Five clinicians and scientists at The Neuro have been awarded King Charles III Coronation Medals in recognition of their contributions to our understanding of neurological disease. The Coronation Medal commemorates the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III as King of Canada. The medal is administered by the Chancellery of Honours at Rideau Hall.

 

Five clinicians and scientists at The Neuro have been awarded King Charles III’s Coronation Medals in recognition of their contributions to our understanding of neurological disease. The Coronation Medal commemorates the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III as King of Canada. The medal is administered by the Chancellery of Honours at Rideau Hall.

 

96 Global Health NOW: ‘Systematic’ Attacks on Gaza’s Reproductive Care; WHO Top Ranks Swell; and Send in the Clowns! UN report: “Genocidal acts” at Gaza women’s health facilities View this email in your browser March 13, 2025 Forward Share Post People inspect the damage caused by an artillery shell that hit the maternity hospital inside the Nasser Medical Complex, on December 17, 2023, in Khan Yunis, Gaza. Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty ‘Systematic’ Attacks on Gaza’s Reproductive Care
  Attacks on women’s health facilities and reproductive care in Gaza have amounted to “genocidal acts,” a UN commission said in a report issued today. 

The report, issued after public hearings in Geneva this week, states that "Israeli authorities have destroyed in part the reproductive capacity of the Palestinians in Gaza as a group” through targeted acts categorized as genocidal by the Rome Statute and the Genocide Convention, per Reuters.

• Israel refuted the report, describing its allegations as not credible and biased. 

Details: The commission described “systematic” destruction of reproductive care, including the shelling of Gaza’s main fertility center; the destruction of maternity hospitals and wards; and a lack of access to medicine for pregnancies, deliveries, and neonatal care—resulting in a surge of maternal deaths, reports Al Jazeera.

Sexual violence: The report also accused Israel's security forces of using forced public stripping and sexual assault as “standard operating procedures” to punish Palestinians. 

What’s next? Former UN Humanitarian Affairs Coordinator Martin Griffiths said the report is significant, as the UN has “been very careful” about using the term genocide—but added that it is unlikely that international courts will take action at this time. 

Related: On the brink: Women in the Occupied Palestinian Territory – OHCHR GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners
Measles cases in Europe doubled in 2024 to a 25+ year-high, per a report by UNICEF; children under 5 accounted for 40% of the 127,350 cases. Reuters

A daily pill for endometriosis has been approved by the NHS for use across England; the medication, relugolix-estradiol-norethisterone works by blocking hormones that contribute to endometriosis while providing necessary hormone replacement. The Guardian 

A new meningitis vaccine that protects against five strains has shown effectiveness in babies and toddlers, per results published in The Lancet from a phase 3 randomized clinical trial conducted in Mali. CIDRAP

U.S. federal agriculture officials have axed two programs that provided $1 billion+ for schools and food banks to buy food from local farmers and producers. AP 

A new treatment for snakebite that involves using oral doses of unithiol—used for heavy metal poisoning—has shown promise as a “field-ready treatment” to neutralize venom, per a new study published in The Lancet eBioMedicine. Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine WHO As Top Ranks Swell, So Do Costs
The number of WHO’s top-ranked directors has nearly doubled since 2017, when Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus took office. And costs for this tier have swelled, too, with ~$92 million spent on 226 staff, per an analysis of available data by Health Policy Watch. 

A critical juncture: The revelations come as the WHO faces drastic budget cuts in light of the promised withdrawal of the organization’s top contributor—the U.S. The agency has said it faces a $175 million budget deficit in 2025—though it is unclear whether that includes lost U.S. dues. 

• Tedros has already announced a range of cost-cutting, including a worldwide recruitment freeze. 

Call for reform: As the WHO’s budget is reshaped, Health Policy Watch is calling for greater transparency from the WHO about the true costs of staff positions. 

Health Policy Watch GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES CONFLICT Drones Complicate Battlefield Medicine in Ukraine
Russian drones that maim soldiers by causing complex shrapnel wounds are overwhelming Ukrainian medics, as drone warfare in the conflict intensifies. 

The newer FPV drones explode on impact, and can cause burns and injuries with dozens of tiny pieces of shrapnel, which are more difficult to treat than injuries from conventional shelling. Russia ramped up its usage of such drones late last year.

• Battlefield surgeons say the drones are now responsible for the majority of battlefield casualties. 

Shortages in medical equipment like tourniquets and painkillers exacerbate the problem, and the intricate wounds mean the soldiers require prolonged hospital stays. 

The Telegraph POLICY Mental Health Care on the Line 
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is one of the largest providers of mental health care in the country. But that key component of care is in jeopardy as providers brace themselves for deepened cuts to the agency. 

The VA has promised 80,000 job cuts in coming days, and providers report that their patients’ mental care—and their own—are suffering. 

Fears for LGBTQ patients: Therapists say they are especially concerned for LGBTQ+ patients who fear being targeted in the wake of an executive order directing federal employees to recognize only two sexes. 

Research at risk: VA trials in mental health care that include suicide mitigation and substance use disorder treatments could be threatened under the extensive cuts. 

NPR Shots

Related: The Office That Investigates Disparities in Veterans’ Care Is Being “Liquidated” – ProPublica ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION Send in the Clowns!  
Would taunts from a clown temper or trigger your road rage? If you lived in Bogotá in the 1990s, you had the chance to find out.
 
In a literal act of political theater, a quirky professor-turned-mayor Antanas Mockus—perhaps inspired by the messaging in his own last name—replaced hordes of aggressive traffic cops with mimes who theatrically lampooned lawbreakers and praised the compliant, Atlas Obscura reports.  
 
It was all part of Mockusʼ plan to turn his city into “a 6.5 million person classroom.” While we have concerns about the student:teacher ratio, we admire any system where class clowns rule.
 
And they werenʼt just clowning around. The empowered mimes helped shift civic culture, and traffic violence in the city dropped 50% under Mockus. Thatʼs no joke-us.

Alas, the show did not go on. The mimesʼ blockbuster run ended in 1998, but inspired spinoffs in several other cities. QUICK HITS With drug war, Duterte long courted global condemnation – The Washington Post (gift link)

Sugar-free slushies can make young kids seriously sick, new study suggests – ABC News

Study finds 'alarming' levels of drug-resistant Salmonella in Pakistan – CIDRAP

Kashmir Hospitals Battle Power Cuts as Neglect and Climate Change Affect Infrastructure – Health Policy Watch

Federal Agency Dedicated to Mental Illness and Addiction Faces Huge Cuts – The New York Times (gift link) 

Africa’s unique gut microbiome could guide new medicines – SciDev.net

India's frontline health workers fight for better pay and recognition – BBC

Lessons learned from 20 years of snakebites – Medical Xpress Issue No. 2691
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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

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

Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. -->
ABOUT
SUPPORT US
NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE
  CONTACT US
  Copyright 2025 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All Rights Reserved. Views and opinions expressed in Global Health NOW do not necessarily reflect those of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health or Johns Hopkins University.


Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Measles cases in Europe have doubled in just a year, with the highest number reported since 1997, UN agencies announced on Thursday.

96 Global Health NOW: Violence Upends Mpox Fight in the DRC; Reform, Don’t Eliminate, PEPFAR; and Lifesaving Ultrasounds View this email in your browser March 12, 2025 Forward Share Post Hospital workers carry an injured man at Bukavu Provincial Hospital. Bukavu, DRC, February 27. AFP via Getty Violence Upends Mpox Fight in the DRC
Hospitals and health workers battling mpox across eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo are facing new disruptions as Rwanda-backed rebels advance in the region, reports the AP.

Patients flee, cases spread: 600+ mpox patients have fled the escalating violence despite incomplete treatment. 

• The disruption also means incomplete data: Just seven of the 26 provinces reported cases last week. Those that did report saw a 31% weekly increase in cases, per the Africa CDC. 

Hospitals under attack: Only two of the four treatment centers in the zone are currently functional. Vaccines and other medical supplies are running low. 

Other outbreaks: The DRC continues to battle cholera, measles, and mysterious illnesses in the northwestern region.

• Meanwhile, the WHO is seeking to widen vaccination coverage for polio, measles, and other diseases in remote regions by equipping health workers with a fleet of boats and motorcycles, per UN News. 

Prevention work resumes: Last week, community health workers in the DRC’s capital Kinshasa were able to resume their posts, per the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, after a USAID waiver was granted. 

Related:

Thousands risk crocodile-infested river to escape Rwanda’s savage M23 militia ​​– The Telegraph

Brazil reports its first clade 1b mpox case – CIDRAP GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   The number of Rohingya refugee children needing emergency treatment for severe acute nutrition has surged 27% as families face “life-threatening hunger” amid deteriorating conditions in Bangladesh’s largest refugee camp. UNICEF (news release)

A once-yearly PrEP injection could be in the works after Gilead's twice-yearly lenacapavir showed promise being dosed once a year, trial results published in The Lancet show. Fierce Pharma 

The U.S. has landed on a global human rights watchlist amid the Trump administration’s “assault on democratic norms and global cooperation,” per CIVICUS, a global alliance of civil society groups. TIME

As USAID is dismantled, workers have been ordered to destroy classified documents—a move being challenged in court as unions say it will destroy materials relevant in ongoing lawsuits regarding the targeted agency. AP More U.S. Policy News National Cancer Institute employees can't publish information on these topics without special approval. – ProPublica

Tuberculosis Resurgent as Trump Funding Cut Disrupts Treatment Globally – The New York Times (gift article)

Countries, global health groups band together as US aid gaps threaten lives – Reuters

Caribbean leaders oppose US policy targeting Cuban medical missions, saying they’re critical – AP

RFK Jr. weighing FDA crackdown on food additives under Trump – CBS

Federal science hamstrung by DOGE's credit card spending limit – Undark GHN EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY Kruish Mubiru, executive director of Uganda Young Positives, walks amid the organization's empty facilities, on February 12, 2025, in Kampala, Uganda. Hajarah Nalwadda/Getty Reform, Don’t Eliminate, PEPFAR
The turmoil that has recently enveloped global HIV programs may be just a preview of a deeper, longer-lasting global health crisis to come, writes Jirair Ratevosian in a GHN commentary.

• If the U.S. Congress fails to reauthorize PEPFAR by its March 25 deadline, the crisis could begin within weeks.


• It is unclear whether there is political support to sustain the program in its current form, writes Ratevosian, a former PEPFAR interim chief of staff and current Hock Research Fellow at the Duke Global Health Institute.

Rather than eliminating a program that has saved an estimated 26 million lives, Ratevosian and Duke University colleagues have proposed strategic reforms to preserve PEPFAR and modernize its strategy and operations.

• They estimate this could reduce program costs by 20% in five years.


• They also introduce new frameworks for countries to gradually assume financial responsibility for HIV prevention and treatment programs, allowing PEPFAR to “strategically bridge resources” to regions where HIV rates continue to rise.

The Quote: “With HIV infection rates still alarmingly high among vulnerable groups and rising in many regions of the world, it is becoming clear we need to rethink and refresh global HIV strategy, and PEPFAR needs to be part of that conversation,” Ratevosian writes. READ THE FULL COMMENTARY GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES TECH & INNOVATION Lifesaving Ultrasounds 
New ultrasound technology is reshaping prenatal care in sub-Saharan Africa, allowing improved access to the critical scan at hundreds of health facilities. 

Point-of-care ultrasound devices are a more portable version of an ultrasound machine, designed specifically for providers in low-resource areas who may not have access to radiology equipment. 

Instant impact: In 2022, 500 such devices were deployed to providers across Kenya. 

• A follow-up evaluation conducted by Kenyatta University found that 90% of health care workers used the machines to identify high-risk conditions such as placenta previa or multiple gestations within one month of training. 

MedCity News QUICK HITS How not to be deported: India’s nurses seeking work abroad learn how to migrate safely – The Guardian

His daughter was America's first measles death in a decade – The Atlantic 

A Health System Is Fighting Idaho’s Abortion Ban. It’s Not Its First Controversial Stance. – ProPublica

5 years since the pandemic started, long COVID patients are still hoping for a cure – NPR Shots

How Grocery Workers Are Still Bearing The Scars Of Covid-19 – Forbes

Alcohol and cancer risk: what you need to know – Nature

Study Discovers Tuberculosis Genes Necessary for Airborne Transmission – Weill Cornell Medicine (news release)

Microplastics contribute to evolution of antimicrobial resistance, study finds – CIDRAP Issue No. 2690
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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

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

Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. -->
ABOUT
SUPPORT US
NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE
  CONTACT US
  Copyright 2025 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All Rights Reserved. Views and opinions expressed in Global Health NOW do not necessarily reflect those of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health or Johns Hopkins University.


Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

96 Global Health NOW: COVID-19, 5 Years On and On and On…; How Undetected Problems Put Mothers at Risk; and The Role of Circumcision in the AIDS Fight View this email in your browser March 11, 2025 Forward Share Post Joseph Varon, MD, comforts a patient in the COVID-19 intensive care unit during Thanksgiving at the United Memorial Medical Center. November 26, 2020, Houston, Texas. Go Nakamura/Getty COVID-19, 5 Years On and On and On…  
On March 11, 2020, the WHO confirmed what everyone already knew: The novel coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2 had spawned a pandemic.
 
7 million+ deaths have been reported to the WHO, but the COVID-19 pandemic likely claimed 20 million+ lives, WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove said earlier this year, and noted the pandemic:

• Cost $16 trillion.


• Prevented 1.6 billion children from attending school.


• Caused ~130 million people to fall into poverty.

Never-ending pandemic:

• ~ 3,600 Americans were hospitalized due to COVID in the four weeks before Feb. 16, per the WHO.


• ~Six in 100 people who have COVID-19 develop long COVID, WHO reports.


• ~One in five people hospitalized with COVID reported severe depression two to three years later, according to a Lancet Psychiatry article based on a UK study with 475 participants. 

Science mistrust persists: 39% of Americans say they know someone who died because of COVID, but just 62% and 57% say they trust the CDC or the NIH, respectively, per an Axios-Ipsos survey released today.
 
Must-read opinion: “As the pandemic rose, I saw my patients get sick and in some cases die, including a 42-year-old mother of two young children whose loss is seared into my soul. As it receded … the overwhelming public sentiment was: never again. Today, it seems: never what?” writes physician and author Siddhartha Mukherjee in The New York Times (gift article).
 
Related:
 
Canadians reflect on COVID-19 pandemic 5 years later: 'How did we survive?' – Globalnews.ca
 
Federal government no longer accepting orders for free Covid-19 tests – CNN GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   Chad and Bangladesh were the world’s most polluted countries in 2024, with average smog levels more than 15X WHO guidelines, per air quality data from the Swiss firm IQAir; just seven countries—Australia, New Zealand, the Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Estonia, and Iceland—met the standards. Reuters
 
NHS England will cut half of its workforce—from 13,000 to ~6,500—eliminating entire teams and dismissing “a huge swathe” of senior leaders as part of a sweeping restructuring led by new health secretary Wes Streeting. The Guardian
 
The U.S. NIH will cancel or limit dozens of research grants related to vaccine hesitancy and uptake, according to an internal email obtained by The Washington Post yesterday. The Washington Post (gift article)
 
Utah will become the first U.S. state to ban fluoride in public drinking water, over warnings from dentists and national health organizations who say fluoridation is safe and the most cost-effective way to prevent tooth decay—particularly for low-income residents without access to other forms of preventive dental care. AP Global Health Cuts Rubio announces that 83% of USAID contracts will be canceled – NPR Goats and Soda 

WHO warns difficult decisions 'unavoidable' as it slims down recruitment – Reuters

‘Utterly devastating’: Global health groups left reeling as European countries slash foreign aid – Euronews

‘Unlawful’ suspension of USAID funding likely violated Constitution, judge says – The Washington Post (gift article)

Explainer: Why US health funding cuts are rattling Swiss science – swiss.info.ch

How the NIH dominates the world’s health research – in charts – Nature MATERNAL HEALTH How Undetected Problems Put Mothers at Risk
Tens of thousands of women have died during pregnancy and after birth due to undetected complications, finds a new WHO study on global causes of maternal mortality published in The Lancet Global Health, which analyzed ~287,000 maternal deaths that occurred in 2020—the last year of available data.

Leading causes of death: Hemorrhage led to 80,000 deaths that year, or ~27% of fatalities; hypertensive disorders like preeclampsia led to 50,000 deaths, or ~16% of fatalities. 

Other findings: Health conditions like HIV/AIDS, malaria, and diabetes contributed to ~23% of maternal deaths. 

Needed interventions: Improved antenatal services to detect risks and complications early in pregnancy; and more postnatal care, since around a third of women still do not receive essential postnatal checks after birth. 

WHO

Related: 

Cameroon Prepares to Launch National Strategy on Maternal Health – Africa CDC

Stillbirth rates are highest in the US South, research finds – Medical Xpress GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES HIV/AIDS The Role of Circumcision in the AIDS Fight
Defending his administration’s USAID cuts, U.S. President Donald Trump last week listed agency line items he described as “appalling waste”—including $10 million for male circumcision in Mozambique. 

Key treatment: But voluntary male circumcision has played a “highly effective” role in AIDS prevention, and programs facilitating elective circumcision have become a standard part of PEPFAR-funded HIV/AIDS programs in southern and eastern Africa. 

• Circumcision became a “gold standard” for HIV prevention after studies from the NIH and the French National Agency for Research on AIDS showed that African countries with higher rates of male circumcision had lower rates of HIV infections, and that men who opted for circumcision could reduce their risk by up to 60%. 

Reasons are unclear, but research posits that male foreskin has a larger number of HIV-vulnerable cells. 

NPR Goats and Soda

Related: Kenya HIV patients live in fear as US aid freeze strands drugs in warehouse – Reuters OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Syria: Horrific killings of civilians on northwest coast must be investigated – Amnesty International

Time to Act on New Bird Flu Spillovers – Think Global Health (commentary)

Less than half of parents think they have accurate information about bird flu – Michigan Medicine

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on the constitutionality of Colorado's ban on conversion therapy. – NBC

Kennedy Links Measles Outbreak to Poor Diet and Health, Citing Fringe Theories – The New York Times (gift article)

Sleep debt, night work tied to higher risk of some common infections in nurses – CIDRAP

New STI impacts 1 in 3 women: landmark study reveals men are the missing link – Monash University (news release)

On board with the Top Gun pilots fighting pollution from the air – The Telegraph Issue No. 2689
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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

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

Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. -->
ABOUT
SUPPORT US
NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE
  CONTACT US
  Copyright 2025 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All Rights Reserved. Views and opinions expressed in Global Health NOW do not necessarily reflect those of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health or Johns Hopkins University.


Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

The UN World Health Organization (WHO) has stepped up efforts to improve vaccination coverage in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by providing vital logistical support, including boats and motorcycles to reach remote communities along the Congo River.

96 Global Health NOW: MAHA Puts Vaccines Under New Scrutiny; Pandemic-Era Repression in North Korea; and Amid a Texas Oil Boom, an Eruption of Hazards View this email in your browser March 10, 2025 Forward Share Post Signs point the way to measles testing in the parking lot of the Seminole Hospital District on February 27, in Seminole, Texas. Jan Sonnenmair/Getty MAHA Puts Vaccines Under New Scrutiny 
The CDC will launch a study to reexamine whether there is a connection between vaccines and autism—despite dozens of studies that found no such link, reports The New York Times (gift article). 

The move fulfills pledges made by new Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose “Make America Healthy Again” platform included promises to review the childhood vaccination schedule. 

Kennedy’s early moves are already undermining trust in vaccines, reports CNBC: “Within the next couple of years, we could see major drops in childhood vaccination rates,” said Lawrence Gostin, professor of public health law at Georgetown University.

States target mRNA: Meanwhile, conservative legislators in Iowa, Montana, and Idaho have introduced laws this year aimed at cutting the use of mRNA vaccine technology, reports Axios.

Measles marches on: Kennedy’s announcement comes as the measles outbreak in Texas and New Mexico has spread to ~230 people and killed two, and as doctors report an “uphill battle” trying to convince some parents about the safety of vaccines and the inefficacy of supplements, reports Reuters. 

• But in some Texas cities, pharmacies are struggling to keep the measles vaccine stocked, reports The Guardian.

Related:

Maryland resident confirmed to have measles after international travel – CBS

America Is Botching Measles – The Atlantic

Expanding Measles Outbreak in the United States and Guidance for the Upcoming Travel Season – CDC Health Advisory GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   Almost 1,000 civilians have been killed and hundreds more injured in military drone attacks across Africa in the last several years, per a report by Drone Wars UK on the escalating use of cheap imported drones across the continent. The Guardian
 
7% of 10,000 U.S. adults surveyed reported having been present on the scene of a mass shooting (defined as four or more people shot); the groups most likely to have witnessed a shooting include younger generations, males, and Black respondents. JAMA Network Open

New Tanzanian law aims to expand HIV testing by lowering the age of consent for testing from 18 to 15 years and by legalizing self-testing for HIV; health officials say the strategy will “significantly accelerate” efforts to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030. UNAIDS

Israel will debate exiting the WHO today, per a Knesset bulletin; far-right leaders have been pushing for a departure amid the WHO’s criticism of Israeli attacks on health care in Gaza. The Times of Israel  U.S. Policy News ____________________________________________________________
  No disease is deadlier in Africa than malaria. Trump's US aid cuts weaken the fight against it – AP

NIH will eliminate many peer review panels and lay off some scientists overseeing them – Science

CDC asks researchers to assess how their projects align with Trump administration priorities – ABC 

Trump Administration Sends Politically Charged Survey to Researchers – The New York Times (gift article)

HHS sends employees a $25K voluntary buyout offer – The Hill HUMAN RIGHTS Pandemic-Era Repression in North Korea 
North Korea’s government has grown more repressive since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic—eliminating already sparse freedoms and creating a “grave human rights situation,” per Human Rights Watch, which interviewed recent escapees. 
 
Restrictions include: 

• Limitations on movement enforced by “shoot on sight” orders for border guards. 


• Border closures that limit access to food, medicine, and essential goods like soap and batteries. 


• Ideological control and surveillance, including an uptick in public executions, including those targeting people who consumed foreign media. 

The Quote: “Finding medicine was like picking a star from the sky,” said Hye Kyung, a fruit trader who escaped. 

Human Rights Watch GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH Amid a Texas Oil Boom, an Eruption of Hazards
Fossil fuel production is surging in West Texas—and so are the dangers faced by workers and residents. 

• ~30 Texas workers die of explosions, poison gas, blunt force trauma, or vehicle crashes each year. 

Danger on the roads: A surge in oil-related traffic has led to a growing death toll on regional roads, say first responders. 

• In 2023, 365 people died on highways in the region, resulting from 73 crashes per day. 


• In 2023, over 1,000 people died on the highways of all of Texas’s oil-producing regions, per state data. 

Deregulation impact: As the Trump administration plans to allow for increased production in the region, “the result of that is just going to be a horrendous amount of vehicular activity,” said personal injury attorney Kent Buckingham. 

Pulitzer Center and The Hill  LETTER TO THE EDITOR Nuance Missed  
I was disappointed by the March 4 lead summary titled “Obesity Threatens Global Surge by 2050.” While you emphasize the urgency of projected rising obesity rates, the piece makes no mention of why obesity is concerning.
 
Like all public health issues, obesity is highly nuanced. Simply stating that more people will be obese does not, in itself, explain why that matters. What are the underlying drivers of obesity? What role do structural and social determinants of health play? Your coverage fails to engage with these essential questions and may perpetuate the simplistic and harmful notion that thinness equates to health.
 
Readers deserve reporting that is thoughtful and evidence-based, rather than an incomplete snapshot of a trend. I hope future coverage will provide greater depth, offering a more complete and informed perspective. —Anisha Verma OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Transforming the humanitarian system, not destroying it – The Lancet (commentary)
 
A fair pandemic treaty is unlikely, but poorer countries have healthy options – Chatham House

Doctors are still burned out five years after COVID exposed systemic failures – Axios

Deadliest phase of fentanyl crisis eases, as all states see recovery – NPR

‘There’s no other solution’: Polish abortion centre opens in challenge to strict laws – The Guardian

Women are poorly represented in clinical trials. That's problematic – Nature (commentary)

Scientists’ suit against top academic publishers lays bare deep frustration over unpaid peer review – STAT

Maasai girls take up self-defense as protection from sexual abuse and early marriage – AP Issue No. 2688
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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

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

Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. -->
ABOUT
SUPPORT US
NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE
  CONTACT US
  Copyright 2025 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All Rights Reserved. Views and opinions expressed in Global Health NOW do not necessarily reflect those of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health or Johns Hopkins University.


Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

96 Global Health NOW: TB Services ‘Collapsing’; Demand Grows For Out-Of-State Abortion Care—And So Do Threats; and Germany’s Crusty Cele-bready Drastic U.S. cuts to foreign funding threaten to undo decades of progress in the global fight against tuberculosis View this email in your browser March 6, 2025 Forward Share Post A tuberculous patient takes medicine at Curicica Hospital, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on June 13, 2019. Stefano Figalo/Brazil Photos/LightRocket via Getty Tuberculosis Services ‘Collapsing’ 
Drastic U.S. cuts to foreign funding threaten to undo decades of progress in the global fight against tuberculosis—and could have “fatal consequences for millions worldwide,” the WHO is warning. 

Historically: The U.S. has been the largest international donor in the anti-TB fight, contributing ~$200-$250 million annually, reports Reuters. 

• USAID funding helped avert ~3.65 million deaths last year alone. 

Hardest hit regions: Programs could be dismantled in ~18 high-burden countries, mostly across Southeast Asia, the Western Pacific, and especially in Africa—where treatment disruptions and program stoppages could “exponentially increase TB transmission rates.”

Fallout: Already, funding constraints are leading to layoffs, supply chain breakdowns, and shuttered surveillance programs in TB-affected areas. 

Lingering limbo: Some organizations like Stop TB have been granted waivers to continue their work; but they do not know when funding will be restored, reports Devex.

• And while the U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the Trump administration could not withhold already-owed payments to foreign aid organizations, a timeline on potential restoration of those funds remains unclear, per The Hill. 

Related: Huge Risk Of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis In Wake Of Abrupt US Funding Cuts  – Health Policy Watch GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners
Uganda's Ebola outbreak likely led to the deaths of two additional people, say investigators who have been looking into the death of a 4-year-old boy who died of the Ebola Sudan strain this past week; investigators say the boy’s mother and newborn sibling died a few weeks earlier without being tested. CIDRAP

The forced return of Eritrean refugees from Ethiopia should be condemned by the UN Human Rights Council, urges Amnesty International—which said the “human rights situation of Eritrean refugees remains dire” for the ~600 people forcibly returned to their home country. Addis Standard

Florida regulators are demanding “unusually intrusive” data on millions of prescriptions filled in the last year, including the names of patients taking medications, and doctors they’ve seen—sparking concerns about government overreach. The New York Times (gift link)

Resistance to standard antibiotics such as ampicillin, tetracyclines, and sulfonamides remains high in humans and animals, per a joint summary report issued by European health and food safety officials that includes surveillance data from 33 European countries. Food Safety News U.S. Policy News   US judge bars Trump administration from cutting NIH research funding – Reuters via U.S. News & World Report (free registration required)

CDC Calls Nearly 200 Fired Workers Back, Apologizes for 'Disruption' – Newsweek

US stops sharing air quality data from embassies worldwide. Scientists say that cuts out a vital resource for global health – CNN 

KFF poll reveals support for USAID, misconceptions on aid for global health – CIDRAP  REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS Demand Grows For Out-Of-State Abortion Care—And So Do Threats
As more people cross state lines to seek abortion care in the U.S., destination clinics are fighting to keep up the pace, reports USA Today. 

• In Illinois—which borders states with abortion restrictions—clinics have reported a surge of out-of-state patients since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, with one clinic reporting a 3X increase. 

Unsustainable model? Advocates say that even in protective states, the current health infrastructure is under strain—as people have fewer health centers to turn to and are forced to travel greater distances. 

Meanwhile, in Alabama: Advocacy groups are closely watching court hearings this week in a “bellwether” Alabama case that addresses whether the state can prosecute people over abortions that took place across state lines, reports The Guardian. 

• In Yellowhammer Fund v. Marshall, an abortion fund argues that State Attorney General Steve Marshall’s threats to prosecute activists who help people cross state lines for care won’t hold up in court.

GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES HEALTH POLICY Mass Firings Undercut Tobacco Control Efforts
The U.S. FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products (CTP), which reviews thousands of new products coming onto the market, took a major blow on February 15 when the Trump administration fired around 100 probationary workers. 

• The Center, which is not taxpayer-funded, was already struggling to regulate products that kill nearly half a million Americans each year—with only about 1,000 employees. CTP is also tasked with educating the public about tobacco’s health risks.

The staffing cuts come as the FDA is embroiled in battle with the tobacco industry over the rules governing emerging tobacco and nicotine products. CTP has faced criticism from both the industry and public health groups over its regulations, and lawsuits from companies challenging its decisions. 

The Examination

Related: He Fought Claims of Harm From Infant Formula. Now He Regulates It. – The New York Times (gift article) ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION Germany’s Crusty and Grumpy Cele-bready  
Itʼs his birthday and heʼll sulk if he wants to.

A melancholy loaf of bread is celebrating… nay, reluctantly acknowledging, its 25th anniversary as a German TV star, but heʼd rather be home staring at the walls.
 
Nothing to proof: The puppet Bernd das Brot—Bernd the Bread—has become beloved by adults as well as children, and received prestigious awards for embracing “the right to be in a bad mood,” AP reports.
 
Thereʼs a multitude of good reasons for Bernd to be ticked off, not least the unrequited love of a baguette who rejected him in favor of a “run-of-the-mill multigrain.”
 
But our favorite detail is a heartening one: Bernd, and his signature grimace, was originally conceived by one co-creator sketching the other on the back of a napkin. Instead of their relationship going stale, they created an icon of ennui.
 
So if this team can survive such brutal honesty, and their curmudgeonly creation can be besties with a sheep and a flower bush … then why canʼt the rest of us just get along? QUICK HITS UN to halve Rohingya food aid in Bangladesh amid funding crunch – Al Jazeera

Cases of Parkinson's disease set to reach 25 million worldwide by 2050, study suggests – Medical Xpress

Wastewater sampling could be key to early warning of new disease outbreaks – The Guardian

"Identity fraud": Proposed Texas state law would make identifying as transgender a felony – Salon

More women doctors than men for first time in UK – BBC Issue No. 2687
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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

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

Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. -->
ABOUT
SUPPORT US
NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE
  CONTACT US
  Copyright 2025 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All Rights Reserved. Views and opinions expressed in Global Health NOW do not necessarily reflect those of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health or Johns Hopkins University.


Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Global efforts to tackle the HIV/AIDS epidemic continue to remain insufficient, with deadly consequences, the UN Human Rights Council heard on Thursday.

96 Global Health NOW: Inside the Disarray at the NIH; Retinol’s Ugly History; and U.S. Organ Transplant System in Turmoil View this email in your browser March 5, 2025 Forward Share Post People gather on the University of Illinois Chicago campus to voice concerns about the potential loss of federal funding for medical research on February 19. Scott Olson/Getty Inside the Disarray at the NIH
Over six weeks, the NIH—the world’s largest sponsor of biomedical research—has been thrown into chaos after the Trump administration's orders for vast funding cuts and a suspension of grant reviews, reports The Washington Post (gift link).

• Despite federal rulings declaring the cuts unconstitutional, funding remains frozen as NIH employees fear violating executive orders.


• Leadership has been overturned, and ~1,200 probationary staff have been cut.

The result: “The longer the pause on NIH funding has dragged on, the more the American research community has descended into disarray,” reports Katherine Wu for The Atlantic.

• Universities have paused graduate admissions; labs are planning staff cuts; clinical trials risk being shut down; and biomedical internships are canceled, per STAT.

A “Plan B” to cut funds: Even if courts reject the funding cuts, the Trump administration could negotiate individual university payments in a “cat-and-mouse game,” reports Politico. 

Deeper fears: The remaking of the agency could end biomedical research in America “as we know it,” said Monica Bertagnolli, former NIH director.

Such concerns will be in play during today’s confirmation hearings for Jay Bhattacharya, the Trump administration’s pick to lead the agency.

• A Stanford professor and critic of COVID-19 shutdowns and vaccine policies, Bhattacharya is a physician who has never completed clinical training or practiced medicine. His research focuses on health economics and policy, reports NBC. 

GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   The Americas region is at risk of losing its hard-won measles elimination status, PAHO warns, pointing to a 4.5X rise in reported cases compared to the same period last year; the U.S. and Canada account for over 97% of the region’s cases so far, but Mexico and Argentina have also reported cases. CBS
 
42% of people surveyed in Ohio State University–led research mistakenly believed that human papillomavirus (HPV) is more common in women than men, and 45% did not know if HPV was linked to cancers beyond cervical, per a survey of 1,005 people. CIDRAP
  
More than 60% of Americans expect that USAID’s dissolution will lead to more humanitarian and health crises globally, while 47% think the move will significantly reduce the U.S. budget deficit, according to a new poll that also shows Americans largely overestimate U.S. spending on foreign aid. KFF

Pregnant women and newborns in Beijing carry blood lithium levels up to 20X higher than those in a comparable industrial city, Changsha, according to a new study that raises “urgent” questions about an unidentified source of lithium pollution in the Chinese capital and details related health risks. South China Morning Post via MSN U.S. Policy News Medicaid cuts put adult dental care on the chopping block – Axios

Trump vowed to end surprise medical bills. The office working on that just got slashed – KFF Health News

Trump’s data deletions pose a stark threat to public health – The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

CDC rescinds some staff firings – NPR

Trump administration expected to seek to let Idaho enforce its strict abortion ban, in drastic reversal from Biden White House's stand – CBS

‘Omg, did PubMed go dark?’ Blackout stokes fears about database’s future – Nature HUMAN RIGHTS Retinol’s Ugly History 
Retinol has become a standard ingredient in skincare products. But its little-known origin story involves decades of medical abuse. 

• Before Retin-A’s FDA approval in 1971, it was tested on hundreds of incarcerated people in Philadelphia’s now-closed Holmesburg Prison in experiments led by University of Pennsylvania dermatologist Albert Kligman. 


• The mostly Black male test subjects had high-dosage chemicals applied to their skin, along with other medical procedures that left wounds and scars.

Calls for justice: The University of Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia have issued formal apologies. But survivors and their families are calling for reparations, as retinol now generates billions of dollars in sales. 

• “My daddy’s skin is in those jars,” said Adrianne Jones-Alston, whose father underwent the experiments. 

Teen Vogue GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES ORGAN DONATION ETHICS U.S. Transplant System in Turmoil 
Organ transplants in the U.S. have long been governed by a national registry: a consistent ranking system that aims to pair donated organs to patients who need them most. 

But a troubling new trend has emerged, where the registry order is regularly ignored, with officials “leapfrogging over hundreds or even thousands of people” to decide matches, finds a must-read investigation by the New York Times. 

By the numbers: Last year, officials skipped patients on the waiting lists for ~20% of transplants from deceased donors—6X more often than a few years earlier.

Impact: 1,200+ people have died over the last five years after being skipped while nearing the top of a waiting list. 

The New York Times (gift link) 

ICYMI: Myanmar villagers reveal ‘desperate’ illegal kidney sales – BBC FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITY Calling All Changemakers!
  The application for the 2026 Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity cohort is now open! If you’re passionate about tackling health disparities and creating a more just world, this is your chance to join a global community of leaders dedicated to health equity.
 
Early- to mid-career professionals engaged in health-related work located in all parts of the world are encouraged to apply for this one-year, non-residential fellowship offered by George Washington University.   

• Sign up for a March 13 informational webinar
• Read the recruitment prospectus
• Learn more
• Deadline to apply: April 10

QUICK HITS CDC says it is on the ground in Texas to aid in measles outbreak response – The Hill

Humanitarian aid’s extreme donor dependency problem in five charts – The New Humanitarian

Breaking taboos about contraception in Benin – Médecins Sans Frontières

She’s a Foot Soldier in America’s Losing War With Chronic Disease – The New York Times (gift article)

USAID Helped Me Become the Scientist I Am Today – Med Page Today (commentary)

Smartwatches could end the next pandemic – Aalto University via ScienceDaily

Sperm quality linked to living longer, study finds – CNN Issue No. 2686
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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

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

Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. -->
ABOUT
SUPPORT US
NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE
  CONTACT US
  Copyright 2025 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All Rights Reserved. Views and opinions expressed in Global Health NOW do not necessarily reflect those of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health or Johns Hopkins University.


Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

The UN World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Wednesday that severe funding cuts – particularly in the United States – are threatening decades of progress in the fight against tuberculosis (TB), still the world’s deadliest infectious disease.

96 Global Health NOW: Obesity Threatens Global Surge by 2050; Girls Denied Surgery in Afghanistan; and Vaccine Resisters Double Down View this email in your browser March 4, 2025 Forward Share Post Customers sit at a window-facing table inside a McDonald's restaurant, eating and using their phones. February 12, Chongqing, China. K Cheng Xin/Getty Obesity Threatens Global Surge by 2050
Urgent action needs to be taken now to confront the soaring global obesity epidemic, according to authors of a Lancet study published yesterday that estimates more than half of adults and nearly a third of children and adolescents will be overweight or obese by 2050.

Projected problem: Without “multifaceted and multisectoral interventions and treatments,” 3.8 billion adults 25 and older and 746 million children and young people ages five to 24 will be overweight or obese.

Current numbers: 2.11 billion and 493 million, respectively, are obese or overweight, The Guardian reports.

Accelerated worry: 522 million adults and 200 million children and young people in sub-Saharan Africa are expected to be obese by 2050—a 250% increase (though some of the increase is due to population growth), per Reuters.

The Quote: “The unprecedented global epidemic of overweight and obesity is a profound tragedy and a monumental societal failure,” said lead author Emmanuela Gakidou, of the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

Study background: Team members from the Global Burden of Disease Study BMI Collaborators based their estimates of what could happen without future interventions (such as widespread availability of new obesity drugs) and drew on data from 204 countries and territories.

Related: China, India obesity problems driving global surge, study says – Bloomberg via The Edge Malaysia GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   A new mpox strain—a mutation of clade 1a that carries the APOBEC3 mutation, which enhances transmissibility—has been identified in the DRC; the WHO extended its declaration of a public health emergency of international concern over mpox late last week. The Telegraph

China’s highest court has called for a crackdown on paper mills churning out fraudulent manuscripts and selling authorships, as part of a broader push to curb research misconduct cases. Nature
 
Rates for precancerous lesions fell about 80% among 20- to 24-year-old women in the U.S. screened for cervical cancer between 2008 to 2022—bolstering evidence that the HPV vaccine is preventing cervical cancer, per a CDC report published late last week; however, a new JAMA Research Letter details a rise in cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates in rural U.S. counties with lower access to vaccination and screening.
 
A new swab test, dubbed the WID-easy test, is as accurate as an ultrasound scan in detecting uterine cancer and could help UK women avoid invasive ultrasound checks if adopted by the NHS, the developers say; the test is in use already by private medical clinics and in Austria and Switzerland. The Guardian Cuts to Science and Health The Global Fund will roll out the twice-yearly anti-HIV jab — with or without Pepfar – Bhekisisa

Devex Newswire: USAID employees and partners tell us what they think – Devex

NIH announces some key grant-review meetings will restart in late March – Science

US science is under threat ― now scientists are fighting back – Nature SURGERY Girls Denied Access in Afghanistan
Discriminatory Taliban restrictions are preventing Afghan girls from getting lifesaving surgical procedures, new medical data and personal testimonies show. 

Disparity by the numbers: While roughly half of Afghan children are girls, 80%+ of all surgical procedures performed by a charity-run pediatric unit in Kabul were performed on boys, per a survey published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

Barred from care: Since the Taliban’s takeover in 2021, female medical professionals have been increasingly excluded from health institutions. And yet in many areas, male doctors are banned from treating women—forcing women to rely on faith healers and traditional medicine. 

The Telegraph GHN EXCLUSIVE OPPORTUNITY We Hope to See You Tomorrow!
Due to high demand we’ve released more tickets for this sold-out event co-hosted by GHN and the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health. We look forward to seeing you all for this special evening of storytelling. 

For those not in the D.C. area, you can watch the livestream on Global Health NOW; the link is now available on the event page. If you registered and can no longer make it, please release your Eventbrite ticket to allow someone else to attend. —Annalies Winny MEASLES Vaccine Resisters Double Down
As measles cases continue to spread in West Texas, many parents with anti-vaccine views still refuse to get their children vaccinated, claiming that the shot’s side effects are more dangerous than the disease itself, reports The Washington Post (gift link).

And yet silence: Neither Gov. Greg Abbott nor lawmakers from the hardest-hit areas have publicly addressed the outbreak or advocated for vaccinations, reports The Texas Tribune. 

COVID-19 ghosts: The response is being shaped by the pandemic, experts say—with politicians unwilling or reluctant to push public health interventions like vaccination and quarantine.

• “Texas is such an independent state. People don’t want to be told what to do, forgetting that what they do can affect others,” said Catherine Troisi, an epidemiologist at UTHealth Houston.

Related: 

Measles cases reported in Philadelphia area and in Texas traveler – CIDRAP

As RFK Jr. delivers his message on measles, public health experts hear a familiar tune – STAT

Can you still get measles even if you’ve been vaccinated? – Vox

US health official quits after reported clashes with RFK Jr over measles – The Guardian

RFK Jr.’s focus on vitamin A for measles worries health experts – The Washington Post (gift article) GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES CANCER Breast Cancer Cases Expected to Climb
Breast cancer diagnoses are projected to rise 38% globally by 2050—with annual deaths expected to increase by 68%, reports UN News.

• What that means: 3.2 million new breast cancer cases and 1.1 million related deaths each year by mid-century, per research published in Nature Medicine.

Contributing factors: A growing and aging global population, a higher prevalence of known risk factors for the disease, and improvements in detection and diagnosis, reports The Guardian. 

LMICs disproportionately affected: 

• In high-income countries, 83% of diagnosed women survive. In low-income countries, more than half of women diagnosed with breast cancer die from it.


• Death rates were highest in Melanesia, Polynesia, and west Africa.

QUICK HITS Children as young as 1 raped during Sudan's civil war, U.N. says – NBC

‘Rapid expansion’ of synthetic drugs reshaping illicit markets, UN anti-narcotics body warns – UN News

Dysentery cases on the rise in the Portland area: 40 new cases reported in January alone – USA Today

COVID 2024-25 vaccines 33% protective against emergency room or urgent care visits, data reveal – CIDRAP

Cancer Interception: The First HPV Antiviral Treatment Fights Pre-Cancers – University of New Mexico Newsroom Thanks for the tip, Chiara Jaffe! 

Four ways to help beat health inequities in the face of USAID cuts – Nature

Extreme heat can age you as fast as a smoking habit – Grist

‘Man with the golden arm’: Grandfather whose rare blood saved millions of babies dies aged 88 – The Independent Issue No. 2685
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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

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

Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. -->
ABOUT
SUPPORT US
NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE
  CONTACT US
  Copyright 2025 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All Rights Reserved. Views and opinions expressed in Global Health NOW do not necessarily reflect those of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health or Johns Hopkins University.


Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Synthetic drugs are rapidly transforming the global drug trade, fuelling an escalating public health crisis, according to the UN administered International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).