Recent funding cuts have caused “severe disruptions” to health services in almost three-quarters of all countries, according to the head of the UN World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Millions of deaths could be avoided from meningitis if countries are able to adopt new guidelines designed to diagnose and treat the disease more effectively, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday. 

96 Global Health NOW: Breakthrough Clues in an Mpox Mystery; Afghanistan’s Escort Rules Fuel Maternal Deaths; and San Francisco Rethinks Harm Reduction View this email in your browser April 9, 2025 Forward Share Post A fire-footed rope squirrel (Funisciurus pyrropus) in southern Mali, in 2010. Laurent Granjon/Jean-Marc Duplantier via iNaturalist Breakthrough Clues in an Mpox Mystery 
Researchers have been trying to unravel one of the “great mysteries” of mpox: What are its animal reservoir hosts?

Now, a team of scientists say they have landed on a key culprit: a squirrel. And their preprint research could have significant implications for tracking and preventing future spillovers, reports Nature. 

Background: The name “monkeypox” comes from the 1958 discovery of the virus in lab monkeys. But researchers have long suspected small mammals of being sources for cross-species spillover.

Surveillance sleuthing: The latest discovery started with an mpox outbreak in sooty mangabey monkeys in Taï National Park in Côte d’Ivoire, reports Science.

• Scientists then located the identical virus in a sample from a fire-footed rope squirrel found dead three months before the outbreak started. 


• Researchers pinpointed the squirrel DNA in fecal samples from the mangabeys, suggesting the monkeys became infected after eating the squirrels. 

Implications: “This study is a landmark contribution to understanding mpox dynamics and guiding proactive prevention efforts across Africa and beyond,” said Yap Boum, a biologist at the Africa CDC.

More work needed: More evidence is needed to determine whether the squirrels can carry and shed the virus long-term without getting sick—a key feature of a reservoir host, scientists say. 

Related: 

Fears new mpox strain spreading in UK after case with no travel history – The Telegraph 

China’s first monkeypox vaccine enters phase I clinical trials, planning to recruit volunteers – Global Times GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   Cholera cases in Kenya have risen to nearly 100, with six reported fatalities, per the nation’s health ministry, which is redoubling its surveillance efforts. The Nation

Teen gun license applicants in Canada spiked 11% between 2023 and 2024—raising concerns that as teens reach voting age, there will be greater calls for loosening gun restrictions. CBC

Floods in Queensland have led to 10 new infections of melioidosis, a soil-borne bacterial disease that has killed 26 people in the Australian state this year; more infections are expected, health experts say. ABC Australia

Invasive Streptococcus A infections more than doubled in the U.S. between 2013 and 2022, per a surveillance study of 10 states published in JAMA that linked the rise to “increasing prevalence of underlying health conditions,” and found growing levels of antibiotic resistance. CIDRAP U.S. Policy News NSF slashes prestigious PhD fellowship awards by half – Nature

Trump has blown a massive hole in global health funding—and no one can fill it – Science

Dr. Oz Pushed for AI Health Care in First Medicare Agency Town Hall – Wired

What do Americans think of Trump's foreign policies? – BBC

It's sexual assault awareness month and HHS just gutted its rape prevention unit – NPR

Trump administration says it cut funding to some life-saving UN food programs by mistake – AP

A closer look at the nationwide impact of NIH cuts – Axios MATERNAL MORTALITY Escort Rules Lead to Maternal Deaths 
Under the Taliban in Afghanistan, women and girls are prevented from accessing medical care without a male escort, leading to rising mortality rates for women and infants.

• Before the Taliban took power, maternal mortality was already 3X higher than the world average.


• By 2026, a woman’s estimated risk of death during childbirth will rise by 50%.


• Every day, 24 mothers and 167 infants die in Afghanistan. 

Barriers: In December 2024, the Taliban also stopped medical training for women. Poor access to health care, a shortage of doctors and midwives, and rising rates of early marriage also contribute to increased risks.

The Guardian 

Related: USAID enabled 208 Afghan women to defy the Taliban ban on college — until now – NPR Goats and Soda GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES HARM REDUCTION A Policy Shift in San Francisco
San Francisco has long prioritized harm reduction in its drug policies, such as with programs to distribute on the streets free, clean paraphernalia for fentanyl smoking, no questions asked.

But the city’s new mayor, Daniel Lurie, says the city’s policies have become too permissive and will scale them back in an effort to steer more people into treatment.

• “We are no longer going to sit by and allow people to kill themselves on the streets,” said Lurie. 

New rules starting April 30:

• Paraphernalia can be distributed only to people who undergo lengthy counseling sessions.


• Nonprofits will be able to distribute smoking supplies only in city-sanctioned buildings. 

Clean needles can still be provided on the street, and naloxone distribution will not be affected. 

The New York Times (gift link) QUICK HITS Ontario's measles outbreak is so big, even New York health officials are taking notice – CBC

Man whose blood helped develop measles vaccine weighs in on recent outbreak – PBS NewsHour (video)

State lawmakers are weighing bills that would treat abortion as homicide ​​– The 19th

Achieving gender justice for global health equity: the Lancet Commission on gender and global health – The Lancet

Menopause makes it on the policy map – Axios

Improving the Global Health Workforce Is a Bipartisan Imperative – Newsweek (commentary)

How the Alcohol Industry Steers Governments Away From Effective Strategies to Curb Drink Driving – Vital Strategies 

A new BEACON for global health set to launch in Boston – The Daily Free Press

Meet Siku, the itchy polar bear: How allergies are affecting animals – BBC Thanks for the tip, Xiaodong Cai! Issue No. 2705
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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

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96 Global Health NOW: High Costs for Kids of PEPFAR’s Demise; China’s Older HIV Population; and South Africa’s Struggle to Protect Women View this email in your browser April 8, 2025 Forward Share Post Sister Sally Naidoo administers an HIV test on a young boy at the Right To Care AIDS clinic in Johannesburg, South Africa, on January 27, 2012. Foto24/Gallo Images/Getty High Costs for Kids of PEPFAR’s Demise  
If PEPFAR programs do not continue, an additional 1 million children will become infected with HIV, 500,000 additional children will die of AIDS, and another 2.8 million children will become orphans because of AIDS by 2030, according to models in a Lancet study published today.
 
The authors, from African countries and elsewhere, argue for a five-year transition to country-led sustainability, noting that PEPFAR-supported countries had already increased their share of support from $13.7 billion per year in 2004 to $42.6 billion in 2021.
 
Benefits of the successful transition of PEPFAR programs include better health security for both African countries and the U.S. by:

• Cutting forced migration.


• Boosting control of emerging infectious disease threats.

Currently: AIDS is estimated to kill one child under 15 every 7 minutes.

Bleak future: As part of the reorganization of HHS in the U.S., CDC officials responsible for the care of 500,000+ children and 600,000+ pregnant women with HIV in low-income countries have been fired or reassigned, The New York Times reports (gift link).

• Their programs sought to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV and to deliver treatment for children living with HIV.


• The officials had been helping direct medications to areas where stocks were running low.

Related: 
 
UCLA professor loses millions in funding for HIV research project – ABC7 / Los Angeles
 
Is This the End of Progress on H.I.V.? – The New York Times (commentary)
 
The global fight against HIV/AIDS, in chaos – The Washington Post (podcast) GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   U.S. health secretary RFK Jr. called for an end to adding fluoride to public drinking water supplies, saying "It makes no sense to have it in our water supply,” and praising Utah’s plans for a ban; the EPA has now launched a new review of fluoride's health effects. CBS 
 
Health systems implementing the “Zero Suicide Model” saw a fall in suicides and attempts, per a study published in JAMA Network Open; the model, developed by Detroit-based Henry Ford Health, emphasizes patient screening, safety planning, and mental health counseling. AP
 
Children born to mothers with diabetes in pregnancy showed a 28% higher risk of having any neurodevelopmental disorder compared to children born to mothers without the condition, according to a large meta-analysis in The Lancet led by Chinese researchers who cautioned that while more research is needed, diligent monitoring of blood sugar levels in pregnancy is merited. The Independent
 
A newly developed blood test for Alzheimer’s disease can help diagnose the condition with up to 83% accuracy—and indicate how far it has progressed—years before symptoms begin, according to a study in Nature Medicine led by Swedish researchers. Medical Xpress U.S. Policy News How will the deep cuts at the Centers for Disease Control affect global programs? – NPR Goats and Soda

Long COVID activists fought Trump team’s research cuts and won ― for now – Nature

Trump Said Cuts Wouldn’t Affect Public Safety. Then He Fired Hundreds of Workers Who Help Fight Wildfires. – ProPublica

Transfer to Alaska? Offer to health leaders called 'insult' to Indian Health Service – NPR Shots EDUCATION Johns Hopkins Tops Rankings of U.S. Public Health Schools 

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health again ranks #1 among public health schools and programs in the U.S., based on peer-assessment ratings released this morning by U.S. News & World Report.  
 
This year’s top 10 schools: 
 
1. Johns Hopkins University 
2. Emory University 
2. Harvard University  
2. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor 
2. University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill 
6. Columbia University 
7. Boston University 
8. University of California - Berkeley 
8. University of California - Los Angeles 
10. Tulane University 
 
This year’s rankings include 219 schools and programs of public health accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health. 
  
U.S. News & World Report 

VIOLENCE South Africa’s Struggle to Protect Women
Over three decades, South Africa has seen significant progress in curbing femicide and violence against women.

• Between 1999 and 2017, the intimate partner femicide rate fell from 9.5 per 100,000 women in 1999 to 4.9, with researchers pointing to women’s economic empowerment and a groundswell of vocal anti-violence advocacy contributing to the shift. 

But rates remain the highest reported in the world, and a recent uptick of violence has been described as a “national crisis” by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

• Femicide has increased 30%+ since 2021. 


• Last year, 36% of South African women reported experiencing physical or sexual violence at some time.

Reasons include pervasive misogynist beliefs among men, a failure to enforce gun policy, and a lack of judicial accountability, advocates say. 

The Telegraph RESOURCES How to Introduce Kids to Health Policy
Policy Wisdom’s collection of Athena’s Adventures in Health Policy—all 15 books—is now available online for free.
 
The series aims to inspire the next generation of public health professionals and show them the importance and impact of health policies. These engaging books bring health policy to life, making complex topics accessible and thought-provoking for young readers.
 
Download the complete collection now—for free! 
 
Prefer a printed copy? The books are also available to purchase on Amazon. $1 from the sale of each book is donated to Global Health NOW. HIV/AIDS China’s Older HIV Population
In China, a growing number of studies are signaling an impending health crisis: Older people are quickly becoming a high-risk group for HIV infection.

• Some studies have predicted that by 2035, nearly 33% of HIV-positive people in China will be aged 60+. 

Risk factors: 

• Because HIV prevention and testing campaigns are focused on young people, older patients usually don’t find out they’re HIV positive until the disease is “very advanced,” said Chinese AIDS expert Wan Yanhai. 


• A growing number of older men across China are engaging in commercial sex, research shows. 


• Little is being done to address seniors’ sexual health, with surveys revealing a pervasive cultural assumption that seniors have little if any sex—a belief that does not bear out in research. 

Radio Free Asia OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Ukraine: Mine contamination is lethal legacy of Russia’s invasion – UN News

Scientists identify Nigeria hotspots where malaria, STH overlap, indicating high co-morbidity – DownToEarth

Court tosses Biden nursing home staffing standard – Axios

In Final Days of Pandemic Talks, Countries Urged to Budget for ‘Both Bombs and Bugs’ – Health Policy Watch

From the hospital to the lab: How we reported the snakebite scandal – The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

Transparency in government is good for global health – The Current /UC Santa Barbara 

Public Health in the Age of AI and Climate Change – Department of Medicine News / Stanford University

AI for research: the ultimate guide to choosing the right tool – Nature Issue No. 2704
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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

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96 Global Health NOW: A Crossroads for Maternal Mortality; March Recap; and Insurance Executives Pull Back the Curtain View this email in your browser April 7, 2025 Forward Share Post A health worker performs an ultrasound on a pregnant woman at a health center in the Ramechhap district, east of Kathmandu, Nepal, on June 8, 2018. Bikram Rai/AFP via Getty A Crossroads for Maternal Mortality
More women face risk of death in pregnancy and childbirth, as drastic U.S. aid cuts threaten hard-won gains in maternal survival, and could have “pandemic-like effects” on maternal services worldwide, the WHO is warning, per The Guardian.

“Fragile” progress: Deaths due to complications in pregnancy and childbirth declined 40% globally between 2000 and 2023, but gains have slowed since 2016, per the WHO. And rates are off track to meet 2030 maternal survival targets. 

• ~260,000 women died in 2023 from pregnancy-related causes, a new UN report has found—a reality that one WHO official described as a “real travesty of justice.” 


• Most vulnerable: Pregnant women in conflict zones, who already face a 5X greater risk of death than elsewhere. 


• Poor countries reported a maternal mortality rate nearly 35X the rate in rich countries.

“Increasing headwinds”: U.S. funding cuts have quickly led to shuttered clinics, reductions in health workers, and disrupted supplies of critical medications for conditions like preeclampsia and hemorrhage.

Pandemic preview: Maternal deaths rose by 40,000 in 2021 due to pandemic-related disruptions, new data in the report show. 

• This year’s funding cuts could cause a similar “acute shock to the system”—especially as countries didn’t have time to prepare for the cuts. 

Related: 

World Health Day: Focusing on women’s physical and mental health around the world – UN News

Trump administration eviscerates maternal and child health programs – The Guardian GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES More Measles News RFK: MMR vaccine is the "most effective way" to prevent measles spread – Axios

RFK Jr. visits epicenter of Texas measles outbreak after death of second child who was infected – AP

U.S. may be reverting to a time when measles deaths were not very rare, experts warn – STAT

As measles spreads, some doctors are seeing the virus for the first time – The New York Times The Latest One-Liners   The NIH may not cap funding for indirect costs associated with its grants at 15%, a U.S. federal judge ruled Friday, making permanent a temporary order issued in February; the Trump administration had asked for this verdict so it could move forward with an appeal. The New York Times (gift link)

350,000+ U.S. health workers face a risk of deportation in the country’s immigration crackdown, per new research published in JAMA, which found that ensuing worker shortages could affect hospitals and other clinical settings. MedPage Today

Mobile health care units providing ART and PrEP medications reduced the risk for death by ~70% among people who inject drugs, per a study presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections. Healio

Unsanitary practices continue at Abbott Laboratories, one of the largest baby formula factories in the U.S., workers report; the factory’s 2022 shutdown led to severe formula shortages, and now oversight is in question due to mass FDA layoffs. ProPublica MARCH MUST-READS Moving Beyond Stigma in Mexico
For years, Mexico has taken a “prohibitionist, hardline approach” to drug use, reinforcing a stigma that ties drug use to other criminal activities. But recently, health advocates have been taking a different tack—toward harm reduction. 

• One example: Checa tu Sustanciae (Check Your Substance) provides a way for people at events like music festivals to test drugs for fentanyl and other adulterants, and also equips those people with naloxone and practical information. 

AP
Interrupted Agent Orange Cleanup
USAID cuts abruptly halted efforts to clean up an enormous chemical spill at Vietnam’s Bien Hoa air base—leaving pits with dioxin-contaminated soil exposed at the cusp of the country’s rainy season and putting hundreds of thousands of people at risk of poisoning. 

• A $430 million+ U.S. government remediation effort had begun in 2019 to clean up widespread dioxin contamination that dates back to the Vietnam War—when the U.S. brought the toxin to the country.

 ProPublica  
The Bureaucrat Bridging Gaps
Consider this maddening prospect: A 5-year-old girl in Texas is diagnosed with a rare, brain-eating amoeba, but her doctors haven’t heard about an effective antibiotic remedy discovered by California researchers—a tragic disconnect that all too frequently leads to preventable suffering and death. 

• Michael Lewis examines the mission of an FDA worker “buried under six layers on an agency organizational chart” who is seeking to solve the problem by creating a database for rare diseases and treatments, called CURE ID. A big question: Will anyone use it? 

The Washington Post (gift link)  MARCH EXCLUSIVES Adolescents in a classroom raising their hands, photographed from behind. Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Creative What Do American Kids Learn About Sex? It Depends Who You Ask.  
Over 90% of U.S. parents and guardians support their children receiving comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) in school—but there is no national requirement, and only 38% of all high schools and 14% of middle schools in the U.S. cover all of the CDCʼs priority sexual health topics, including condom use and STD prevention.
 
Compare that to the Netherlands, where sex ed is mandated in primary through lower secondary schools. And, at 2.1 births per 1,000 women ages 15–19, the Netherlandsʼ teen birth rate is the lowest in the EU—and far lower than the U.S. teen birth rate of 13.2 births per 1,000.
 
“Chilling effect”: While there haven't been direct attacks on U.S. sex education, policy recommendations targeting DEI, gender identity, and restroom access for trans people raise concerns about the funding future for CSE providers—but advocates remain determined to broaden access to CSE.
 
Annalies Winny, Global Health NOW
March Commentaries:

• It’s Time for PEPFAR to Embrace Reform – Jirair Ratevosian


• How to Keep Doing Global Health: Tips From the Global South – Siddhesh Zadey and Dhananjaya Sharma

Revisiting Extraordinary Journeys
If you werenʼt able to join GHN in March for Extraordinary Journeys: Stories of Refugees Fleeing Conflict and Shaping Global Health, you can now view recordings of each story from this special event, co-hosted by GHN and the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health, spotlighting the remarkable experiences of public health practitioners from Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), South Sudan, Sudan, and Syria with lived experience as refugees. WATCH HERE MARCH'S BEST NEWS 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.

• Portable point-of-care ultrasound devices are 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—and a Kenyatta University follow-up study found that within one month of training, 90% of health care workers used the machines to identify high-risk conditions such as placenta previa or multiple gestations. 

MedCity News  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES HEALTH POLICY Insurance Executives Pull Back the Curtain  
Amid sharper public criticism of the U.S. health insurance system, former industry executives turned whistleblowers are speaking out about unethical practices they say are baked into the for-profit system. 

Some of the industry tenets they described: 

Patients are the lowest priority, as their needs are “fundamentally at odds” with Wall Street demands and financial incentives. 

“Execute a few hostages” mentality: One executive described decisions to arbitrarily terminate doctors out of network without cause “to show them who’s boss.” 

Champagne during COVID-19: Another executive described how his company had champagne delivered to leaders’ homes during the lockdown to celebrate financial gains accrued while people were forced to forgo elective care. 

Intelligencer OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Mexico confirms country's first human case of bird flu in a 3-year-old girl – Medical Xpress

'I could live 30 years but plan to die': How assisted dying law is dividing Canadians – BBC

Major endometriosis study reveals impact of gluten, coffee, dairy and alcohol – The Guardian

In banning ‘Glock switches,’ red and blue states find common ground on gun law – The Washington Post (gift link)

Understanding the resurgence of mpox: key drivers and lessons from recent outbreaks in Africa – Tropical Medicine and Health / BioMed Central

Tariffs hit science labs: Trump levies raise cost of supplies – Nature

Behind the Plate: Keeping Our Food Safe – Contagious Conversations (CDC Foundation podcast)

An antiviral chewing gum to reduce influenza and herpes simplex virus transmission – University of Pennsylvania via ScienceDaily Issue No. 2703
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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Unprecedented aid cuts are putting global progress to end maternal deaths at risk, three UN agencies warned in a new report that calls for greater investment in midwives and other health workers.

Monday’s World Health Day highlights a critical issue for global health: the particular vulnerabilities faced by women and girls.

A global surge in cholera is threatening vulnerable people from Angola to Myanmar, fuelled by conflict, natural disasters and climate change, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

96 Global Health NOW: Taking Cuts to Court; Beijing+30: A New Generation Needed to Advance Women’s Rights; and Minding the Lexical Gap View this email in your browser April 3, 2025 Forward Share Post Demonstrators protest funding cuts outside of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, on March 8. Michael Mathes/AFP via Getty Taking Cuts to Court 
The Trump administration is facing a new wave of litigation from scientists, unions, and health advocacy groups, alleging that the administration’s cuts to research are illegal—and that the “ideological purge” behind them poses an existential threat to American scientific enterprise, reports the AP. 

Details: The latest lawsuit filed by the ACLU argues that NIH grant cuts were not guided by federal funding rules, which include a science-based review process designed to insulate the grant process from politicization. Such cuts have been “extremely rare” in previous administrations. 

• “To have it undermined in this way is really to give ourselves a black eye as a country,” said plaintiff Peter Lurie, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, per CNN.


• The suit also argues that ending projects midstream could put patients undergoing NIH-funded treatment at risk, and waste taxpayer money. 

Meanwhile, the reckoning over widespread cuts to federal health offices is ongoing:

• The Trump administration is demanding the CDC—which has laid off one-fifth of its workforce—to now cut $2.9 billion of contract spending, per The New York Times (gift link)—a move one CDC scientist described as “cutting off our arms and legs.”

Related: 

Trump’s cruel calculus on public health is slashing lifelines for the most vulnerable – Salon (commentary)

C.D.C. Cuts Threaten to Set Back the Nation’s Health, Critics Say – The New York Times (gift link)

The USAID List of Terminated Global Health Awards – What Does it Tell Us? – KFF Global Health Policy

Doctor Behind Award-Winning Parkinson’s Research Among Scientists Purged From NIH – WIRED

Slashing the public health workforce hurts the U.S. economy – The Washington Post (commentary and gift link) GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   More than half of the world’s pediatric cancer deaths occur in war-torn countries, which St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Duke researchers tied to disruptions in diagnosis and treatment in a new study in The Lancet Oncology that analyzed three decades of data. Duke Global Health Institute

A two-year-old girl in Andhra Pradesh, India, died after contracting H5N1, marking India’s first death from the virus since 2021; the child, whose family members all tested negative for the virus, may have been infected by consuming raw chicken. Times of India

The latest COVID variant on the rise is LP.8.1, an offshoot of Omicron that features genetic changes allowing it to spread more easily; it is swiftly becoming dominant in the U.K. The Independent

The shingles vaccine is linked to reduced dementia risk, finds a study in Nature that analyzed health records of 280,000+ older adults in Wales; those who received the shingles vaccine were 20% less likely to develop dementia over the next seven years than those who did not receive the vaccine. CBC GHN EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY A Marie Stopes International mobile clinical outreach team on a site visit to Laniar health center in Senegal. August 14, 2014. Jonathan Torgovnik for The Hewlett Foundation/Reportage by Getty Beijing+30: A New Generation Needed to Advance Women’s Rights
Despite notable advances in women’s rights in the last 30 years since the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action, gender-based violence, maternal mortality, and other issues still need to be addressed, writes Consolata Chikoti, a lawyer and global health scholar from Tanzania.
 
Successes include:

• A +30% reduction in maternal mortality.


• 162 countries have criminalized gender-based violence (GBV).


• A significant increase in access to modern family planning methods.

But:

• 800 women lose their lives every day to preventable maternal causes.


• GBV continues to be a critical concern, with one in three women having experienced physical or sexual violence, often by an intimate partner. 

Chikoti calls for a “commitment to mentoring and empowering young women to [foster] a new generation of leaders who will continue to challenge systemic barriers and drive transformative change for all women.” READ CONSOLATA CHIKOTI’S FULL COMMENTARY REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH India’s Push to End Cervical Cancer
Tens of thousands of doctors across India are being trained to promote the HPV vaccine, in an effort to eliminate cervical cancer in the country.

• One in five cervical cancer cases worldwide occur in India—nearly all of which are caused by HPV.

Health care providers will encourage mothers attending medical appointments to vaccinate their children, and will visit schools and community centers to counter vaccine disinformation.

• HPV vaccination has been privately available in India since 2008, but uptake has been low: Until recently, imported vaccines were expensive and misinformation surrounding deaths during an HPV vaccine trial left citizens distrustful.


• India recently started manufacturing its own HPV vaccine, with plans to make it part of the national vaccination program by early 2026.

The Guardian GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES OPPORTUNITY Atlantic Fellows: One Week Left to Apply!
George Washington University’s Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity program is a one-year, non-residential program that allows early- to mid-career professionals to develop their leadership skills and build their capacity through support for a health equity project to be completed at a fellow’s professional organization.

Fellows benefit from in-person and virtual training opportunities, coaching and mentoring from health equity experts, and integration into a lifelong senior fellowship network.

• Deadline: April 10, 2025
• Learn more and apply  

ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION Minding the Lexical Gap  
It can easily take a dozen English words—and frantic gesturing of clenched hands and gritted teeth—to describe the sensation of “cute aggression” toward, say, an adorable kitten.
 
Tagalog has it boiled down to one word: gigil (ghee-gill). Itʼs among dozens of non-English words now inducted into the Oxford English Dictionary, helping to fill a “lexical gap” with untranslatable words found in one language but not others, per BBC.
 
Lost for words no more! Thanks to the new additions, one neednʼt clutch at verbal straws trying to evoke the joy of drinking a beer outside (utepils, thanks Norway!), or seeing sunlight dappling through leaves (komorebi, h/t Japan).
 
In-kind donation: As a gesture of thanks, might we offer up some choice English words in exchange? Surely acersecomicke—“one whose hair was never cut”—deserves broader use. Or what about flingee, a handy term to describe “one at whom anything is flung”—be it a snowball, or a barrage of new words. QUICK HITS They were forced to scam others worldwide. Now thousands are detained on the Myanmar border – AP 

Africa's Quiet Response to U.S. Realignment of Foreign Aid – Think Global Health (commentary)

Farm workers avoiding bird flu testing because of deportation threat, officials fear – The Telegraph

World is ‘failing’ people with disabilities: UN deputy chief – UN News

Two infants die of whooping cough in Louisiana as cases climb nationally – CNN

Supreme Court rules in favor of FDA in dispute over flavored vapes – The Hill

Do smartphones and social media really harm teens’ mental health? – Nature

Why we study shrimp on treadmills: The case for curiosity-driven research – STAT (commentary) Issue No. 2702
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: Deep, ‘Degrading’ Cuts to U.S. Health Offices; Sierra Leone Weighs Abortion Bill; and Zambia’s ‘Most Contaminated Site’ View this email in your browser April 2, 2025 Forward Share Post Employees of the Department of Health and Human Services stand in line to enter the Mary E. Switzer Memorial Building yesterday in Washington, D.C. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Deep, ‘Degrading’ Cuts to U.S. Health Offices 
Mass layoffs are underway in America’s federal health offices, with thousands of positions cut yesterday in a chaotic process described by one FDA employee as a “bloodbath,” reports CNN. 

Included in the layoffs were thousands of scientists, doctors, senior leaders, and support staff—including entire teams that track disease outbreaks, conduct medical research, work to reduce injuries, monitor food and medicine safety, and administer health insurance programs for nearly half of the U.S. population, reports STAT. 

Scope of the cuts, per the AP:

• The CDC will eliminate ~ 2,400 workers, slashing divisions focused on workplace safety, violence and injury prevention, drug use, and asthma. 


• The FDA is set to lose ~3,500 staffers, including those who set policy for tobacco products and who review new drugs.


• The NIH will cut ~1,200 additional employees, including scientists, computer specialists, and nearly the entire communications staff.


• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will lay off ~300 staffers.

“Humiliating and degrading” day: The layoffs were haphazardly administered, with many workers finding out they had been fired when their key cards did not work, per Federal News Network. The elimination of support staff in some cases meant offices could not operate. 

• “This is a sad and inhumane way to treat people,” said former FDA commissioner Robert Califf, who described the agency as “finished.”

Impact: The cuts will “leave our country less safe, less prepared and without the necessary talent and resources to respond to health threats,” said Mandy Cohen, former CDC director. 

Related:

RFK Jr. purges CDC and FDA's public records teams, despite "transparency" promises – CBS 

States sue Trump administration for rescinding billions in health funding –  AP GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   Middle East and North Africa HIV cases more than doubled over the last decade amid ongoing conflicts, displacement, and high levels of stigma for vulnerable populations, per a new Frontline AIDS report; infections in Jordan, Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, and Lebanon soared by 116% since 2010 and are expected to keep rising. The Telegraph

Mpox presents a growing epidemic and pandemic risk, as human interaction with the virus reshapes its “entire endemic range” and as knowledge gaps on its biologic makeup hamper virus control. Nature Medicine (commentary)

A dearth of antifungal treatments is making invasive fungal diseases a greater threat, especially as they become more drug-resistant, per a WHO analysis released yesterday that described “an urgent need for innovative research and development.” Health Policy Watch

Family planning grants have been paused in the U.S., with the federal government withholding $27.5 million from organizations that provide contraception, cancer screenings, and STI services as officials investigate whether they’re complying with laws and executive orders. AP REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH Sierra Leone Weighs Abortion Bill
Sierra Leone could soon decriminalize abortion in some cases pending a parliamentary vote in the coming weeks. If passed, it would make Sierra Leone the second West African country (after Benin) to legalize the procedure.
 
Sierra Leone’s numbers:

• An estimated 90,000 abortions are performed each year.


• Tens of thousands of women and girls attempt to self-terminate pregnancies each year.


• Over 20% of girls ages 15–19 become pregnant.


• Unsafe abortions account for ~10% of the country’s maternal deaths; health workers say that’s likely a vast undercount.

A long battle: Following opposition from religious groups and some government officials, the initial bill has been amended to allow abortion only in cases of rape, incest, life-threatening risk, and fatal fetal abnormalities. 
 
AP GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH The Future of Zambia’s ‘Most Contaminated Site’ 
For decades, residents of Kabwe, Zambia, have grown severely sick—especially children. Many have died far too young. 

Hundreds of blood samples from residents over the decades have clearly identified the problem: severe lead poisoning. 

Behind the pollution: From 1906 to 1994, Kabwe was home to one of the world's largest lead and zinc mines. Lead particles infiltrated soil and waterways, and the pervasive dust continues to affect residents. 

• A 2022 U.N. report identified the site as a “sacrifice zone”—one of the most polluted places on the planet. 

Zambia received a World Bank loan to support cleanup efforts—but human rights groups say little has been done and that efforts have not addressed the former mine itself. 

NPR Goats and Soda DEMENTIA Lack of Deep Sleep Increases Alzheimer’s Risk
One in three American adults don’t get enough sleep—and according to a new study, a lack of REM sleep may speed the decline in parts of the brain associated with Alzheimer’s.

• Adults need an average of 7–8 hours of sleep. 


• 20%–25% should be spent in deep sleep and the same amount in REM sleep.

The two deep stages of sleep, slow-wave and REM, are vital to brain function, as toxins and dead cells are cleared and memories and other information are processed and consolidated. Without adequate slow-wave and REM sleep, the inferior parietal region of the brain shrunk, according to the study.

CNN

Related: 

Latest Alzheimer's lab tests focus on memory loss, not brain plaques – NPR Shots

Lowering bad cholesterol may cut risk of dementia by 26%, study suggests – The Guardian

WHO calls for urgent action on dementia among refugees and migrants – WHO

European committee says Lilly Alzheimer’s drug shouldn’t get marketing approval – AP OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Guterres calls for greater equality and inclusion as world marks Autism Awareness Day – UN News

Communities in crisis: The collapse of HIV lifelines in Eastern Europe and Central Asia – UNAIDS

A Prison Death Highlights an L.G.B.T.Q. Crackdown in Russia – The New York Times (gift link)

How Houston's mayor kept Texas prisons hot as 'living hell,' – Chron

Analysis: Tariffs on Canadian drugs will strain US supply chain – CIDRAP

Long COVID Showed Me the Bottom of American Health Care – The Atlantic

The Role of Clinicians in the Climate Crisis – JAMA Network Open (commentary)

How Dating Apps Could Unlock At-Home HIV Testing – Think Global Health (commentary)

The Sound of Science – The Hub / Johns Hopkins Magazine Issue No. 2701
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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Amid alarming reports of sexual violence being used as a weapon of terror across Sudan, UN reproductive health agency, UNFPA, is warning that over 12 million women and girls – and increasingly men and boys – are estimated to be at risk.

96 Global Health NOW: Fast-Spreading Measles and Misinformation; Inside the Plans to Dismantle USAID; and Finding Hope for Fistula Survivors in Nigeria View this email in your browser April 1, 2025 Forward Share Post Priscilla Luna and her 3-year-old daughter Avery read a book about immunizations at a Lubbock Public Health Department vaccine clinic. March 1, Lubbock, Texas. Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Fast-Spreading Measles and Misinformation
Measles continues to spread across under-vaccinated West Texas and is causing outbreaks in four other U.S. states—spreading as quickly as misinformation.

• The Texas outbreak has topped 400 cases and may continue for months. It has also been linked to new cases in Mexico, AP reports.


• The U.S. has had more cases in the first three months of the year than all of last year.

Misinformation:

• HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has recommended vitamin A as treatment, Axios reports. But experts warn that high doses of vitamin A can be dangerous.


• A hospital in Lubbock, Texas, reported last week it was treating 10 children “suffering from complications caused by measles and exacerbated by abnormal liver function caused by elevated levels of Vitamin A,” per Texas Public Radio.

The takeaway: Public health practitioners are having difficulty explaining the benefits of vaccination to some parents, Al Jazeera reports.

• Public health officials “have to get people to understand the … value of getting vaccinated, but battling information warfare is not what we’re taught in public health school,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of Brown University’s Pandemic Center.

Don’t Mess with Measles: Measles can be lethal, can cause brain damage, and harm the lungs and immune system, per a commentary in The Conversation.
            
Related:

Colorado measles case reported in Pueblo adult who traveled internationally – Colorado Public Radio
 
Texas Never Wanted RFK Jr.’s Unproven Measles Treatment – The Atlantic GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   A cholera outbreak in Angola has spread to 16 of the country’s 21 provinces so far this year, rising to 329 deaths and 8,500+ cases as of March 25, according to the WHO, with children and young adults particularly hard hit. CIDRAP
 
A deadly antibiotic-resistant superbug bacteria, Acinetobacter baumannii, for which there is little research, is spreading in a Malaysian hospital, per a new study that found high resistance to multiple antibiotics, especially carbapenems—the drugs of choice for the treatment of A. baumannii infections. Medical Xpress

A U.S. federal judge ruled that Alabama can’t prosecute people who help to facilitate out-of-state abortions where the procedure is legal, saying it would violate the constitution and the right to travel. The Appeal

Deforestation is a leading indicator of Ebola virus spillover from animals to humans in a new CDC-led study; the model could help identify patterns that could guide prevention efforts. Emerging Infectious Diseases U.S. Health Policy News: The head of Africa CDC thought news of a U.S. aid freeze must be 'a joke.' Now what? – NPR Goats and Soda

‘The lives of individuals in the US are at stake,’ researchers warn after HHS cancels hundreds of vaccine grants – CNN

FDA’s top tobacco official is removed from post in latest blow to health agency’s leadership – AP

Trump wants to ‘defund’ Planned Parenthood. The Supreme Court will hear a case aimed at that. – The 19th

Public health under Trump 2.0: the first 50 days – The Lancet Public Health (commentary)

How the MAHA Commission Can Improve U.S. Life Expectancy – Think Global Health (commentary) FOREIGN AID Inside the Plans to Dismantle USAID
The Trump administration’s plans to break down USAID and shift its surviving operations to the State Department have been outlined in a congressional notification.

The basics: The agency will be abolished “as an independent establishment” for fiscal year 2026, and all staff will be laid off. 

Reordering: Remaining parts of the agency, including food security and global health programs, will be run by the State Department. 

• Programs will be housed within State Department regional bureaus—a move that could make aid programs “more fragmented,” warn international development experts. 


• As the State Department hires staff for its programs, some USAID staff could be rehired, though it is unclear how the agency will respond to crises like the Burma earthquakes while the transition is ongoing. 

Is this legal? Congressional approval is required before the agency is shut down. It is unclear whether the Trump administration will wait for congressional authorization before moving forward.

Devex

Related:

The USAID awards the Trump administration killed — and kept – Devex

A Youth Friendly Drop-In Centre is Staying Committed to HIV Prevention Amidst USAID Funding Cuts in Kenya – Nigeria Health Watch

A midwife says of the aid cuts in Afghanistan: 'No one prioritizes women's lives.' – NPR Goats and Soda GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES CLIMATE POLICY The High Impact of Stemming ‘Super Pollutants’
In climate policy, mitigating CO2 emissions is the perennial priority. But scientists say addressing a small group of “super pollutants” could have a swift, meaningful influence on slowing rising temperatures and improving health outcomes. 

• Black carbon, methane, and ozone are responsible for nearly half of global temperature increases to date, and also have wide-ranging impacts on food security and respiratory health.

Rapid results: Reducing these emissions could serve as an “emergency brake” on climate change, say climate scientists, who raised the matter at the WHO Second Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health in Cartagena, Colombia, last week. 

• “If you reduce them today, we’ll see impacts in our lifetimes,” said Claire Henly, executive director of the Super Pollutant Field Catalyst.

Health Policy Watch

Related: Exposure to Air Pollution in Childhood Is Associated with Reduced Brain Connectivity – ISGlobal, The Barcelona Institute for Global Health SURGERY Finding Hope for Fistula Survivors in Nigeria
Free fistula repair surgery will soon be available at clinics throughout Nigeria, health officials announced earlier this month—a “groundbreaking move” in a country where ~12,000 new fistula cases are reported each year. 

Background: Vesicovaginal fistula (VVF) is a condition where an opening forms between the bladder and the vagina. Root causes: Prolonged or obstructed labor and female genital mutilation.

• The condition can be debilitating and highly stigmatizing: In 2022, ~626 women with VVF were abandoned by their families in the state of Borno.

More than surgery needed: Advocates say comprehensive counseling services are essential to support VVF survivors amid the psychological trauma associated with the condition. 

Nigeria Health Watch OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS ‘It’s beyond description’: Bodies pile up in mass graves as Myanmar grapples with quake toll – The Guardian

Gas fire in Malaysia injures more than 100 people and damages 49 houses – AP via ABC

An RSF atrocity, a mass evacuation, and another side to mutual aid in Sudan – The New Humanitarian

Epilepsy: The neglected disease eating up families – Daily Monitor

Who's stockpiling abortion pills amid bans – Axios

Scientists scramble to track LA wildfires’ long-term health impacts – Science

Is breastfeeding ‘exclusive’? Barriers facing global health professionals and proposed solutions – PLOS Global Public Health (commentary)

How to buy a year of happiness, explained in one chart – Vox Issue No. 2700
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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

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

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Although people with autism are making enormous contributions to societies across the globe, they still face significant challenges. 

96 McGill Perspectives on Global Health: March 2025 Issue March 31, 2025 View this email in your browser 
NEWSLETTER

This March, we honor World Tuberculosis (TB) Day—observed on March 24—to raise awareness about the devastating impact of TB worldwide and the urgent need for action. Despite being preventable and treatable, TB remains one of the deadliest infectious diseases, disproportionately affecting vulnerable communities. This day reminds us of the progress made and the challenges ahead in eliminating TB. Let’s advocate for equitable healthcare, invest in innovative solutions, and work toward a world free of TB.

Highlights of this Issue:

🔹 Select articles from this month
🔹 Organizations working to eliminate TB
🔹 Learn about the man who discovered the TB baterium
🔹 Read the latest World Health Organization 2024 Global tuberculosis report

Thank you for being part of our community. Enjoy the read! 💙✨

-->  Selected Articles for this Month  The Power of Youth-Informed Change: How Young People are Bringing Hope to the Mental Health Crisis ““Maybe the only thing to add at a community level is that we need to be better at connecting with those around us. The world has made it too easy to be alone.”
- Authors: Tamara Golosarsky, Zacharias Foti, and Katelyn Spicer --> Wish Lantern Festival: A Depiction of Solidarity and Community Action in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS “A single lantern flickers softly, but together their light pushes back the darkness as the first hints of dawn whisper of hope, undimmed by the trials of the night.”
 - Author: Alexandra Tom --> Combatting Hoarding:
A Path Toward Global Vaccine Equity “By embodying different types of advocacy, my generation can shift the current environment of isolationism into a movement that is focused on global solidarity.”
 - Author: Sophie Naasz --> Beyond the Blueprint: Introducing Virtual Reality to Pediatric Healthcare in Punjab “I learned that success in global health work depends on listening to local partners and adapting to unexpected realities.”
 - Author: Shreenik Kundu --> In conversation with Dr. Robert Bailey: The impact of climate change on the environment and beyond “In the sustainability field, I see the potential for significant change, but it’s going to be incredibly challenging. The younger generations are really going to have to push for solutions, and I respect the work they’re doing.”
 - Authors: Bhavya Bhushan & Drea Garcia Avila -->  Mission in Motion
  Get ready to be inspired! In this dynamic section, we spotlight global health organizations that are making waves and driving real change around the world. Each month, we showcase their innovative strategies and impactful initiatives as they tackle pressing health challenges and champion equity. 

This month, we focus on organizations working to combat tuberculosis (TB), a disease that remains a significant global health challenge. Let’s celebrate their dedication and commitment as we highlight their vital contributions to TB research, advocacy, and raising awareness about prevention and treatment.
  --> The Global Coalition Against Tuberculosis image: https://globalcoalitionagainsttb.org/objectives/ The Global Coalition Against Tuberculosis (GCAT): Is a dynamic network of organizations and advocates dedicated to ending the TB epidemic worldwide. With a focus on policy advocacy, GCAT works to increase funding, raise awareness, and promote global action to combat tuberculosis. By uniting governments, civil society, and the private sector, GCAT aims to ensure equitable access to TB care, innovative treatments, and preventive measures, driving efforts toward the global goal of eliminating TB. --> TB Alliance Image: https://www.tballiance.org/about-who-we-are/ TB Alliance: Is a global nonprofit organization dedicated to developing new, affordable, and effective treatments for tuberculosis (TB). With a focus on accelerating research and innovation, TB Alliance works to bring new therapies to those who need them most, particularly in low-resource settings. Their mission is to eliminate TB as a global health threat by advancing scientific solutions and ensuring equitable access to life-saving medicines. -->  In the News
  Stay up to date with news and opinions on Global Health Robert Koch - The man who discovered TB Image: https://x.com/NobelPrize/status/1904075230542492129 On March 24, 1882, German physician and Nobel Prize laureate Robert Koch announced the discovery of the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis (TB), a breakthrough commemorated today as #WorldTBDay. Read about his story! --> What is TB? What are the symptoms
to watch for? Image: https://x.com/WHOWPRO/status/1903995999208845667 Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria that spread through the air when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or spits. While it primarily affects the lungs, TB can also impact other areas of the body.

Contact your healthcare provide if you experience symptoms such as:
🔹a persistent cough
🔹 fever
🔹unexplained weight loss

Read more more! -->  New in Global Health Academic Literature
  WHO Global tuberculosis
By: World Health Organization Image: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240101531 The WHO Global tuberculosis report 2024 provides a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the TB epidemic, and of progress in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the disease, at global, regional and country levels. This is done in the context of global TB commitments, strategies and targets. Read Now --> Opportunities in Global Health
  American Public Health Association Annual Conference  Dates: November 2-5, 2025
Location: Washington DC, USA

Call for submission - The APHA 2025 Call for Films is now open!
Accepting submissions and reviewers for the 2025 Public Health Film Festival. Films from all disciplines of public health will be considered, but films related to the APHA 2025 theme — Making the Public’s Health a National Priority — are highly encouraged. The film festival showcases local, national and global public health films.

The submission deadline is April 7, 2025

Visit their website for more details -->  Share your Perspective on Global Health
  We are excited to announce a Call for Papers in the following areas! 

• Indigenous Health
• Mental Health
• Refugee Health
• Immigrant Health
• Climate Change 

McGill Global Health Perspectives welcomes contributions relevant to global health. Contributions to Global Health Perspectives should pertain to its mission and can include perspectives from your latest research, research experience, key issues in health policy governance, equity related challenges and strengths in global health to name a few. We want to represent a wide range of voices representing global health research, commentaries and opinions on current global health challenges and ideas on future direction of global health. Click here for submission guidelines.

You can submit your article, photo essay or article pitch to us by emailing us at: globalhealthblog@mcgill.ca. --> Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest information and experiences in global health! Subscribe Follow us on social media  --> Copyright © 2017 McGill Global Health Programs, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
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96 Global Health NOW: The Rocky Response to Burma’s Earthquake; Revisiting Extraordinary Journeys; and The Dangerous Blights of Skin Bleaching View this email in your browser March 31, 2025 Forward Share Post A Buddhist monk walking near a collapsed pagoda after an earthquake in Mandalay, central Burma (Myanmar), on March 30. AP Photo/Thein Zaw shared via a Facebook post The Rocky Response to Burma’s Earthquake 
As the death toll in Burma rises from a 7.7 magnitude earthquake on Friday, the difficulty of the disaster response is coming into focus, with the country’s ongoing civil war and recent upheaval in global aid complicating basic recovery efforts, reports the AP.

The latest: ~2,000 people have died in the earthquake devastation; “countless” remain buried under rubble as civilian-led efforts to dig out survivors—largely by hand—continue. 

• A UN assessment found that many health facilities had been damaged and warned that a “severe shortage of medical supplies is hampering response efforts.”

“Already dire”: 

• The country’s civil war has displaced over 3 million people and has left many regions dangerous for aid groups to reach. 


• The quake is “compounding an already dire humanitarian situation” for millions of children, warned UNICEF. 

A reshaped aid landscape: China, Russia, India, South Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam, and other countries have dispatched emergency teams and funds, reports Reuters via Irish Independent.

• But U.S. aid operations remain in chaos amid Trump administration cuts, reports The New York Times (gift link), as many of the systems needed to funnel American aid to Myanmar “have been shattered.” 

Building safety fears: Meanwhile, the collapse of a high-rise under construction in Bangkok that killed 11 has residents concerned about buildings’ earthquake resilience, reports The New York Times (gift link). 

• A Thai watchdog had previously flagged concerns about the building, reports The Straits Times. 

GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   Eight Palestine Red Crescent Society medics were killed when Israel’s military fired on ambulances they identified as “suspicious vehicles”—marking the single deadliest attack on Red Cross members anywhere in the world since 2017 and bringing to 30 the number of PRCS workers killed since October 2023. The Guardian

South Korea’s deadly fire that killed 30 people and destroyed ~4,000 structures is under investigation; a man is suspected of starting the fire while performing an ancestral rite by a family grave. BBC

The WHO, citing a $600 million budget gap for 2025, has proposed slashing its 2026–27 budget by 21%, to $4.2 billion, and signaled that job cuts are imminent; unconfirmed reports estimate that 20%–40% of the agency’s 9,000+ jobs globally could be eliminated. Geneva Health Files

Mexico will ban junk food in schools as a part of its redoubled efforts to mitigate its childhood obesity epidemic, with the guidelines forbidding sugary fruit drinks, packaged chips, and other processed snacks taking effect this week. AP U.S. Global Health Policy News The NIH’s Most Reckless Cuts Yet: Ending clinical trials with no warning can put patients at risk. – The Atlantic

The CDC Buried a Measles Forecast That Stressed the Need for Vaccinations – ProPublica

Tuberculosis is the world’s top infectious killer. Aid groups say Trump’s funding freezes will cause more deaths – CNN

‘We should have been hammered a long time ago’: African countries thank Trump for aid wake-up call – The Telegraph

RFK Jr. Expected To Lay Off Entire Office Of Infectious Disease And HIV/AIDS Policy – Forbes

How Trump is following Project 2025’s radical roadmap to defund science – Nature

Trump Slashed International Aid. Geneva Is Feeling the Impact. – Bloomberg CityLab GHN EXCLUSIVE Revisiting Extraordinary Journeys
If you werenʼt able to join GHN earlier this month for Extraordinary Journeys: Stories of Refugees Fleeing Conflict and Shaping Global Health, you can now view recordings of each story.

• This special event, co-hosted by GHN and the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health, spotlighted the remarkable experiences of public health practitioners with lived experience as refugees.


• Storytellers from Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), South Sudan, Sudan, and Syria shared firsthand accounts of living and working amid humanitarian crises, fleeing conflict, and shaping impactful roles in public health.

WATCH HERE GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH The Dangerous Blights of Skin Bleaching 
More urgent warnings are needed about skin lightening’s dangers, say physicians in Nigeria, as more people are being treated for skin damage and other health problems, and as more children are being harmed by bleaching products, reports NPR Goats and Soda. 

Surging popularity: Sales of skin-lightening products across Africa are projected to nearly double to $15.7 billion by 2030. The practice is especially prevalent in Nigeria, where 77% of women use skin-lightening products, per the WHO. 

Bodily toll: The ingredients in the products, which include acids and steroids, not only damage skin—they can “wreak havoc and damage internal organs,” said Lagos dermatologist Vivian Oputa. 

Children at risk: Doctors say they are seeing more children—even babies—with burning and discoloration after their parents used bleaching products on them, often under social pressure, reports the BBC. 

Calls for regulation: Doctors say government regulation is needed to limit access to potent pharmaceutical creams that should require prescriptions. QUICK HITS Israel-Gaza war: Wounded Palestinians dying for lack of supplies, surgeon says – BBC

WHO alert on US measles outbreak adds new genetic details – CIDRAP 

How can Africa sustain its HIV response amid US aid cuts? – The Lancet HIV (commentary) Thanks for the tip, Elizabeth S. Rose! 

Boosting advanced-stage clinical trial capacity in East and Central Africa to combat regional epidemic threats – CEPI

Morning-after pill to be made free in England pharmacies – Medical Xpress

How a ban on food dye in West Virginia has forged an unlikely alliance – The Guardian

New 3D technology could soon bring surgeons closer to patients in Africa’s most remote regions – AP Issue No. 2699
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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

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

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


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