The UN has raised concern over a growing number of vulnerable Haitians – particularly pregnant women, new mothers, and infants – being deported from the Dominican Republic. 

Although strong global collaboration has helped to save nearly 13 million lives from malaria over the past 25 years, more action is needed to stamp out the disease. 

96 Global Health NOW: Measles and the ‘Malleable Middleʼ; New Efforts to Boost Turkey's Birth Rate; and Science Cuts Leave Researchers Looking Abroad View this email in your browser April 23, 2025 Forward Share Post A measles vaccinations information booth offered by Harris Public Health on April 5, in Houston, Texas. Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle via Getty The Rise of Measles, Misinformation, and the ‘Malleable Middleʼ  
As measles cases climb across the U.S., Americans are encountering pervasive false claims about the disease and its vaccine—and many are unsure what to believe, according to a KFF poll taken earlier this month.
 
The poll examined false claims that:

• Autism is linked to the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine.


• The MMR vaccine is more dangerous than measles.


• Vitamin A can prevent measles infections.

It found that at least half of Americans fall into the “malleable middle” when it comes to measles misinformation, describing each of these claims as “probably true” or “probably false,” The Washington Post reports (gift link).
 
Other key findings:

• Despite rising misinformation, 78% of parents expressed confidence in the safety of the MMR vaccine.


• Parents who believed or were open to believing measles misinformation were more likely to delay or forgo vaccines for their children.


• Republicans and independents were at least twice as likely as Democrats to believe or lean toward believing the false claims. 

Growing outbreak: As U.S. measles cases top 800 nationwide, CDC officials now view cases across Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico as a single outbreak, making it the countryʼs largest since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000, The New York Times reports (gift link).
 
But amid deep cuts to local public health funding, the agency is “scraping to find the resources” to support states that are fighting outbreaks, said CDC senior scientist David Sugerman.

Related:

Montana has a measles outbreak with its first cases in 35 years. Here’s what you should know – AP

Track the spread of measles in Texas – Texas Tribune GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   Dialysis patients in Gaza are struggling to get treatment under the blockade; Gaza’s Health Ministry said that 400+ patients, representing around 40% of all dialysis cases in the territory, have died over the last 18 months because of lack of proper treatment. AP

U.S. health officials announced plans to urge food makers to phase out petroleum-based artificial colors by the end of 2026—but stopped short of promising a formal ban, largely relying on voluntary efforts from the industry. ABC
 
The NIH has canceled the Women’s Health Initiative—its first and largest project centered on women’s health, which enrolled tens of thousands in clinical trials of hormones and other medications and tracked the health of thousands more over three decades, yielding influential findings on disease prevention, aging, and cognitive decline. Science

Teenagers who went to bed earliest, slept the longest, and had the lowest sleeping heart rates outperformed others on cognitive tests, per a study of 3,222 adolescents in China; researchers found the impact of even small differences in sleep “surprising.” The Guardian DEMOGRAPHICS A New Effort to Boost Turkey's Birth Rate
Turkey’s government has announced a raft of incentives designed to boost the nation’s flagging birth rate, reports The New Arab. 

The “Year of the Family” initiative includes:

• Financial support based on a household’s number of children.


• More flexible work policies, expanded childcare services, housing support, and enhanced medical services. 

The measures are a response to demographic shifts that could have major social and economic consequences: 

• Turkey’s fertility rates have fallen from 2.38 children per woman in 2001 to 1.51 today, “well below” the 2.1 replacement rate. 


• People are marrying and starting families later in life as living costs rise. 


• The country’s older population has reached 10% for the first time, and the median age is now 34.

Meanwhile: Turkey has banned elective c-sections at private health facilities without a medical justification. The move has “sparked fury” from women’s rights groups, doctors, and politicians, reports AFP via France24. 

Related: The push for women to have more children has a powerful ally: Trump – Axios GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES BRAIN DRAIN Researchers Look Abroad Amid Science Cuts
U.S. researchers are seeking careers abroad as the Trump administration cuts science funding and workforce numbers, per an analysis of Nature’s jobs-board data.

Comparing January–March 2025 to the same period last year:

• U.S. scientists submitted 32% more applications for jobs abroad–—and views for positions abroad rose by 68% last month compared with March 2024.


• Applications from U.S. scientists seeking careers in Canada rose 41%.

Some European institutions are rolling out a welcome mat—including Aix-Marseille University in France.

The Quote: “We felt it was our duty to do what we could to show scientists there was a little light in the south of France where they could do their research, be a lot freer and where they were wanted,” said Aix-Marseille’s president, Éric Berton.

Nature QUICK HITS HHS Plans to Cut the National Suicide Hotline’s Program for LGBTQ Youth – Mother Jones

‘Taking the Side of Cancer’: The War on Medical Research Is Being Fought Through Contracts – Splinter

New agreement geared toward universal avian flu vaccine – CIDRAP

RFK Jr.’s autism study to amass medical records of many Americans – CBS

Hearing loss in older adults linked to nearly one-third of dementia cases – Medical Xpress

Researchers find immune system proteins involved in severe cases of schistosomiasis – News Medical

The wholegrain revolution! How Denmark changed the diet – and health – of their entire nation – The Guardian Issue No. 2713
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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Vaccines have saved around 150 million lives over the past 50 years, but that progress is now under threat. 

Teenage pregnancy remains the leading cause of death for girls aged 15 to 19, which countries could help prevent by allowing them to remain in school and ending child marriage, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.  

96 Global Health NOW: U.S. Cancer Death Rates Falling; Students Forced to Take Pregnancy Tests; and Promoting Mines, While Undermining Protections View this email in your browser April 22, 2025 Forward Share Post Claudia Tellez, MD, helps Nataly Arboleda off the exam table at the Lurie Cancer Center, in Chicago, on November 2, 2023. Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty U.S. Cancer Death Rates Falling
Cancer death rates in the U.S. decreased steadily from 2001–2021, although rates of new cancer diagnoses have increased for women, according to a new study in the journal Cancer.

Takeaways:

• Cancer death rates decreased by 1.5% per year (2018–2022), representing a slowdown from the previous 2.1% average annual decline.
   
• Cancer incidence rates remained stable from 2013–2021 for men but increased 0.3% per year from 2003–2021 among women.
   
• Cancer incidence in 2020 fell compared to pre-pandemic levels across all demographic groups.

Details:

• Increases in breast cancer among women are likely driven by obesity, alcohol use, and increased age for giving birth for the first time, per CNN.
   
• Racial disparities persist: Black women experience a 40% higher death rate from breast cancer and twice the death rate from uterine cancer, compared with white women.

Pandemic impact: Many Americans postponed cancer screenings for several months in 2020, but there wasn’t a major increase in late-stage diagnoses, which are typically harder to treat, the AP reports.

Late-stage diagnoses in 2021 returned to prepandemic levels for most cancer types.

Meanwhile in the U.K.: Cancer patients are not getting access to lifesaving drugs or clinical trials because of post-Brexit cost increases and red tape, according to The Guardian.
 

Related: Top cancer experts ‘being put off UK by politicians’ messaging on immigration’ – The Guardian

DATA POINT The Latest One-Liners   Réunion health officials are calling for urgent reinforcements to manage a chikungunya virus outbreak on the French Indian Ocean Island—with six deaths and 5,000+ cases since January—that is overwhelming hospitals. France24
 

Intensive efforts to reduce high blood pressure—e.g., through medication and health coaching—could reduce the risk of dementia by 15%, according to a study in Nature Medicine involving 33,995+ people with uncontrolled high blood pressure in 326 villages in rural China. The Guardian
 

Traditional risk models used by regulators likely underestimate air pollution health impacts, per Johns Hopkins University and Aerodyne Research Inc. research, measuring risk of simultaneous exposures to multiple chemicals on different parts of the body—and found increased risks missed by traditional methods. Environmental Health News
 

Health care worker burnout is starting to drop from peak levels at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, but remains elevated compared to prepandemic times, per a six-year survey in JAMA Network Open assessing burnout and stress among Veterans Health Administration health care workers. McKnights Long-Term Care News

U.S. Policy and Science Cuts News: NIH moving to ban grants to universities with DEI programs, Israeli boycotts – CNN

New NIH director defends grant cuts as part of shift to support MAHA vision – Science

Trump Laid Off Nearly All the Federal Workers Who Investigate Firefighter Deaths – ProPublica

National Science Foundation cancels research grants related to misinformation and disinformation – Nieman Lab 

Trump Administration's HHS Cuts: Creating Waste And Inefficiency, Not Eliminating Them – Health Affairs (commentary)

Gawande: Federal cuts could mean loss of life, harm to U.S. science enterprise – Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (commentary)

As Trump administration champions IVF, it cuts key CDC staff – Axios REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS When Students are Forced to Take Pregnancy Tests
Across east Africa, girls are routinely subjected to pregnancy tests at school—a “humiliating, invasive and potentially unlawful” process that can also result in expulsion if the girls are found to be pregnant, per a report by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. 

While laws have been updated recently in countries like Uganda and Tanzania to prohibit such tests and expulsions as a violation of children’s rights, a number of schools in those countries continue the practice in breach of national guidelines.  

• “What the teachers did, it was torturing her,” said one Ugandan father, David Wafula, whose pregnant daughter was examined by teachers in front of her classmates. 

Context: Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rate of adolescent pregnancies of any region in the world, per UN data.
 

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES COAL Promoting Mines, While Undermining Protections
While President Donald Trump has vowed to revitalize and expand coal mining in the U.S., advocates say they are dismayed by the administration’s simultaneous decision to gut the health protections in place for miners, reports The Washington Post (gift link). 

Included in cuts: The federal division that provides free black lung screenings for coal miners fired roughly two-thirds of the staff this month, and there are now no employees left to run the screening program in the agency’s West Virginia office, or analyze x-rays already taken.

• The cut in services could have fatal consequences, a spokesperson for the Mine Workers of America explained to The Guardian: “There’s not going to be anyone to work in the mines you are apparently reopening.” 

Plus: The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration has delayed enforcement of a rule imposed last year to limit miners’ exposure to toxic crystalline silica dust—prompting multiple miners’ groups to file litigation against the agency, per Gizmodo. 

QUICK HITS Wave of Earth Day protests as Americans mobilize against Trump – The Guardian 

China's Integrated Policies on Climate Change and Health – Think Global Health (commentary)

Asia’s megacities at a crossroads as climate and population challenges grow – UN News

Vietnam reports H5N1 avian flu case with encephalitis – CIDRAP 

U.S. Supreme Court appears likely to uphold ACA preventive care coverage mandate – AP

The awful working conditions of factories that slaughter bird-flu-infected chickens – Japan Today (commentary)

Why cameras are popping up in eldercare facilities – KFF Health News

Melinda French Gates on what billionaires with 'absurd' wealth owe back to society ​​– NPR’s Fresh Air Issue No. 2712
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: COVID-19 Information Page Overhauled; Another Deadly Fireworks Factory Explosion in India; and Adolescent Girls Need Our Support View this email in your browser April 21, 2025 Forward Share Post COVID-19 Information Page Overhauled
Federal websites once used for sharing information on vaccines, testing, and treatments for COVID-19 now focus on the theory that the pandemic originated in a Wuhan lab and criticize the Biden administration’s handling of the pandemic, reports the AP. 

The websites covid.gov and Covidtests.gov redirect to a White House page entitled “Lab Leak: The True Origins of COVID-19,” which includes:

• A five-point breakdown making the case for lab leak origins.


• Accusations that federal officials like former NIAID director Anthony Fauci engaged in “obstruction” of information.


• Criticisms of the Biden administration, the WHO, and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for the pandemic response, including masks, lockdowns, and social distancing.

An unsettled question: Some federal agencies have said research supports a spillover event that likely occurred at a Wuhan market, while others say a laboratory accident is possible. Most scientists say key data remains missing, reports NPR Shots.

Scientists react: COVID researchers studying both theories said the new website includes inaccurate, oversimplified, and misleading information, with one virologist describing the page as “pure propaganda.” 

• The overhaul reflects “a broader practice of officials recently scrapping health websites that do not align with their views,” reports The New York Times (gift link). 

Related: 

CDC considers narrowing its COVID-19 vaccine recommendations – CNN via ABC Boston

I Was There: A Public Health Worker's Response to the COVID.gov Rewrite – Infection Control Today (commentary) GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   Children in Burkina Faso have faced 2,483 documented rights violations amid escalating conflict in the country between 2022 and 2024, a UN report finds; violations include abductions, injuries from explosive devices, and recruitment into armed groups. APA News

Mercury emissions near small-scale gold mines can be measured in wild fig trees’ growth rings, finds a new study in Frontiers in Environmental Science, the first to show hardwoods’ potential as a biomonitor of gaseous elemental mercury. The Washington Post via MSN

Receipt paper from many U.S. retailers contains high levels of bisphenol S, a chemical linked to cancer and reproductive problems; even brief contact with some receipts can result in enough chemical absorption to exceed safety standards laid out in California’s Proposition 65. Environmental Health News

A U.S. attorney has sent letters to at least three medical journals accusing them of political bias and suggesting that the journals mislead readers, in a move scientists and doctors say could have a “chilling effect” on research publications. The New York Times (gift link) U.S. Health and Science Policy News Count the Dead by the Millions – Rolling Stone

Activists pile 200 coffins outside State Department to protest cuts to global AIDS relief – The 19th

‘Ripple effect:’ In US, anti-immigrant policy strains child and eldercare – Al Jazeera

USAID cuts halt Yale-led efforts to build global health infrastructure – Yale Daily News

NIH freezes funds to Harvard and four other universities, but can’t tell them – Science

Trump’s War on Measurement Means Losing Data on Drug Use, Maternal Mortality, Climate Change and More – ProPublica GHN EXCLUSIVE UPDATE Another Deadly Fireworks Factory Explosion in India
A large fireworks factory explosion in southern India on April 13 killed eight people and injured seven others in Kailasapatnam village in Andhra Pradesh, per The Times of India.

GHN Series: The GHN team learned of the explosion after publishing a two-part series on the dangerous conditions in fireworks factories in the southern Indian city of Sivakasi by freelance journalist Kamala Thiagarajan:

• ‘Invisible Suffering’: Deadly Risks in India’s Fireworks Factories


• Fireworks and Heartbreak in a Hard-Hit Indian Village

Follow-up: Thiagarajan reports that the articles were included in a formal petition last week to an Indian court seeking legal action supporting the victims of fireworks factory explosions.

She also notes that a local charity has contributed to the purchase of a prosthetic leg for factory worker Muthukutti, whose story was shared in the series’ second article. His left leg had to be amputated after a February 12, 2021, explosion at Sree Mariyammal Fireworks Factory near Sivakasi. GHN EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY Wajir girls reading together. 2021. icon (be one) K / Nicholas Oreyo The World’s Adolescent Girls Need Our Support   
As global funding cuts and policy shifts disrupt health and development programs around the world, “teenagers—particularly teenage girls—are especially vulnerable,” write Evalin Karijo and Karen Austrian, who lead the Population Council’s Girl Innovation, Research, and Learning Center.

• The U.S. foreign assistance freeze could deny access to contraceptive care for ~11.7 million women and girls this year—upping the risk of unintended pregnancies and maternal deaths.

“The ripple effects will be devastating,” they say—leading to “more child marriages, school dropouts, and economic hardships that will persist for generations.”

Yet investing in teen girls pays off, making girls more likely to stay in school, secure stable jobs, and contribute to household income. 

• Every dollar invested in adolescent girls’ empowerment in Africa by 2040, a recent report estimates, can generate more than a tenfold return in economic impact.

Karijo and Austrian see a clear pathway to achieving these economic gains. They point to evidence backing a girl-centered approach and offer models, including a program in Kenya that helped girls stay in school and delayed marriage and pregnancy for years after the program’s end. READ THE FULL COMMENTARY GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RIGHTS Seeking Abortion Training in Mexico
In the years since Roe v. Wade was overturned, more than a dozen U.S. states have banned virtually all abortions, and more than 100 abortion clinics have closed. 

To get training in providing abortions, a small but growing number of providers have sought opportunities in Mexico. 

• In 2023, Fundación MSI trained nine American doctors to perform abortions at Mexican clinics.


• This year, it is on track to train more than 50—and has the capacity to train up to 300 doctors a year, says MSI Latin America’s managing director.

Every abortion ban in the U.S. permits abortions to save a patient’s life. But without adequate training, doctors may not be skilled enough to perform abortions even in those dire circumstances.

The Guardian OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Haiti ‘awash’ with guns leaving population ‘absolutely terrified’ – UN News

Why is tuberculosis, the world's deadliest infectious disease, on the rise in the UK? – Euronews

ACA preventive care case reaches Supreme Court – Axios

What the Newest mRNA Vaccines Could Do Beyond COVID – News Medical

Relieve the suffering: palliative care for the next decade – The Lancet (commentary)

Rapid geographic expansion of local dengue community transmission in Peru – PLOS

Nitrogen-fertilised grassland more likely to trigger hay fever, study suggests – The Telegraph

A horse therapy program in Namibia brings joy to children with learning disabilities – AP Issue No. 2711
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: Global Health NOW: Fireworks and Heartbreak in an Indian Village; U.S. Administration Seeks Data and Deep Cuts; and Moose See TV “For most people, fireworks mean joy.” View this email in your browser April 17, 2025 Forward Share Post Muthukutti, 23, endured the amputation of his left leg after the 2021 Sree Mariyammal Fireworks Factory explosion outside Sivakasi, India. Kamala Thiagarajan Fireworks and Heartbreak in a Hard-Hit Indian Village  
SIVAKASI, India—Of the 650 families who live in Surangudi village, most have lost either a limb or a loved one to fireworks, says social activist Vijay Kumar.

Tens of thousands of workers in Sivakasi produce 50,000 tons of firecrackers annually—most of India's fireworks.
 
But they also risk deadly fires and explosions in their work. 
 
Deadly blast: A February 12, 2021, explosion killed 27 workers at the Sree Mariyammal Fireworks Factory and injured dozens more.

• Many of the killed and injured were from Surangudi village, including Muthukutti, 23, whose left leg had to be amputated.

• His aunt, Shanmugavadivu, also worked in the factory and had third-degree burns on her chest, stomach, arms, and legs.

Waiting for compensation: While both received $1,160 in compensation from the Tamil Nadu state government, they are still waiting for much larger compensation payments from the factory owners.
 
The Quote: “For most people, fireworks mean joy,” says Kumar, director of the Human Resource Foundation, which aids fireworks factory victims in the Sivakasi area. “But for those whose lives are so closely associated with it, it’s a source of sorrow and heartbreak.”
 
Kamala Thiagarajan for Global Health NOW
 
Ed. Note: Our thanks go to Padmavathy Krishna Kumar who shared the idea for this topic and received an honorable mention in the 2025 Untold Global Health Stories contest, co-sponsored by Global Health NOW and the Consortium of Universities for Global Health. READ THE FULL STORY GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners
The COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on measles is coming into focus, with a new analysis published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases showing a steady decline in disease incidence over 30 years—but a stark drop in vaccination in 2021. CIDRAP 

The Alzheimer’s drug lecanemab has been approved for use in the EU; however, only a “very small portion” of patients will be eligible for the drug, which is sold under the brand name Leqembi and is authorized in the U.S., U.K., and Japan. DW

Arsenic levels in paddy rice could significantly rise with climate change, finds a new study that showed increased temperatures coupled with rising carbon dioxide levels could lead to higher concentrations of inorganic arsenic in rice, potentially raising lifetime health risks for populations in Asia, where rice is a staple food, by 2050. Phys.org

Limiting PPE to just N95 respirators late in the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore health facilities was effective in keeping staff safe while also lowering costs and curbing medical-related waste, finds a study published in JAMA Network Open. CIDRAP U.S. POLICY Administration Seeks Data and Deep Cuts
As U.S. federal health agencies continue to see seismic shifts under the Trump administration, two key developments reported by The Washington Post give insight into some of the administration’s imminent objectives: 

Deeper health cuts: A preliminary draft of the 2026 fiscal year budget obtained by the Post (gift link) reveals the Trump administration is seeking a $40 billion cut to HHS’s discretionary budget, roughly one-third of the agency’s discretionary spending, and is planning major reorganization and consolidation of agencies within the administration. 

ICE seeks Medicare data: U.S. immigration officials and Elon Musk’s DOGE team are seeking “unprecedented” access to sensitive Medicare databases as a way to track down undocumented immigrants, the Post has found (gift link), despite the fact that undocumented immigrants are barred from Medicare benefits. 

Related:

In the middle of a hepatitis outbreak, U.S. shutters the one CDC lab that could help – NPR

RFK Jr. contradicts CDC on causes of autism – Axios
 
Top NIH nutrition researcher studying ultraprocessed foods departs, citing censorship under Kennedy – CNN

Women, minorities fired in purge of NIH science review boards – The Washington Post

Exclusive: US consumer safety agency to stop collecting swaths of data after CDC cuts – Reuters GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES CAMBODIA Fifty Years After ‘Year Zero’ 
Five decades have now passed since the declaration of “Year Zero,” when Pol Pot and the brutal Khmer Rouge regime seized power in Cambodia. 

• From 1975 to 1979, 2 million+ people were killed in a wave of racial genocide, widespread famine, forced labor, and executions.

Those atrocities continue to shape Cambodian life today, writes Sophal Ear in a commentary for The Conversation: “It’s etched into every Cambodian’s bones.”

A legacy of trauma: Research has found elevated rates of PTSD among survivors and their descendants. 

Ongoing need for justice: While a tribunal convicted three Khmer Rouge senior leaders for crimes against humanity in 2018, per the International Bar Association, critics say many key perpetrators were never held to account. 

The next generation: The majority of Cambodia’s population is under 30—“with no more than an inkling” of the genocide, leading survivors to start a storytelling initiative, reports AFP via France24. 

Related: 

Unsung No More, Cambodia’s Malaria Hero – USAID via Medium (from August 2024) 

Q&A: Patrick Heuveline on the Khmer Rouge’s long-term impact on Cambodia – UCLA Newsroom ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION Moose See TV  
Forget high-octane car chases and whodunnit cliffhangers. The real formula for suspense TV? Not knowing when a moose might show up.
 
The megahit Swedish TV show “Den stora älgvandringen” (“The Great Elk Trek”) began airing this Tuesday, serving up a must-see livestream of mostly nature scenery, occasionally punctuated by moose crossing the Ångerman River.
 
More than binge-worthy, some fans canʼt seem to focus on anything else. But how does one consume 20 days of round-the-clock content? By rearranging their entire lives.

• Kids are missing school during the migration. And “Sleep? Forget it. I don’t sleep,” said one viewer.  

The “slow TV” sensation is stress-relieving even for those who work on it—but itʼs complicated, said superfan William Garp Liljefors.
 
“I feel relaxed, but at the same time I’m like, ‘Oh, there’s a moose. Oh, what if there’s a moose? I can’t go to the toilet!’”
 
AP QUICK HITS Haiti: Escalating Violence Puts Population at Grave Risk –  Human Rights Watch

Colombia declares health emergency after dozens die of yellow fever – BBC

Rising temperatures could cancel most outdoor school sports in summer by 2060s – Japan Times

Reconsidering Ebola virus nomenclature: a call for a stigma-free and precise terminology – The Lancet (commentary)

CDC advisors broaden RSV vaccine recommendations to at-risk adults in their 50s – Endpoints News

Immune system proteins involved in severe parasitic disease identified – Medical Xpress

What impact will driving at 17 have on road safety? –  Euronews

AI-boosted cameras help blind people to navigate – Nature Issue No. 2710
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: Pandemic Agreement Reached; A Brain Bank Hangs in the Balance; and Spore-Driven Threats 190 countries agree to working draft of global pandemic treaty View this email in your browser April 16, 2025 Forward Share Post Pandemic agreement negotiations co-chair Anne-Claire Amprou and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus after a consensus on the pandemic treaty at the WHO headquarters, Geneva, on April 16. Christopher Black/WHO/AFP via Getty Pandemic Agreement Reached 
Around 2 a.m. today at the WHO’s Geneva headquarters—after 3+ years of back-and-forth between 190 countries—the 32-page working draft of a global pandemic treaty was finally highlighted in one color: green. 

“It's adopted,” negotiations co-chair Anne-Claire Amprou said, “to thundering applause,” reports France24. 

The approved pact sets guidelines for international collaboration in a future global health crisis, and is a victory for the WHO at a moment of geopolitical upheaval, reports the AP. 

• The agreement signals that “in our divided world, nations can still work together to find common ground and a shared response,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Key provisions include giving the WHO an overview of global medical supply chains; compelling manufacturers to allocate medical supplies to the WHO during a pandemic; and paving the way for more local vaccine and drug production, reports Reuters.

Final sticking points related to the technology transfer clause, which governs how drug and vaccine manufacturers share information and tools for medicine and vaccine production. 

• Such information will be shared on a “mutually agreed upon” rather than mandatory basis, per Euronews. 

Still being ironed out: the creation of a new pathogen access and benefit sharing system—in which countries would share pathogen samples with drugmakers in return for access to vaccines and medicine.

Notably absent: The U.S., which was barred from participating following President Trump’s January decision to withdraw from the WHO, and which is not expected to sign the treaty.

What’s next: Final adoption is pending approval by the World Health Assembly in May. 

Related: WHO tests pandemic response with Arctic ‘mammothpox’ outbreak – The Telegraph GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners
The UK Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that a woman is defined by biological sex under equalities law, a landmark decision following years of debate that could have significant implications for how sex-based rights and services apply across Scotland, England, and Wales. BBC

A new antibiotic is effective against gonorrhea, finds a new study published in The Lancet; if approved, it could become the first new class of antibiotic for the STI in 20+ years—a key tool as antibiotic resistance grows. NBC News

Children’s mattresses can emit toxic chemicals linked with developmental and hormonal disorders, two new studies have found; high levels of chemicals like phthalates and flame retardants were found near children’s beds, found a study published in Environmental Science & Technology, and a companion study identified mattresses as a key source of exposure. CNN

The autism diagnosis rate among U.S. 8-year-olds increased from 1 in 36 in 2020 to 1 in 31 in 2022, a new CDC report shows; rates among boys remained higher than among girls, and, as in 2020, were higher among Asian, Black, and Hispanic children than among white children. CNN ALZHEIMERʼS A Brain Bank Hangs in the Balance
An NIH funding pause has disrupted one of the most expansive Alzheimer’s research programs in the U.S., with researchers especially worried about the fate of 4,000 donated brains being preserved for research. 

• The Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the University of Washington—one of the public universities hardest hit by the freeze—is home to a range of decades-long studies, including one following 450 people until death.

A critical hub: The brain bank, which provided researchers with ~11,000 tissue samples last year alone, requires special facilities and staffing. 

• Even the temporary pause could upend long-term trials, therapy pipelines, and current patient care, researchers say. 

NBC

Related: As dementia rates increase, experts warn hospital emergency rooms are underprepared – AP GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES FUNGAL INFECTIONS Spore-Driven Threats
In the wake of the WHO’s warning of the need for more treatments and diagnostics for fungal pathogens, scientists are laying out evidence of a growing fungal threat:

• Perennial maladies like vaginal yeast infections and athlete’s foot are getting harder to treat, and antifungal-resistant pathogens like Candida auris have become a “silent pandemic” in hospitals.

• Invasive fungal infections are killing ~2.5 million people each year—twice the global fatalities of tuberculosis.

Because of global warming, more fungi are adapting to temperatures that could lead to invasive infections in humans. 

• It also means an increase in disruptive weather events like dust storms, which lead to the spread of spore-driven diseases like Valley fever. 

The Telegraph QUICK HITS After delays, first vaccine advisory meeting under RFK Jr. is underway – NPR Shots

5% of US cancers may be caused by medical imaging radiation – DW 

Emergency rooms treat a gunshot wound every half-hour – UPI

Oropouche virus ‘massively underdiagnosed’ in Latin America, new study suggests – The Telegraph

Paris air pollution is down 50% after its radical bike-friendly transformation – Fast Company

We’re on the verge of a universal allergy cure – Vox

Africa needs innovative financing solutions to prevent health systems from collapsing, say experts – Semafor (commentary) Thanks for the tip, Dave Cundiff!

Exclusive: the most-cited papers of the twenty-first century – Nature Issue No. 2709
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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In the early hours of Wednesday morning in Geneva, countries finalized a draft global agreement aimed at improving how the world prepares for and responds to pandemics, marking a historic step that will be submitted to the World Health Assembly in May for adoption.

Join us on May 7th at noon for the next McGill Cares webcast to support informal caregivers. During candid, interviews with leading experts, Claire Webster explores topics related to caring for a loved one with dementia.

Join us on May 7th at noon for the next McGill Cares webcast to support informal caregivers. During candid, interviews with leading experts, Claire Webster explores topics related to caring for a loved one with dementia.

Join us on May 7th at noon for the next McGill Cares webcast to support informal caregivers. During candid, interviews with leading experts, Claire Webster explores topics related to caring for a loved one with dementia.

Join us on May 7th at noon for the next McGill Cares webcast to support informal caregivers. During candid, interviews with leading experts, Claire Webster explores topics related to caring for a loved one with dementia.

Join us on May 7th at noon for the next McGill Cares webcast to support informal caregivers. During candid, interviews with leading experts, Claire Webster explores topics related to caring for a loved one with dementia.

Join us on May 7th at noon for the next McGill Cares webcast to support informal caregivers. During candid, interviews with leading experts, Claire Webster explores topics related to caring for a loved one with dementia.

Join us on May 7th at noon for the next McGill Cares webcast to support informal caregivers. During candid, interviews with leading experts, Claire Webster explores topics related to caring for a loved one with dementia.

Join us on May 7th at noon for the next McGill Cares webcast to support informal caregivers. During candid, interviews with leading experts, Claire Webster explores topics related to caring for a loved one with dementia.

Join us on May 7th at noon for the next McGill Cares webcast to support informal caregivers. During candid, interviews with leading experts, Claire Webster explores topics related to caring for a loved one with dementia.

Join us on May 7th at noon for the next McGill Cares webcast to support informal caregivers. During candid, interviews with leading experts, Claire Webster explores topics related to caring for a loved one with dementia.