Honorons la mémoire de Kimberly Gloade en luttant pour un système de soins de santé humain.

96 Global Health NOW: You're Invited! Join Us in DC April 9 for a Communications Workshop View this email in your browser April 2, 2026 Forward Share Post JOIN US IN DC FOR A FREE WORKSHOP! The sun sets over the Tidal Basin, with cherry blossoms in peak bloom in Washington, DC. March 30. Heather Diehl/Getty Media-Savvy Skills for Scientists
In today's complex information landscape, great research needs more than publication––it requires communication. Join us for an interactive, pre-conference workshop, Communications Skills That Transform Science Into Action, co-led by the CUGH Research Committee, the Pulitzer Center, and Global Health NOW, ahead of the 2026 CUGH Annual Conference in Washington, DC, on April. 9.

The full day of workshops will feature panel discussions with journalists and global health scholars as well as opportunities to sharpen your media skills:

From Evidence to Influence: What Actually Works: Featuring Molly Knight Raskin, Eli Cahan, Rupali Limaye, and Ananya Tina Banerjee.

How Is Misinformation in Global Health Produced, Amplified, and Legitimized? With Ridwan Karim Dini-Osman, Scott Ratzan, Rebecca Katherine Ivic, and Kenneth Rabin.

• Each panel will be followed by hands-on, practical workshops (focusing on op-ed writing, media interviews, and new media techniques).

Pre-conference sessions are free, in-person, and open to the public! 

• Thursday, April 9, 9 a.m.–4 p.m. EDT We’d love to see you for all or part of the day!  

SIGN UP FOR THE WORKSHOP CUGH 2026 Special Event Update
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 Deep Risks of Water Warfare; and Critical New Insights Into Noma Plus: What Would Jesus Think of a 10-Pound Chocolate Rabbit? View this email in your browser April 2, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES The CDC has paused lab testing for rabies, pox viruses, and dozens of other pathogens amid widespread layoffs and upheaval that have limited the number of qualified scientists who can perform the testing, which is designed to assist state and local labs. The New York Times (gift link)   A new GLP-1 pill, Eli Lilly’s once-daily medication Foundayo, has been approved by the FDA; the convenience of the once-daily pill widens access to weight loss medication and can be scaled worldwide, said the company’s CEO. CNBC    Methamphetamine use was reduced in adults who took the antidepressant mirtazapine, per a randomized clinical trial published in JAMA Psychiatry; researchers found the drug was safe and effective for helping adults with methamphetamine use disorder curb intake of the drug—potentially opening new doors to treatment. MedPage Today    Exact digital replicas of patients’ diseased hearts have shown doctors how to more precisely treat actual hearts for an arrhythmia known as ventricular tachycardia, finds a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine; the “digital twin technology” is increasingly being explored in medical studies. AP  IN FOCUS Farm workers harvest crops as smoke billows after overnight airstrikes on oil depots, on March 8, in Tehran. Majid Saeedi/Getty Images The Deep Risks of Water Warfare     Ongoing conflict in Iran and surrounding Gulf states is laying bare the extreme vulnerability of the region’s most critical resource: Water.     Already, strikes to water facilities in Iran, Bahrain, and Kuwait have left communities struggling and demonstrate the catastrophic risks of targeting water infrastructure and desalination plants—the source of drinking water for much of the Gulf.    Dependence on desalination: Tens of millions of people regionwide rely on water from desalination plants, with some countries getting 90%-99% of all drinkable water from the facilities.  

• Major cities like Dubai, Doha, Kuwait City, and Riyadh rely entirely on desalination. 

• And Iran is already operating in a “water bankruptcy” after years of drought, with reservoirs that supply Tehran below 10% capacity as of last year.  

Water as a weapon: The recent attacks follow a long history of using water as a point of pain and leverage in regional warfare, from Babylon and Tyre in 6th century B.C. to the Gulf War in the 1990s. 

• “Water is both a weapon and a strategic consideration for all parties in the region,” said Naser Alsayed, a researcher at SOAS University of London. 

Catastrophic consequences: Most Gulf states hold just a few days of water reserves, meaning escalating attacks could rapidly trigger humanitarian crises, including widespread dehydration, disease risks, displacement, and further instability.     The Telegraph  NEGLECTED DISEASES Critical New Insights into Noma    In a breakthrough discovery for the fight against noma, researchers have pinpointed a previously unknown species of bacteria “strongly associated” with the disease.    Background: Noma is an infection that starts as gingivitis that rapidly progresses into a devastating and often fatal disease affecting children in extreme poverty.    The research: Working at the Noma Children’s Hospital in Sokoto, Nigeria, a team of researchers from Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine analyzed saliva from children with acute noma using metagenomic sequencing and machine learning, per a new study published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.     New findings: The research identified a “consistent microbial signature,” Treponema bacteria.    Hopeful implications: Knowing the specific bacterial culprit could allow for earlier diagnosis and more effective interventions.  

• Plus: Treponema lacks antibiotic-resistance genes—meaning it can be treated with existing medications. 

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine News    OPPORTUNITY Media-Savvy Skills for Scientists 
Join us for an interactive, pre-conference workshop, Communications Skills that Transform Science Into Action, co-led by the CUGH Research Committee, the Pulitzer Center, and Global Health NOW, ahead of the 2026 CUGH Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., on April 9. 

The full day of workshops will feature panel discussions with journalists and global health scholars as well as opportunities to sharpen your media skills: 

• From Evidence to Influence: What Actually Works: Featuring Molly Knight Raskin, Eli Cahan, Rupali Limaye, and Ananya Tina Banerjee. 

• How Is Misinformation in Global Health Produced, Amplified, and Legitimized? With Ridwan Karim Dini-Osman, Scott Ratzan, Rebecca Katherine Ivic, and Kenneth Rabin. 

Each panel will be followed by hands-on, practical workshops, focusing on op-ed writing, media interviews, and new media techniques. 

Pre-conference sessions are free, in-person, and open to the public!  

• Thursday, April 9, 9 a.m.–4 p.m., EDT. We’d love to see you for all or part of the day!   

• Sign up for the workshop 

ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION What Would Jesus Think?  
For devotees of the bulk buying giant Costco, the mantra is less ‘go big or go home,’ and more ‘go big, then go home … and make space for the 6,000 paper towel rolls you just bought.’       Or, this Easter, the 10lb chocolate bunny named Pete for whose bulk “you are not prepared.”       Pete, with his warm smile, button nose, and cuddlable size, seems more friend than food. So, we were a bit disturbed that the instructions on the box demand that we destroy him and melt his remains into hot chocolate, USA Today reports.        “First he's admired, then he's cracked or cut,” the instructions explain. And you have options: “Wrap Pete in a towel and give one bold whack with a mallet, hammer, or rolling pin” to separate all 151 servings.      That may sound like a lot, unless you head over to Haux, France, where Easter Monday means making a single 4,500-egg omelet for 1,000+ people, Wanderlust reports.      We know one place you can buy that many eggs: Costco.  QUICK HITS ‘We’re failing newborns’: The global push to reduce infant deaths is losing steam – Science    Amid rising vaccine hesitancy, more parents reject vitamin K shots – CIDRAP     Kennedy sidelining of US advisory panel delays updates to cancer screening guidelines – Reuters via U.S. News    A slowdown in US visa processing is wreaking havoc on foreign doctors’ lives – Politico     Trippy tobacco? Plants engineered to make five psychedelics at once – Science    Struggling to focus on research when the world is ‘on fire’? Some ways to cope – Nature   Issue No. 2891
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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South Sudan is evolving into a catastrophic human rights and humanitarian crisis, UN Human Rights Council-appointed independent experts warned on Thursday.

96 Global Health NOW: The Hidden Perils of Poland’s ‘Ghost’ Poultry Farms; and India’s Coal Expansion Fuels a Health Crisis View this email in your browser April 1, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a Colorado law that banned mental health professionals from using “conversion therapy” to try to change LGBTQ minors’ sexual orientation or gender identity; the ruling could impact such laws in 20+ states. The New York Times (gift link)    Requests for “unvaccinated” blood have increased among patients and parents of minor patients needing blood transfusions, per a new report published in Transfusion, which found the requests can lead to dangerous delays in care since blood donors are not asked about vaccination status. CIDRAP 

Lead lingering in the body increases the risk of heart disease, even years after exposure, per a new international study published in JAMA Network, which found that lead’s presence in the heart’s vital arteries can elevate blood pressure and injure blood vessels—making it one of the leading risk factors for death by coronary artery disease. STAT 
New American Heart Association guidelines prioritize plant-based protein over meat and suggest replacing full-fat dairy with low- or nonfat options; the advice, released yesterday, contrasts with U.S. government recommendations encouraging Americans to up their consumption of red meat and full-fat dairy. Reuters via Business Standard  IN FOCUS Chickens crowded together on an industrial poultry farm. Kondrajec Panski, Poland, October 1, 2019. Wojtek Radwanski/AFP via Getty The Hidden Perils of Poland’s ‘Ghost’ Poultry Farms     Hundreds of industrial poultry farms across Poland are operating without required environmental permits, allowing the farms to evade EU oversight and increasing threats of environmental pollution and disease throughout Europe.     Large loopholes: Poland is a major exporter of poultry meat to Europe, with ~2,000 megafarms in the country. Nearly half of those farms lack required environmental licenses.  

• Officials responsible for issuing permits and conducting inspections do not track unregistered operations, enabling these so-called ghost farms to operate unchecked for years.  

Widespread impact: Some of these operations have already contributed to unsafe waste disposal, air pollution, and water contamination, leading to bacterial infections in nearby communities. 

• But the risks extend beyond Poland, as the potentially compromised meat supply reaches millions of consumers.  

Antibiotic alarm: Poland’s packed industrial farms also rank among the highest users of veterinary antibiotics in the EU.  

• Chickens are often treated multiple times in their short lifespans, raising dangers of antimicrobial resistance. 

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES Thanks for the tip, Chiara Jaffe! POLLUTION India’s Coal Expansion Fuels a Health Crisis    While India has committed to curbing fossil fuel usage in the long term, the short term looks much different as coal production rapidly expands to meet growing electricity demand.    At the center of this tension are towns like Jharia, home to open-pit mines that are key to the community’s livelihood—and central to residents’ suffering health.  

• Jharia’s air has the country’s highest concentration of coarse particulate matter, leading to high rates of respiratory illnesses including tuberculosis and asthma. 

India’s government has acknowledged the dangers, pledging to better manage the pollution and relocate residents to safer regions. But critics say it’s not happening fast enough.  

• Residents are “living on deathbeds,” said local doctor Sanjoy Mukherjee. “They should not be allowed to live here.” 

The Examination  OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS After detainee dies at ICE detention center in California, Mexican officials call for investigation – Los Angeles Times via The Spokesman-Review    Evacuated from Gaza as newborns, a group of Palestinian toddlers returns to an uncertain future – AP     Is Trump killing the heralded U.S. effort to help the world battle HIV? – Science    Antidepressant Drug Fluvoxamine Reduces Fatigue in Long COVID Patients – Inside Precision Medicine    Are boys really in crisis? What the science says in the age of the manosphere – Nature    The wellness world is eager for RFK Jr.’s promised move on peptides – NPR    ‘Prosthetics aren’t made for people like us’: the brothers creating innovative artificial limbs for Africans – The Guardian  Issue No. 2890
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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McGill University has launched the Initiative for Transforming Healthcare (ITH) to apply a systems-based approach and advance technology-enabled solutions to drive change in Canadian healthcare.

Mounting pressures – from limited access to family doctors to surgical backlogs and emergency room crowding – are straining Canada’s health system. The Initiative will explore ways to resolve these growing challenges through cross-sector partnerships.

96 Global Health NOW: Is Mexico Missing the Target on Measles Response? and Surfers Turning the Tide on CPR Gender Gap View this email in your browser March 31, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES Vaping is strongly linked to oral and lung cancer risk, per a comprehensive evidence review from Australian cancer researchers; there isn’t yet long-term vaping data to determine definitive risk, but they found evidence that vaping is associated with pre-carcinogenic changes, including DNA damage and inflammation. The Guardian
  Exposure to a common plastic additive may have contributed to 1.97 million preterm births in 2018 alone—8%+ of the global total—and 74,000 newborn deaths, per an eClinical Medicine study that showed similar risks with a common replacement phthalate, with the highest burden in South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Langone Health (news release)
  Armed conflict in Colombia has significantly impacted tuberculosis incidence and mortality, according to Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal)-led research, with the most violent municipalities recording the highest TB case rates; the researchers note that conflict-fueled displacement creates poor living conditions––overcrowding, poor ventilation, and housing instability––that facilitate TB transmission and hamper treatment. News Medical
  U.S. cases of the “Cicada” COVID-19 variant, officially known as BA.3.2, are rising, though still at low levels; the variant, detected in at least 23 countries, has a highly mutated genetic sequence that could allow it to evade antibodies, per the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, highlighting the need for ongoing surveillance and vaccine effectiveness. Scientific American via Yahoo!  IN FOCUS Medical personnel in Mexico City administer measles vaccines to people attending the mass vaccination event at Parque de los Venados, on February 11. Gerardo Vieyra/NurPhoto via Getty Is Mexico Missing the Target on Measles Response?    The measles outbreak that spread throughout Mexico in the past year began when a child from Mexico’s Chihuahua state fell ill after returning from visiting relatives in Texas, NPR reports. From there, cases “ripped through” the Mennonite community, which is largely unvaccinated, and ultimately spread to all 32 Mexican states, per Outbreak News Today.

• Since January 2025, there have been 14,000+ confirmed cases and 35 deaths.

Mexico has responded with a broad vaccination campaign that generated long lines of all ages. But critics argue the approach needs more focus. Mexico vaccinated “broadly but not efficiently,” said Sergio Meneses Navarro, a researcher at Mexico's National Institute of Public Health, NPR reports. 
“We should be working in the most unprotected regions, with the most unprotected populations.” 
  Crucially: Migrant workers were a rare point of contact for the insular Mennonite communities where the outbreak began, reports Mexico Solidarity. The outbreak eventually broke through the contained communities to reach the migrant day laborer populations. The laborers—many of whom are Indigenous, are at high risk due to overcrowded living and working conditions and “years of neglect by the system,” said Andrés Castañeda Prado of the National Coordination of the National Public Security System.  
  Mexico's once-lauded vaccination system has deteriorated as the government stopped matching public health spending to population growth, NPR reports, while pandemic-era missed vaccines and growing hesitancy—particularly in hard-to-reach rural and Indigenous communities—created dangerous immunity gaps. 
  And even with a broad vaccination campaign, nurses are concerned many newly vaccinated patients won't return for second doses needed for full protection.   DATA POINT

250,000+
——————
People die from meningitis worldwide each year, per a Lancet Neurology report; children under 5 account for a third of all deaths. —CIDRAP
  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES EMERGENCY CARE  Surfers Turning the Tide on CPR Gender Gap    After learning that women are less likely than men to receive CPR or defibrillation in public emergencies, a group of surfers in Australia is advocating for more gender-equitable training.     Behind the disparity: A 2024 analysis by the New South Wales ambulance service found that women were 10% less likely than men to receive CPR from a public bystander, and 50% less likely to receive defibrillation—contributing to higher death rates during cardiac arrest.  

• Researchers say hesitation may stem from concerns about modesty, harm, or legal risks when chest exposure is required.  

Shifting the current: In response, the Yamba Surf Life Saving Club has launched the “CP-Her” initiative, advocating for more inclusive lifesaving training, including the use of female manikins.     Gaining momentum: Surf Life Saving Australia has already announced plans to update its lifesaver training guidelines to address the disparity.     ABC Australia  QUICK HITS First European case of H9N2 bird flu reported in Italy – what you need to know – The Conversation (commentary)     Gilead refuses to sell groundbreaking HIV prevention drug to MSF – MSF    These small African antelopes may help mpox spread – Science    How the next CDC director can win back America’s trust – STAT (commentary)    Radar device could help tackle growing number of prison deaths, scientists say – The Independent    Ordinary Lab Gloves May Have Skewed Microplastic Data – Nautilus

Paralysis in public health and policy: when evidence becomes an alibi – The Lancet Public Health (commentary)    What has happened to the people who lost their jobs in the aid cuts? – Devex (free registration required) Issue No. 2889
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: Listening to the Needs of India’s “Silent Village”; and The CDC’s Silence as U.S. Smoking Hits Historic Low View this email in your browser March 30, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES In a “logistical quagmire” caused by the Iran war, emergency cholera medical supplies bound for African countries are stranded in Dubai ahead of the high-risk rainy season; the kits create “mini field hospitals” equipped with rehydration and water treatments, and some were bound for Chad, which hosts Sudan war refugees. Reuters via KFGO
  Less than a quarter of LMICs meet the measles elimination target of at least 95% coverage for the first vaccine dose and several were deemed “critically low” with coverage below 50%, according to a new study underscoring the challenge of achieving herd immunity amid a global measles resurgence and ongoing barriers to vaccination. CIDRAP
  Physicians are warning of an emerging STI known as TMvii that is causing outbreaks in U.S. cities and can resemble other conditions; the infection, caused by Trichophyton mentagrophytes type VII, causes painful coin-sized rashes and has so far been seen primarily among sexually active gay men. Duke Global Health Institute
  Several U.S. states are moving toward requiring food makers to add folic acid to corn tortillas in an effort to prevent devastating neural tube defects in Hispanic newborns that could be caused by deficiency of the vitamin, which is required in other starchy staples; California was the first state to require fortification, and an Alabama law will take effect in June. AP IN FOCUS: GHN EXCLUSIVE A man works on a neighbor's house in Dhadkai, Jammu and Kashmir, India, on February 23. Safina Nabi Listening to the Needs of India’s “Silent Village”     DHADKAI, India––Dhadkai, nestled within Jammu and Kashmir, is often called the “Silent Village of India”––“known not only for its breathtaking landscape of steep hills and dense forests, but also for an unusually high number of residents who cannot hear or speak,” writes Safina Nabi. 

• For years, the hearing impairments—affecting ~90 of the village’s ~2,000 residents—were attributed to fate, environment, or lack of medical care, but research published in 2017 identified multiple genes that could be responsible in some patients. 

• In geographically isolated Dhadkai, marriages often take place within extended kinship networks—allowing certain genetic traits to concentrate over time.  

Exploring interventions: Possible solutions include gene therapy—working directly at the level of the gene to correct the defect. But as such treatments are not yet widely available in India, some researchers say premarital genetic counseling is a more practical approach. 
  Broader public health issues: Dhadkai also raises pressing public health issues, including rural disability care gaps that allow conditions such as hearing impairment to persist largely unaddressed, writes Nabi. She underscores the community’s limited access to routine newborn screening, genetic counseling, and early hearing intervention services––“support systems that, in many countries, help families make informed decisions and provide children with assistive technologies or language support within the first months of life.” 
  The quote: “Science has offered clarity,” Nabi writes. “What remains uncertain is whether policy and public health will move quickly enough to meet the needs of people living with its consequences.”  READ THE FULL STORY BY SAFINA NABI GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES TOBACCO The CDC’s Silence as U.S. Smoking Hits Historic Low 
Cigarette smoking among U.S. adults reached a historic low in 2024, dropping below 10% for the first time.    But that milestone was not reported by the CDC. While the agency released the data on smoking last fall, detailed analysis was lacking after funding cuts eliminated the agency’s Office of Smoking and Health (OSH).    Stepping into the gaps: The analysis was published in the new digital journal NEJM Evidence by Israel Agaku, a former OSH epidemiologist who ran the data via his independent research company.  

• Despite the findings’ significance, Agaku and others lament the CDC’s detachment from what has long been a public health priority.  

The quote: “Anyone can generate a report. Few have the resources or institutional leverage and respect the CDC once had to make that result count,” Agaku said.    STAT  QUICK HITS Measles spike in federal detention facility reaches the Texas public, records show – The Texas Tribune     The Horrors That Could Lie Ahead if Vaccines Vanish – ProPublica     70% female, 30% male students suffer GBV in tertiary institutions – Vanguard    Alemnew Dagnew: TB Risk Should not Depend on Where We Are Born – Modern Ghana (commentary)    Like ‘driving to San Francisco and back, every week’: In rural America, cancer patients face tall hurdles to get care – CNN    Drinking Raw Milk Is Risky. Should People Be Able to Buy It Anyway? – The New York Times (gift link) Thanks for the tip, Dave Cundiff!    “Bodies aren’t a trend”: Body positivity fight endures in the GLP-1 era – Axios  Issue No. 2888
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. Policies Amount to a Global Public Health Emergency, Researchers Argue; and Lessons From Romania’s Rapid Abortion Shifts Plus: 'Homeward Bound' on Steroids View this email in your browser March 26, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES A health crisis is “unfolding in real time” across the Middle East, according to WHO’s director in the region; Hanan Balkhy warned that, in addition to potential hits on nuclear sites and damage to the water supply, hospital closures are disrupting chronic illness treatment, and there are deep concerns about maternal and mental health, and children orphaned by the conflict. The Guardian 

The UK has launched a billion-pound pandemic preparedness plan—its first since a 2011 effort that focused on flu—promising a new approach including a new contact tracing system and PPE stockpiles, and more adaptable emergency measures. The Telegraph 

In Cuba, many doctors grappling with the constant stress of rationing care, severe supply shortages, and long patient waitlists are burning out, leaving the country, or working without pay as the country’s health care system slips deeper into decline amid a failing economy and a U.S.-imposed oil blockade. Reuters via Investing.com 

The White House has delayed nominating a permanent CDC director, meaning Jay Bhattacharya, who has served as acting director, will continue his duties as the administration extends its search; about a half dozen candidates are being “seriously considered.” The Washington Post (gift link)  IN FOCUS A health care professional measures a vaccine dose. Riverside, California, on February 2, 2021. Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty U.S. Policies Amount to a Global Public Health Emergency, Researchers Argue  
A “public health emergency of international concern” has never been declared over a single country’s political actions—but the Trump administration’s moves, including the disruption of U.S. foreign aid and development work, and pandemic preparedness efforts, constitute a PHEIC under international law, argue Matthew Herder and colleagues in a new peer-reviewed analysis published in The BMJ.       The argument: A PHEIC is defined as an “extraordinary event” that creates a “public health risk to other states through the international spread of disease,” which Herder, of Canada’s Dalhousie University, and co-authors say U.S. policies and defunding of global health initiatives could drive, particularly in LMICs.    Would this help, or harm?  

• A PHEIC declaration from the WHO could prompt further U.S. backlash, but the authors stress that hundreds of thousands of people have already died due to U.S. actions, per Medical Xpress. 

• Declaring a PHEIC can mobilize funding and facilitate the use of compulsory licensing of essential medicines. 

• Furthermore, it’s “Important to publish articles that provoke debate and encourage different ways of thinking at problems,” says BMJ’s international editor, Jocalyn Clark, on Bluesky.   

The Quote: “ ... We should not wait to call the U.S. president and his administration for what it is—the worst public health emergency in the world—and act accordingly,” Herder and co-authors conclude.    Related: Why the expanded global gag rule is a deadly triple tripwire for recipients of US foreign aid – The BMJ  REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RIGHTS  Lessons From Romania’s Rapid Abortion Shifts 
To see how abortion policy can dramatically impact maternal mortality, Romania’s history offers a stark picture.  

Maternal mortality fell steadily across Europe from 1965–1985. But in Romania over that period, the rate surged ~150%.  

Why? Abortion was readily accessible in Romania from 1957 to 1966, when Nicolae Ceaușescu abruptly restricted the practice, along with contraception. After that, births nearly doubled within a year.  

• With the rise of pregnancies came a spike in abortions from untrained providers. By the 1980s, over 80% of maternal deaths were linked to unsafe abortions.  

About-face: When legalization quickly resumed in 1989, deaths dropped again.  

Our World in Data 

OPPORTUNITY Apply by April 1 for a Travel Award to Attend ASTMH 2026  
The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene is accepting applications for travel grants to attend the ASTMH 2026 Annual Meeting, November 18–22, 2026, at Gaylord National Harbor, Maryland, in the U.S. 

• The 2026 Annual Meeting Travel Award is available to all qualified students, early-career investigators, and scientists actively working in tropical medicine and global health. 

• ASTMH members and non-members are eligible to apply, especially those from Africa, Asia, and Latin America.   

• Recipients receive complimentary meeting registration, round-trip coach airfare, and a stipend to offset travel costs. 

How to apply: Applicants must submit an online application for the travel award and submit an abstract.

1) Apply for an Annual Meeting Travel Award 

2) Submit an Abstract 

• Deadline to Apply: April 1, 2026 

• View the Guidelines 

ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION Homeward Bound on Steroids 
When we first saw a viral video of seven dogs traveling together on a highway in China’s Jilin province, the first thought was: We’re not falling for this AI slop!

Extraordinarily, the video is actually real. The backstory we’re less sure about.

But the internet never lets the truth get in the way of a good story. Legions of netizens are choosing to believe that a Corgi named Dapang—or “big fatty”—really did lead a group of wayward dog friends 17km back to their village after they allegedly chewed through the cages of a meat truck, as South China Morning Post reports. Chinese state media’s claim that they were local dogs on a routine walkabout—not so fun.

The return of one missing pet feels miraculous enough. When seven missing dogs—all close friends—vanish from a village, and not one, not three, but all of them return home safe? The internet “literally just burst into tears,” and started demanding Pixar movies. 

Not to be greedy, but we now also need to see the look on Dapang’s mom's face when, just as she was losing hope, the heroic Corgi trotted back into her home like nothing had happened.

We’d settle for AI-generated.

QUICK HITS Scientists call out health-harming corporations driving rise in chronic disease – University of Sydney via EurekAlert

Means’ surgeon general nomination is stalled as senators question her experience and vaccine stance – AP 
 
Yep, a mom's COVID shot during pregnancy protects her baby, a large study finds – NPR  
 
Why do some viruses linger for life? A 900,000-person study maps viral loads – Harvard Medical School via Medical Xpress 
 
The Problem With Promoting 'Gold Standard Science'  – Undark (commentary) Issue No. 2887
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: Nigeria’s Transformative Focus on Fistula Surgery; and The Shifting Frontier of Fecal Transplants View this email in your browser March 25, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES A landmark verdict against Meta from a New Mexico jury determined that the company knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed child sexual exploitation on its social media platforms in violation of state law; the case is among the first in a wave of such lawsuits filed in U.S. states against Meta. NPR 
 
A Thai court has ruled that an Australian-owned mine is responsible for toxic runoff and its health effects in a decade-old case filed by hundreds of villagers in northern Thailand; the court has ordered compensation for affected residents in the verdict, which could set a precedent for future environmental litigation in the country. AP 
 
Global maternal mortality numbers reflect policy shifts between U.S. presidential administrations, with countries heavily reliant on U.S. aid seeing a 10.5% increase in maternal mortality following a switch from a Democratic to a Republican administration—when family planning and reproductive aid is typically revoked under the Mexico City Policy. BMJ Global Health 
 
Drought conditions may lead to elevated antibiotic resistance in soil microbes, per new research published in Nature Microbiology, which found that lower water content favored the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in soil microbial communities—the source of many antibiotics used in clinical medicine. CIDRAP   IN FOCUS Nigeria Health Watch Nigeria’s Transformative Focus on Fistula Surgery     
Women living with vesicovaginal fistula in Nigeria not only endure physical suffering and incontinence; they often face profound stigma and isolation, describing their lives as “dead.”  

• “I suffered silently for years, afraid to go anywhere, afraid to be seen,” said survivor Victoria Ifeanyichukwu.  

Reparative surgery can be life-changing, but it’s financially out of reach for many women in Nigeria, where most health expenses are paid out of pocket. 
 
Insurance intervention: Nigeria’s National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) is providing access to the procedure with a coverage program geared toward fistula patients. 

• 17 facilities across Nigeria providing fistula surgery are now being funded by the NHIA and state health insurance agencies—covering women’s out-of-pocket expenses for the surgery. 

• These patients are then additionally enrolled into broader health insurance programs, ensuring continuity of care.  

• In Kano state, 2,157 women have benefited from the fistula program, and in Ebonyi State, ~79 women have been enrolled into ongoing health insurance. 

Nigeria Health Watch  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES PHARMACEUTICALS The Shifting Frontier of Fecal Transplants    Within the last five years, the FDA has approved fecal microbiota transplant drugs for hard-to-treat C. diff infections, creating more standard prescription protocols for what has long been a treatment practiced at hospitals’ discretion.     New frontiers, narrowed access: Yet this new approval has led to stricter prescription rules, high drug costs, and regulations on suppliers of fecal transplant material—limiting access for many. 

• The FDA-approved drugs are not approved for children, or for people who are immunocompromised.  

• The nonprofit stool bank OpenBiome, which had sent ~72,000 treatments to hospitals over a decade, had its shipments halted by the FDA in 2024. 

A complex quest for care: Caught in a gap, many people ineligible for the drugs now must embark on a “torturous journey” to find alternative transplant options.     STAT  OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS New therapies are transforming treatment for drug-resistant TB – so why aren’t people getting them? – The Telegraph

Tuberculosis Cases and Deaths Averted by PEPFAR – New England Journal of Medicine (commentary)

Infertility Is A Public Health Issue – Health Affairs     ‘A Mass Disaster Nonstop’: Inside the Turmoil at Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s C.D.C. – The New York Times (gift link)     Trump health vacancies offer chances to change course – Axios     Navigating vaccine hesitancy as a woman recently arrived in Canada: a journey of building trust – CMAJ  

New COVID variant with immune escape potential confirmed in US, 22 other countries – CIDRAP

Cuba sends doctors on medical missions. The U.S. isn't a fan – NPR  Issue No. 2886
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 Form of Diabetes Comes for the Undernourished; and Curbing Domestic Violence in Kyrgyzstan View this email in your browser March 24, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES Pfizer will seek regulatory approval for a Lyme disease vaccine candidate that it says shows strong efficacy—reducing the risk of developing the infection by more than 70% in people who received the vaccine versus placebo; Pfizer acknowledged, though, that not enough participants contracted the disease for conclusive confidence, potentially complicating the path to approval. CNBC
  NIH grant terminations over the last year affected women scientists more than men, per a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that shows that women had, on average, 57.9% of their grant affected, compared to ~48.2% for men; early career women were disproportionately affected despite receiving less NIH funding in general. STAT
  Suriname confirmed a significant rise in chikungunya cases in an outbreak declared in January with 1,357+ confirmed infections, one confirmed death and another under investigation; health officials say the actual caseload may be 3X higher. Outbreak News Today 
  Four U.S. states that mandated more frequent syphilis screening during pregnancy and at delivery saw a 26% rise in case detection, per an observational study in JAMA Health Forum, but the effect faded in the year after the mandates began, indicating the measures may require complementary supports for clinicians and patients, the researchers posit. MedPage Today  IN FOCUS A New Form of Diabetes Comes for the Undernourished    Across Africa, diabetes now poses a mortality threat that rivals infectious diseases like malaria and HIV—but is far less recognizable. 

• An estimated 54 million Africans have diabetes—which can cause blindness, amputations, and death. But many cases go undiagnosed. 

In Cameroon, 75% of people with diabetes are unaware they have the disease. Only a third of diagnosed patients receive treatment, and cost is a devastating barrier.     While infectious disease programs targeting malaria and HIV provide free treatment, there is no such support for diabetes care. Diagnostic tests are unaffordable for most, and a month's insulin supply costs an entire month's wages for basic laborers.    The crisis is compounded by a newly recognized form of the disease—Type 5 diabetes—believed to be caused by malnutrition that prevents normal pancreas development. This “insidious form” is particularly overlooked because diabetes is not typically associated with underweight, undernourished patients.    There are hopes that a growing drug industry in Cameroon will start to produce both insulin and other drugs and supplies, and that the growing domestic market will help bring down prices.     But in the meantime, with “few resources for research and even less time,” physicians are focusing their resources on screening and prevention, including equipping primary health workers with blood glucose meters and blood pressure machines.    The New York Times (gift link)  DATA POINT

More than 1 in 5
————————  

Number of new tuberculosis cases in Europe that are unreported by health services––a critical detection gap revealed in the TB Surveillance and Monitoring in Europe 2026 report published today by the WHO/Europe and the ECDC, marking World Tuberculosis Day. —WHO

Related: New Tongue-Swab TB Test Could Help Eradicate the Disease, WHO Says – Forbes

HUMAN RIGHTS Curbing Domestic Violence in Kyrgyzstan    In 1990s Kyrgyzstan, domestic violence was rarely discussed openly and few legal or social resources were in place to support survivors.     But after three decades of dedicated work, advocates have made steady progress from silence to support, including: 

• Laws addressing family abuse. 

• A growing number of crisis centers and hotlines. 

• An increase in trained psychologists.  

• Work with international groups to stop sex trafficking.  

The quote: “If even one person who has suffered remains without protection, then we still haven’t done everything we must,” said Bübyusara Ryskulova, who founded the Sezim crisis center in 1998 to support survivors.    
UN Wire  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES QUICK HITS ‘The whole country is doing it’: how illegal kidney traders target Pakistan’s desperate brick kiln workers – The Guardian   Trump's visa freeze sidelines immigrant doctors – Axios     "We've Been in Famine for Months": Life in Post-Ceasefire Gaza – Think Global Health (commentary)     Africa Rejects New Draft Text – Health Policy Watch     How the term ‘neurodivergent’ moved from activists to pop culture — and politics – The 19th

By finding 'bright spots' in the opioid crisis, VCU researchers are mapping a path to better outcomes – VCU News / Virginia Commonwealth University  Issue No. 2885
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 World Health Organization (WHO) called on Tuesday for countries to step up action to end tuberculosis (TB) – one of the world’s deadliest infectious killers – by expanding access to new diagnostic tools that can help save lives. 

The death toll from a horrific attack on a hospital in Sudan’s Darfur has risen further, amid a “sharp increase” in drone attacks against civilians this year, UN agencies said on Tuesday.

96 Global Health NOW: A Scourge of Maternal Sepsis; and A Wave of Modern Witch Hunts in Papua New Guinea View this email in your browser March 23, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES An attack on a Sudanese hospital in East Darfur state killed 64 people, wounded 89 others, and left the hospital non-functional; 13 children, three medical workers, and numerous patients are among the dead, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who condemned the attacks on health care and the “devastating human toll” of the country’s nearly three-year conflict. France24    Jewish volunteer service ambulances were set ablaze in London Monday morning in what Prime Minister Keir Starmer described as “a deeply shocking antisemitic arson attack”; police say the damaged vehicles belonging to HatzolaNorthwest caught on fire after “multiple cylinders on the vehicles” exploded. NBC    Seriously injured patients in Global South countries often fail to reach medical care within the critical “golden hour” for lifesaving care, finds a new study published in BMJ Global Health, which found that in Ghana, Pakistan, Rwanda, and South Africa, 57% of all patients arrived 1+ hour after being injured, and 34% arrived 2+ hours later, often because of ambulance-related delays. University of Birmingham (press release)     Many U.S. nursing homes are falsely labeling dementia patients as schizophrenic in order to use dangerous antipsychotic drugs to sedate them, finds a new Office of Inspector General watchdog report, which found the dangerous practice has grown increasingly common as nursing homes seek to skirt Medicare safeguards and artificially inflate their ratings. The Washington Post (gift link)  IN FOCUS Oluhle Shezi, 17, puts cream on her 2-month-old baby in KwanGode, a rural area outside Hillcrest, South Africa. November 29, 2025. Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty A Scourge of Maternal Sepsis      Women with maternal sepsis in sub-Saharan Africa are 144X more likely to die than those in Western Europe or North America, finds a new WaterAid report, with ~36 deaths daily resulting from such infections, reports The Independent.    Heightened risk: ~4.7 million sepsis cases occur yearly across sub-Saharan Africa—about 1 in 9 births.     Infrastructure failures: Three-quarters of births in the region’s health facilities take place without adequate water, sanitation, or hygiene (WASH).   

• 78% lacked a functioning toilet.  

• Two-thirds did not have clean water and soap for handwashing.  

• 65% did not meet basic standards for environmental cleaning.  

Exacerbating the problem: International aid cuts have led to a drastic loss of funding for WASH projects.   
  Potential solutions: Low-cost hygiene investments could prevent ~10 million cases of maternal sepsis and ~8,580 deaths worldwide every year, the WaterAid report estimates.      Deep water disparities: The report arrives against the backdrop of World Water Day, which this year spotlights how women and girls are “bearing the brunt” of water insecurity, and the UN’s new World Water Development Report, which highlights the need for women to be involved in water governance and leadership.     More World Water Day Coverage:  
‘A mother giving birth could bleed to death while I’m out looking for water’ – The Independent 
Thousands of Chileans protest President Kast’s environmental rollbacks on World Water Day – AP via PBS 
There’s weight to World Water Day in Indigenous community still waiting for clean drinking water – CBC 
As wells run dry, experts say we’re beyond a water crisis – NPR Short Wave 
Climate Focus: World Water Day Special – Reuters  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES HUMAN RIGHTS A Wave of Modern Witch Hunts in Papua New Guinea    A growing number of people in Papua New Guinea have become victims of witch hunts, torture, and killings—with accusations of sorcery, or “sanguma,” especially targeting women and marginalized people.    In one region alone: Sorcery accusation-related violence (SARV) incidents in the Southern Highlands province increased from 16 in 2021 to 96 in the first nine months of 2024.     Root causes: Poverty, social upheaval, and weak law enforcement have led to a culture of impunity, and social media has driven copycat behavior.     But poor health education is also a driving factor as people seek culprits for the onset of illness or death.  

• “I think of it as an extraordinary human rights crisis, an epidemic driven by poverty, inequality, lack of education and poor health awareness,” said Nick Booth, the Papua New Guinea resident representative for the UN Development Fund.  

The Telegraph  OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Humanitarian needs in Gaza deepen as aid access remains constrained – UN Wire    The CDC’s next chief will face thorny vaccine politics. Here are 3 potential picks. – The Washington Post (gift link)     This lab that’s determined to discover new drugs isn’t where you might expect – NPR  
Sensitivity to hormone made by fetus may drive severe pregnancy sickness – Science 
  How New Mexico Became an Obamacare Success Story – The New York Times (gift link)    Microscopic spikes on snakeskin block bacterial buildup – Science    A breath of fresh air: solving Ulaanbaatar’s pollution issues — in photos – Nature Issue No. 2884
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 Struggle to Protect Women in a Warming World; and A Delayed and Deadly Measles Complication Plus: Condé Nasty: Why Have a Dogue in This Fight? View this email in your browser March 19, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES 150,000+ previously uncounted COVID-19 deaths occurred in 2020 and 2021 in the U.S., likely outside of hospitals, finds a new study published in Science Advances, which drew on data from death certificates and found that the undiagnosed people who died were more likely to be Hispanic people and other people of color, largely in the South and Southwest. U.S. News & World Report 

Social media apps like Instagram and TikTok, which involve algorithm-driven scrolling, are worse for mental health than social connection platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook, finds The World Happiness Report—which reported that excessive use of social media is driving unhappiness worldwide. The Guardian  

Ozempic and Wegovy will soon become generic for billions of people, as Novo Nordisk is set to lose patent protection for the drugs in several of the world’s most populous countries including China, India, and Brazil—leading to significantly lower drug costs. The New York Times (gift link) 

China will regulate some traditional medicines, issuing draft guidelines requiring companies that produce traditional Chinese medicine injections to provide evidence that they are safe and effective and explain how they work, or face removal from the market; the guidelines will apply only to products that are injected intramuscularly or intravenously. Science  IN FOCUS: GHN EXCLUSIVE Pregnant women attend a demonstration of the “Plac de ot o!” climate literacy tool at Princess Christian Maternity Hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone. May 2025. Mama–Pikin Foundation The Struggle to Protect Women in a Warming World
In climate-vulnerable Sierra Leone, pregnant women, new mothers, and young children face heightened risks of extreme heat every day: Fainting from dehydration, missing prenatal visits, or struggling to breastfeed.  

Disproportionate dangers: Climate stress affects all aspects of reproductive care from contraception to postnatal treatment—especially in low-income countries. It leads to higher risks of stillbirths, low birth weights, and pregnancy complications, while also increasing gender-based violence and displacement.

• Climate adaptation for sexual and reproductive health remains “the most neglected corner of the climate response,” with <0.5% of climate-health financing reaching health initiatives—and even less supporting women’s health. 

The big impact of small foundations: Nonprofits like the Mama–Pikin Foundation have shown measurable progress helping women better understand the dangers of extreme heat and how to adopt simple strategies to protect themselves and their families.

But they, too, are imperiled: Funding delays and shrinking grants have forced programs to scale down and close their doors, even as programs are getting off the ground.

A need to adapt: Foundations are seeking new ways to diversify funding sources, including private-sector partnerships and long-term investment strategies. The need is urgent: Power brokers in developing countries “are still dreaming that some miraculous tech is going to save us. But for developing countries, [the impacts are] happening now,” said Sono Aibe, a consultant who has worked with the Mama–Pikin Foundation. 
 

Annalies Winny for Global Health NOW 

MEASLES  A Delayed and Deadly Complication
As measles cases mount in the U.S., infectious disease experts are warning doctors to be on the lookout for increased cases of a rare but fatal neurological disorder called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, or SSPE.  
 
Details: Described as a “delayed echo” of measles, SSPE results from a persistent form of the virus leading to inflammation in the brain, usually years after the primary infection. It leads to neurological deterioration and almost always results in death.  

• While it affects just 1 in 10,000 people who get the measles virus, the risk is higher for those who contract measles before age 5. 

Preventable danger: Scientists are seeking to educate U.S. clinicians about the condition, but lament having to do so: “The problem could be solved with vaccination,” said Roberto Cattaneo, a molecular biologist who studies SSPE at the Mayo Clinic.  
 
KFF Health News 
 
Related:  
 
Florida is trying to ignore measles until it can’t – The Atlantic 
 
In South Carolina, measles shows how far apart neighbors can be on vaccines – NPR  OPPORTUNITY Media-Savvy Skills for Scientists
Join us for an interactive pre-conference workshop, Communications Skills that Transform Science into Action, co-led by the CUGH Research Committee, the Pulitzer Center, and Global Health NOW, ahead of the 2026 CUGH Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., on April. 9.  

• Amplify your work and translate evidence into impact with hands-on exercises aimed at equipping global health scientists, researchers, and students with practical media skills to influence global health dialogue, policy, and action.
   
• Deepen your understanding of current communication challenges with panel discussions featuring leading journalists, communicators, and academics.  

Pre-conference sessions are free, in-person, and open to the public! 

• April 9, 9 a.m.–4 p.m. EDT 

• Sign Up for the Workshop 

ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION Condé Nasty: Why Have a Dogue in This Fight?
They say you should pick your battles. For Condé Nast—the publisher of Vogue magazine—that battle is “who gets to photograph a vizsla in a turtleneck,” The New York Times reports (gift link). 

In the publishing equivalent of a bull mastiff chasing a Pomeranian, the company unleashed its legal fury on Dogue magazine, arguing the one-woman pet project with sub-100 subscribers could damage the iconic brand “irreparably.” They demanded the “destruction” of every adorable edition!  

• After coexisting for years, Condé Nast barked only after Vogue published its own dog-centric issue called … wait for it … DOGUE! So remind us—who copied who? 

We object! The faltering Conde Nast—which writer Michael Grynbaum describes as “a husk of its former self”—can only be bolstered by the spinoff featuring labradoodles in trench coats. 

On the GHN jury, it comes down to this: What’s more fashionable—a magazine with 600 pages of ads and excess, or one showcasing go-getter ingenuity and an Italian greyhound in opera gloves?  

On charges of being furry and fabulous, Dogue is guilty on all counts. 

QUICK HITS Birth control skepticism, teen fertility education center stage at Trump’s women’s health summit – CNN

‘Worst-case scenario’: Middle East nuclear concerns haunt top health officials – Politico

Women Hitting Menopause Before 40 May Face a Long Window of Cardiac Risk – MedPage Today

A step towards a first global system to track health before pregnancy – University of Southampton via Medical Xpress

The Myanmar nurses dodging drones to graduate from a secret jungle school – The Guardian

A New Level of Vaccine Purgatory – The Atlantic Issue No. 2883
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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Funds will help acquire and develop cutting-edge infrastructure to advance research capacity

Five researchers from The Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital) are leading innovative new projects that have received major funding from Canada Foundation for Innovation’s Innovation Fund. They will be funded for a total of $14.5 million, part of $42 million going to McGill University scientists.

96 Global Health NOW: Easing the NIH Funding Freeze; and A New Tool to Curb Overprescribing View this email in your browser March 18, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES ~5 million children died before their fifth birthday in 2024, including ~2.3 million newborns, per a new UN report, which found that most deaths are preventable—including ~100,000 from severe acute malnutrition—and noted that progress in child mortality has slowed by 60%+ since 2015. UN News    Argentina, a founding member of the WHO, has officially left the agency, completing the process one year after requesting its withdrawal—following in the footsteps of the U.S. under President Donald Trump. Buenos Aires Herald

Self-harm among young people in Canada increased 2X+ between 2000 and 2024, finds new research published in JAMA Pediatrics that charted a rise of self-harm among young people across 12 high-income countries; in Canada, the steepest increase was among girls, who reported a 3.6% increase each year. CBC

Warmer, wetter weather driven by climate change is fueling mosquito-borne disease epidemics, per new research published in One Earth, which analyzed Peru’s record-breaking dengue outbreak in 2023 that was 10X larger than normal. Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment  IN FOCUS Workers walk to the metro station in front of NIH headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland. May 20, 2025. Wesley Lapointe/For The Washington Post via Getty Easing the NIH Funding Freeze     One year after dramatic cuts to NIH grant funding under the second Trump administration, spending will soon begin flowing back to researchers, NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya assured lawmakers yesterday in a congressional subcommittee hearing, reports Science.   

• “My job is to make sure every single dollar goes out, and it will go out by the end of the year, on excellent science,” Bhattacharya said. 

A year of paralysis: Grant awards had “dwindled to a trickle” under the administration’s restrictions this past year, cutbacks that lawmakers of both parties criticized.  

• Lawmakers rejected outright the Trump administration’s proposed 40% budget cuts and instead approved a modest increase, per The Washington Post (gift link).  

• But those funds were still held up pending White House budget approval, which was finalized this week. 

Expected acceleration: The spending approvals mean hiring and grantmaking can proceed, including funding for new grants. This fiscal year, money has mostly gone toward grant renewals.     Shift in funding strategy: Meanwhile, NIH is moving away from agency-directed projects toward investigator-led proposals, reports Nature—drastically cutting its “solicited” calls for research proposals for certain fields of study. 

• While proponents say this boosts innovation, many researchers worry it could hinder collaborative research that benefits from NIH coordination, and fear the new model will lead to gaps in understudied areas of science. 

GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE A New Tool to Curb Overprescribing    In rural Rwandan clinics, antibiotics can often seem like an inevitable part of care. Nurses see as many as ~60 patients a day from remote regions and often prescribe antibiotics as a precaution to prevent unnecessary travel.     The result: 71% of children’s visits at 32 clinics led to antibiotic prescriptions—far higher than levels considered safe to prevent antibiotic resistance, per a recent study published in PLOS Medicine.     A new method: Researchers developed ePOCT+, a tablet-based system that guides nurses step-by-step through an algorithm-driven diagnostic process to better specify treatment plans—and identify key distinctions between bacterial illnesses and other pathogens.    Dramatic impact: Clinics that adopted ePOCT+ saw antibiotic prescription rates drop from 71% to ~25% without harming patient outcomes.    NPR’s All Things Considered     Related: How unregulated antibiotics are fueling drug-resistant UTIs – Devex (free registration required)    OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Namibia reports significant malaria resurgence in early 2026 – Outbreak News Today     Health Groups Hailed a Vaccine Ruling, but Their Relief May Be Short-Lived – The New York Times (gift link)     Missed opportunity: 12% of teens at health system weren’t HPV-vaccinated before being sexually active – CIDRAP    Reproductive health clinics scramble as Title X funding cliff approaches – NPR    Severe COVID-19 Linked to Higher Lung Cancer Risk – EMJ     Crops irrigated with wastewater store drugs in their leaves – Johns Hopkins University via ScienceDaily    Chad launches national effort to tackle air pollution and methane – Stockholm Environment Institute    Kenya’s capital experiments with giving workers menstrual leave – AP    The snip shift: March Madness used to drive vasectomies. Now abortion bans do – The 19th  Issue No. 2882
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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

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A new injectable gel developed by researchers at McGill University and Kyoto University could enable stem cell-based treatments for swallowing disorders.

While stem cells have the potential to repair damaged swallowing muscles, ensuring their survival after injection has been a major challenge. In a preclinical study published in Biomaterials, the new approach improved stem-cell survival by more than five times compared with traditional methods.

96 Global Health NOW: As Temperatures Soar, Physical Activity Drops—With Deadly Consequences; and Pregnant Minors Stranded at San Benito View this email in your browser March 17, 2026 Forward Share Post TOP STORIES Afghanistan reported that 400 people died and ~250 were injured after a Pakistani airstrike hit a drug rehabilitation hospital in Kabul yesterday, while Pakistan denied the accusation that it had hit the 2,000-bed facility; the tragedy marks a sharp escalation in the conflict that began in late February. AP
  The U.S. State Department may withhold assistance to people with HIV in Zambia unless its government signs a deal handing the U.S. more access to its critical minerals, per a draft memo obtained by The New York Times; ~1.3 million people in Zambia rely on daily HIV treatment through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The New York Times (gift link)

A U.S. federal judge temporarily blocked sweeping vaccine policy changes recommended by health secretary RFK, Jr.’s handpicked advisory committee; in response to the decision—related to a lawsuit brought by medical associations—the administration said the advisory committee’s planned meeting this week will be postponed. Axios     Mosquitoes could serve up a surprising vaccine delivery system—carrying vaccines against rabies and Nipah viruses in their saliva, to be transferred to bats feeding on the insects (or when the insects feed on the bats), per Chinese-led research detailed in Science Advances; the method would require extensive safety assessments and regulatory approval. The Telegraph  IN FOCUS A boy pours water on his face to get some relief from a heat wave on a hot summer afternoon on May 29, 2024, in New Delhi, India. Sonu Mehta/Hindustan Times via Getty As Temperatures Soar, Physical Activity Drops—With Deadly Consequences
Driving instead of walking. Skipping a too-hot trip to the playground or an evening walk.

In a warming world, these decisions have a dire, if less obvious impact on global health, according to a new Lancet Global Health study estimating the long-term impact of forgoing physical activity because of unbearable heat, The Washington Post reports (gfit link).  

• Globally, reduced physical activity could result in 470,000–520,000 additional deaths by 2050 and billions of dollars in productivity losses every year, a group of Latin American scientists found.  

The calculations: The researchers analyzed physical activity surveys and temperature records across 156 countries from 2000 to 2022.  

• Each additional month where the average temperature exceeded 82F (27.8C) degrees coincided with a 1.4 percentage point increase in physical inactivity.  

Striking disparity: LMICs were projected to see the biggest impact of “rising heat and falling activity,” the Post reports, while high-income countries showed no statistically significant change—perhaps because of better access to air conditioning, gyms, and flexible work arrangements, researchers theorized.

The link between sedentary lifestyles and chronic disease is well known—but a third of people worldwide already do not meet the WHO’s recommended amount of physical activity. “… Any compromise to achieving regular exercise—in this case excessively hot temperatures—will pose broad public health risks,” said Jonathan Patz of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who was not involved in the study.

While the study, based on self-reported data and national temperature averages, has limitations, the projections point to a clear need for heat-proofing physical activity, such as subsidizing climate-controlled gyms and public spaces for those at risk.

GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RIGHTS Pregnant Minors Stranded at San Benito    Since last July, the Trump administration has been sending all unaccompanied pregnant migrant girls to one facility in San Benito, Texas—a center with a poor track record of care in a state with one of the strictest abortion bans. 

• At least half of the minors are estimated to be pregnant from rape, and some are as young as 13.  

Abortion access in question: The girls are supposed to be informed of their options, including abortion—but lawyers and activists warn that doctors may refuse to treat them for fear of prosecution.  

• Plus: A new federal proposal could repeal the rule that requires minors seeking abortions to be transferred to a state where it is legal. 

 EL PAÍS  QUICK HITS When Children Miss Vaccines, Polio Risks Re-emerge: Lessons from Kebbi State – Nigeria Health Watch     A forgotten social media post may hold key clues to COVID-19’s origin – Science      They Didn’t Want to Have C-Sections. A Judge Would Decide How They Gave Birth. – ProPublica    13 years, 6 doctors and a lawsuit: The road to an endometriosis diagnosis – The New York Times (gift link)    E. coli linked to cheddar cheese made with raw milk sickens 7 in the US – AP 

How Foreign-Trained Health Workers Saved the NHS £14 Billion – Center for Global Development  
PhD students are turning to side hustles to make ends meet, finds Nature poll – Nature

Irish Cancer Society provided ‘almost 30,000 free lifts to treatment in 2025’ – Irish Times Issue No. 2881
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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An estimated 4.9 million children died before their fifth birthday in 2024, including 2.3 million newborns, according to new United Nations estimates released on Tuesday – highlighting a worrying slowdown in global progress on child survival.