In an age marked by conflicts, disease, dysfunction and mental health challenges, yoga offers a steady, time-trusted path to help find calm and harmony within – and without.

The world is facing a health financing emergency, according to Dr. Kalipso Chalkidou, Director for Health Financing and Economics for the World Health Organization (WHO).

96 Global Health NOW: UK Parliament Votes to Decriminalize Abortion; ‘Gardeningʼ in the Gut; Funding Disruptions Threaten Uganda’s HIV Fight View this email in your browser June 18, 2025 Forward Share Post Pro-choice protestors gather near Parliament, where MPs were voting on the decriminalization of abortion. June 17. London, U.K. Alishia Abodunde/Getty UK Parliament Votes to Decriminalize Abortion
The UK House of Commons voted 379–137 yesterday to decriminalize abortion in England and Wales—the most significant change to abortion law in ~60 years, reports The Guardian. 

Details: The amendment removes the threat of prosecution for women who seek to terminate pregnancies. 

• However, the current legal framework for procuring an abortion remains, including requiring two doctors’ approval and a 24-week limit. Doctors who breach regulations can still face prosecution. 

Driving factors: The Labour MP who introduced the amendment said such protections were needed as 100+ women have been investigated and several prosecuted for suspected illegal abortions over the past five years, reports the AP. 

• UK medical groups and advocacy groups hailed the change as “a victory for women,” while anti-abortion groups argued it would open the door to abortion at any stage of pregnancy.

U.S. a ‘cautionary tale’: British lawmakers sought to frame the measure as a “narrow, common-sense” measure in contrast to polarized U.S. abortion politics, while also pointing to the current rollback of reproductive rights in the U.S. as a warning, reports Politico. 

What’s next: The amendment is part of a broader crime bill expected to pass the House of Commons and the House of Lords. 

Related: 

Ohio lawmakers to introduce bill banning abortion, criminalizing the procedure – ABC 

A brain-dead Georgia woman is set to be taken off of life support after her baby was delivered – The 19th

Abortion Bans Worsen Violence in Relationships, Study Finds – TIME EDITORS’ NOTE No GHN Tomorrow, June 19   Please note that our office will be closed tomorrow in observance of the Juneteenth holiday. We’ll be back with more news on Monday, June 23!

—The Editors GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   Global conflict levels are the highest they’ve been since the end of World War II, with 59 active conflicts in 35+ countries, according to the 2025 Global Peace Index; the report also shows declining geopolitical influence of the U.S., Russia, and China as smaller countries emerge as regional powers. The Telegraph

A group of bat viruses related to MERS could be one mutation away from being capable of spilling over into humans, finds a new study published in Nature Communications that focuses on the virus group, known as HKU5. Washington State University via ScienceDaily

U.S. alcohol guidance could be soon changed from recommending one or two drinks per day to a brief statement encouraging drinking in moderation, in what could be a major win for the alcohol industry; the updates to the U.S. Dietary Guidelines are still under development by the HHS and USDA. Reuters via Yahoo!

Microplastics in coastal waters could heighten cardiometabolic disease risk among nearby residents, per a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, which found “significantly” higher rates of type 2 diabetes, coronary artery disease, and stroke among U.S. residents living near highly polluted waters compared with people who lived near less-polluted waters. American Heart Association (news release) GHN EXCLUSIVE Q&A 622A_cecum: Section through a healthy mouse cecum stained with Haematoxylin-eosin. Courtesy of Emma Slack ‘Gardeningʼ in the Gut   
The pipeline for new drugs to fight antibiotic-resistant infections is rife with challenges, but one promising solution offers a workaround: tackling drug-resistant bacteria in the gut.  
 
The method combines oral vaccinations with harmless bacteria that outcompete the bacteria for food and “starve them out,” Emma Slack, a professor at ETH Zurich and the University of Oxford’s Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, told GHN.  

• The pairing was significantly more effective than using vaccines or harmless bacteria on their own, found a recent Science study testing the method in mice.

The approach is like weeding a garden, says Slack. “If you pull out all the weeds, you go back three days later and all the weeds are there again. If you don’t want that to happen, you’ve got to put something in the place where the weeds would grow.”

It may be five to 10 years from clinical use, but the method could one day be applied to “anything where immunosuppression is one of the side effects,” says Slack. Patients could be treated before transplant surgery, or during high-risk pregnancies to head off the risk of infection in premature babies.
 
The most exciting prospect: reversing the “antimicrobial resistance crisis for gut-colonizing, opportunistic pathogens,” says Slack. READ THE FULL Q&A BY ANNALIES WINNY GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES HIV/AIDS Funding Disruptions Threaten Uganda’s HIV Fight
Since 1987, the Rakai Health Sciences Program (RHSP) in Uganda has achieved remarkable milestones. In areas it serves, the program has:

• Reduced new HIV infections by 90%.


• Extended anti‑retroviral (ARV) coverage to 90% of people living with HIV.

But recent U.S. budget cuts—including halts to pediatric ARVs, male circumcision programs, and PrEP, and missed deadlines for reauthorizing PEPFAR funding —threaten this progress.

• Medication access interruptions and clinic closures in January prompted HIV rebound fears; though services were quickly restored, experts warn that sustained disruptions could reverse hard-won gains.


• Uganda’s plan to shift HIV treatment from specialized rural clinics to primary care clinics could also disrupt access and medication adherence, as some patients may face longer travel.

Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health

Related: ‘HIV-ending’ drug could be made for just $25 per patient a year, say researchers – The Guardian OPPORTUNITY HUMAN RIGHTS The Oppressors at Home
In the Taliban’s Afghanistan, oppression against women has led to men being “foot soldiers” against their female relatives. 

Vice and virtue laws, which include strict rules that women must cover themselves, not talk too loudly, or appear in public without a male escort, are meant to be enforced by “morality police.” But often, husbands and brothers take on this role. 

Rising fear: Under the Taliban, male relatives could face fines or prison if women are caught breaking morality laws. This has led to a rise in domestic violence, isolation, and psychological damage to Afghan women. 

The Guardian

Related: Over 400 health centers shut down in Afghanistan following US aid 
suspension – Ariana News ALMOST FRIDAY MINI DIVERSION QUICK HITS IOM Reports 60 Migrants Missing in Two Deadly Shipwrecks off Libya – IOM 

How Trump's travel ban could disrupt the way knowledge about health is shared – NPR

Via the False Claims Act, NIH Puts Universities on Edge – Undark

Indonesia steps up efforts to eliminate malaria by 2030 – Xinhua

Kraft Heinz to remove artificial dyes from U.S. products by end of 2027 – CNBC

Study: Early antibiotics tied to higher risk of childhood infections, antibiotic use, and asthma – CIDRAP

Scientists uncover how ticks fight off and carry a virus deadly to humans – Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine

Threat in Your Medicine Cabinet: The FDA’s Gamble on America’s Drugs – ProPublica

Could the answer to the male fertility crisis be lurking in your cat’s litter tray? – The Telegraph Issue No. 2744
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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Almost 4.5 million maternal, stillborn and newborn deaths were recorded in 2023. What if there was a clear path to saving 83 percent of these people? To saving 3.7 million mothers, unborn children and babies annually? 

96 Global Health NOW: The Mystery of Chronic Mountain Sickness; Dogs as Weapons; and The Decline of Anti-Girl Bias View this email in your browser June 17, 2025 Forward Share Post GHN EXCLUSIVE REPORT The Andes mountain range between Lima and Cerro de Pasco east of Canta. DeAgostini/Getty The Mystery of Chronic Mountain Sickness
HUAYLLAY, Peru—About 5–10% of people who have lived their whole lives at high altitude eventually come down with the last illness they would expect: altitude sickness.

• While there are no exact numbers, ~7 million people living above 2,500 meters (~8,200 feet) are at risk of chronic mountain sickness (CMS), according to a 2016 article in the journal High Altitude Medicine & Biology.


• Characterized by low levels of oxygen saturation (hypoxia) and excessive amounts of hemoglobin (polycythemia), CMS can start with blue-tinged fingertips or lips.


• But the illness can progress to life-threatening pulmonary or cerebral edema.

The Quote: “CMS is complex and insidious. The drop in oxygen levels produces a symphony of physiological and molecular responses as the person ages,” says Fabiola León-Velarde, a physiologist and CMS researcher.
 
Research history: Scientists like León-Velarde have been trying to understand the cause of CMS since it was first described by Peruvian doctor Carlos Monge in 1925.

• But recent research that led to a 2019 Nobel Prize may offer new insights into the origins of CMS. 

Ed. Note: Our thanks go to Dulce Alarcón-Yaquetto who shared the idea for this issue and was a grand prize winner in the Untold Global Health Stories Contest, co-sponsored by Global Health NOW and the Consortium of Universities for Global Health.  READ THE FULL STORY BY LUCIEN CHAUVIN GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   War-weary Yemen has seen nearly 3,900 cases of dengue fever—including 14 deaths—so far this year in the governorates of Aden and Lahj, per the WHO, which has launched a response including awareness campaigns, management of mosquito breeding sites, and target fogging. Yemen Monitor
 
A U.S. judge ordered ~800 terminated NIH research projects, cited in a lawsuit by U.S. researchers and a coalition of 16 states, to be reinstated, calling the cuts discriminatory; the government will likely appeal the ruling. Nature

Fewer than half of young men in the U.K.—46%—believe that abortion should be legal, compared with 71% of the general population, per a new poll ahead of a parliamentary vote today on whether to decriminalize abortion. The Independent 

Cornell University researchers have identified an antibiotic, rifampin, that is 99.9% effective against Salmonella Typhi, the bacterium that causes typhoid fever, per research published in eBioMedicine; drug-resistant strains of the bacterium claim 150,000+ lives a year. Cornell Chronicle U.S. and Global Health Policy News South Africa Built a Medical Research Powerhouse. Trump Cuts Have Demolished It. – The New York Times (gift article)

Rising Refugee Suicides in West Nile Linked to Food Shortages and Aid Cuts – Nile Post

Kenya's war on HIV, TB and malaria faces setback as funding drops sharply – The Eastleigh Voice

Researchers warn U.S. is on the ‘precipice’ of brain drain as Trump cuts federal grants – PBS NewsHour CONFLICT Dogs as Weapons
Military and police dogs are being utilized against civilians in Palestine, say human rights groups, who report the use of canines against Palestinians has led to injuries and deaths.

• Euro Med Human Rights Monitor has documented 146 cases of attack dogs being used against civilians since October 2023.


• The UN has also decried the use of military dogs against Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention, citing testimonies of attacks reported to Physicians for Human Rights. 


• Israel’s specialist canine unit, Oketz, has said that the dogs are only deployed in anti-terrorism campaigns. 

Calling for cross-border regulation: Most of the dogs used by Oketz are exported from European countries, prompting organizations like Amnesty International to argue for those countries to further regulate such sales.  

The Guardian GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES POPULATIONS The Decline of Anti-Girl Bias
In “one of the most important social shifts of our time,” the long-held sex preference for boys at birth has dramatically shifted worldwide.

Over the past 25 years, the number of annual excess male births has fallen from a peak of 1.7 million in 2000 to ~200,000, a biologically standard birth ratio, per an analysis by The Economist. 

• The reduction in female infanticide and sex-selective abortions has led to the survival of ~7 million girls, the analysis found. 

The changing preference can be attributed to decreased discrimination in the workplace and in school, leading to girls excelling at school and to a shrinking gender pay gap; but could also be driven by sexist stereotypes that women will be better caretakers for aging parents. 

Vox OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Nigerian agriculture ministry workers ‘told to fast and pray’ to end hunger crisis – The Telegraph

Ending nuclear weapons, before they end us – The Medical Journal of Australia (commentary)

The cost of staying alive could become a lot more expensive for millions of Americans – The Independent

Too often, Black patients get late diagnoses of deadly skin cancer – The Washington Post (gift link)

Eight things you need to know about the new “Nimbus” and “Stratus” COVID-19 variants – Gavi

How the cholera bacterium can outsmart a virus – Labmate Online

New opioid testing techniques could lead to better therapies – Brown University

How technology is helping African countries fight malaria from the skies – RFI Issue No. 2743
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 UN Aid Cuts Force ‘Hyper-prioritizedʼ Plan; Deaths on the Street in Portland; and Memory Cafes Bridge a Gap “Brutal funding cuts leave us with brutal choices,” said Tom Fletcher, undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs. View this email in your browser June 16, 2025 Forward Share Post Tents serve as temporary shelters for displaced Palestinians along the coastline of Gaza City, on June 10. Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto/Getty Images UN Aid Cuts Force ‘Hyper-prioritizedʼ Plan
The UN has slashed its 2025 humanitarian aid appeal from $44 billion to $29 billion, as the agency contends with what it described as the “deepest funding cuts ever” to the aid sector, reports Al Jazeera. 

Only $5.6 billion (13%) has been raised so far after severely reduced contributions from the U.S. and others. 

• “Brutal funding cuts leave us with brutal choices,” said Tom Fletcher, undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs. 

‘Triage of human survival’: The UN said it will prioritize the most urgent emergencies afflicting regions like the DRC, Sudan, Gaza, and Burma; but the agency said the cuts will lead to “heartbreaking” consequences including lost aid and eroded human rights protections.

Existing aid under attack: Meanwhile, a UN expert is urging the General Assembly to authorize the deployment of armed peacekeepers to protect humanitarian transport and distribution, as aid workers continue to be targeted in areas including Gaza, Sudan, Haiti, and Central African Republic, reports The Guardian. 

• A record 360+ humanitarian workers were killed last year, as aid restrictions and starvation are increasingly used as weapons of war. 

If such attacks continue, more aid work will cease—creating a “dystopia,” said Michael Fakhri, the UN’s special rapporteur on the right to food. GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners
COVID-19 variant NB.1.8.1 could now make up more than 1 in 3 cases across the U.S., the CDC projected last week; the variant has been linked to a surge of hospitalizations in parts of Asia, and the CDC's airport surveillance program detected cases of it in arriving international travelers last month. CBS News

The U.S. health care workforce has recovered from widespread job losses of early 2020, with employment now matching pre-pandemic projections, finds new research published in JAMA Network; but recovery is uneven, with doctors’ offices exceeding pre-pandemic employment growth while skilled nursing facilities contend with understaffing. University of Michigan via News Medical

Dengue survivors face an elevated risk for post-infection multi-organ complications, hospitalization, and death, finds a study published in Clinical Microbiology and Infection that analyzed 55,870 cases of adults infected between 2017 and 2023. CIDRAP

The FDA has expanded approval of Moderna’s RSV vaccine mResvia to include adults ages 18–59 who are at high risk of severe illness from the virus; previously the vaccine was licensed for use only in adults 60+. STAT  HOMELESSNESS Increased Deaths on the Street in Portland
As the homeless population in Portland grew during the pandemic, the city responded with a $1.3 million plan to “reprioritize public health and safety among homeless Portlanders.”

• And yet: Deaths of homeless people quadrupled from 113 in 2019 to 450+ in 2023.

Why? The strategy involved increased encampment sweeps and a pivot from investing in permanent housing in favor of expanding temporary shelter. Researchers say this has perpetuated the problem, especially for medically vulnerable people.

• One 2023 study published in JAMA showed that such sweeps raise the risk of overdose by up to 22% for people who inject drugs.

ProPublica GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES MENTAL HEALTH Memory Cafes Bridge a Gap 
Across the U.S., 600+ memory cafes offer low-cost social support for dementia patients and caregivers, helping alleviate isolation and stress through regular gatherings.

And with $11 billion in federal health funding for state and local health departments now on the chopping block, grassroots-led memory cafes may soon play a critical role for families needing help navigating the struggles of dementia care. 

Growing need: U.S. Alzheimer’s cases are projected to double from 6.9 million now to 13.8 million by 2060, while the number of family caregivers is declining.

KFF Health News SUICIDE Curbing Pesticides to Save Lives
Suriname has one of the world's highest suicide rates, largely due to the pesticide paraquat—which is lethal even in tiny doses and is widely available in homes across the country. 

Global perspective: Pesticides are one of the leading means of suicide in agricultural areas of developing nations, leading to 100,000+ suicides annually. 

Banning paraquat and other pesticides has led to dramatic drops in suicide rates in other countries including Sri Lanka (70%+), South Korea (~50%), and China (60%). 

Ongoing efforts: The charity Open Philanthropy funded the launch in 2017 of the Centre for Pesticide Suicide Prevention, and the Global Alliance on Highly Hazardous Pesticides was formed in 2023 to phase out use of the deadliest pesticides in agricultural areas where risks have not been managed.

The New York Times (gift link) QUICK HITS As mpox escalates in Sierra Leone, activity in other countries reflects mixed picture – CIDRAP

An oral cholera vaccination campaign aims to reach more than 2.6 million people in Sudan’s Khartoum State – WHO

US pharma bets big on China to snap up potential blockbuster drugs – Reuters

Small towns are growing fast across Ghana – but environmental planning isn’t keeping up – The Conversation (commentary)

Ancient miasma theory may help explain Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s vaccine moves – NPR Shots

How Covid-19 Changed Hideo Kojima’s Vision For Death Stranding 2 – WIRED Issue No. 2742
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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Since conflict erupted in Sudan, more than a million people have fled to neighbouring South Sudan, seeking refuge from escalating violence that has displaced 12.4 million people and plunged over half the Sudanese population into food insecurity. 

Escalating gang violence in Haiti has displaced a record 1.3 million people, UN human rights chief Volker Türk said on Friday. 

96 Global Health NOW Mercury Rising in Worldʼs Rivers; RFK Jr.’s New Committee Picks; and Who Squashed the Veg Sculpture Competition? Mercury increase poses a growing risk to people living near affected waterways, study warns. View this email in your browser June 12, 2025 Forward Share Post A child in a canoe near a home on a tributary of the Amazon River near Breves, Para state, Brazil, on Sept. 21, 2022. Jonne Roriz/Bloomberg via Getty Images Mercury Rising 
Mercury carried downstream by rivers has increased nearly 3X worldwide since the Industrial Revolution, surging from 390 to 1,000 megagrams annually due to coal combustion, mining, and manufacturing, finds a new study published in Science Advances.

The mercury increase poses a growing risk to people living near affected waterways, as the neurotoxin has been linked to cancer, heart disease, and developmental harm in children, reports ABC News.

The study: Researchers used computer models and sediment data to establish a pre-industrial mercury baseline before 1850 and simulate mercury transport in rivers, per Phys.org.

Key findings: The data show the most dramatic increases in mercury pollution occurred in North and South America, contributing to 41% of the global increase in riverine mercury since 1850, followed by Southeast Asia (22%) and South Asia (19%).

• In the Amazon region, mercury levels have soared due to both increased mining activities and soil erosion from deforestation.  

Eroded protections: The findings come as the Trump administration moves swiftly to roll back EPA regulations including Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), which set limits on mercury and arsenic pollution from coal and oil power plants, reports The New York Times (gift link)—a move that could soon put more Americans at risk, say environmental policy experts. GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners
Last month was the world’s second warmest May on record, per the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service—creating especially dry conditions across Europe as drought concerns rise. Euronews

Unethical experiments conducted on Black inmates were used in the development of the antimalarial primaquine in the 1950s and 60s, particularly around genetics’ role in adverse drug reactions, finds a historical report published in JAMA Network by an ethicist-led research team. Science

A bill to protect the privacy of women’s reproductive health data, including tracking apps around menstruation, pregnancy, and abortion, has been introduced by three Democratic members of Congress who say such a measure is necessary to protect women in the post-Roe v. Wade era. The Guardian

Fetuses more exposed to certain air pollutants experience changes in the size of specific brain structures, especially during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, finds a study published in The Lancet Planetary Health that drew from data collected from 754 mother-fetus pairs between 2018 and 2021. News Medical U.S. POLICY RFK Jr.’s New Committee Picks
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has appointed eight new members to the CDC’s independent vaccine advisory committee after removing all 17 previous members earlier this week.

• The new appointees to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) include some who have been critics of vaccines—especially COVID-19 vaccines and mRNA technology—and pandemic lockdowns.

Shift in background: The new members have credentials related to public health, epidemiology, and statistics, but there is less emphasis on credentials in immunology, virology, and vaccinology compared with previous committees.

What’s next: It is unclear if Kennedy plans to appoint any more members to new ACIP. The panel will meet June 25-27 to review recommendations on vaccines, including for HPV and COVID-19 shots.

ABC News

More U.S. Policy News:

Kennedy’s ouster of US vaccine advisors puts pharma ties under scrutiny – Reuters

Vaccine board purge stokes talk of CDC alternatives – Axios

Top RFK Jr. aide attacks US health system while running company that promotes wellness alternatives – AP

RFK Jr. to tell medical schools to teach nutrition or lose federal funding – ABC

A promising new HIV vaccine was set to start trials. Then came Trump's latest cuts – NPR Goats and Soda

Senators press NIH director on killed grants and proposal to slash agency’s funding – Science GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES WEAPONS The Physical Toll of ‘Less-Lethal’ Force
Tear gas, rubber bullets, and pepper spray like those used against demonstrators in Los Angeles this past week may not be designed to kill, but they can cause serious injuries, health problems, and even death.  

Tear gas and pepper spray can have both short- and long-term effects, ranging from eye and skin irritation and vomiting to extreme respiratory distress and damage to vision or the nervous system.

Rubber bullet risks: Often made of hard plastic or metal, rubber bullets have caused blindness, brain injury, and death in some cases.

Research gaps: Much existing research into tactics like tear gas is limited to military research of young men in the 1950s-70s, and doesn’t account for modern weapons technology or potential health effects on a broader civilian population. 

WIRED ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION Who Squashed the Competition?
Last week we celebrated a wax sausage roll at Madame Tussauds.

Now, another installment of England-making-things-look-like-other-things: a cornucopia of vegetable likenesses.

At the Lambeth Country Show, held last weekend in Londonʼs Brockwell Park, revelers braved the inevitable English rain to enjoy sheep shearing, livestock competitions, and most of all: vegetable sculptures and vegetable puns.

“Every year, this is what we get so excited about,” attendee Maddy Luxton told the AP. 

Voting is now closed, but you can still pick your favorite.

Will it be Cornclave? Or its Vatican-themed rival, Popetayto Francis and the Conclabbage?  Butternut squash channeling Wallace and Gromit? Cauli Parton starring in 9 to Chive? Broccoli-based commentary on niche local politics?

All are healthy choices. QUICK HITS Scientists mapped what happens if a crucial system of ocean currents collapses. The weather impact would be extreme – CNN

Global action needed as progress stalls on disability-inclusive development goals – UN News – UN News

Journalist, advocate, policy adviser? My strange role in the fight against superbugs – The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

As a health crisis looms in Vietnam, now is the time for a sugary drink tax: WHO – Asia News Network

36% of Jamaicans tested for NCDs in health ministry campaign present ‘abnormal result’ – Jamaica Observer

World Food Safety Day : Putting Science into Action to Improve Nutrition and Protect Health in Africa – ReliefWeb 

Homicide Rates Near Supervised Consumption Sites: A Study from Canada – Think Global Health (commentary)

Word of the Week: how a bacterium unrelated to fish got its name 'salmonella' – NPR Issue No. 2740
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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With over half of the Sudanese population in need of aid and lean season rapidly approaching, the UN Chief for Humanitarian Affairs once again sounded the alarm about the crisis unfolding in Sudan on Thursday. 

Two counties in the Upper Nile State of South Sudan are sliding into famine, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned in a new report released Thursday. 

96 Global Health NOW: Declining ‘Reproductive Agency’ and Fertility Rates; Rescripting Traumatic Memories; Meth Smuggling in the Golden Triangle View this email in your browser June 11, 2025 Forward Share Post A doll on a stroller is pictured on a playground in Bicentennial Park, in the commune of Vitacura. Santiago, Chile, September 5, 2024. Raul Bravo/AFP via Getty A Lack of ‘Reproductive Agency’ as Global Fertility Declines
The “unprecedented” drop in global fertility stems from social and economic barriers—not a rejection of parenthood—finds the new State of the World Population 2025 report from the UN Population Fund.

Key finding: 1 in 5 adults say they expect to have fewer children than they want due to financial barriers and insecurity about the future. 

• “The issue is lack of choice, not desire,” UNFPA head Natalia Kanem told The Guardian.

The report draws on a survey of ~14,000 people from 14 low-, middle-, and high-income countries that represent 37% of the global population, reports the BBC. 

Key factors preventing people from starting families, per UN News: 

• Economic insecurity: 39% of respondents cited financial limitations including high housing and childcare costs as the main reason for having fewer children. 


• Fear for the future: 19% cited worries around climate change and conflict. 


• Gender and labor dynamics: 13% of women cited unequal division of labor as a barrier to having children. 

Seeking solutions: Coercive fertility policies and incentives like “baby bonuses” are ineffective, says UNFPA; instead, more investment is needed in supports like affordable housing and childcare, paid family leave, and widened access to reproductive health care.

Related: 

China to make all hospitals offer epidurals to incentivise childbirth – Reuters

Advocates, Clinics Anxiously Ask: When Will Trump Release IVF Recommendations? – U.S. News & World Report GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   Louisiana lawmakers have passed a bill targeting out-of-state doctors and activists who prescribe, mail, or “coordinate the sale of” abortion pills to residents within the state, where abortion is banned with few exceptions. AP

Childhood trauma has been linked to a 20% increased risk of developing endometriosis later in life, per a new study published in Human Reproduction, which included hundreds of thousands of women in Sweden. UPI

Dementia risk can be tied to vascular risk factors including hypertension, diabetes, or smoking, finds research published in JAMA Neurology, which suggests that up to 44% of dementia cases could be attributed to such preventable factors in mid- and late life. Medical Xpress

The FDA will use AI to “radically increase efficiency” in approving new drugs and devices, per a commentary published in JAMA; the adoption of the technology comes after the agency cut nearly 2,000 employees. The New York Times (gift link) U.S. and Global Health Policy News Vaccine board purge stokes talk of CDC alternatives – Axios

White House says it will spare some AIDS programs that were on the chopping block – The Independent

Big changes are being proposed for a US food aid program – AP

Science’s reform movement should have seen Trump’s call for ‘gold standard science’ coming, critics say – Science

NIH chief stands by funding cuts to ‘politicized science’ at tense hearing – Nature

The Bleach Community Is Ready for RFK Jr. to Make Their Dreams Come True – WIRED DATA POINT

1 in 5
—————
Afghans live in areas littered with landmines and unexploded ordnance. —The Telegraph  MENTAL HEALTH Rescripting Memories to Treat PTSD
Finding effective treatments for PTSD in veterans is an ongoing quest for psychologists and one with high stakes, as veterans with the condition face higher rates of suicide.

One therapy getting more attention: Reconsolidation of Traumatic Memories (RTM), a structured process that aims to reduce PTSD symptoms by visualizing trauma as a movie, “rewinding” and adjusting elements to lessen emotional impact over time. 

The process differs from the dominant treatment, prolonged exposure therapy, by approaching memories less directly, thereby lessening distress and leading to a higher completion rate. 

Further study needed: Initial data are promising, with ~70% of those receiving RTM therapy no longer meeting PTSD criteria. But critics say the studies are limited and need more rigor. 

The Atlantic

Related: Mental healthcare reform 2.0: learning from the global south – Nature Mental Health GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES DRUG TRAFFICKING Meth Smuggling Crisis in the Golden Triangle
Thai authorities are struggling to stem a flood of synthetic illicit drugs coming into the country from neighboring war-torn Burma, where drug production is surging. 

Meth on the rise: Thailand intercepted 130 tons of meth in 2024, per a report from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime—nearly half of the 236 tons seized in East and Southeast Asia.

• “In the past, to catch like 100,000 methamphetamine tablets was a big deal. Now we catch more than a million pills, and it’s just a normal day,” said one Thai military official. 

Burma’s drug production has ramped up dramatically since the start of the country’s civil war in 2021.

The Telegraph OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Motsoaledi’s big HIV treatment jump: Is it true? – Bhekisisa 

Arizona confirms first measles cases as totals rise in other states – CIDRAP

Why Texas is spending millions to research an illegal psychedelic – The Washington Post (gift link)

Việt Nam confirms global family planning commitment through 2030 – Viet Nam News

How to speak to a vaccine sceptic: research reveals what works – Nature

How Composting Protects Public Health and Our Planet – News Medical 

Music festivals have become more open to harm reduction initiatives. How far will it go? – AP

Word of the Week: how a bacteria unrelated to fish got its name “salmonella” – NPR Issue No. 2739
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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With 2024 confirmed as the hottest year on record, the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a stark warning: the climate crisis is also a health crisis – and it’s already claiming lives.

96 Global Health NOW: RFK Jr. Clears Out Vaccine Experts; Argentina’s Scientists Struggle; and Lesotho Mothers on the Front Lines View this email in your browser June 10, 2025 Forward Share Post A paramedic administers a dose of the measles vaccine at a health center. Lubbock, Texas. February 27. Ronald Schemidt/AFP via Getty RFK Jr. Clears Out Vaccine Experts
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. yesterday removed all experts on a vaccine advisory committee that guides the CDC—and will replace them with members he selects.

• Kennedy argued in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that the 17-member committee “has been plagued with persistent conflicts of interest and has become little more than a rubber stamp for any vaccine.”


• The next meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will be held June 25-27, though it’s not clear when new members will be announced, the AP reports.

Public health leaders swiftly condemned the move:

• “This is one of the darkest days in modern public health history," said Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), per CIDRAP. “Science does not matter to Mr. Kennedy.” 


• “We’ll look back at this as a grave mistake that sacrificed decades of scientific rigor, undermined public trust, and opened the door for fringe theories rather than facts,” said Tom Frieden, Resolve to Save Lives president and CEO, and former CDC director, per AP.


• “With a refigured committee of like-minded individuals to the secretary, doctors, nurses, pharmacists who provide advice are going to be in big trouble,” Richard Besser, former CDC acting director, told The New York Times (gift link).

.Related:     

We have ‘post-vaccination syndrome.’ We are tired of being used to score anti-vax points – STAT (commentary)
 
FDA Review of Novavax’s COVID-19 Vaccine—Regulatory Integrity and Deviations From Standard Practice – JAMA (commentary)
 
Widespread Decline Seen in MMR Vaccination Rates After COVID-19 – Infectious Disease Advisor  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   The WHO has extended its designation of mpox as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern amid a recent surge of cases in West Africa; the emergency, first confirmed in August 2024, now affects 25 countries in Africa. CIDRAP
 
Youth firearm deaths rose considerably in U.S. states that passed more lenient gun laws after a 2010 Supreme Court ruling limited local governments’ capacity to limit gun ownership, per a new study in JAMA Pediatrics; in states with stricter laws, gun deaths held steady or even fell—and dipped significantly in four: California, Maryland, New York, and Rhode Island. The New York Times (gift link)

Canadian wildfires have forced 27,000+ Canadians in three provinces to evacuate, while smoke from the fires is causing ‘very unhealthy’ conditions in the American Midwest and even reaching Europe; in Minnesota, hospitals are reporting more patients with respiratory symptoms. AP

A new celiac disease blood test could be a game-changer, per Australian research published in Gastroenterology that found the test highly accurate—while sparing people from weeks of potentially painful and debilitating tests that require them to consume gluten. The Guardian U.S. and Global Health Policy News NIH walks back ban on new grants for universities with DEI programs or Israel boycotts – STAT
Trump budget proposes killing nursing research institute – Science

‘The cartels and clans are ecstatic’: How USAID cuts have emboldened Colombia’s narcos – The Telegraph

Domestic abusers could have easier path to getting gun rights back under Trump proposal – The 19th

Trump Bill’s Caps on Grad School Loans Could Worsen Doctor Shortage – The New York Times (gift link) POLICY Argentina’s Scientists Struggle
After decades of cyclical crises, extreme currency fluctuations, and sky-high inflation, Argentine scientists have had to learn to be creative with limited funds: They bargain with suppliers, recycle materials, and look for cheaper alternatives when the equipment they want is too expensive.

But even their ingenuity is becoming insufficient after a year and a half of aggressive government cuts to public spending.

• Projects studying rare diseases and RNA-based therapeutics are stalled or dramatically scaled back, while scientists face dwindling supplies and collapsing purchasing power due to inflation exceeding 300% since late 2023.


• International collaborations, once a safety net, are also at risk as U.S. science budgets tighten. Argentine scientists are used to “brain drain”—seeing their colleagues emigrate when funding gets scarce—a possibility that is now raising alarms in the U.S.  

Despite political challenges, Argentine scientists remain among the most respected professionals domestically.

Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RIGHTS How Misoprostol Transformed Abortion in Latin America 
In the 1990s, abortion activism in Latin America was revolutionized by the word-of-mouth spread of a safe, new self-managed abortion method: the drug misoprostol. 

Strict anti-abortion laws were in place throughout the region, but underground networks of activists soon found ways to get misoprostol in the hands of women, and to instruct them how to use it.

• Groups like Las Libres in Mexico and Socorristas en Red in Argentina offered free pills, guidance, and support. Activists in Ecuador and Argentina started hotlines and published widely read manuals. 

Medical professionals covertly aided activists in Argentina despite legal risks, leading to real-time research and more systemic care.

NPR

Related: A Day With One Abortion Pill Prescriber – The New York Times (gift link)  SUBSTANCE USE Lesotho Mothers on the Front Lines
In Lesotho, alarming trends in youth drug use are spurring mothers to push for greater interventions.

‘Hotspotting’ takes hold: As crystal meth usage has grown, more young people are participating in “hotspotting” or “bluetoothing”—the practice of drawing blood from a drug-intoxicated person, then injecting it in others in order to spread the high.

• The practice increases the risk of HIV and other infections in a country already facing one of the world’s highest HIV rates. 

Mothers join forces: Two mothers whose children have battled addiction have started an organization, Mokhosi oa Mangoana, to spread awareness and advocate for more legislation and rehabilitation.  

The Guardian

Related: Drug deaths plummet among young Americans as fentanyl carnage eases – NPR OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Measles holiday warning as cases rise in Europe – BBC

A Palestinian doctor in Israel helps people on both sides – The New Yorker

These Gazan families came to Quebec for safety. Now, they face life without health coverage – CBC

Two Women Faced Chemo. The One Who Survived Demanded a Test to See if It Was Safe. – MedPage Today Thanks for the tip, Chiara Jaffe! 

Suicidal ideation across three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Denmark – identifying vulnerable subgroups using COH-FIT data – Journal of Affective Disorders

Eliminating malaria in Nigeria: insights from Egypt's success and pathways to sustainable eradication – Malaria Journal - BioMed Central

Open-access revolution is squeezing scientific societies’ budgets, survey shows – Science

What does it mean for workplaces to treat COVID-19 like the common flu – NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health / National University of Singapore Issue No. 2738
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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The global fertility slump isn’t down to young people turning their backs on parenthood – it’s due to social and economic pressures stopping them from having the children they want, says a new UN report. 

96 Global Health NOW: Sierra Leone’s Mpox Surge; Climate and Kidney Disease; and Standing Up to Stigma View this email in your browser June 9, 2025 Forward Share Post A crowd of people at Dove Cot Market. Freetown, Sierra Leone, May 1. Patrick Meinhardt/AFP via Getty Sierra Leone’s Mpox Surge
Mpox infections are rapidly rising in Sierra Leone, overwhelming the nation’s health systems and raising fears of a wider spread in densely populated West Africa, reports Nature. 

Outbreak overview: In the past month, Sierra Leone has reported 15 deaths and 3,000+ mpox infections—more than half of Africa’s new cases.

• The actual number of infections may be 4X higher than reported, genomic analysis suggests.

Transmission: The virus is spreading among both men and women, and sexual contact appears to be the main means of transmission. Young people, including sex workers, are especially affected, finds one preprint study. 

• The outbreak is driven by clade IIb—the same strain behind the global outbreak that began in 2022, and separate from the clade Ib strain driving the outbreak in the DRC. 

Overload: Sierra Leone’s health system lacks capacity to control the spread, say epidemiologists there. 

• The country has received limited vaccine doses, and global funding cuts are further hampering research and response.

Meanwhile, Ethiopia is seeing a sharp spike in infections after the country logged its first mpox cases in late May, reports CIDRAP.

• 40 cases have now been reported, and one infant has died.

GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   HIV researchers have made a key breakthrough in their quest for a cure after finding a way to use mRNA to force the virus out of hiding inside white blood cells, per a study published in Nature Communications. The Guardian

Viral skincare routines aimed at teenagers on TikTok carry both dermatological and psychological risks and “offer little to no benefit,” finds a study in Pediatrics, which also found that content creators ages 7–18 apply an average of six skincare products daily. Newsweek

U.S. mothers’ mental health worsened between 2016 and 2023 across all socioeconomic groups, finds a study in JAMA Internal Medicine that analyzed self-reported mental health ratings from some 198,000 mothers. The Washington Post (gift link)

As global measles surveillance is threatened by U.S. funding cuts, philanthropies are trying to keep the Global Measles and Rubella Laboratory Network, known as Gremlin, afloat. STAT U.S. and Global Health Policy News In Axing mRNA Contract, Trump Delivers Another Blow to US Biosecurity, Former Officials Say – KFF Health News

He led George W. Bush's PEPFAR program to stop AIDS. Now he fears for its future – NPR Goats and Soda

How Trump Administration Can Tackle America's Addiction Problems: Experts – Newsweek

Who’s in charge? CDC’s leadership ‘crisis’ apparent amid new COVID-19 vaccine guidance – AP

NIH asks for proposals for $50M autism data project – Axios

Palantir’s Collection of Disease Data at C.D.C. Stirs Privacy Concerns – The New York Times (gift link) CLIMATE Climate and Kidney Disease
Since the late 1990s, researchers have been studying an epidemic of young, otherwise healthy workers suddenly struck with kidney failure—a condition dubbed chronic kidney disease of unknown cause, or CKDu. 

• First seen in El Salvador, CKDu is now known to affect laborers worldwide, especially in hot, humid regions.


• Tens of thousands have likely died from the disease, say researchers. 

Factors: Repeated heat exposure, dehydration, and hard labor appear to be key causes of kidney damage.

• “You’re having this acute kidney injury day after day,” said Catharina Giudice, an emergency medicine physician at Harvard University. 

And as global temperatures rise, researchers warn CKDu could become far more widespread.

Nature GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES HIV/AIDS Standing Up to Stigma
In Rwanda, where approximately 300,000 people live with HIV, stigma can lead to social isolation, especially in school-age children. But new protective measures are supporting students living with HIV. 

• The Rwanda Biomedical Centre has trained 383 school officials on supporting students who are HIV-positive. 139 officials will receive similar training in June. 


• Youth-driven anti-AIDS clubs that provide awareness and support, which have stalled in the past, are being revived.

Discrete support: Children are often mocked for taking HIV medication in class. One solution has been the use of discrete pill boxes. 4,000 boxes were distributed last year to at-risk youth, allowing them privacy to take medication, including PrEP.

The New Times  OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Gaza health system ‘extremely fragile’ as aid point killings increase: ICRC – Al Jazeera

Monthly prescription rule blocks ADHD treatment for SA kids – Bhekisisa

World must ‘start screening for prostate cancer to stop men being left behind’ – The Telegraph

Salmonella outbreak tied to eggs sickens dozens across 7 states – AP

Stigmatised for being deaf: Zénabou's story – UN News

Local, organic, and bipartisan: How Vermont is challenging Big Food – The Christian Science Monitor

How a dog aging project can help pets and humans live healthier lives – NPR’s Short Wave (audio) Issue No. 2737
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: Europe’s Surge of Synthetic Drugs; Scotlandʼs Mission to Banish Cervical Cancer; and This Sausage Roll Tastes Like Wax New drugs report reveals “constantly evolving” challenges, and a rise in synthetic drugs and cocaine View this email in your browser June 5, 2025 Forward Share Post The head of Section III of UDYCO Central, Alejandro Martin-Blass, explains the details of the operation to dismantle the largest cocaine base paste processing laboratory in Europe, at the Canillas Police Complex, on April 13, 2023, in Madrid, Spain. Eduardo Parra/Europa Press via Getty Europe’s Surge of Synthetic Drugs
A widespread influx of synthetic opioids and recreational designer drugs are putting European health care systems “under strain,” finds the European Union Drugs Agency's annual report—as  a “constantly evolving" European drug market forces officials to overhaul response strategies, reports Politico. 

The health risks of many synthetic drugs remain poorly understood due to their novelty and shifting composition, reports DW. Key synthetic drug trends include: 

• Nitazenes, synthetic opioids that can be stronger than heroin or fentanyl, have been linked to increasing overdose deaths.

• Cathinones, stimulants also known as “bath salts,” are increasingly being manufactured on the continent, with Poland emerging as a key hub. 

• Semi-synthetic cannabinoids: ~18 new semi-synthetic cannabinoids were detected in 2024; most are sold legally as their molecules are not explicitly banned. 

Cocaine market strengthening: Cocaine is becoming increasingly available, with officials reporting record cocaine seizures, mostly via ports in Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands, reports Reuters. 

Polysubstance use—taking multiple drugs at once—remains the main cause of drug deaths. 

• 7,500 drug-induced deaths occurred in 2023, mostly from opioids.

Collective response: The EUDA is urging stronger monitoring and cross-border collaboration to counter escalating health and security threats. GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES DATA POINT

10.9 million
—————
The number of Americans who would lose health insurance under Trump’s tax cut bill, per the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. – USA Today The Latest One-Liners
Haiti has been elected to the WHO Executive Board for the first time, with the nation’s health minister saying the country would be a “committed voice” in shaping global health policy even as the country grapples with its own public health crises, including gang-related violence and undermined health infrastructure. The Haitian Times

Women using weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro are being urged to use “effective contraception” after 40 women have reported becoming pregnant while taking the medications, a U.K. regulatory agency warns. The Guardian

Extended marriage and maternity leave will be offered in China's southwestern Sichuan province, as officials hope to create a “fertility-friendly society” in the face of flagging birth rates in China. Reuters

Childhood measles vaccination rates fell in ~80% of U.S. counties after the COVID-19 pandemic, per a new study published in JAMA Network Open; the findings reflect trends seen at both state and national levels. AP GHN EXCLUSIVE All school pupils in Scotland are offered the HPV vaccine in their first year of secondary school. Courtesy of Public Health Scotland Scotlandʼs Mission to Banish Cervical Cancer  
Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women globally—but in Scotland, an observational study of a national, school-based HPV vaccination program launched in 2008 detected zero cases of the disease among women fully immunized against HPV at age 12 or 13.

The school-based program has consistently achieved HPV vaccination coverage of over 80% of Scottish pupils—well above the European average. 

How do they do it?

Prioritize communication: “We try to make sure that everybody has the same information … that will allow parents to make an informed decision” about having their child vaccinated, Kirsty Roy, the studyʼs lead author, told GHN in an exclusive Q&A.

Tackle vaccine inequalities: Roy says that the program is constantly trying to better understand gaps in vaccine coverage between the most and least deprived areas, from the “misperception that the vaccine only benefits girls” to school absenteeism that prevents some pupils from accessing the vaccine. 

Play the long game: While the program has seen successes, it still aims to go further: “We are working towards eliminating cervical cancer in Scotland, as per the WHOʼs definition,” says Roy.
 
Annalies Winny, Global Health NOW READ THE Q&A GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES SUBSTANCE USE Why Alcohol Needs a Cancer Warning Label
More than six in 10 Americans drink alcohol. But less than half of them know that they’re increasing their cancer risk while they’re doing it.

Updating the U.S. alcohol health warning label—which hasn’t changed since 1989—could help to raise awareness, experts say. 

• On January 3, then-U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued a health advisory on the link between cancer and drinking and recommended that the warning label on alcohol containers be changed to reflect the connection. 

• In February, the WHO issued a similar call. 

Changing the label, however, would require an act of Congress, which experts say at this time is unlikely. 

Other countries have been more aggressive about their warnings: Beginning in 2026, Ireland will require prominent labels with red capital letters on all containers of beer, wine, and liquor sold in the country.

Alcohol consumption is the third-leading preventable cause of cancer in the U.S., after tobacco and obesity, and leads to a higher risk of at least seven types of cancer. 

Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION This Sausage Roll Tastes Like Wax
Everyone knows thereʼs only one true sign of celebrity: Being cast in wax. 

Think David Attenborough, Beyoncé, William Shakespeare … and now, some sausage wrapped up in pastry, Londonist reports.

Ahead of National Sausage Roll Day—a holiday that apparently exists—an iconic snack from the British bakery chain Greggs claimed a top spot at Madame Tussauds wax museum in London, where it is now lounging atop a blue velvet pillow.

How the sausage is made: The “one-of-a-kind replica Sausage Roll” was handcrafted by studio artists who studied “dozens” of real-life rolls to capture its flaky layers and “unmistakable golden glaze,” a press release gushed. 

Following the science: “New research”—which we couldnʼt find a link to—apparently ranked the Greggs Sausage Roll among the countryʼs most beloved cultural icons. It even outranked the affable cast of Gavin & Stacey (a GHN fave from James Corden) and the foul-mouthed brothers of Oasis.

But even a wax sausage roll has a limited shelf life. The exhibit expires at the end of June. OPPORTUNITY

The Spring Issue of HBPH Is Available

The new special issue of Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health magazine documents the broad and emerging impacts of U.S. government funding cuts on a wide range of research and projects in the U.S. and abroad, the scientists who conduct that work, and the people who benefit from it. It also highlights public health in action, and shares stories with lessons that can help us navigate the current moment. 

Read the special issue now.

QUICK HITS Neglected tropical diseases further neglected due to ODA cuts – WHO

Researchers warn of bird flu survival in raw milk – News Medical 

US valley fever cases may be 18 times higher than reported – CIDRAP

Call for experts to develop a WHO guideline on consumption of ultra-processed foods – PAHO

Measles Is Scary, Says Lubbock’s Top Health Official. So Is Government Upheaval. – Texas Monthly

Baby saved by gene-editing therapy 'graduates' from hospital, goes home – ABC News Issue No. 2736
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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AIDS-related deaths have dropped to their lowest level since 2004, but progress remains precarious, with the disease still claiming one life every minute. The impact of funding cuts is severe, causing widespread disruption to HIV services and threatening hard-won gains. 

As hostilities rage in Sudan, access constraints and devastating funding cuts are isolating rape survivors and pregnant women from essential health services, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency UNFPA said on Thursday. 

96 Global Health NOW: Assaults on Aid as Sudan’s Hunger Crisis Deepens; Scientific Journals Navigate New Challenges; and The Clay Floor Advantage View this email in your browser June 4, 2025 Forward Share Post Displaced people queue for food rations in a makeshift encampment near the town of Tawila, in Sudan's Darfur region. April 13. AFP via Getty Assaults on Aid as Sudan’s Hunger Crisis Deepens
A 15-truck convoy delivering lifesaving supplies to famine-stricken North Darfur was attacked in a “horrendous” ambush Monday night, killing five humanitarian workers, injuring others, and blocking desperately needed humanitarian supplies, reports Al Jazeera. 

Details: The convoy, led by World Food Programme and UNICEF contractors, would have been the first to reach El Fasher in over a year, as hundreds of thousands of people in the region face malnutrition and starvation amid Sudan’s ongoing conflict, per UN News. 

• It remains unclear who is behind the attack, with agencies calling for an investigation. 

Imperiled care: The attack follows multiple assaults on humanitarian and health facilities in the country last week, including bombings of the WFP office in El Fasher and a deadly drone strike on a hospital in Al Obeid. 

• Meanwhile, damage to civilian infrastructure has worsened a cholera outbreak. 

Health care collapse in Khartoum: In Sudan’s capital, none of the city’s ~100 medical facilities are operational after the widespread destruction of buildings and electrical infrastructure and disruption of medical supply access, reports NPR Goats and Soda. 

Rise of refugees in Chad: The number of Sudanese refugees in Chad has risen 3X+ in just over two years, per UN News, with 1.2 million people fleeing to the country.

• Over 9 million people have been displaced in the conflict. 

GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES DATA POINT

1.6 million
——————
People fall ill daily from unsafe food globally, warns the WHO. —Anadolu Agency
  The Latest One-Liners
Guidance requiring hospitals to provide emergency abortions for women needing medical stabilization has been revoked by the Trump administration; the Biden administration had issued the guidance to preserve emergency abortion care, even in states with near-total bans. AP

The CDC official overseeing updates to the agency’s COVID-19 vaccine recommendations has resigned, saying she could no longer “help the most vulnerable members of our population” after HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s order to change the agency’s vaccine guidance. CBS

Vietnam will end its longstanding policy limiting families to two children as the country aims to reverse a declining birth that has dropped below the replacement level for three consecutive years. South China Morning Post

Misinformation around cancer care is leading to a rise in alternative treatments like coffee enemas, raw juice diets, and other potentially dangerous social media–driven trends, said doctors at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting, warning that such misinformation has “acutely worsened in the past decade.” The Guardian U.S. and Global Health Policy News Trump asks Congress to repeal $9 billion from NPR, PBS and global aid – The Washington Post (gift link)

Research cuts conflict with MAHA's stated goals – NPR

Kennedy has ordered a review of baby formula. Here’s what you should know – AP

Dismantling CDC’s chronic disease center ‘looks pretty devastating’ to public health experts – STAT HUMAN RIGHTS Peru’s Forced Sterilization Victims Seek Justice
Peruvian women sterilized decades ago under the government’s forced sterilization campaign are finally having their day in court, as the Inter-American Court of Human Rights held its first public hearing on the abuses in the case Celia Ramos v. Peru. Ramos died 19 days after receiving an unwanted tubal ligation.

Background: Between 1996 and 2001, ~270,000 Peruvian women were sterilized under then-President Alberto Fujimori’s reproductive policy. 

• The women, who were mostly poor and Indigenous, faced coercion, threats, and physical violence when they resisted.

Calls for accountability: Human rights groups have long argued the program constituted a crime against humanity and are petitioning the court to hold the Peruvian state responsible.

• “It’s been over 28 years of uncommitted and unaccountable governments,” said survivor María Elena Carbajal. 

The Telegraph GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES RESEARCH Scientific Journals Navigate New Challenges
Researchers and editors of federally funded scientific journals say they are facing new challenges of interference, fear, self-censorship, and dissent due to the U.S. government’s crackdown on DEI language.

Confusion and cuts: Federal directives to remove specific words and data, followed by major research funding cuts, have created upheaval in standard procedures around publishing. 

• Journals overseen by federal agencies now face additional vetting, and federal researchers who publish in outside journals say they have received inconsistent guidance on what they are able to submit. 

‘Chilling effect’: Though direct impact on other journals may end up being limited, the U.S.’s central role in publishing raises concerns about the “moral impact” on academic freedom, said Marcus Munafò, the former editor-in-chief of Nicotine & Tobacco Research.

Undark

Related: US veterans agency orders scientists not to publish in journals without clearance – The Guardian ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH The Clay Floor Advantage
In Uganda, Rwanda, and Kenya, the nonprofit EarthEnable is reducing dust and parasites in homes by installing clay-based flooring—which delivers health and environmental benefits over dirt floors at less than half the price of concrete.

• Dirt floors are associated with poor hygiene, breathing irritations, pathogens, and the spread of parasitic fleas called jiggers.


• The clay floors, which are durable and sealed, also emit less carbon in production than concrete; the cement industry accounts for a large proportion of Uganda’s carbon emissions.

So far, EarthEnable has installed 39,000+ floors in Rwanda, 5,000+ in Uganda, and 100+ in Kenya.

AP

Thanks for the tip, Dave Cundiff! OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS UK ‘not ready’ for major animal disease outbreak – The Telegraph

COVID vaccine changes confuse and upset some parents and families – NPR

Moderna will test new COVID shot against placebo, RFK Jr. says – Toronto Sun 

New mRNA vaccine is more effective and less costly to develop, study finds – Medical Xpress

Abortion laws are Victorian era, says grieving mum – BBC

Anorexia in Middle Age and Beyond – The New York Times (gift link)

How extreme heat affects America's most vulnerable – JHU Hub

Annual cost of insuring a family tops $35,000 –Axios Issue No. 2736
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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