Neill, who had worked at HHS for six years, will try to calm the waters, but it’s unclear whether the director is expected only to follow the secretary’s instructions, former FDA official Peter Pitts said. 

• Outside groups are stepping in to fill the void left by changes at the CDC by disseminating health information, managing data that could otherwise disappear, and launching other efforts, per the AP. But former officials warn it may take decades to restore the U.S. public health infrastructure, The New York Times reports (gift link). 

The Quote: “If you chop off the heads of the agencies because they didn’t pledge to go along with you, despite what the science says, then you’re eroding public health from the foundation,” Cleveland’s public health director David Margolius told the Times. 

Related:  
RFK Jr deputy named CDC acting director as confusion surrounds COVID vaccine availability – CIDRAP    What chaos at the US CDC could mean for the rest of the world – The Conversation (commentary)    Trump demands drugmakers ‘justify’ COVID treatment success – The Hill  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES EDITOR'S NOTE Professors: GHN Can Help You    We often hear from professors and teachers who love to use GHN as a teaching tool—making it assigned reading and using it as a conversation starter: 

• Get your students thinking, talking, and debating global health issues. 

• Show real-world applications to complement textbook studies. 

• Spark ideas for new projects and collaborations. 

SHARE GHN'S SUBSCRIBE LINK WITH YOUR STUDENTS Bonus: While more media are shifting to paywall models, GHN is still free. We also provide gift links for many paywalled articles. And we’ve increased the amount of opportunities we share—including webinars, fellowships, and networking events that can give your students a boost.     How you can help keep GHN strong and free: Please show your support by spreading the word with students, colleagues, and friends and sharing our free subscribe link: https://www.globalhealthnow.org/subscribe. And let us know when you do, or if you have suggestions to help us improve. —Dayna  DATA POINT

1 billion+
——————
People living with mental health disorders, per new WHO data, with conditions such as anxiety and depression highly prevalent in all countries and communities, affecting people of all ages and income levels, and inflicting immense human and economic tolls. —WHO  The Latest One-Liners    Police in Kenya fear the starvation cult linked to hundreds of deaths in 2023 is active again, with dozens of new graves of suspected victims found recently near Mombasa; officials believe that followers of cult leader Pastor Paul Mackenzie Nthenge escaped police raids and have revived the practices. The Telegraph      PAHO is urging countries to bolster surveillance, medical management, and vector-control against chikungunya and Oropouche viruses; 14 Americas countries have reported 212,000+ chikungunya cases this year—down from last year, but the most-affected countries are seeing not just the Asian genotype circulating previously, but also the East/Central/South African genotype. CIDRAP    An analysis of 1,000+ cardiovascular clinical trials between 2017 and 2023 published in JAMA Network Open found that although women’s participation has been improving in some areas, they are still consistently underrepresented in trials on arrhythmia, coronary heart disease, acute coronary syndrome, and heart failure. Scimex    Spouses tend to share psychiatric disorders, per a massive study in Nature Human Behaviour of ~15 million people in Taiwan, Denmark, and Sweden that shows the trend increases with each decade, across cultures, and generation. Nature  U.S. and Global Health Policy News PAHO Targeted in New Round of US Funding Cuts – Health Policy Watch    Trump plans a hefty tax on imported drugs, risking higher prices and shortages – AP    EPA insider’s policy reversal could shift PFAS cleanup costs from industry to taxpayers – Environmental Health News  
Can RFK Jr. take COVID vaccines off the market? Here's what vaccine law experts say – PBS 
RFK Jr. links SSRIs and mass shootings. What does science say? – The Washington Post (gift link)    Legal adviser warns NIH not to kill 900 grants a second time – Science  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES MIGRATION How Displacement Erodes Global Health Security    The “overlooked and underfunded” crisis of intra-African migration is leading to burgeoning health security risks, as growing populations are forced to live for years in overcrowded informal settlements—with little to no health care access.  
By the numbers: 80% of African migration occurs within the continent, accounting for 46% of global displacements.  

• 38.8 million people were displaced in Africa between 2015-2024. 

Dangers in the gaps: Many of these people are denied care due to “medical xenophobia”—and are often excluded from a country’s disease surveillance and prevention efforts—heightening outbreak threats, like the 2024 mpox resurgence in the Democratic Republic of Congo.    Call to action: Migrant-inclusive health systems, improved surveillance, and cross-border disease control are all critical in mitigating risks.     Think Global Health  EPIDEMIOLOGY When Fear Goes Viral 
Epidemiologists have traced the transmission of a different sort of contagion: rumors.     Case in point: Historians have long been puzzled by The Great Fear, a wave of panic and upheaval that spread in France in 1789, helping to fuel the French Revolution.  

• The basis and spread of the rumors have long been up for debate. A group of researchers turned to epidemic modeling for answers. 

• Using documents like letters and historical road maps, the researchers created a detailed diagram of the rumors’ movements, likening the path to a “transmission network for an epidemic,” one researcher said.  

Data-driven history: The study, published in Nature, uses epidemiological tools to better understand social upheaval—and the spread of misinformation.    Nature OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Landslide in Sudan wipes out village and kills 1,000 people – The Telegraph    'Let’s sleep early so we don’t feel the hunger': humanitarian workers in Gaza struggling in midst of famine – IFRC (news release)    Do State Referendums on Abortion Work? – The New Yorker    The Right to Care: A Feminist Legal Victory That Could Change the Americas – IPS (commentary)     Tanzania: A Meal, Then a Pill - How Tanzania's Campaign is Transforming Child Health – AllAfrica 
In Austria, Government Health Care Can Look a Bit Like a Spa – The New York Times (gift link) 
Don't let a selfie be the end of you – NPR Goats and Soda  Issue No. 2780
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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

Please send the Global Health NOW free sign-up link to friends and colleagues: http://www.globalhealthnow.org/subscribe

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


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