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Mon, 05/04/2026 - 09:17
96 Global Health NOW: The Growing Threat of ‘Hidden Hunger’; and Raw Milk Market Gains Ground May 4, 2026 TOP STORIES A suspected hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship has led to three deaths, while lab results confirm six cases, ; WHO officials said the  “risk to the wider public remains low” as exposure to the virus is rare and typically linked to exposure to infected rodents, .     Ghana has rejected a bilateral health agreement with the U.S., as Ghana’s leaders resisted terms requiring the sharing of sensitive health data—the same issue that led Zimbabwe to reject a similar deal and that has also prompted a court to suspend implementation of Kenya’s agreement.     School phone bans in the U.S. have had mixed results so far, , which analyzed 40,000+ schools and found that test scores and attendance have not increased; however, the study found improved student well-being over time and said long-term impacts bear further study.      The U.S. identified 50 large TB outbreaks involving 10+ related cases between 2017 and 2023, , which found that roughly two‑thirds of large outbreaks occurred within family or social networks.  IN FOCUS Farmers harvest potatoes in a field in Dalingzi Village of Daxinzhuang Town in the Fengnan District, Tangshan City, China, on July 9, 2025. Yang Shiyao/Xinhua via Getty The Growing Threat of ‘Hidden Hunger’
Staple foods like rice, wheat, legumes, and potatoes are steadily losing vital nutrients, as rising carbon dioxide levels from climate change deplete key minerals and vitamins from crops. The shift could lead to mounting health consequences, scientists say—especially in low-income countries.     ³󲹳’s&Բ;󲹱ԾԲ: Increasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere alter plant development by speeding growth and boosting sugars while disrupting their ability to absorb key minerals, like zinc and iron.  
  • , scientists found that nutrients have already decreased by an average 3.2% across all plants since the late 1980s—a depletion already impacting diets worldwide.  
“The diets we eat today have less nutritional density than what our grandparents ate, even if we eat exactly the same thing,” said Kristie Ebi of the University of Washington’s Center for Health and the Global Environment.    The impact: Scientists warn of a future of “hidden hunger,” where people eat sufficient calories but face major deficiencies. While wealthy countries can offset losses with diet changes and supplements, poorer populations reliant on impacted crops could see “devastating” impacts.  
  • By mid-century, over a billion women and children could face increased risk of iron-deficiency anemia, leading to pregnancy complications, developmental problems, and death.  
  • And ~2 billion people across the globe already facing nutrient shortages could see exacerbated health problems.  
Strategies needed: Researchers emphasize the need for agricultural policy geared toward growing an array of nutritious crop variants—and the urgent need to cut carbon emissions.         ICYMI:  – Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health  DATA POINT

40,000+
—ĔĔĔĔ
The number of measles cases since March 15 in Bangladesh’s growing outbreak, according to health officials; nearly 300 deaths have been reported in that time frame. —   POLICY Raw Milk Market Gains Ground   
State legislators are pressing for wider access to raw milk in the U.S., as demand for the product grows despite its established health risks and links to ongoing outbreaks. 
 
More legal avenues: Currently 40+ proposed bills in 18 states are seeking to make it easier to buy, sell, or consume raw milk. 
 
Risks persist: The push for raw milk access has accelerated with promotion from social media and wellness influencers, despite five outbreaks linked to raw milk reported in the past year alone. 
  • A CDC review identified  tied to raw milk that sickened 2,600+ people between 1998 and 2018, with children especially vulnerable.  
“Public health has lost the battle on raw milk,” said Mary McGonigle-Martin, co-chair of consumer advocacy group Stop Foodborne Illness. 
 
  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES QUICK HITS WHO delays pandemic treaty amid pathogen-sharing dispute –   
Court restricts abortion access across the US by blocking the mailing of mifepristone –      ‘Mothers won’t die, babies can survive’: new maternal hospital opens in world’s largest refugee camp –  
Trump just replaced his surgeon general pick, and it could change what you’re told about your health –     ‘A ghost that lives with us’: Death Cafes take the sting out of the inevitable end –    Issue No. 2909
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 and follow us on Instagram and X .

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  Copyright 2026 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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Categories: Global Health Feed

Thu, 04/30/2026 - 09:14
96 Global Health NOW: A Turning Point in TB Testing; and A ‘Terrifying Medical Underworld’ Expands April 30, 2026 TOP STORIES Endometriosis diagnosis could be dramatically improved with a new imaging tool that uses a molecular tracer to help physicians observe blood vessel growth and inflammation in the body; the new tool could significantly shorten the long wait time for a diagnosis, which averages 9+ years in the U.K.  

HIV patients in Senegal are forgoing treatment amid a surge of arrests targeting the LGBTQ community after the government’s decision to increase prison term lengths and fines for same-sex sexual acts and any promotion of homosexuality.     America's infant formula supply has been deemed safe by the FDA, which tested 300+ infant formula samples for contaminants including lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, pesticides, PFAs, and phthalates, and found "an overwhelming majority of samples had undetectable or very low levels of contaminants.”     World Cup health surveillance for the competition will be launched by global health academics at Georgetown University, who are providing a temporary surveillance hub to monitor disease risks like measles.   IN FOCUS Scanning electron micrograph of Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria, which cause TB. NIH//Universal Images Group via Getty Images A Turning Point in TB Testing    A new portable tuberculosis test could transform the diagnostic process for patients, making it more accessible and affordable for underserved populations, and leading to earlier treatment options, .     The traditional method: For over a century, TB diagnosis has relied on examining a patient’s phlegm samples under a microscope—an often-unwieldy, imprecise method that can miss up to half of cases or produce false positives.  
  • It’s also difficult for many patients, like children and older people, to provide phlegm samples. 
Circumventing phlegm: A new molecular test detects TB bacterium DNA via a simple tongue swab or phlegm, using technology similar to that used in hospital-based COVID tests to produce results in under 30 minutes, . 
  • In  researchers analyzed the tests of ~1,400 patients across Africa and Asia and found the diagnostic process met WHO accuracy standards, while proving easy to use in low-resource settings. 
  • The device, MiniDock MTB, was developed by the Chinese company Pluslife, which designed it to be low-cost, battery-powered, and simple enough to use in clinics without microscopes or advanced labs. 
  • Caveats: The test may miss very early infections and cannot identify drug-resistant TB without follow-up testing. 
Implications: Easier, more reliable diagnosis could reduce missed cases, expedite treatment, and slow transmission.  HEALTH SYSTEMS A ‘Terrifying Medical Underworld’ Expands     A crisis is growing in American hospitals as more facilities resort to patient “boarding”: the practice of holding admitted patients for hours or days in the emergency departments or other ill-equipped temporary locations while awaiting a hospital bed.     The reasons for the growing practice are complex, including hospital financial structures and staffing issues. But meaningful reforms have yet to be enacted.     In a deeply researched, and deeply personal report, journalist and former ER physician Elisabeth Rosenthal lays out the crisis through the lens of her late husband’s own agony in this “terrifying medical underworld” in his last days before dying of esophageal cancer.     The quote: “Everyone knows about this problem, and no one cares enough to do anything about it. It’s barbaric,” said Adrian Haimovich, an ED doctor in Boston.       OPPORTUNITY Funding Opportunity for Disability Inclusion  
Borealis Philanthropy's Disability Inclusion Fund is seeking joint grant proposals from organizations led by and for disabled people.  
These grants support cross-movement collaborations advancing disability justice, including community organizing, advocacy, narrative change, arts, and policy work.  
  • At least one partner must be disability-focused and disability-led.  
  • Combined annual budgets must be under $3 million.  
  • All organizations must be U.S.-based 501(c)(3)s or fiscally sponsored.  
Successful applicants can receive up to $150,000 over two years.  
  •   
ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION Gulls Just Wanna Have Fun    The frenzied squawks echoing from a pub in De Panne, Belgium, last weekend may have been alarming—if not downright annoying—to uninitiated passersby. But to the crowd inside, these were sacred hymns of homage.    The annual European Seagull Screeching Championship is, after all, more than a competition. Now in its sixth year, the event seeks to rehabilitate the much-derided sea scavengers’ reputation by “connecting gulls and people,” and reminding them that “a gull screeching brings back good memories,” .     The real memory-makers? The people with eerily good impressions of that unhinged cackle only a seagull can make as it divebombs your sandwich. This year, 70 contestants from 15 countries gave it their best go, , many donning feathers in an effort to further impress the five jury members (each “true seagull lovers,” assures the website).    And much like a seagull, organizer Claude Willaert has unapologetically bold aims for the competition, : “We are going to have more countries than at the Eurovision Song Contest.”  QUICK HITS RFK Jr. is holding up $600M in vaccines for poor countries –      Australia becomes the 30th country to eliminate trachoma as a public health problem –  
A cheap drug used by longevity enthusiasts may have a surprising impact on exercise –  
J. Craig Venter, Scientist Who Decoded the Human Genome, Dies at 79 –  
Baby teeth hold clues to the harms of toxic metals for infants — and older kids –   
Why you should ‘feed a cold’: eating primes immune cells for action –   Issue No. 2908
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 and follow us on Instagram and X .

Please send the Global Health NOW free sign-up link to friends and colleagues:

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  Copyright 2026 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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Categories: Global Health Feed

Wed, 04/29/2026 - 09:14
96 Global Health NOW: When Policy Shapes Biology; and How Health Misinformation is Fueling Solar Farm Fears April 29, 2026 TOP STORIES Aid groups are calling for a humanitarian corridor to be opened through the Strait of Hormuz as the war in Iran has led to the blockage of vital aid supplies, including critical medications.     Viral hepatitis remains “a major global health challenge” despite notable gains, ; while hepatitis C- and B-related deaths have declined significantly, current transmission rates of ~1.8 million infections annually show that2030 elimination goals are off-course.     Disabled Americans who receive Supplemental Security Income and live with family members who qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will see their monthly benefits cut or eliminated if a Trump administration rule change moves forward; the cuts would affect ~400,000 people with dementia, developmental disabilities, and other conditions.     A former NIH aide has been on obstruction of justice and conspiracy charges for allegedly using his personal email to conceal federal records about federally funded research into dangerous viruses like the one that caused COVID-19.   IN FOCUS A view of houses in KwanGode, a rural area outside Hillcrest, South Africa. November 29, 2025. Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty When Policy Shapes Biology    The introduction of powerful anti-HIV drugs in regions like South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natale province has rewritten disease outcomes of the populations there. But the intervention has also reshaped the DNA of people in the region, —slowing evolutionary changes that were being driven by the epidemic, . 
  • In KwaZulu-Natal, extreme AIDS mortality before 2005 drove measurable genetic change over a decade, rapidly reshaping immune system genes.  
  • The inflow of antiretroviral drugs notably slowed this process.  
Deep, downstream effects: Abrupt funding cuts to programs like PEPFAR and those affecting programs backed by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria risk undoing that progress, potentially allowing both the epidemic and its biological impacts to intensify again. 
  • Such interruptions and reductions have eroded critical infrastructure needed to test, track, and treat the virus, impacting not only treatment but the ability to prevent it, .  
  • South Africa’s uptake of lenacapavir, for example, will be heavily affected by funding cuts, , .  
Seismic shifts on the horizon: South Africa is facing major upheaval to its HIV-fighting infrastructure: the Global Fund has notified the country that it has less than eight years before its funding wraps, .  
Related:     AIDS Creeps Back in Parts of Zambia, a Year After U.S. Cuts to H.I.V. Assistance –      We detected Aids through a federal early warning system. Trump has decimated it –   GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES COMMUNICATION How Health Misinformation is Fueling Solar Farm Fears    The expansion of large solar farms is becoming a new battleground in public health policy: Critics point to health risks as a reason to restrict expansion, while researchers say such fears are grounded in misinformation.     A range of concerns: Critics of solar farms say health risks range from the impacts of electromagnetic fields to contamination, and such concerns have contributed to recent restrictions in Michigan, Ohio, and Missouri. 
  • But the purported public health risks are not grounded in credible evidence, say researchers and environmental lawyers.  
Energy goals at stake: The backlash threatens to stall solar energy transition targets even as demand grows. 
  OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS More of the same. Epic Fury’s impact on global health and humanitarian actions –     Former Tobacco Executive Takes CDC Role –     ‘America First’ aid policy reshapes how U.S. delivers global health assistance –     Ending Malaria Is Africa’s Smartest Investment: Here Is Why Leaders Are Acting Now –      In first meeting, federal autism committee focuses on ‘profound autism’ –      GOP takes aim at hospital CEOs over affordability crisis –     A neuroscientist’s guide to reading the research yourself –   Issue No. 2907
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 and follow us on Instagram and X .

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  Copyright 2026 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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Categories: Global Health Feed

Tue, 04/28/2026 - 09:24
96 Global Health NOW: UK Cuts Imperil Polio Eradication; and How One Sudanese Surgeon Held Back the Tide April 28, 2026 TOP STORIES Ghana has rejected a U.S. proposal for a bilateral health aid deal because of a requirement that it share health data; Zimbabwe shot down a similar America First Global Health Strategy-based proposal for the same reason.  

Hundreds of hepatitis B infections and more liver cancer cases will likely follow the Trump administration’s policy that canceled a recommendation that the hepatitis B vaccine be given to infants within 24 hours of birth, .  

Strict limits on girls’ education and women’s work opportunities in Afghanistan may cause a shortage of 25,000 women teachers and health workers by 2030, .      48% of newborns infected with chikungunya during birth will experience severe neurological problems, including seizures, bleeding in the brain, and other issues, ; babies who appear healthy at birth can experience fever, persistent crying, and feeding problems three to seven days later.    IN FOCUS: GHN EXCLUSIVE A health worker administers polio drops to a child on a nationwide week-long poliovirus eradication campaign. Karachi, Pakistan, September, 1, 2025. Asif Hassan/AFP via Getty UK Cuts Imperil Polio Eradication 
Anne Wafula Strike once proudly served as the U.K.’s “poster girl” for polio eradication. Today, the Kenyan-born paralympic athlete and polio survivor has a different message: “It feels we were running a group relay and just before the finish line, someone deliberately dropped the baton.” 
  Last month, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) lost its largest contributor . The move is part of Prime Minister Keir Starmer's sweeping 40% reduction in foreign aid, the largest percentage cut to development assistance by any government. 
  With the world on the cusp of eradicating the disease, “it’s the worst possible moment” to abandon funding, says Shahin Huseynov, WHO’s polio coordinator for Europe. Only two wild polio cases were reported globally in the first three months of 2026, and just two countries remain endemic—but poliovirus has been found in U.K. wastewater this year.  
  • Without sustained funding, the WHO warns that 200,000 children could be paralyzed by polio each year within a decade. 
What it means on the ground: The cuts will likely mean prioritizing surveillance and vaccination campaigns in the highest-risk areas, and postponing the goal of eradicating polio by 2029, says Huseynov.  
With GPEI's budget already cut 30% from prior U.S. cuts, advocates are urging the U.K. to honor its legal obligation to spend 0.7% of national income on overseas aid. 
  • Reinstating polio funding would cost just $134 million, a fraction of what's been cut. 
There’s hope that other countries will step in—such as Australia, Spain, Canada, and Korea—who are still “looking, kind of, to use their development assistance funds in a very positive way,” says Adrian Lovett of the ONE Campaign.    Nevertheless, a major concern is the signal the cuts send to other countries: “It’s not just about money. It’s about solidarity,” says Huseynov.
  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES CONFLICT How One Sudanese Surgeon Held Back the Tide    Even as missiles hit Al Nao hospital, as electricity faltered, supplies dwindled and hospital staffers fled, orthopedic surgeon Jamal Eltaeb kept working.    Al Nao is one of the only functioning hospitals in the region outside Khartoum in civil war-torn Sudan—and Eltaeb knew it was a lifeline for hundreds of desperate patients.  
  • For three years, he has found a way to keep caring for them—despite direct attacks on the hospital and amidst mass-casualty bomb strikes where 100+ wounded patients needed emergency care.  
  • “We were working everywhere, in tents, outside, on the floor, doing everything to save patients’ lives,” said Eltaeb, who was just recognized with the $1 million Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity.  
Dire, ongoing need: ~40% of Sudan’s hospitals no longer function as the war enters its fourth year.   

Related: Darfur: Two decades on, a new generation of children faces 'horrific violence' – OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Can the U.S. handle another pandemic? –  
The US CDC on the brink –     Bedilu Abebe: Why Malaria Still Persists in Ethiopia –     Trump administration warns against using federal dollars on fentanyl test strips –      Toxins plus climate harms likely cause of reduced fertility, study finds –     CDC warns of drug-resistant salmonella infections linked to backyard poultry –

How to let go of grudges — and why it could be good for your health –   Issue No. 2906
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 and follow us on Instagram and X .

Please send the Global Health NOW free sign-up link to friends and colleagues:

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  Copyright 2026 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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Categories: Global Health Feed

Mon, 04/27/2026 - 09:25
96 Global Health NOW: A ‘Critical Phase’ in the Malaria Fight; and Solar Powering Maternal Survival in Nigeria April 27, 2026 TOP STORIES Algeria has eliminated trachoma as a public health problem after a decades-long effort that was accelerated in 2013 with particular focus on 12 highly affected provinces and intensive door-to-door screening and management; it is the 29th country globally to have eliminated the infection, which can cause blindness.     The first gene therapy for deafness has been approved by the FDA—a historic milestone in the treatment of hearing loss, though the treatment currently impacts only people born with a very rare form of genetic deafness; the manufacturer, Regeneron, will offer the treatment for free in the U.S.     Living in pesticide-heavy environments could heighten the risk of cancer by up to 150%–ēeven with chemicals considered “safe” on their own— that examined the impact of complex mixtures of chemicals in real-world conditions, in contrast to previous research that has focused mostly on individual chemicals in controlled environments.  
70%+ of people globally believe at least one false or unproven health claim, like that vaccine risks outweigh benefits or that fluoride in water is harmful, —results that point to a potentially growing number of people questioning scientific evidence.   IN FOCUS Midwife Sarah Atim speaks to expectant mothers about malaria vaccination during an antenatal care session at a hospital in Uganda's Apac district. April 8, 2025. Hajarah Nalwadda/Getty A ‘Critical Phase’ in the Malaria Fight    The global fight against malaria is at a pivotal juncture, as major scientific advances like vaccines, therapies, and diagnostics converge with rising threats like drug resistance and underfunded health systems—a set of opportunities and barriers “defining a critical phase for malaria control,” as is marked.     New tools, new hope: Artemether-lumefantrine, the first malaria treatment tailored for newborns and small infants, has been approved, closing a longstanding gap in care for “one of the most underserved patient groups,” which is also the most vulnerable, .  
  • Three new rapid diagnostic tests are also rolling out, designed to detect mutating parasite strains that previously slipped through standard testing. 
And new threats: There is increasing evidence that parasites are growing resistant to artemisinin—the “backbone” of lifesaving therapies—. This shift, along with insecticide-resistant mosquitoes and expanding mosquito habitats, is making it difficult to build on hard-won gains like the vaccine rollouts.     Ongoing toll of disruption: Meanwhile, malaria programs throughout Africa are still seeing the effects of the sudden USAID cuts last year, . In Zambia, for example, malaria hospitalizations are now increasing—likely due to the lack of regular USAID-funded spraying, doctors say.  
  • And even as bilateral agreements with the U.S. are formed to fund countries’ malaria programs, countries with high malaria burdens are struggling to regain lost traction.  
The Quote: “We’re just running all the time, and the malaria parasite is catching up with us all the time,” said Jane E. Carlton, director of the Malaria Research Institute at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.     Related:       How mosquitoes—and malaria—helped shape the whereabouts of early humankind –    AI-powered drones slash malaria cases –   Can you stop malaria crossing borders? One nation’s bid to wipe out the disease –   Malaria rebound spurs AI-driven hunt for parasite genes linked to deadly cases – DATA POINT

379 million
—ĔĔĔĔ—
Malaria cases averted across 25 countries in sub-Saharan Africa attributable to the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative investment from 2005 to 2024, from Imperial College London and the Malaria Atlas Project. –ē
  TECH & INNOVATION Solar Powering Maternal Survival in Nigeria    Electricity can be the difference between life and death for many maternity ward patients in Nigeria, where ~40% of primary health care centers lack reliable power.  
  • Power interruptions lead to delayed surgeries, stalled oxygen flow, and nonworking incubators, and also hamper routine procedures that require light, like suturing.  
Lifesaving solar energy: Since Gombe State Specialist Hospital installed a solar-hybrid system in 2020, maternal deaths have dropped from 15–20 per month to 1–2, and neonatal deaths have fallen from 50+ per month to 20–25.  
  • “There is no interruption. We can suture, we can operate, we can do everything,” said Sarigamo Ibrahim, a nurse and midwife who manages the maternity unit. 
  OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS South Carolina’s 200-day measles outbreak is over. What it cost. –  
Measles Is Back. What Comes Next Will Be Worse. –  Thanks for the tip, Dave Cundiff!  
What happened to Covid? –  
The Next Global Health Crisis Is Already Here: Childhood Trauma from War –  
Trump fires all 24 members of the U.S. National Science Foundation’s governing body –   

Untangling the complex relationship between HIV-exposure and tuberculosis in children: a narrative review –   
So, you got bit by a tick. Here’s exactly what to do next. –   Issue No. 2905
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 and follow us on Instagram and X .

Please send the Global Health NOW free sign-up link to friends and colleagues:

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  Copyright 2026 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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Categories: Global Health Feed

Thu, 04/23/2026 - 09:40
96 Global Health NOW: Europe’s ‘Narrowing Window’ for Climate Action; and Burkina Faso’s Psychiatric Care Deficit Plus: Your Photos May Be Bad—But Are They Bad Enough? April 23, 2026 TOP STORIES 21 African countries are battling measles outbreaks, and 493 deaths associated with the disease have been registered, reports the Africa CDC—which highlighted that 72% of all cases and 95% of the deaths have occurred in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  

The CDC will not publish a report showing the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines; sources familiar with the blocked report say it showed the vaccines reduced hospitalizations and emergency department visits ‌among ⁠healthy adults by about half this past winter.     A revamped suicide and crisis hotline, 988, has been associated with an 11% drop in suicides among adolescents and young adults in U.S. compared with projected rates since the shortened number was launched in 2022, ; states with the biggest increases in answered calls also saw the largest decline in suicide rates.    A UK generational smoking ban passed this week in Parliament following a yearslong campaign; the directive means that children born after Dec. 31, 2008, will be banned from ever buying cigarettes.   IN FOCUS Locals and forest firefighters try to battle a wildfire in the village of Veiga das Meas, in northwestern Spain, on August 16, 2025. Miguel Riopa/AFP via Getty Europe’s ‘Narrowing Window’ for Climate Action
Extreme heat, drought, vector-borne illnesses, and other climate-driven health risks are rapidly escalating across Europe, —which warns that political action and public will are not keeping pace with the need for urgent interventions, .  

  • “The health impacts of climate change are intensifying faster than our response is keeping up,” said Joacim Rocklöv, co-director of the Lancet Countdown Europe. 

Heat-related harms: Compared with the 1990s, extreme heat alerts are up 318%, and nearly all monitored European regions saw an increase in deaths attributable to heat.  

  • Heat is also exacerbating sleep disruption and complications in chronic diseases and birth outcomes. 

Accelerating disease: The overall average risk of dengue outbreaks in Europe has quadrupled over the last decade, and reported cases of West Nile virus, chikungunya, and Zika virus are also rising regionwide.  

Food insecurity: Meanwhile, drought is contributing to rising food prices, which pushed over a million more people into moderate or severe food insecurity in 2023 compared to past decades. 

Lagging political response: While Europe has been a global leader in climate policy progress, the report warns that political and public engagement are stalling, and urges further actions “need to be accelerated” including:  

  • Swifter transition away from fossil fuels to other energy sources.  

  • Implementing early warning systems for heat and other climate dangers into health care.  

  • Targeted adaptation measures including expanded green spaces. 

Related: Heatwaves, floods and wildfires pose rising threat to democracy, report finds –  

MENTAL HEALTH Burkina Faso’s Psychiatric Care Deficit     In Burkina Faso, access to mental health care is scarce, with just 11 psychiatrists available to a population of 20 million+ people.     Strained system: Mental health services were already fragile, but recent years of conflict and insecurity in the region have led to the withdrawal of NGOs that helped provide care.  
  • Meanwhile, a key nurse training program has been suspended, and the country is dealing with an exodus of medical professionals to other countries.  
Cultural dynamics: A great deal of misinformation and stigma are still attached to mental health disorders, and families often turn to spiritual healers for help instead of medical care.    Hope on the horizon? The government has announced a plan to train and employ 60 psychiatrists over the next five years.      OPPORTUNITY Take a Load Off ... Your Eyes  
Prolonged screen use is a reality of daily life for many of us.     Students at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have launched a campaign—Take 60—to encourage 60-second hourly screen breaks to help reduce digital eye strain and support better focus and overall eye health.    We hope you’ll give it a try ... after scrolling down to read the Thursday Diversion!    ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION Gullfoss, a waterfall on the Hvítá River, in southwest Iceland, in November 2023. This photo was taken by GHN's Morgan Coulson, who spent just 24 hours in Iceland on her way to Ireland, and couldn't find a bad shot. Your Photos May Be Bad—But Are They Bad Enough? 
Are you generally uninterested in photography, not good at it, and regularly disappointed with your own photos? Do you have no regard for composition and take portraits from below? Of people eating? Did you 
 
There’s a prize for that—and it comes with “possible worldwide recognition” and a trip to Iceland.
 
Icelandair is seeking the “” to prove that this supermodel of a country has no bad angles—a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity where “a lack of skill makes you ideal for this task.”
 
We admire Icelandair’s optimism, but suspect there’s someone out there that can still make a glacier look like a murky pond, a majestic volcano resemble an anthill, and give the Geysir a double chin. And we hope it’s us.
 

 
Thanks for the tip, Lindsay Smith Rogers!  QUICK HITS Why these treatments for one of the deadliest cancers are stirring such hope –      Residents in rural Sudan say the Iran war has made it harder to get medicines –     Pace of N.I.H. Funding Slows Further in Trump’s Second Year –     In hearings, RFK Jr claims no responsibility for measles spread –     Two common drugs may reverse fatty liver disease, study finds –      Britain’s £8bn bet on the developing world –   Issue No. 2903
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 and follow us on Instagram and X .

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Wed, 04/22/2026 - 09:43
96 Global Health NOW: The Civilian Impact of War in Iran; and A Disease-Busting House Design April 22, 2026 TOP STORIES Human rights violations are on the rise internationally at the hands of both states and non-state actors who largely face no accountability, ; despite the grim findings, the report praises the “masterful work” of diplomats and activists seeking to strengthen civil rights and liberties.     Nearly half of U.S. children breathe dangerous levels of air pollution, , which also warned that the Trump administration’s sweeping rollback of protections will worsen the outlook.      A major mRNA vaccine trial will launch soon in Britain as the country seeks to prepare for a potential bird flu pandemic; the trial, led by Moderna and the U.K. Health Security Agency, will recruit 3,000 participants to test the human vaccine’s effectiveness.      WHO-recommended antibiotics for neonatal sepsis are largely ineffective in low-resource nations, of antibiotic resistance, which found that antibiotics like ampicillin and gentamicin were active against only 25% of cases in which they were used and had “limited coverage against locally prevalent, highly resistant pathogens.”   IN FOCUS A woman looks out over Resalat Square, where photos of civilians killed in recent U.S.-Israeli strikes are displayed. Tehran, Iran, April 20, Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty The Civilian Impact of War in Iran   The war in Iran is taking a deepening toll on civilian life as widespread damage to the country’s already-fragile natural resources, infrastructure, and health systems is “pushing one of the world’s most environmentally vulnerable regions toward catastrophe,” (CAP).     So far, 1,700+ civilians—including at least 254 children—have been killed, .  
  • But the true toll is difficult to gauge due to restricted reporting, damage to hospitals, and widespread communications blackouts.  
Health systems hollowed out: Even before the war, Iran’s health care system was weakened by sanctions and violence from recent unrest. As of April 3, ~300 medical facilities had been damaged, further hampering care, per CAP.     Environmental emergency: Already strained by years of drought and climate impacts, the region now faces “compounding harms” from strikes on oil facilities and industrial sites—leading to long-term ecological risks from air, water, and soilcontamination.     Water scarcity, “food catastrophe”: Attacks on water infrastructure threaten access to drinking water across the region. Meanwhile, analysts say the conflict’s impact on global food prices could lead to “catastrophe,” as shipping disruptions lead to shortages in oil and fertilizer needed for agricultural production, .  
  • Such impacts will be most deeply felt by low-income countries in Africa and Asia.  
Call for humanitarian intervention: The report calls for urgent aid, but also long-term remediation centered on environmental harm—including surveillance for chronic disease, soil recovery, and investments in more resilient water systems. 

Related:  Geopolitics and Humanitarian Health in Iran, Cuba, and Ukraine –  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES ARCHITECTURE A Disease-Busting House Design
Well-designed “Star Homes”—which promote airflow, block insects, and feature outdoor latrines and rainwater collection systems—can reduce child mortality, demonstrates a randomized controlled trial in southern Tanzania, .    Per the research, led by Lorenz von Seidlein of the Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit: 
  • Children under 13 living in Star Homes were 44% less likely than those in the control group to suffer from malaria.
  • Cases of diarrhea and respiratory infections were down by 30% and 18%, respectively.  
Drawbacks: The biggest barrier to broader application? The $8,800 price tag. But Seidlein says the goal wasn’t to prove that millions of Star Homes should be built. 
  • The study showed that “if you use better principles in building, you can probably achieve a massive effect,” he said. 
  OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS ‘It’s a powder keg’: Romania leads EU measles cases as vaccination rates collapse –      As measles takes toll on kids, anti-vaxxers in US have change of heart –      Pentagon ends mandatory flu vaccines for service members –     ‘The next opioid epidemic’: Gambling legalization outpaces public health response to addiction – Thanks for the tip, Chiara Jaffe!    Priya Pal: If pregnancy centers get public money, they should meet   medical standards –      French activists sue 'deceptive' laughing gas suppliers –     A specialized tour at the Berlin Zoo brings joy to people living with dementia –   Issue No. 2903
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 and follow us on Instagram and X .

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Categories: Global Health Feed

Tue, 04/21/2026 - 09:19
96 Global Health NOW: The Questions Surrounding Zambia’s Future HIV Fight; and Omaha’s Lag in Lead Testing April 21, 2026 TOP STORIES RSV vaccination of pregnant women lowered the risk of hospitalization of their infant children by 81%, per a study of 289,000+ babies born in England; the findings were shared at the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases on April 18.         Blue monkeys, a crowned eagle, a Nile monitor lizard, a leopard, and six other species were caught on video eating Egyptian fruit bats—which carry the Marburg virus; the video from a cave in Uganda demonstrates how intermediate animals could acquire and spread the fatal virus.       The Lancet is convening its first-ever commission focused on global skin health; the experts will set goals for reducing skin diseases, improving skin health, and training health workers.       President Trump directed $50 million on April 18 to increase availability of psychedelic drugs like psilocybin and ibogaine for mental health treatment and ordered the FDA to speed their review.    IN FOCUS A man learns AIDS prevention know-how during an event marking World AIDS Day in Lusaka, Zambia, on December 1, 2022. Peng Lijun/Xinhua via Getty The Questions Surrounding Zambia’s Future HIV Fight
As Zambia has achieved dramatic HIV gains through PEPFAR-supported efforts, its Southern Province has spearheaded efforts to become less dependent on NGOs, . 
  • Since 2019, PEPFAR funds have been channeled directly to the provincial government, instead of being routed through NGOs.  
  • These “cooperative agreements” allowed the public sector to gradually take ownership of the HIV response.  
The U.S. now points to this approach as a model for direct-to-government aid funding, and moving away from NGOs.    But this transition can’t be rushed, Zambian health leaders argue: The shift has been a long process that involved data-driven oversight and services integrated with NGO support.  
  • “If you speed up change, chances are that you may actually end up with an outcome that you didn’t desire,” said Callistus Kaayunga, the health director of Southern Province.  
Meanwhile, Zambia is hesitating to agree to the new U.S. funding model, in which the U.S. is making aid contingent on access to Zambia’s mineral resources, .  
  • The country reportedly has until May to decide whether to sign a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. or lose funding.  
Related: She used to run U.S. AIDS relief — now, foreign aid has changed –   DATA POINT

90%
—ĔĔ
HPV vaccine uptake in girls in three European nations: Iceland, Norway, and Portugal, ; all EU countries now recommend HPV vaccination for both adolescent girls and boys, and report a decreased incidence of cervical cancer among vaccinated women since 2020. —  ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH Omaha’s Lag in Lead Testing    The largest residential lead cleanup site in the U.S. is a 27-square-mile Superfund area in Omaha, Nebraska—a state that does not require lead testing during childhood. Instead, it is up to the doctor or a health system to test on a case-by-case basis.     The result: Currently, <50% of kids under age 7 who live in the area near the cleanup site are tested for lead, public health officials say. 
Elsewhere: 13 states have passed laws requiring all children to receive lead testing.    What’s next? The Douglas County Health Department plans to propose an ordinance requiring health workers to test all kids up to age 7 who live in the affected area.     Lasting stakes: If high blood lead levels go undetected, the federal government may not remediate tens of thousands of properties in Omaha.     GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES QUICK HITS The real ‘nanny tax’? Not being able to breastfeed your own baby –     After Decades of Quiet Rumbling, an Epidemic Is Erupting Among California Stoneworkers –     Where U.S. science has been hit hardest after Trump’s first year –     Microplastics: Brain Study Confirms Health Risks, Challenges Kennedy’s Claims –     Democrats Demand Trump Administration Halt Plan To Collect Federal Workers’ Health Data –     There's new evidence for how loneliness affects memory in old age –     ‘Oscar of science’ awarded to team behind gene therapy that restores lost vision –   Issue No. 2902
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 and follow us on Instagram and X .

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Categories: Global Health Feed

Mon, 04/20/2026 - 09:33
96 Global Health NOW: Pakistan’s Infection Control Crisis; and The Hyperlocal Strategy to Curb Smoking April 20, 2026 TOP STORIES 9 out of 10 women in Liberia reported taking antibiotics monthly, per a survey of 109 women; many women said they used the antibiotics—which are available without prescription—to “cleanse” themselves after their menstrual cycle, a trend that has grown via widespread misinformation.     HIV testing in Russia should be expanded to one-third of the population each year in order to curb rapid rising infections, the nation’s health minister Mikhail Murashko said; the recommendation comes as Russia faces one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in Europe at 890 cases per 100,000 people.     A chikungunya therapy using monoclonal antibody technology has shown promise as both a treatment for the disease and as preexposure prophylaxis, say researchers who performed a first-in-human randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study presented at the ESCMID Global Congress.     Cerebral malaria and severe malarial anemia are tied to long-term cognitive impairment in children under 5, found a new prospective cohort study of 600 Ugandan children evaluated for overall cognitive ability, attention, and associative memory a year after hospitalization for severe malaria and then followed for another four to 15 years. IN FOCUS A Pakistani woman holds her HIV-positive child at a house at Wasayo village, in Rato Dero, in the southern Sindh province, on May 8, 2019. Rizwan Tabassum / Getty Pakistan’s Infection Control Crisis    At least nine people, including five newborns, have died in an mpox outbreak in Sindh province, Pakistan, as a burgeoning outbreak of the virus there tests a health system already failing to meet basic infection control standards, .     Mpox eruption: So far this year, health officials in the province have reported 122 suspected mpox cases. Until now, only sporadic, travel-related infections had been reported.  
  • The deaths of infants in neonatal units have raised alarms about possible hospital-acquired transmission. 
Systemic lapses in safety: Health officials in Pakistan say health facilities across the country are failing to meet basic safety and hygiene standards, leading to further spread of HIV, typhoid, and other diseases, . 
  • Health officials reported that HIV spiked 200% over the last decade, from 16,000 cases in 2010 to 48,000 by 2020.  
  • 39% of HIV infections are now found in traditionally low-risk populations, including women and children, . 
“Injection culture”: Much of the HIV outbreak is being driven by unsafe medical practices, including syringe reuse by health care providers and unregulated clinics. Pakistan has one of the highest rates of therapeutic injections, with people receiving 8–14 injections annually.    Related: San Francisco Reports Its First Clade I Mpox Case — What to Know and How to Find a Vaccine. –   THE QUOTE
  last Friday “show us ... the deliberate unraveling of the elements of H.I.V. prevention and treatment service delivery that are essential to actually finish the job and defeat this pandemic,” says Asia Russell, executive director of Health GAP.   —ĔĔĔĔ—ĔĔĔĔ— New PEPFAR Data Show Worrying Declines in Testing and Treatment for H.I.V. –
  TOBACCO The Hyperlocal Strategy to Curb Smoking     Taking on Big Tobacco may seem like an uphill battle. But in Massachusetts, small-town health advocates are up for the challenge.     Grassroots push: Generational bans on tobacco sales—which make it illegal for anyone born after a certain date to ever buy tobacco—are gaining traction in the state via local health ordinances that are harder for industry lobbyists to target.  
  • In 2020, the city of Brookline passed such a ban, and similar ordinances have now spread to 21 towns, impacting 600,000+ residents.  
Massachusetts towns have a long history of pioneering anti-tobacco efforts: Brookline was among the first U.S. jurisdictions to ban smoking indoors, and Needham was the first U.S. town to raise the tobacco-buying age to 21.     Current target: Passing a statewide ban. “It’s a long game,” said longtime anti-tobacco advocate Maureen Buzby.       GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES Related: What Will Bring the Next Generation of Global Health Students Hope? – QUICK HITS Myanmar military regime widens sanitary towel ban, claiming rebels use them for first aid –     Humans may already have some immunity to H5N1 bird flu, study suggests –      Trump's new pick for CDC leader may face “threat to follow ideology over evidence,” former surgeon general warns –  
RFK Jr. defends his health agenda and Trump’s proposed budget cuts in hearing –  
Politicians are using low teen birth rates to further restrict access to birth control, abortion –     Younger adult colon cancer deaths are concentrated in people with less education, study says –     The Great Ozempic Experiment – Thanks for the tip, Dave Cundiff!    KitKat, Gatorade or granola bars? What’s banned under new SNAP rules is mixed. –   Issue No. 2901
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 and follow us on Instagram and X .

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Fri, 04/17/2026 - 11:45
96 Global Health NOW Special Edition: Takeaways from CUGH In this special issue, we’re sharing some CUGH takeways that inspired us—including this year’s Untold Global Health Stories Contest winners! April 17, 2026 SPECIAL ISSUE: CUGH 2026 TAKEAWAYS Panelists at the closing plenary of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health. Washington, D.C., April 12. Robb Cohen Photography & Video EDITORS’ NOTE A Memorable, and Inspiring, CUGH 
A big thank you to the Consortium of Universities for Global Health for an excellent conference last weekend in Washington, D.C. With this special edition of GHN, we’re sharing some of the takeways that inspired us—including this year’s Untold Global Health Stories Contest winners! We’ll be sharing interviews with our two grand prize winners soon, so keep an eye out for that.
 
We also want to thank all of the new readers who signed up at CUGH—let us know what you think, and if you find GHN useful, please share with your friends and colleagues. We always love to expand our circle.

—Dayna dkerecm1@jhu.edu 
—Brian bsimpso1@jhu.edu 
  IN FOCUS: GHN EXCLUSIVE From Rupture to Renaissance    If the global health order is broken, some global health leaders are primed to chart a new way forward.      Gathered last Sunday for the Consortium of Universities for Global Health annual meeting in Washington, D.C., they shared their concerns about the irrevocable changes in the structure, norms, and rules governing international relations—but devoted most of their time to discussing how to respond.     For Olusoji Adeyi, president of Resilient Health Systems and a senior associate at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, global health funding cuts and disruptions to the field are an overdue opening to self-determination. Now, he said, global health groups should “seize the opportunity and behave differently and do better.”     Key takeaways:      A vision anchored by an African renaissance: “There’s a huge opportunity here for Africa to take care of itself by raising resources, by strengthening the academic institutions on the continent, and by helping our government to plan better to prepare better for the future,” said Nelson Sewankambo, former dean of Makerere University School of Medicine in Kampala, Uganda.     Building political will: Former NIH director Francis Collins challenged CUGH to “become more of an activist organization,” serving as incubator for bold initiatives and nurturing the next generation of global health scholars. 
An invigorated role for universities: “Let’s step forward and present ourselves to our governments and act as thinkers and advisers,” Sewankambo said.
  • Adeyi added that individual countries need to be encouraged to devise—and debate—their own plans. When global health experts “meet in Washington or London or Brussels or Seattle and package things and expect them to just happen cleanly in Tanzania and Nepal and Sierra Leone,” they deny those countries opportunities to shape their health systems.
As Teri Reynolds, the lead for the WHO’s Clinical Services and Systems Unit in the department of Integrated Health Services noted, “There’s a lot of condescension embedded in the word ‘help.’”       UNTOLD STORIES CONTEST A young boy observes the entrance of the Tarajal beach, border between Morocco and Spanish territory of Ceuta. May 19, 2021. Diego Radames/Anadolu Agency via Getty A Banner Year for the Untold Global Health Stories Contest
Congrats to the winners of the Untold Global Health Stories contest, co-sponsored by CUGH and GHN! We’ll be publishing interviews with the two grand prize winners in upcoming editions of GHN. 
Grand Prize Winners     A mental health crisis facing unaccompanied Moroccan boys in Ceuta, Spain Audrey Claire Benson, Barcelona Institute of Global Health / University of Pompeu Fabra / No Name Kitchen, Barcelona, Spain      Health disparities in widowhood: A global health blind spot Jackline Odhiambo, Maseno University, Kisumu, Kenya       Honorable Mentions 
Judicial experts as guardians of occupational health in Mexico Shaira Gabriela Camacho

Gaza’s alarming surge in Guillain–Barré Syndrome Yara Ashour
 
Health care abandonment of trans communities in the South and Appalachia Beau Morgan
 
Health care barriers for U.S. refugees with disabilities Mustafa Rfat
 
Modernizing medical education in the Balkans Timothy Gaul
 
The silent crisis of dengue in rural Bangladesh Amit Banik
 
Toxic heavy metal exposure among auto mechanics in Accra, Ghana Anushka Peer
  Thank you to everyone who contributed. The judging was harder than ever, given the caliber of ideas submitted. All of the stories deserve to be told.
  PULITZER CENTER – CUGH FILM FESTIVAL The Pulitzer Center upheld its tradition of hosting a film festival at CUGH, sharing a double feature of hard-hitting documentaries: An Atlanta News First documentary on a measles outbreak in Samoa, shared above, and a in central Kenya, by William Brangham and Molly Knight Raskin. THE QUOTE
  “What gives me hope is the fact that people are willing to come together. They’re willing to convene, they’re willing to put their best foot forward. They’re willing to take their knowledge, capabilities, passions, and desires to be able to improve the health of people and the health of our planet.” —ĔĔĔĔ—ĔĔĔĔ— Keith Martin, MD, PC, executive director, CUGH, interviewed at CUGH for The Havey Institute for Global Health's OPPORTUNITY Next Stop for CUGH: Lima, Peru
It’s an exciting first: Next year, the CUGH Annual Conference will be held outside the U.S.–ēin Lima, Peru, February 25–28, 2027. We hope you’ll be there!  Issue No. 2900
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 and follow us on Instagram and X .

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Thu, 04/16/2026 - 09:41
96 Global Health NOW: Africa’s Monumental Vaccination Gains; and South Korea’s Deadly ‘ER Runaround’ Plus: A Fandom for the Greatest Fans April 16, 2026 TOP STORIES $1.5 billion for humanitarian aid in Sudan was pledged this week as international leaders met in Berlin on the third anniversary of the country’s civil war; the meeting sought to increase aid support and revive negotiations to end the fighting.    A review of Alzheimer’s drug studies spanning a decade concluded the drugs had negligible clinical benefit; but many Alzheimer’s experts criticized , saying it unfairly put a range of dissimilar drugs—including failed drugs and two recently approved treatments—in one category.     Drug-resistant Shigella infections are on the rise in the U.S., ; the bacterial infection, which causes diarrhea, increased 8.5% from 2011 to 2023 and is a “public health threat” due to its easy spread and lack of FDA-approved treatment.     Former Deputy U.S. Surgeon General Erica Schwartz has received HHS support to be the next CDC director, sources say; the CDC has been without a permanent director since August.   EDITORS' NOTE Tomorrow: A Special CUGH Takeaways Edition    We usually don’t publish on Fridays, but tomorrow we’ll be sending a special edition of GHN with exclusive coverage from the Consortium of Universities for Global Health meeting—including the announcement of this year’s Untold Global Health Stories contest winners! —The Editors   IN FOCUS A community health worker administers an oral vaccine during a door-to-door polio immunization campaign in Mbezi Makabe, Tanzania, on May 21, 2022. Ericky Boniphace/AFP via Getty Africa’s Monumental Vaccination Gains    The first-ever comprehensive analysis of immunization in Africa has found that 500 million+ children have accessed routine vaccination since 2000, preventing 4 million+ deaths each year, . 
Key breakthroughs detailed in :  
  • Measles vaccinations halved deaths from the virus, saving ~20 million lives since 2000, . 
  • The eradication of wild poliovirus in 2020 was a “historic milestone.” 
  • Meningitis deaths have fallen by nearly 40%. 
  • Maternal and neonatal tetanus have been eliminated in most countries.  
  • In 2024 alone, vaccines saved ~2 million lives.  
But these advances are fragile, and threatened: “Progress is uneven, and even slowing, leaving too many children unprotected as key targets are still missed,” said Mohamed Janabi, WHO Regional Director for Africa, . 
  • 10 countries account for 80% of children who haven’t received any vaccine in the region, said Janabi, calling it “a profound equity issue” in a press briefing, per the AP.  
  • Meanwhile, health systems face growing vulnerability amid drastic funding cuts, particularly from the U.S; and global conflicts including the Iran war are disrupting critical supply chains. 
EMERGENCY CARE South Korea’s Deadly ‘ER Runaround’  
Patients seeking emergency services in South Korea increasingly struggle to access care amid stringent hospital entry policies, with fatal delays becoming more frequent.     Policy constrains paramedics: South Korean law requires first responders to gain hospital permission before transporting patients to an ER. But amid a shortage of ER doctors and overcrowding, paramedics must often call dozens of hospitals before finding a bed—a crisis dubbed “ER runaround” and “ambulance pingpong.” 
  • In 1,000+ incidents last year, ambulances had to call 20+ hospitals before finding beds for their patients. 
  • The average time for major trauma patients to be accepted by an ER has doubled since 2019.  
Officials have pushed for reforms, including giving paramedics more authority to designate emergency hospitals, but ER doctors worry about staffing and liability risks.      Related: For Many Patients Leaving the ICU, the Struggle Has Only Just Begun –  Thanks for the tip, Chiara Jaffe!   OPPORTUNITY Gain Skills to Respond to Humanitarian Emergencies 
Humanitarian workers and health professionals are invited to apply for the Health Emergencies in Large Populations (H.E.L.P.) course hosted virtually by the .    The H.E.L.P. course equips participants with practical knowledge and skills to respond to the health needs of populations affected by humanitarian crises, whether conflict, natural disasters, or complex emergencies.    Key areas covered: 
  • Epidemiology 
  • Communicable and noncommunicable disease control 
  • Nutrition 
  • Water and sanitation 
  • Mental health and health systems in crises 
The course combines prerecorded lectures with interactive sessions and practical exercises, including crisis simulations.
  • July 13–24, 2026
ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION Kelsea Petersen/The Athletic; Jacob Kupferman/Getty, Icon Sportswire/Getty, Ric Tapia/Getty, Nur Photo/Getty A Fandom for the Greatest Fans  
Mascots have a weighty job. Their fuzzy, begloved hands carry the agony and ecstasy of fandom.  
 
But who is cheering them on? This month, it seems everybody is. 

One intense U.S. high school mascot tournament pitted animal, vegetable, mineral,  and  against each other in online voting, .     A more scientific approach: To predict which March Madness mascot would dominate in a real-world encounter, meteorologists, the staff of Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo, and other experts to judge a pool including “a variety of dogs, Quakers, multiple birds, weather events, various historic military figures,” and more.     Meanwhile, in mascot-saturated Pennsylvania, the governor’s office courted chaos by launching a tournament won by the Phillie Phanatic, : “We are equal parts excited and terrified to see how  responds to this result.”    Love to the moon and back: Leaving Artemis II’s beloved mini-moon plushie mascot behind was “not something I was going to do,”  Flouting NASA’s post-splashdown checklist, he tucked the little guy in his pressure suit. The two have .  QUICK HITS Can you stop malaria crossing borders? One nation’s bid to wipe out the disease –     Two to three cups of coffee a day linked to lower risk of mental health disorders, study finds –      Black maternal mortality gap still persists in U.S. –      FDA to consider lifting restrictions on peptides touted by RFK Jr. –      After 'unprecedented' results, SF researchers get closer to HIV cure –      Would you save more lives or more years of life? A global study reveals how people really think –  Issue No. 2899
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 and follow us on Instagram and X .

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Categories: Global Health Feed

Wed, 04/15/2026 - 09:37
96 Global Health NOW: Expanding Access to Lenacapavir; and Micromobility, and Major Injuries April 15, 2026 TOP STORIES Antisemitic attacks killed 20 Jews in 2025, the highest number in 30 years, ; the report also found that the total number of antisemitic incidents in every Western country remained significantly higher than in 2022, the year before the war in Gaza began.     The HPV vaccine can cut cancer risk in men by about half, , which involved 510,000 boys and men vaccinated between January 2016 and December 2024, ; the new findings support the case for widening sex-neutral HPV vaccination programs, which have historically prioritized protecting women and girls against cervical cancer, .     Taking Tylenol during pregnancy has no effect on later autism diagnoses, , which tracked 1.5 million+ children ‌born between 1997 and 2022 in Denmark’s national health registry; autism was diagnosed in 1.8% of children exposed to acetaminophen and 3% of those who weren’t.     UK emergency rooms are “being clogged” with women seeking emergency treatment after having to wait too long for routine procedures, as women still face “medical misogyny” and are deprioritized within the NHS, says the UK’s top gynecologist ahead of today’s release of a new government health plan for women.   IN FOCUS People march during the launch of lenacapavir, a long-acting HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drug in Nakuru, Kenya, on March 26. James Wakibia/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Expanding Access to Lenacapavir   The long-acting HIV prevention drug lenacapavir will reach 3 million people in 24 lower-income countries over the next three years, up 50% from earlier targets, .  
  • “If we really want to make the most of this, we have to go bigger, and we have to go bigger faster,” said Peter Sands, executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, which detailed the rapid expansion in a joint announcement with the U.S. State Department.  
So far: ~135,000 people in nine African countries have received the twice-yearly injection.     Path to wider access: Twelve additional countries will also receive the medicine soon, : Benin, Botswana, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Georgia, Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia, Morocco, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, and Thailand.     Generics on the horizon: Lenacapavir’s maker, Gilead, has licensed six generic manufacturers to supply 120 low-income countries, with rollout by mid-2027.     But limits remain: Advocates warn that the drug has remained unavailable in many middle-income countries and in those experiencing humanitarian crises.  
  • They also warn that the current U.S. focus on preventing mother-to-child transmission could overlook key populations, such as people who inject drugs and men who have sex with men.  
The stakes are high at this juncture, . The advocacy group’s list of recommendations includes ensuring that appropriated funds for AIDS, TB, and malaria are spent for global health as Congress has specified, even as aid funding models shift.  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES ROAD SAFETY Micromobility, and Major Injuries     As e-bikes and e-scooters proliferate on the streets of Canada’s large cities, emergency rooms are filling with patients being treated for concussions, fractures, and other traumatic injuries from crashes: 
  • In Toronto, St. Michael’s Hospital saw e-scooter admissions rise 600% from 2020 to 2024, while SickKids pediatric hospital in treated 46 such cases in 2024, up from just one in 2020. 
  • Montreal Children's Hospital reported a 10X increase in such injuries in one year. 
Outpacing regulation: The “micromobility revolution” has arrived more swiftly than lawmakers have been able to pass regulations for age limits, helmets, and traffic safety.       OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Idaho Cut Services for People With Schizophrenia. Then the Deaths Began. –      B.C. declared toxic drugs a public health emergency 10 years ago. Has it made a difference? –   
Indonesia orders food companies to label products high in sugar, salt, fat –  
Vaccine skepticism now the norm for many Americans –     Trump's budget hawk is still trying to slash medical research. Congress is saying no. –     How I harness research to inform humanitarian relief efforts –

You should be more freaked out by shingles – Issue No. 2898
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 and follow us on Instagram and X .

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Categories: Global Health Feed

Tue, 04/14/2026 - 09:31
96 Global Health NOW: A Cancer Super Drug’s High Costs; and An Oil Company’s Lethal Legacy April 14, 2026 TOP STORIES 167 people have died in Nigeria’s Lassa fever outbreak so far in 2026, with 663 confirmed infections—and a 25.2% case fatality rate that marks a substantial rise from 18.5% in the same period in 2025, per the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention; however, new infections fell to 26 for the last week in March, compared with 51 the week prior.     Dangerous injection practices continued at a government hospital in Taunsa, Pakistan, according to a BBC Eye investigation, despite a “massive crackdown” in March 2025 on unsafe practices linked to an HIV outbreak that infected 331 children between November 2024 and October 2025.     The Iran war is disrupting water fluoridation for some U.S. water utilities, as Israel is one of the leading global exporters of fluorosilicic acid; the shortage is affecting hundreds of thousands of people in states, including Pennsylvania and Maryland, where fluoride is added in water systems to prevent tooth decay.     Human specialists with PhDs outperform even the best AI agents on scientific workflows, with AI counterparts scoring roughly half as well as the real deal, per an annual that also notes a nearly 30-fold increase in AI mentions in natural sciences publications between 2010 to 2025.   IN FOCUS Illustration of pembrolizumab (marketed under the name Keytruda), a drug that treats various types of cancers. Behnoush Hajian/Science Photo Library A Cancer Super Drug’s High Costs     An immunotherapy cancer drug is revolutionizing care, but the world’s bestselling medication is also draining coffers of the U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS), , part of an International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) investigation.  
  • Keytruda hauls in $30 billion per year for U.S. pharma giant MSD (known as Merck in the U.S. and Canada). 
  • NHS has been paying up to 5X more for the drug than it should, per the investigation. 
  • While MSD said its medications deliver “cost-effective health benefits” in the U.K., the NHS is struggling to provide adequate care, with nearly 20,000 patients dying while waiting for treatment in 2024.   
Less means more: Researchers are questioning the standard dosage that MSD recommends, pointing to studies that have shown less Keytruda is needed. The WHO says $5 billion could be saved by 2040. 
Patent power: MSD “has built a fortress of patents,” securing 1,200+ patents across 50+ countries to shut out generic, less costly copies of the medication “for 14 years after its original patents expire in 2028,” . 
  “Almost like science fiction”: The explosive revelations come at a time when cancer immunotherapy drugs herald a new era for treatment. 
  • Personalized immunotherapy is delivering long-term cancer remission with fewer side effects that come with chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments, . 
GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES ENVIRONMENT An Oil Company’s Lethal Legacy     Why does a remote village in northern Kenya have a strikingly high rate of gastrointestinal cancer?  
  • The cancer rate in the community was 3X the national average by the early 2000s.  
The answer appears to lie near oil wells dug by Amoco in the 1980s—piles of a residual white clay substance filled with heavy metals and carcinogens.  
  Locals believed the substance to be salt and used it in cooking. The oil wells were also left unsealed, and high levels of carcinogenic toxic chemicals have seeped into the surrounding water supply.
   Seeking recourse: In 2020, residents sued the Kenyan national and county governments, demanding clean water and blaming the country for failing to police Amoco’s work. The lawsuit is ongoing.       OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Former CDC Director Shares the Hard Work Behind Outbreaks that Didn’t Happen –  
New report details safety issues that led to Miami organ recovery group’s closure –   
NSF names record number of graduate fellows, rebounding from 2025 dip –  
Mozambique approves law to curb tobacco use –  
End of community-wide treatment linked to resurgence of parasitic worm infections in Malawi –  
This detox may erase 10 years of social media brain damage, researchers say –  
What on earth is ‘vaccine beer’ and could it possibly work? –      Issue No. 2897
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 and follow us on Instagram and X .

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Categories: Global Health Feed

Mon, 04/13/2026 - 09:40
96 Global Health NOW: The Widespread Risks of the Wildlife Trade; and Cultivating Hope Amidst Climate Change April 13, 2026 TOP STORIES Airstrike casualties in Lebanon are still buried under rubble, per health and humanitarian workers, who say that the 300+ count of people killed in the Israeli strikes last week will rise; they also decried threats of attacks on ambulances and warned of looming food shortages.        Burundi health officials are investigating an illness that has caused five deaths and sickened 35 people in Mpanda district in the north of the country; so far lab analysis of the illness—which causes fever, vomiting, and diarrhea—has been negative for Ebola and Marburg viruses, Rift Valley fever, and others.      A police officer assigned to guard polio vaccination workers was killed in northwestern Pakistan last week by suspected militants who opened fire on the vehicle carrying the officers; four others were wounded in the firefight, which occurred as Pakistan begins a weeklong vaccination drive that aims to reach more than 45 million children under 5.
  The UK government rolled out plans to remove deep-fried foods and sharply restrict junk food and sweets from school lunch menus—while boosting healthier options; the new guidelines, aimed at tackling childhood obesity and tooth decay, will be introduced incrementally between now and 2028.    EDITORS’ NOTE CUGH Shout Out!     We had an energizing and hopeful weekend in Washington, D.C., at the .  
  It began with a fast-paced, daylong communications workshop led by the CUGH Research Committee, the Pulitzer Center, and Global Health NOW on Thursday, April 9.  
  Watch GHN this week for news and announcements from the conference–ēincluding this year’s Untold Global Health Stories contest winners!  
  We enjoyed making new friends and signing up new GHN readers. Huge thanks, also, to all the loyal readers who stopped by to share how valuable GHN is to them. We’re collecting testimonials for GHN. We’re especially interested in hearing from faculty who use GHN in their classes. Please send us a quick note! 
See you next year in Lima! 
  All best, 
  Brian bsimpso1@jhu.edu  Dayna dkerecm1@jhu.edu  IN FOCUS A Malayan pangolin is seen out of its cage after being confiscated by the Department of Wildlife and Natural Parks. Kuala Lumpur, August 8, 2002. Jimin Lai/AFP via Getty The Widespread Risks of the Wildlife Trade    Wild mammals that are sold in the wildlife trade are significantly more likely to spread disease to humans, , which provides some of the clearest data yet on the widespread zoonotic spillover risks the trade poses, .     Comprehensive perspective: While scientists have long linked the wildlife trade to certain diseases like SARS, Ebola, mpox, and possibly COVID-19, the study provides the first quantitative analysis of its kind, as researchers created an “atlas” of pathogens based on 40 years-worth of data on the wildlife trade.  
  • Of 2,000+ species analyzed, 41% of traded mammals carry at least one human pathogen, compared to 6.4% of non-traded species.  
  • Overall, traded animals are about 1.5X more likely to share human pathogens. 
“It suggests that the trade is not just one of the things that promotes animal human pathogen transmission—but it’s one of the most important ones,” lead study author Jérôme Gippet .     Behind the heightened risk: Close contact between animals in wildlife market settings—especially in unsanitary conditions—allows viruses to more easily jump between species. 
  • The longer a species is traded, the greater the risk, with one new shared pathogen emerging every decade.  
Taking further steps: Researchers say the markets could be made safer through improved disease surveillance and regulated hygiene conditions; they caution that bans may push trade underground, increasing risks, .  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH Cultivating Hope Amidst Climate Change   Outside the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital in northeast Nigeria, orchards full of papaya, banana, and plantain trees provide a green refuge—a recent public health intervention in a city grappling with rapidly rising heat.     Extreme temperatures surge: Maiduguri’s average temperature rose from 30.5°C/87°F to 37.1°C/98.7°F between 2014 and 2024. 
  • And that rising heat is linked to dramatic health impacts, including dehydration, which now accounts for ~30% of daily clinic visits. 
Rooted resilience: The hospital’s 826 trees were selected for their ability to withstand extreme heat, and planted last year with the hope that they could provide much-needed shade, food, and mental respite for a community facing conflict and environmental stress.      OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS What it takes to eat: new report reveals how war is cutting off access to food as hunger deepens in Sudan –     AVAC: Abrupt shutdown of US global health supply chain raises risks for HIV, TB and malaria programs –     Here’s how to make drug addiction a health issue, not a criminal one –

Too young for the MMR shot, babies become ‘sitting ducks’ in measles outbreaks –      Are your symptoms caused by the flu or measles? What to do before going to the doctor –     GSK reports promising early results in ovarian and womb cancer drug trial –      A dodgy drug-maker and corporate perks: how UK health aid is really being spent –   Issue No. 2896
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 and follow us on Instagram and X .

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Categories: Global Health Feed

Thu, 04/09/2026 - 09:35
96 Global Health NOW: A Long Road to Rehabilitation for Gaza’s Amputees; and New Rules for Digital Accessibility Plus: Houston, We Have a Cobbler April 9, 2026 TOP STORIES CDC leadership has delayed the publication of a report showing the COVID-19 vaccine’s effectiveness, including how the vaccine cut the likelihood of hospital and emergency room visits for healthy adults last winter by about half; scientists say they fear the report is being downplayed because it conflicts with HHS Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s criticism of the shot.     The EU has cut its contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, as global contributions to global health aid continue to drop; the European Commission has pledged €700 million to the Fund between 2027–2029, a €15 million drop from what it provided from 2023 to 2025.     The U.S. teenage birth rate fell 7% in 2025, , a drop the lead author described as “extraordinary,” continuing a decade of decline; potential contributing factors include higher use of contraception and lower sexual activity among youth.     Maternal psychological stress driven by crises like natural disasters can affect fetal development and birth outcomes,  that examined the birth outcomes of babies born to mothers in Japan who faced widespread anxiety about radiation exposure in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011.   IN FOCUS A young Palestinian amputee walks with a nurse outside the UAE Hospital Ship SSF Ania in the port of Arish, in northeastern Egypt, on February 5. AFP via Getty Images A Long Road to Rehabilitation for Gaza’s Amputees     For the hundreds of adults and children from Gaza who have undergone amputations since 2023, specialized prosthetic treatment remains a struggle to access—with many stranded in neighboring Egypt indefinitely as they seek to regain both physical and social mobility there. 
  • ~6,000 Palestinians have faced limb amputation during the conflict with Israel, ; at the conflict’s height in 2023, 10+ children lost one or both legs every day, .  
Legal limbo: Egypt is the primary destination for Palestinians needing amputation care, but most Palestinians treated there are unable to access formal residency permits or refugee status.  
  • As a result, patients often live in temporary housing like hostels, are unable to work or open bank accounts, and face constant pressures and uncertainty while requiring specialized care for months and years. 
Dependent on NGOs: Long-term, high-tech prosthetic rehabilitation is almost impossible without the support of medical charities.  
  • Orthomedics in Cairo has treated ~300 Palestinian patients since October 2023, mostly through NGO funding from groups like the Turkish charity Sadakataşı.  
  POLICY New Rules for Digital Accessibility
As colleges and universities increasingly rely on digital resources, the obstacles for students with disabilities have grown. 
  • Many websites, apps, and digital learning materials have not been designed to accommodate people who are deaf or blind or have low vision.  
But revised regulations under the Americans with Disabilities Act aim to change that. By the end of this month, large U.S. public institutions must meet updated accessibility standards for all digital materials–ēimprovements that include captioned videos, color contrast, and more inclusive screen navigation.  
  • Just as stairs can exclude people who use wheelchairs from accessing government buildings, inaccessible web content and mobile apps can exclude people with a range of disabilities, the rule states.  
  • Institutions serving 50,000+ people have had two years to prepare; smaller institutions must comply by 2027. 
     Related: Digital Accessibility: Teaching and Learning Resources –   OPPORTUNITY Calling Current and Future Global Health Leaders
This month, join Unite For Sight—a nonprofit global health delivery organization committed to promoting high-quality care for all—for the 23rd annual Global Health & Innovation Conference in Connecticut.     The gathering brings together global health leaders and “dives deep into bold ideas, transformative innovation, and responsible global engagement.” 
 
: 
  • Defining Purpose in Global Health 
  • Designing Better Solutions for Global Health 
  • What Real Impact Looks Like  
  • Local Leadership and Global Partnerships  


April 18–19, 2026; North Haven, CT 

. Sign up before April 10 for a reduced rate. 

ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION Houston, We Have a Cobbler
The crew of Artemis II may have boldly gone farther from Earth than any human, but they made sure the .     As the world watched a livestream of the crew hurtling towards that 252,752-mile record, the broadcast was interrupted by a full-sized jar of the chocolate hazelnut spread pirouetting in zero-G across the cabin, ; a relatable reminder that snacks are the real highlight of any professional venture.     Nutella is just one of  selected for the Artemis menu, which includes broccoli au gratin, cobbler, and . 
  • Meanwhile, the Canadian Space Agency ensured their astronaut Jeremy Hansen .   
The food must be shelf-stable and as crumb-less as possible for microgravity, hence the inclusion of 58 tortillas, . Microgravity can also dull tastebuds, which is apparently why the space agency packed not one, but five different kinds of hot sauce.     Almost as important as oxygen?: 43 cups of coffee were allotted for the crew, —a little more than 10 cups per astronaut over the 10-day mission. QUICK HITS Pesticides may wreak havoc on the gut microbiome –      Eye symptoms may signal higher-severity long COVID –   
Scientists Move Closer to Male Birth Control With No Hormones, No Snip –   

Patients scramble to find estrogen patches as shortage worsens after US FDA champions use –      Should’ve put a ring on it? Maybe! Marriage is linked to lower risk of cancer –    Issue No. 2895
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 and follow us on Instagram and X .

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Categories: Global Health Feed

Wed, 04/08/2026 - 08:53
96 Global Health NOW: A Better Solution for Sickle Cell Care in Africa Amid Aid Cuts?; and Immigration Raids Heightening Postpartum Isolation April 8, 2026 TOP STORIES Telehealth abortion will remain available in the U.S. for now, after a federal judge in Louisiana while the FDA completes its safety review of the drug, which has been used for 25+ years and is widely prescribed through telehealth appointments, which now account for more than 1 in 4 U.S. abortions.     Decades-old canned Alaska salmon dissected by researchers contained levels of tiny parasitic worms that signal that the fishes’ ecosystems were stable or recovering over a 40+-year span, ; researchers posited that the Clean Water Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, and warming oceans may all have played a role in increasing parasite levels.     AI chatbots spread misinformation about a fake disease called “bixonimania,” a skin condition invented by researchers in an experiment to see how false preprint studies can infiltrate medical literature and be treated as fact by AI—and by other researchers relying on AI without checking source material.      Greece will ban social media access for children under 15 starting January 2027, with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis saying the prohibition is health-driven and that “when a child is in front of screens for hours, their brain does not rest”; the country follows Australia and Indonesia in implementing such a ban and will pressure the EU to follow suit, Mitsotakis said.   IN FOCUS: GHN EXCLUSIVE Catherine Nabaggala, MD, consoles Olivia Nansamba whose son Melvin had a blood transfusion to treat sickle cell disease. Joanne Cavanaugh Simpson A Better Solution for Sickle Cell Care in Africa Amid Aid Cuts?    KAMPALA, UGANDA—Olivia Nansamba sits on a narrow bed at Mulago National Referral Hospital, her 6-month-old son in her arms. Melvin, who has sickle cell disease, is pale, weak, and wailing. 
  “Sickle cell disease is a very terrible disease,” says Nansamba, lifting up her baby’s swollen, bandage-wrapped hand. “Sometimes there’s pain, pain, pain.” 
  A brutal killer: Sickle cell disease can cause extreme pain crises, strokes, and organ damage. It claims  every year worldwide. About 80% of cases are in sub-Saharan Africa. 
  Barrier to care: A clinical mindset that only specialized hematologists and expensive interventions can help still prevails.  
  • But restricting care to specialists and costly treatments grossly limits the number of children who can be helped, notes Joseph Lubega, MD, MPH, director of Texas Children’s Global Hematology-Oncology Pediatric Excellence program. 
A new approach: Lubega is seeking to radically boost access to treatment for sickle cell disease, per reporting in Uganda supported by the Pulitzer Center.  
  • His project focuses on providing care in regular government clinics, where trained health care workers can screen and provide key meds to help children live longer, better lives. 
The Quote: “There are many fancy things you can do, but primary care can take care of the bulk of the issues–ēand at a very low cost,” Lubega says. “So that’s our mission.” 
  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS Immigration Raids Heightening Postpartum Isolation    In U.S. cities like Minneapolis that have faced intense immigration crackdowns, immigrant mothers have been forced into isolation, increasing risks to their physical and mental health and the well-being of their babies, advocates say.     A vulnerable time: Newly postpartum mothers are susceptible to a host of challenges, including postpartum depression as well as physical complications like hemorrhage, preeclampsia, or infection. Untreated, these can be deadly. 
  • One-third of maternal deaths occur in the first year postpartum.  
The risks are even more acute for immigrant mothers, particularly Latinas, who are 2X as likely as white women to develop postpartum depression. 
  • But many of these women are now forgoing the care of friends and family–ēand putting off important postpartum checkups—in an effort to avoid detention.  
  OPPORTUNITY Save the Date: World Immunization Week Webinar    Explore strategies and approaches to increase vaccination coverage and access across the life course, from infants and young children to adolescents, pregnant women, and adults, in a webinar featuring a distinguished panel of experts convened by the International Vaccine Access Center at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 
  • April 20, 2–3 p.m. EDT 
QUICK HITS “I Don’t Want to Die in India”: The Hidden Corridor of East African Sex Trafficking –     Srinidhi Polkampally and Bhav Jain: What American hospitals can learn from India about waste –     Idaho Cut Services for People With Schizophrenia. Then the Deaths Began. –     From misdiagnosis to medical bias: Why women are living longer but not better –  
  Poll: Here’s what MAHA actually believes –  
Study advances safe, reversible male contraceptive without hormones –    Issue No. 2894
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 and follow us on Instagram and X .

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Categories: Global Health Feed

Tue, 04/07/2026 - 09:51
96 Global Health NOW: Food, Fuel, and Fertilizer Shortages Follow Iran War; and Eswatini’s Limited Access to a Livesaving Drug April 7, 2026 TOP STORIES Nearly 1,000 refugees and migrants have died so far this year in Mediterranean shipwrecks—and while arrivals are down sharply, fatalities are rising compared to this period last year; the UN’s International Organization for Migration urges improved search and rescue capacity and expanded legal migration pathways to “reduce dangerous crossings.”     UK doctors launched a six-day strike today, rejecting a government pay and staffing deal that the British Medical Association deems inadequate; the government withdrew ‌a ⁠commitment to cover 1,000 additional specialty training positions contingent on the deal’s acceptance.  
Mexico faces a “toxic crisis,” warns UN special rapporteur Marcos Orellana, who conducted an 11-day investigative mission last month and says Mexico has become the U.S.’s “garbage sink,” citing pollution threats ranging from imported waste to dangerous pesticides, as well as lax environmental standards and lack of oversight.   
The California Bay Area is a rotavirus hotspot, , which tracks levels in 40 states; every region but the Midwest showed high levels of the gastrointestinal illness.   IN FOCUS The âSakrâ ship, carrying ~4,000 tons of food, shelter, medical, and humanitarian aid prepared by the UAE for delivery to Gaza, arrives at northeastern Egypt's Port of Al-Arish. February 5. Stringer/Anadolu via Getty Food, Fuel, and Fertilizer Shortages Follow Iran War     Critical humanitarian supplies needed in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia are not moving because of war-caused shipping limitations in the Strait of Hormuz, .      Major humanitarian efforts are running low on basic medications, food, fuel, and fertilizers, according to the International Rescue Committee, Save the Children, and other organizations.  
  • The Médecins Sans Frontières team in Yemen has procured 100 tons of special foods to treat severe malnutrition in young children, but the supplies are languishing in Dubai's Jebel Ali Port.  
  • IV fluids, malaria tests, antibiotics, and other supplies in the field are already running low, per Save the Children in Sudan. 
The Quote: "It’s extremely serious in countries that have very little resilience to shocks like this,” the International Rescue Committee’s Bob Kitchen told NPR. “Whenever one piece of the puzzle is missing or delayed, the consequences are very, very severe.”      Disease risks: The WHO has already documented increases in chickenpox, shigellosis, and influenza, in affected countries,      An even greater concern: Concentrated attacks on desalination plants that Iran, Israel, and other countries rely on for drinking water could threaten countries whose water reserves would last only days or weeks.   
Related:     Iran’s Pasteur medical research centre ‘heavily damaged’ in strike –     Karl Blanchet, Sultan Barakat, Bernadette Kumar, and Paul Spiegel: Iran's humanitarian crisis: war, legality, and the erosion of population health –   PUBLIC HEALTH EDUCATION The exterior of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, on Wolfe Street, in Baltimore. 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 unveiled this morning by U.S. News & World Report.      Rank/School   1  Johns Hopkins University   2  Emory University   2  University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill    4  Harvard University   4  University of Michigan—Ann Arbor    6  Columbia University   6  University of California—Berkeley    6  University of California—Los Angeles   9  Boston University    9  University of Washington      This year’s rankings include 224 schools and programs of public health accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health.   
      DATA POINT

1 in 4
—ĔĔ—
Black men in the UK will be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point in their lives—2X the rate of white men—and 2,300+ men will die over the next decade of the disease, per Prostate Cancer UK; the UK government recently rejected proposals for a prostate cancer screening program for high-risk men, citing in part a lack of data on Black patients. —
  HIV/AIDS Eswatini’s Limited Access to a Livesaving Drug    The drug lenacapavir could make a huge difference in curbing HIV transmission in the small country of Eswatini—if clinics could get enough of the drug.     Background: Eswatini is home to one of the world’s highest prevalence rates of HIV, but in recent years it has steadily made progress in preventing new infections.     Game-changing drug: Lenacapavir injections began to arrive within the last few months, bringing fresh hope that the twice-yearly shots will make a major dent in transmission.     Limited supply: But only ~3,000 people have been able to start treatment, far below demand. With ~4,000 new infections annually, the supply is “not even a drop in the ocean,” said Nkululeko Dube, programme director for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation Eswatini.       Related:     Our LEN is here. Now for quality checks in Ireland –     Congress gave money for global HIV work. The Trump administration isn't spending it –     ‘We fear the epidemic will return’: Senegal’s harsh anti-gay law puts decades of HIV progress in jeopardy – QUICK HITS

WHO calls for action: “Together for health. Stand with science.” to mark World Health Day –  

  Trump’s Foreign Aid Overhaul Sent Millions More Dollars to Big U.S.-Based Contractors –     Trump administration's secrecy on health deals alarms experts, governments –     A star scientist showed that better genetics lessons could reduce racism. It was the death knell for his career –     Iodised salt has become uncool but many of us need to eat more iodine –   Issue No. 2893
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 and follow us on Instagram and X .

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Categories: Global Health Feed

Mon, 04/06/2026 - 09:39
96 Global Health NOW; A Spiraling Humanitarian Crisis in Sudan; and China’s Expansive New Environmental Code April 6, 2026 TOP STORIES A measles outbreak in Bangladesh has led the country to launch an emergency vaccination campaign that aims to reach 1 million+ children; the outbreak so far has led to 17 confirmed deaths, 113 suspected deaths, and ~7,500 suspected infections nationwide.     The CDC and other health organizations and businesses spent ~$37 million over four years advertising on 11 news websites that have spread health misinformation, , which warned that such placements directly conflict with the health sector’s mission by financially supporting misinformation and could further “diminish trust” in the government or health organizations.     Childhood cancer is the eighth-leading cause of childhood mortality worldwide, leading to more deaths than TB, measles, or HIV/AIDS, , which found that children in LMICs face the most severe outcomes.  
Climate change will push venomous snakes toward densely populated coastlines, increasing the risk of deadly bites, per a global study that modeled the habitats of all 508 medically important venomous snake species; the research could inform antivenom stockpiling and resourcing of health facilities.   IN FOCUS Displaced Sudanese people sit in the shade amid the remains of a fire that broke out in their camp. Tawila, North Darfur, Sudan, February 11. AFP via Getty A Spiraling Humanitarian Crisis in Sudan 
As Sudan’s civil war enters its fourth year, the country faces “one of the gravest humanitarian and public health emergencies in the world today,” warned WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus—with 33.7 million+ people needing aid, women suffering under systemic violence, and a health system near total collapse amid relentless attacks and shortages, .    Health care under attack: 200+ attacks have targeted health care since the war began, per the WHO, including a series of deadly bombings and lootings across the country over the last several weeks.  
  • A drone attack last week on a hospital in the White Nile province killed 10 people—including seven medical staffers, .  
  • That follows a drone strike on a hospital in East Darfur that killed ~70 people and injured 146. 
Doctors in dire conditions: Meanwhile, health workers at facilities like the El-Obeid Maternity Hospital describe being helpless to save patients amid shortages of basic supplies, .     No safety for women: Women in Sudan have seen their rights pushed “hundreds of years backwards” amid pervasive sexual violence and repression, said Hala Al-Karib, regional director of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa, . 
  • “There are no safe places for women and girls in Darfur,” that documented 3,396 cases of sexual violence from 2024 to 2025. 
  • The conflict has also led to a spike in child marriage and deprived millions of girls of education. 
GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES POLLUTION China’s Expansive New Environmental Code    China has passed a sweeping environmental law, aiming to further crack down on domestic pollution, streamline enforcement, and signal a deepening political commitment to climate issues.    The new legal code seeks to:   
  • Restrict emergent sources of pollution instead of focusing only on post-pollution outcomes like smog.  
  • Target microplastics and forever chemicals. 
  • Regulate light pollution.  
But: Some activists warn the law may limit the public’s ability to challenge the government, as it states that environmental lawsuits can only be filed against companies and individuals—not against government entities.        OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Iran: Military Stepping Up Child Recruitment: Campaign Lowers Minimum Age to 12 –     Slasher sequel: Trump again proposes major cuts to U.S. science spending –      H.H.S. Takes a First Step Toward Restoring Vaccine Advisory Committee –     Raw dairy farm recalls some cheese products as FDA investigates E. coli outbreak –     ‘Wow!’ The eye surgery marathon that restored sight for some South Africans –      How your smart phone could help your motion sickness in moving vehicles – Issue No. 2892
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 and follow us on Instagram and X .

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Categories: Global Health Feed

Thu, 04/02/2026 - 17:02
96 Global Health NOW: You're Invited! Join Us in DC April 9 for a Communications Workshop April 2, 2026 JOIN US IN DC FOR A FREE WORKSHOP! The sun sets over the Tidal Basin, with cherry blossoms in peak bloom in Washington, DC. March 30. Heather Diehl/Getty Media-Savvy Skills for Scientists
In today's complex information landscape, great research needs more than publication–ēit requires communication. Join us for an interactive, pre-conference workshop, Communications Skills That Transform Science Into Action, co-led by the CUGH Research Committee, the Pulitzer Center, and Global Health NOW, ahead of the 2026 CUGH Annual Conference in Washington, DC, on April. 9.

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

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

How Is Misinformation in Global Health Produced, Amplified, and Legitimized? With Ridwan Karim Dini-Osman, Scott Ratzan, Rebecca Katherine Ivic, and Kenneth Rabin.
  • Each panel will be followed by hands-on, practical workshops (focusing on op-ed writing, media interviews, and new media techniques).
Pre-conference sessions are free, in-person, and open to the public! 
  • Thursday, April 9, 9 a.m.–4 p.m. EDT We’d love to see you for all or part of the day!  
CUGH 2026 Special Event Update
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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

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  Copyright 2026 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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Categories: Global Health Feed

Thu, 04/02/2026 - 09:32
96 Global Health NOW: The Deep Risks of Water Warfare; and Critical New Insights Into Noma Plus: What Would Jesus Think of a 10-Pound Chocolate Rabbit? April 2, 2026 TOP STORIES The CDC has paused lab testing for rabies, pox viruses, and dozens of other pathogens amid widespread layoffs and upheaval that have limited the number of qualified scientists who can perform the testing, which is designed to assist state and local labs.    A new GLP-1 pill, Eli Lilly’s once-daily medication Foundayo, has been approved by the FDA; the convenience of the once-daily pill widens access to weight loss medication and can be scaled worldwide, said the company’s CEO.     Methamphetamine use was reduced in adults who took the antidepressant mirtazapine, ; researchers found the drug was safe and effective for helping adults with methamphetamine use disorder curb intake of the drug—potentially opening new doors to treatment.     Exact digital replicas of patients’ diseased hearts have shown doctors how to more precisely treat actual hearts for an arrhythmia known as ventricular tachycardia, ; the “digital twin technology” is increasingly being explored in medical studies.   IN FOCUS Farm workers harvest crops as smoke billows after overnight airstrikes on oil depots, on March 8, in Tehran. Majid Saeedi/Getty Images The Deep Risks of Water Warfare     Ongoing conflict in Iran and surrounding Gulf states is laying bare the extreme vulnerability of the region’s most critical resource: Water.     Already, strikes to water facilities in Iran, Bahrain, and Kuwait have left communities struggling and demonstrate the catastrophic risks of targeting water infrastructure and desalination plants—the source of drinking water for much of the Gulf.    Dependence on desalination: Tens of millions of people regionwide rely on water from desalination plants, with some countries getting 90%-99% of all drinkable water from the facilities.  
  • Major cities like Dubai, Doha, Kuwait City, and Riyadh rely entirely on desalination. 
  • And Iran is already operating in a “water bankruptcy” after years of drought, with reservoirs that supply Tehran below 10% capacity as of last year.  
Water as a weapon: The recent attacks follow a long history of using water as a point of pain and leverage in regional warfare, from Babylon and Tyre in 6th century B.C. to the Gulf War in the 1990s. 
  • “Water is both a weapon and a strategic consideration for all parties in the region,” said Naser Alsayed, a researcher at SOAS University of London. 
Catastrophic consequences: Most Gulf states hold just a few days of water reserves, meaning escalating attacks could rapidly trigger humanitarian crises, including widespread dehydration, disease risks, displacement, and further instability.       NEGLECTED DISEASES Critical New Insights into Noma    In a breakthrough discovery for the fight against noma, researchers have pinpointed a previously unknown species of bacteria “strongly associated” with the disease.    Background: Noma is an infection that starts as gingivitis that rapidly progresses into a devastating and often fatal disease affecting children in extreme poverty.    The research: Working at the  in Sokoto, Nigeria, a team of researchers from Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine analyzed saliva from children with acute noma using metagenomic sequencing and machine learning, .     New findings: The research identified a “consistent microbial signature,” Treponema bacteria.    Hopeful implications: Knowing the specific bacterial culprit could allow for earlier diagnosis and more effective interventions.  
  • Plus: Treponema lacks antibiotic-resistance genes—meaning it can be treated with existing medications. 
    OPPORTUNITY Media-Savvy Skills for Scientists 
Join us for an interactive, pre-conference workshop, Communications Skills that Transform Science Into Action, co-led by the CUGH Research Committee, the Pulitzer Center, and Global Health NOW, ahead of the 2026 CUGH Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., on April 9. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

  •  

ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION What Would Jesus Think?  
For devotees of the bulk buying giant Costco, the mantra is less ‘go big or go home,’ and more ‘go big, then go home … and make space for the 6,000 paper towel rolls you just bought.’       Or, this Easter, the 10lb chocolate bunny named Pete for whose bulk “.”       Pete, with his warm smile, button nose, and cuddlable size, seems more friend than food. So, we were a bit disturbed that the instructions on the box demand that we destroy him and melt his remains into hot chocolate, .        “First he's admired, then he's cracked or cut,” the instructions explain. And you have options: “Wrap Pete in a towel and give one bold whack with a mallet, hammer, or rolling pin” to separate all 151 servings.      That may sound like a lot, unless you head over to Haux, France, where Easter Monday means making a single 4,500-egg omelet for 1,000+ people, .      We know one place you can buy that many eggs: Costco.  QUICK HITS ‘We’re failing newborns’: The global push to reduce infant deaths is losing steam –     Amid rising vaccine hesitancy, more parents reject vitamin K shots –      Kennedy sidelining of US advisory panel delays updates to cancer screening guidelines –     A slowdown in US visa processing is wreaking havoc on foreign doctors’ lives –      Trippy tobacco? Plants engineered to make five psychedelics at once –     Struggling to focus on research when the world is ‘on fire’? Some ways to cope –    Issue No. 2891
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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

Please send the Global Health NOW free sign-up link to friends and colleagues:

Want to change how you receive these emails? You can or . -->



  Copyright 2026 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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