96
Global Health NOW: The Power of Polio Influencers in Malawi; and Fiji’s ‘Tsunami’ of HIV Infections
February 24, 2026
TOP STORIES
Renewed fighting in South Sudan has displaced nearly 280,000, damaged health facilities and hindered humanitarian aid operations, and fueled the spread of cholera; UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher warns it amounts to a “perfect storm” of conflict, climate shocks, and deprivation.
The U.S. FDA will drop the two-study requirement for new drug approvals—eliminating the longtime standard of requiring two rigorous studies—in an attempt to speed up the availability of certain medical products.
Hepatitis B vax rates in the U.S. have slipped in the last couple of years to 73.2% in August 2025, researchers from Harvard and the UC San Diego School of Medicine found—reversing an era of growth with a high of 83.5% in 2023.
Cannabis use among adolescents increases the risks of being diagnosed with bipolar and psychotic disorders, as well as anxiety and depression, years later, that analyzed data on 460,000 teenagers in Northern California for a 25–year period. IN FOCUS Health worker Mable Njunga marks a door in Lilongwe, Malawi, indicating the home's children under 5 have had the polio vaccine. March 20, 2022. Amos Gumulira / AFP via Getty The Power of Polio Influencers in Malawi The detection of poliovirus in sewage treatment plants in Blantyre, Malawi, triggered a massive vaccination drive in the past week. But health authorities are fighting more than the virus.
Drugs, denial and stigma: the babies and children swept up in Fiji's HIV nightmare –
Zimbabwe rolls out long-acting HIV drug, among first countries to do so – DATA POINT
2881
—ĔĔ
The number of attacks on health care in Ukraine—including health workers, facilities, and ambulances—documented by the WHO since the full-scale war began on February 24, 2022. — CORRECTION In a Top Story last week that , we said “Five years into Ukraine’s war” … but we should have said, “As the war in Ukraine enters its fifth year.” Thanks for flagging that error, Angeline Sawaya! SPONSORED Cells to Society: The Building Blocks of a Public Health Career
Considering a career in public health? The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is now offering online, noncredit courses for adult learners who are thinking about a career change, are seeking ways to be more helpful in their local communities, or are simply curious about how public health works. Explore available courses and register today to get a preview into a formal public health education. QUICK HITS Destitute survivors of south-east Asia’s cyberscam farms an ‘international crisis’ – South Africa regulator backed by the food industry blocks ad on sugar’s health risks – NIH research grant funding rates plummeted in 2025 – Study: Antibiotic resistance threatens 30-year decline in deaths from lower respiratory infections – Vaccine skeptic stepping down from No. 2 post at CDC – Biohackers and wellness influencers are pushing nicotine as part of their ‘stacks’ – Thanks for the tip, Cecilia Meisner!
How a Syrian refugee built a global mental health lifeline for displaced communities – Issue No. 2869
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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You can or .
The U.S. FDA will drop the two-study requirement for new drug approvals—eliminating the longtime standard of requiring two rigorous studies—in an attempt to speed up the availability of certain medical products.
Hepatitis B vax rates in the U.S. have slipped in the last couple of years to 73.2% in August 2025, researchers from Harvard and the UC San Diego School of Medicine found—reversing an era of growth with a high of 83.5% in 2023.
Cannabis use among adolescents increases the risks of being diagnosed with bipolar and psychotic disorders, as well as anxiety and depression, years later, that analyzed data on 460,000 teenagers in Northern California for a 25–year period. IN FOCUS Health worker Mable Njunga marks a door in Lilongwe, Malawi, indicating the home's children under 5 have had the polio vaccine. March 20, 2022. Amos Gumulira / AFP via Getty The Power of Polio Influencers in Malawi The detection of poliovirus in sewage treatment plants in Blantyre, Malawi, triggered a massive vaccination drive in the past week. But health authorities are fighting more than the virus.
- 1.3 million children have been vaccinated against the disease in four days with supplies airlifted by the WHO, .
- At a Blantyre school, one in 10 students remained at their desks during a vaccination drive because their parents didn’t give consent.
- One parent told The Guardian: “I feel my child has had enough vaccines in her life.”
- “You can give [a mother] any argument. It doesn’t matter. And then you have a local influencer walk in, and he says ‘vaccinate’, and she just hands you the child.”
- And without intervention, Fiji health officials warn that number could swell to ~25,000 cases by 2029.
- But at-risk populations are expanding beyond people who use drugs: 33 babies were born with HIV in early 2025.
Drugs, denial and stigma: the babies and children swept up in Fiji's HIV nightmare –
Zimbabwe rolls out long-acting HIV drug, among first countries to do so – DATA POINT
2881
—ĔĔ
The number of attacks on health care in Ukraine—including health workers, facilities, and ambulances—documented by the WHO since the full-scale war began on February 24, 2022. — CORRECTION In a Top Story last week that , we said “Five years into Ukraine’s war” … but we should have said, “As the war in Ukraine enters its fifth year.” Thanks for flagging that error, Angeline Sawaya! SPONSORED Cells to Society: The Building Blocks of a Public Health Career
Considering a career in public health? The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is now offering online, noncredit courses for adult learners who are thinking about a career change, are seeking ways to be more helpful in their local communities, or are simply curious about how public health works. Explore available courses and register today to get a preview into a formal public health education. QUICK HITS Destitute survivors of south-east Asia’s cyberscam farms an ‘international crisis’ – South Africa regulator backed by the food industry blocks ad on sugar’s health risks – NIH research grant funding rates plummeted in 2025 – Study: Antibiotic resistance threatens 30-year decline in deaths from lower respiratory infections – Vaccine skeptic stepping down from No. 2 post at CDC – Biohackers and wellness influencers are pushing nicotine as part of their ‘stacks’ – Thanks for the tip, Cecilia Meisner!
How a Syrian refugee built a global mental health lifeline for displaced communities – Issue No. 2869
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
96
Global Health NOW: Global Health sNOW Day
February 23, 2026
iStock/Getty
Global Health SNOW Day
GHN is off today due to inclement weather and reduced operations at Johns Hopkins University. We plan to be back tomorrow with all the latest global health news! —Dayna Issue No. 2868
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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GHN is off today due to inclement weather and reduced operations at Johns Hopkins University. We plan to be back tomorrow with all the latest global health news! —Dayna Issue No. 2868
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
Renewed fighting in South Sudan’s Jonglei state has displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians in recent weeks, damaged health facilities, fuelled the spread of cholera and prompting the UN relief chief to warn of a “perfect storm” of conflict, climate shocks and deprivation.
Categories: Global Health Feed
96
Global Health NOW: Afghanistan’s ‘Catastrophic’ Hunger
Plus: Birth Certificates for Bangladesh’s ‘Invisible’ Children
February 19, 2026
TOP STORIES
Libya has eliminated trachoma as a public health problem, the WHO has validated—the result of a decades-long effort that involved improved surveillance, expanded surgical care, and training and support for eye health workers that was “particularly notable given years of political instability and humanitarian challenges” that strained health services.
New FDA guidance for antibiotic use in food-producing animals seeks to add duration limits to medically important antibiotics; but critics say fails to adequately address the rise and spread of antibiotic resistance and the potential impacts on human health.
Early prenatal care has declined in the U.S., with the share of births to women who had prenatal care in the first trimester dropping from 78.3% in 2021 to 75.5% in 2024, ; while reasons for the decline were not cited, the decrease was higher for mothers in minority groups, and specialists pointed to the rise in maternity deserts as a likely factor.
Greater air pollution exposure has been linked to heightened Alzheimer’s risk, , which found that air pollution affected the brain through direct effects rather than through other chronic conditions. IN FOCUS A malnourished child holding his mother’s hand inside the Médecins Sans Frontières therapeutic nutrition center at a hospital in Herat, Afghanistan, on January 8. Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty Afghanistan’s ‘Catastrophic’ Hunger
Afghanistan faces a historic surge in malnutrition, as aid cuts, displacement, and drought leave two-thirds of the country’s population facing serious or crisis levels for acute malnutrition, .
Hundreds of undocumented, “invisible” children born in brothels in Bangladesh now have birth certificates, opening the door to education and protections they previously could not access. 700+ children are newly documented after years of campaigning by activists with the Freedom Fund, who advocated for better documentation by pointing to a 2018 law that allows registration without a father’s details, and who worked to identify the children and collect their information. Unlocking basic rights: The certificates will allow the children to enroll in school, acquire passports, and vote.
It’s safe to say that us non-athletes don’t spend most of our lives thinking about triple axels, frantically sweeping near a kettle-type-thing, or cross-country-skiing-really-far-then-shooting-something.
But then for a few weeks every four years, we sink into our sofas and become winter sports dilettantes. We cry tears of joy and disappointment, lament scoring injustices, marvel at back stories—and wonder, popcorn in hand, if we might have stood a chance at Olympic greatness.
A true sportsman, Nazgul congratulated fellow athletes with bum-sniffs at the finish line. Greek skier Konstantina Charalampidou welcomed the competition.
“I wanted to pet him, but I didn’t have the time.”
The sacrifices of an Olympian. QUICK HITS Measles cases in South Carolina rise by 12 to 962, state health department says – NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya will take over leadership of CDC temporarily – Why is the US targeting Cuba’s global medical missions? – FDA will drop two-study requirement for new drug approvals, aiming to speed access – New Inhalable Tuberculosis Treatment Could Replace Months of Daily Pills – The most dangerous sport at the Winter Olympics? It’s not luge or ice skating – Issue No. 2867
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.
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can or .
New FDA guidance for antibiotic use in food-producing animals seeks to add duration limits to medically important antibiotics; but critics say fails to adequately address the rise and spread of antibiotic resistance and the potential impacts on human health.
Early prenatal care has declined in the U.S., with the share of births to women who had prenatal care in the first trimester dropping from 78.3% in 2021 to 75.5% in 2024, ; while reasons for the decline were not cited, the decrease was higher for mothers in minority groups, and specialists pointed to the rise in maternity deserts as a likely factor.
Greater air pollution exposure has been linked to heightened Alzheimer’s risk, , which found that air pollution affected the brain through direct effects rather than through other chronic conditions. IN FOCUS A malnourished child holding his mother’s hand inside the Médecins Sans Frontières therapeutic nutrition center at a hospital in Herat, Afghanistan, on January 8. Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty Afghanistan’s ‘Catastrophic’ Hunger
Afghanistan faces a historic surge in malnutrition, as aid cuts, displacement, and drought leave two-thirds of the country’s population facing serious or crisis levels for acute malnutrition, .
- “We have a catastrophic nutritional crisis on our hands,” said John Aylieff, Afghanistan Country Director for the UN's World Food Program, noting that levels of malnutrition are the highest ever recorded in the country at 17.4 million people.
- Children: ~4 million children are acutely malnourished, and 500+ child deaths have been logged in recent months—likely an undercount.
- Women: Prohibited from work, women are especially vulnerable. WFP has recorded a 30% rise in malnourished pregnant and breastfeeding women, and is seeing an uptick in suicidal calls from women with nowhere to turn.
Hundreds of undocumented, “invisible” children born in brothels in Bangladesh now have birth certificates, opening the door to education and protections they previously could not access. 700+ children are newly documented after years of campaigning by activists with the Freedom Fund, who advocated for better documentation by pointing to a 2018 law that allows registration without a father’s details, and who worked to identify the children and collect their information. Unlocking basic rights: The certificates will allow the children to enroll in school, acquire passports, and vote.
- Documentation can also help protect children from trafficking.
It’s safe to say that us non-athletes don’t spend most of our lives thinking about triple axels, frantically sweeping near a kettle-type-thing, or cross-country-skiing-really-far-then-shooting-something.
But then for a few weeks every four years, we sink into our sofas and become winter sports dilettantes. We cry tears of joy and disappointment, lament scoring injustices, marvel at back stories—and wonder, popcorn in hand, if we might have stood a chance at Olympic greatness.
- What we never considered: What if we just … joined in?
A true sportsman, Nazgul congratulated fellow athletes with bum-sniffs at the finish line. Greek skier Konstantina Charalampidou welcomed the competition.
“I wanted to pet him, but I didn’t have the time.”
The sacrifices of an Olympian. QUICK HITS Measles cases in South Carolina rise by 12 to 962, state health department says – NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya will take over leadership of CDC temporarily – Why is the US targeting Cuba’s global medical missions? – FDA will drop two-study requirement for new drug approvals, aiming to speed access – New Inhalable Tuberculosis Treatment Could Replace Months of Daily Pills – The most dangerous sport at the Winter Olympics? It’s not luge or ice skating – Issue No. 2867
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.
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can or .
Categories: Global Health Feed
Engineered nanoparticles could deliver better targeted cancer treatment
Scientists at 91ɬ and the Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Institute have developed a new way to deliver cancer immunotherapy that caused fewer side effects compared to standard treatment in
Categories: Global Health Feed
96
Global Health NOW: Forced Begging in Ethiopia; and Botswana’s Health Care Breakdown
February 18, 2026
TOP STORIES
Five years into Ukraine’s war, more than a third of the country’s children—2,589,900—remain displaced, including 791,000+ children inside Ukraine and nearly 1.8 million children who are now refugees outside the country.
The UK government launched a vaccination campaign in response to a measles outbreak in North London; vaccine coverage with both doses of the MMR vaccine have now dropped to 89% across England, and below 65% for some areas. Moderna’s flu vaccine will now be reviewed by the U.S. FDA after the agency reversed its decision last week to reject the application for the vaccine, which is made with mRNA technology. The maker of Roundup, the weedkiller, has announced a proposed $7.25 billion settlement to resolve thousands of U.S. lawsuits which allege the chemical company, Bayer, failed to warn people that Roundup could cause cancer. IN FOCUS People beg in the streets in central Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. November 16, 2010. Per-Anders Pettersson Forced Begging in Ethiopia People with disabilities are frequently trafficked and forced to beg in Ethiopia’s major cities in an often overlooked form of human trafficking that researchers describe as a “crime hiding in plain sight,” that is among the first to focus on the specific form of trafficking. Exploiting vulnerability: Children with disabilities from poor rural families are especially at risk, facing stigma, exclusion, and almost no access to school or social support.
in the Escape the Neglect: Stories from the Front Lines docuseries, following the innovation arc in the treatment of sleeping sickness in the DRC, is now live.
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.
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can or .
The UK government launched a vaccination campaign in response to a measles outbreak in North London; vaccine coverage with both doses of the MMR vaccine have now dropped to 89% across England, and below 65% for some areas. Moderna’s flu vaccine will now be reviewed by the U.S. FDA after the agency reversed its decision last week to reject the application for the vaccine, which is made with mRNA technology. The maker of Roundup, the weedkiller, has announced a proposed $7.25 billion settlement to resolve thousands of U.S. lawsuits which allege the chemical company, Bayer, failed to warn people that Roundup could cause cancer. IN FOCUS People beg in the streets in central Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. November 16, 2010. Per-Anders Pettersson Forced Begging in Ethiopia People with disabilities are frequently trafficked and forced to beg in Ethiopia’s major cities in an often overlooked form of human trafficking that researchers describe as a “crime hiding in plain sight,” that is among the first to focus on the specific form of trafficking. Exploiting vulnerability: Children with disabilities from poor rural families are especially at risk, facing stigma, exclusion, and almost no access to school or social support.
- Traffickers often convince parents to allow them to take their children to urban areas like Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa, and Mekelle—promising education or medical care.
- “I would go out crawling on my hands since I didn’t have a wheelchair,” reported one female survivor with a physical disability, adding that if she returned with too few earnings her trafficker “insults me and hits me.”
- Most were too afraid or dependent upon traffickers to seek help, and the police rarely provided a pathway out.
- Stigma reduction, including inclusive education and jobs for those with disabilities.
- Safer reporting mechanisms and tailored law enforcement response.
- Support systems after rescue, informed by survivor experience.
- A public health emergency was declared six months ago, but an ombudsman’s new investigation reveals continued struggles, including the country’s largest hospital being reduced to an “old, heavily worn vehicle, overloaded with passengers.”
in the Escape the Neglect: Stories from the Front Lines docuseries, following the innovation arc in the treatment of sleeping sickness in the DRC, is now live.
-
produced by Devex in partnership with the Gates Foundation, spotlights the human stories from the global effort to end neglected tropical diseases in Nigeria, India, and the DRC.
Host a screening: These short films (5–10 minutes each) offer a simple, meaningful way to spark conversation. To make hosting easy, the creators of the series developed a flexible toolkit that provides everything you need to facilitate an in-person or hybrid event, including:
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A facilitation guide with inclusive, action‑oriented discussion prompts.
-
An NTD factsheet with episode‑specific context.
-
‑t‑u&Բ;ԱٲپDz and promotional language.
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
La résistance anti-ICE au Minnesota et le devoir de mémoire de nos lignées solidaires.
Categories: Global Health Feed
96
Global Health NOW: Booming ‘Bootleg Cigarettes’ Down Under; and the Race for WHO Leadership Ramps Up
February 17, 2026
TOP STORIES
Mortality among people who inject drugs and participated in a Stockholm, Sweden, needle and syringe program declined over a decade of harm reduction intervention expansion, including a take-home naloxone effort; observed a marked reduction in opioid overdose deaths.
Plastic water bottles contained more chemicals than glass: tested 37 Belgian brands and found 17 endocrine-disrupting chemicals, including bisphenol B and acetaminophen—and observed that higher price correlated with increased phthalate levels.
The benefits of intermittent fasting “fail to match the hype,” of 22 studies that found little to no weight loss improvement compared to regular dietary advice or doing nothing at all for people who were overweight or obese.
Ultra-processed food companies hijacked the Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) “loophole” to let questionable ingredients slip into American food products, says U.S. health secretary RFK Jr., who pledged to act on a petition from former FDA chief David Kesler to address the issue. IN FOCUS Pedestrians walk past signs outside a tobacconist and convenience store in central Sydney, Australia. March 27, 2025. David Gray/AFP via Getty Booming ‘Bootleg Cigarettes’ Down Under
Australia’s aggressive taxes on cigarettes have driven down smoking rates and raised an average pack’s cost to US$40. But they’ve also unleashed a nationwide black market, .
Public health perspective: The illegal market has made prices so cheap that further tax increases wouldn’t do much good, said Becky Freeman, a University of Sydney tobacco expert.
Smoking And Quitting Behaviors Vary by Socioeconomic Position – Exclusive: India sticks to e-cigarette ban in snub for Philip Morris – DATA POINT
123 million
—ĔĔ—ĔĔ
Additional malaria cases in Africa by 2050 that could be triggered by climate change, driven mostly by extreme weather events, led by researchers from The Kids Research Institute Australia and Curtin University. —
WHO Race for WHO Leadership Ramps Up Diplomatic maneuvering has begun for the WHO's next director-general, as the nomination process opens in April for next year’s vote. And while a list of rumored candidates is growing, the successor to current chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus faces an “existential convergence of crises” amid geopolitical rifts and major funding challenges. An agency at a crossroads: The WHO’s next leader will have to steer the agency at a critical juncture that includes a $1 billion funding gap after the U.S. withdrawal, a 25% staff cut, and low morale. Seeking a “unicorn”: The incoming chief will also need to balance demands for global equity with fiscal reform—all while trying to meet 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and prepare for potential pandemics in a post-COVID landscape. SPONSORED Cells to Society: The Building Blocks of a Public Health Career Considering a career in public health? The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is now offering online, noncredit courses for adult learners who are thinking about a career change, are seeking ways to be more helpful in their local communities, or are simply curious about how public health works. Explore available courses and register today to get a preview into a formal public health education. QUICK HITS Mexico Risks Losing Its Measles-Free Status, Months Before Millions Arrive for World Cup – Doctors bear the burden as ‘medical freedom’ fuels worst US measles outbreak in 30 years – Investment in Malaria Venture Yields 13x Health Benefits – Indian Health Service to phase out use of dental fillings containing mercury by 2027 – As More Schools Turn to AI Weapons Detection, Questions Persist –
As US presence wanes, China works to increase its influence through foreign aid –
The Karate Class Where Kenya’s Grandmothers Learn to Fight Back – Issue No. 2865
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.
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can or .
Ultra-processed food companies hijacked the Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) “loophole” to let questionable ingredients slip into American food products, says U.S. health secretary RFK Jr., who pledged to act on a petition from former FDA chief David Kesler to address the issue. IN FOCUS Pedestrians walk past signs outside a tobacconist and convenience store in central Sydney, Australia. March 27, 2025. David Gray/AFP via Getty Booming ‘Bootleg Cigarettes’ Down Under
Australia’s aggressive taxes on cigarettes have driven down smoking rates and raised an average pack’s cost to US$40. But they’ve also unleashed a nationwide black market, .
- The tax on a single cigarette has tripled in a decade to about US$1.06.
- The price spike has launched a huge demand for illegal cigarettes. A pack of under-the-counter cigarettes costs as little as US$7.
- Illegal cigs are commonly sold at shops and via private sales, accounting for perhaps half of all tobacco sales.
- Criminal gangs are smuggling in cigarettes from the Middle East or China.
- “ ” have spawned 100+ firebombings and hundreds of attacks on shopkeepers and others, as turf battles have erupted among gangs.
Public health perspective: The illegal market has made prices so cheap that further tax increases wouldn’t do much good, said Becky Freeman, a University of Sydney tobacco expert.
- “I only support tax increases if they are effective at reducing smoking,” Freeman said.
Smoking And Quitting Behaviors Vary by Socioeconomic Position – Exclusive: India sticks to e-cigarette ban in snub for Philip Morris – DATA POINT
123 million
—ĔĔ—ĔĔ
Additional malaria cases in Africa by 2050 that could be triggered by climate change, driven mostly by extreme weather events, led by researchers from The Kids Research Institute Australia and Curtin University. —
WHO Race for WHO Leadership Ramps Up Diplomatic maneuvering has begun for the WHO's next director-general, as the nomination process opens in April for next year’s vote. And while a list of rumored candidates is growing, the successor to current chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus faces an “existential convergence of crises” amid geopolitical rifts and major funding challenges. An agency at a crossroads: The WHO’s next leader will have to steer the agency at a critical juncture that includes a $1 billion funding gap after the U.S. withdrawal, a 25% staff cut, and low morale. Seeking a “unicorn”: The incoming chief will also need to balance demands for global equity with fiscal reform—all while trying to meet 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and prepare for potential pandemics in a post-COVID landscape. SPONSORED Cells to Society: The Building Blocks of a Public Health Career Considering a career in public health? The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is now offering online, noncredit courses for adult learners who are thinking about a career change, are seeking ways to be more helpful in their local communities, or are simply curious about how public health works. Explore available courses and register today to get a preview into a formal public health education. QUICK HITS Mexico Risks Losing Its Measles-Free Status, Months Before Millions Arrive for World Cup – Doctors bear the burden as ‘medical freedom’ fuels worst US measles outbreak in 30 years – Investment in Malaria Venture Yields 13x Health Benefits – Indian Health Service to phase out use of dental fillings containing mercury by 2027 – As More Schools Turn to AI Weapons Detection, Questions Persist –
As US presence wanes, China works to increase its influence through foreign aid –
The Karate Class Where Kenya’s Grandmothers Learn to Fight Back – Issue No. 2865
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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You can or .
Categories: Global Health Feed
Nearly two thirds of all maternal deaths worldwide occur in countries marked by conflict or fragility, according to a report released on Tuesday by the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners.
Categories: Global Health Feed
96
Global Health NOW: Progress and Pushback on Polio Vaccination; and Peru’s Defective Cancer Drugs
February 16, 2026
TOP STORIES
A measles outbreak in London is spreading rapidly among children under age 10, per the U.K. Health Security Agency, which has reported 34 laboratory-confirmed cases over the last month linked to schools and nurseries in Enfield.
A new recombinant mpox strain combining genomic elements of clades Ib and IIb of the virus has been identified in two cases—one in the U.K. and the other in India—, which has urged continued genomic surveillance.
Whooping cough cases in Australia have hit their highest level recorded in 35 years following a “potentially catastrophic” drop in vaccinations; 57,000+ cases were reported in 2024—mostly among children.
France will slash its funding for the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria by 58%+ for the next two-year cycle, from €1.6 billion to €660 million; French NGOs warned that the cuts—which could impact antiretroviral HIV treatments, malaria prevention, condom availability, and testing services—will cost lives. IN FOCUS Progress and Pushback on Polio Vaccination The WHO is expanding the global arsenal for polio outbreak response by aimed at curbing vaccine-derived outbreaks “more sustainably” in the ongoing quest to eradicate the virus. But the progress comes as vaccination strategy is under threat in a new era of politicization—potentially endangering decades of gains. The new nOPV2 vaccine is designed to be more genetically stable than older vaccines, reducing risk of vaccine-derived outbreaks while effectively curbing virus transmission, . Meanwhile in Malawi, health officials have launched a new oral polio vaccination campaign in schools and door-to-door, seeking to administer 1.7 million nOPV2 doses after detecting vaccine-derived type 2 virus in sewage in the southern city Blantyre last month, . “Polio endgame”: The WHO's SAGE Polio Working Group convened in Geneva this month to review global polio eradication strategies, including phasing out the two-strain oral vaccine (bOPV) while improving the nOPV2 and next-generation shots (IPV), . An uncertain future in the U.S.: Despite these global strides, the future of vaccine strategy in the U.S. is uncertain as allies of HHS Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. form coalitions to roll back state-level school vaccine mandates—alarming public health experts who warn this could swiftly erode a century of protections against deadly childhood diseases, including polio, . DATA POINT
123 million
—ĔĔ—ĔĔ
Additional malaria cases in Africa by 2050 that could be triggered by climate change, driven mostly by extreme weather events, led by researchers from The Kids Research Institute Australia and Curtin University. —
PHARMACEUTICALS Peru’s Defective Cancer Drugs Ineffective and even dangerous cancer drugs have been repeatedly shipped to Peru health facilities amid an ongoing pattern of regulatory failures within the country. Unfit for use: ~118,000 vials of chemo bought with government funds have been ordered destroyed since 2019, though some reached hospitals and even patients before they were scrapped. Poor track records: Pharma companies with problematic track records have been awarded state contracts, even after their drugs have failed quality tests. Exacerbating a crisis: 1 in 4 cancer patients in Peru experience treatment delays because of drug shortages. , in partnership with OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Key US infectious-diseases centre to drop pandemic preparation – NSF’s flagship fellowship program is rejecting applicants without peer review – RFK Jr. shakes up top health department staff – She was denied a legal abortion and sent to prison over an illegal one. Now she tells her story – HIV made him expect to die at 40. At 73, Edwin Cameron asks: Who’s planning for our ageing survivors? – Photos: The flying doctors of Lesotho won’t let their wings be clipped – Issue No. 2864
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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A new recombinant mpox strain combining genomic elements of clades Ib and IIb of the virus has been identified in two cases—one in the U.K. and the other in India—, which has urged continued genomic surveillance.
Whooping cough cases in Australia have hit their highest level recorded in 35 years following a “potentially catastrophic” drop in vaccinations; 57,000+ cases were reported in 2024—mostly among children.
France will slash its funding for the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria by 58%+ for the next two-year cycle, from €1.6 billion to €660 million; French NGOs warned that the cuts—which could impact antiretroviral HIV treatments, malaria prevention, condom availability, and testing services—will cost lives. IN FOCUS Progress and Pushback on Polio Vaccination The WHO is expanding the global arsenal for polio outbreak response by aimed at curbing vaccine-derived outbreaks “more sustainably” in the ongoing quest to eradicate the virus. But the progress comes as vaccination strategy is under threat in a new era of politicization—potentially endangering decades of gains. The new nOPV2 vaccine is designed to be more genetically stable than older vaccines, reducing risk of vaccine-derived outbreaks while effectively curbing virus transmission, . Meanwhile in Malawi, health officials have launched a new oral polio vaccination campaign in schools and door-to-door, seeking to administer 1.7 million nOPV2 doses after detecting vaccine-derived type 2 virus in sewage in the southern city Blantyre last month, . “Polio endgame”: The WHO's SAGE Polio Working Group convened in Geneva this month to review global polio eradication strategies, including phasing out the two-strain oral vaccine (bOPV) while improving the nOPV2 and next-generation shots (IPV), . An uncertain future in the U.S.: Despite these global strides, the future of vaccine strategy in the U.S. is uncertain as allies of HHS Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. form coalitions to roll back state-level school vaccine mandates—alarming public health experts who warn this could swiftly erode a century of protections against deadly childhood diseases, including polio, . DATA POINT
123 million
—ĔĔ—ĔĔ
Additional malaria cases in Africa by 2050 that could be triggered by climate change, driven mostly by extreme weather events, led by researchers from The Kids Research Institute Australia and Curtin University. —
PHARMACEUTICALS Peru’s Defective Cancer Drugs Ineffective and even dangerous cancer drugs have been repeatedly shipped to Peru health facilities amid an ongoing pattern of regulatory failures within the country. Unfit for use: ~118,000 vials of chemo bought with government funds have been ordered destroyed since 2019, though some reached hospitals and even patients before they were scrapped. Poor track records: Pharma companies with problematic track records have been awarded state contracts, even after their drugs have failed quality tests. Exacerbating a crisis: 1 in 4 cancer patients in Peru experience treatment delays because of drug shortages. , in partnership with OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Key US infectious-diseases centre to drop pandemic preparation – NSF’s flagship fellowship program is rejecting applicants without peer review – RFK Jr. shakes up top health department staff – She was denied a legal abortion and sent to prison over an illegal one. Now she tells her story – HIV made him expect to die at 40. At 73, Edwin Cameron asks: Who’s planning for our ageing survivors? – Photos: The flying doctors of Lesotho won’t let their wings be clipped – Issue No. 2864
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
The detection of a newly identified recombinant mpox virus containing genetic material from two known strains underscores the need for continued genomic surveillance, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday, as the overall global public health risk assessment remains unchanged.
Categories: Global Health Feed
Which childhood abuse survivors are at elevated risk of depression? New study provides important clues
Scientists have identified a pattern of gene activity present in some female survivors of childhood abuse that is associated with an elevated risk of depression.
Categories: Global Health Feed
Which childhood abuse survivors are at elevated risk of depression? New study provides important clues
Scientists have identified a pattern of gene activity present in some female survivors of childhood abuse that is associated with an elevated risk of depression.
Categories: Global Health Feed
96
Global Health NOW: EPA Moves to Revoke Key Climate Health Warning
Plus: Kenya Battles Kala-azar
February 12, 2026
TOP STORIES
Life-threatening blood clots that have been a rare side effect of some COVID-19 vaccines, including those by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, are caused by an adenovirus protein used by both vaccines which triggered “rogue” antibodies in people with a particular genetic background, .
The WHO director-general has called a U.S.-funded hepatitis B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau “unethical,” as the trial will deny half the children the vaccine despite its proven efficacy; instead of testing benefits or efficacy, the study appears focused on looking for adverse outcomes in children who receive a birth dose.
Measles cases fell across Europe and Central Asia last year, dropping by 75% in 2025 compared to 2024 due to outbreak response measures and “the gradual decline in the number of people susceptible” to infection as the virus infected undervaccinated communities, per new UN data; still, outbreak risks remain.
More than 70% of baby foods, drinks, and snacks sold in the U.S.—including crackers, yogurt, and puffs—are ultraprocessed and contain additives that have been linked to health issues, according to
IN FOCUS
Steam rises from the smoke stacks of the Ravenswood Generating Station, New York City's largest power plant, on January 26. Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty
EPA Moves to Revoke Key Climate Health Warning
The EPA is poised to revoke its own 2009 scientific conclusion that greenhouse gases are a threat to public health and welfare—upending the legal foundation for a wide range of federal climate protections, . Background: Known as the determination established wide-ranging health threats posed by greenhouse gases produced by oil, gas, and coal, and has since been invoked to set emissions limits for vehicles and power plants. The long road to repeal: Members of President Trump’s administration have long worked to dismantle climate legislation they describe as unfounded and harmful to the economy, , with White House officials lauding the rollback as “the largest deregulatory action in American history.” Long-term impact: Ending the finding could block future presidents from using the EPA to limit emissions, allowing industries to fully abandon regulations, Scientific backlash: Leading scientific and health organizations overwhelmingly oppose the rollback, saying it ignores vast and mounting scientific evidence that links pollution- and climate change-driven disasters to illness, higher medical costs, and premature deaths “beyond scientific dispute,” .
94 million+
—ĔĔ——––
The number of people worldwide who suffer from cataracts; half of them lack access to the corrective surgery, according to the WHO. —
NEGLECTED DISEASES Kenya Battles Kala-azar
An outbreak of kala-azar, also known as visceral leishmaniasis, has surged in Kenya's dry regions over the last year. By the numbers: Cases spiked from 1,575 in 2024 to 3,577 in 2025, and the disease has a 95% fatality rate if untreated.
It’s been said that revenge is a dish best served cold. But it may actually be a dish best served to an armadillo, . Thankfully, every February, a slew of zoos and wildlife conservation groups offer such a service, de facto guide to vengeful Valentines. A sampling: Bugs and hisses: The San Antonio Zoo’s annual allows donors to pay $5 to name a cockroach after an ex, then have it fed to inhabitants, .
Study supports shorter treatment regimens for TB prevention –
Four states sue Trump administration over cuts to public health funding –
Nurses on strike in New York approve new contracts at 2 of 3 hospital systems –
Public health workers reflect on a year since mass layoffs at the CDC –
‘At 2am, it feels like someone’s there’: why Nigerians are choosing chatbots to give them advice and therapy – Issue No. 2863
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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The EPA is poised to revoke its own 2009 scientific conclusion that greenhouse gases are a threat to public health and welfare—upending the legal foundation for a wide range of federal climate protections, . Background: Known as the determination established wide-ranging health threats posed by greenhouse gases produced by oil, gas, and coal, and has since been invoked to set emissions limits for vehicles and power plants. The long road to repeal: Members of President Trump’s administration have long worked to dismantle climate legislation they describe as unfounded and harmful to the economy, , with White House officials lauding the rollback as “the largest deregulatory action in American history.” Long-term impact: Ending the finding could block future presidents from using the EPA to limit emissions, allowing industries to fully abandon regulations, Scientific backlash: Leading scientific and health organizations overwhelmingly oppose the rollback, saying it ignores vast and mounting scientific evidence that links pollution- and climate change-driven disasters to illness, higher medical costs, and premature deaths “beyond scientific dispute,” .
- Environmental groups have pledged to fight the EPA “every step of the way” with legal challenges that could stretch for years.
- “Communities across the country will bear the brunt of this decision—through dirtier air, higher health costs, and increased climate harm,” said Michelle Roos, executive director of the Environmental Protection Network, .
94 million+
—ĔĔ——––
The number of people worldwide who suffer from cataracts; half of them lack access to the corrective surgery, according to the WHO. —
NEGLECTED DISEASES Kenya Battles Kala-azar
An outbreak of kala-azar, also known as visceral leishmaniasis, has surged in Kenya's dry regions over the last year. By the numbers: Cases spiked from 1,575 in 2024 to 3,577 in 2025, and the disease has a 95% fatality rate if untreated.
- Few facilities in Kenya have the capacity to diagnose or treat the illness, and more training to address the medical crisis is needed.
It’s been said that revenge is a dish best served cold. But it may actually be a dish best served to an armadillo, . Thankfully, every February, a slew of zoos and wildlife conservation groups offer such a service, de facto guide to vengeful Valentines. A sampling: Bugs and hisses: The San Antonio Zoo’s annual allows donors to pay $5 to name a cockroach after an ex, then have it fed to inhabitants, .
- Similarly, the lets donors revenge-name mealworms or rats which are then fed to birds of prey with “video proof of their revenge being swallowed whole.”
Study supports shorter treatment regimens for TB prevention –
Four states sue Trump administration over cuts to public health funding –
Nurses on strike in New York approve new contracts at 2 of 3 hospital systems –
Public health workers reflect on a year since mass layoffs at the CDC –
‘At 2am, it feels like someone’s there’: why Nigerians are choosing chatbots to give them advice and therapy – Issue No. 2863
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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You can or .
Categories: Global Health Feed
96
Global Health NOW: Deteriorating Health Conditions in Immigration Detention; and The Struggle to Keep Mobile Crisis Teams in Action
February 11, 2026
TOP STORIES
At least nine people were killed and at least 25 injured yesterday in Canada’s deadliest mass shooting in decades; the shootings, at the hands of a suspect who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, took place in a home and a secondary school in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia.
The U.S. FDA has refused to review Moderna’s application for a new mRNA flu vaccine, though no safety or efficacy concerns were identified; Moderna has requested an urgent meeting with the FDA, noting that it has submitted the vaccine for review in Europe, Canada, and Australia.
Aluminum exposure from dietary sources over the course of a 100-year lifespan is “orders of magnitude” higher than the cumulative lifetime exposure from all the recommended aluminum-containing vaccines, .
Tanning companies are spreading harmful misinformation about suntanning beds—claiming a range of health benefits, from boosting energy to preventing colds and flu—on social media ads targeting young people, while cancer charities link the sunbeds to rising melanoma cases among youth in the UK. IN FOCUS Texas State Troopers prepare to disperse a crowd protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside the South Texas Family Residential Center. January 28, Dilley, Texas. Joel Angel Juarez/Getty Deteriorating Health Conditions in Immigration Detention As U.S. immigration detention centers expand under the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign, detainees and health workers are reporting severe health and safety breakdowns—including among children. In Dilley, Texas: Families are being held for weeks or months at facilities like the Dilley Detention Center, . Despite legal limits on detaining minors, ~300 have been held for 20+ days.
91%
—ĔĔ
Share of Americans across the political spectrum who agree it is important for the U.S. to be a global leader in science and technology; 63% expressed willingness to pay $1 more per week in taxes in support of medical and health research. — MENTAL HEALTH The Struggle to Keep Mobile Crisis Teams in Action Over the last decade, U.S. communities have increasingly turned to mobile crisis teams to respond to psychiatric emergencies rather than dispatching law enforcement.
We incorrectly spelled out IOM in our top story yesterday, about a ; IOM stands for the International Organization for Migration. Thanks to a sharp-eyed reader for setting us straight! QUICK HITS In Sudan, sick and starving children ‘wasting away’ –
India sticks to e-cigarette ban in snub for Philip Morris – Landmark settlement could create new protections for harm reduction under disability law – Film series memorializing the AIDS epidemic provides 'chilling parallels' to today – Dozens of researchers will move to France from US following high-profile bid to lure talent – Benjamin Korinek: Why global health shouldn’t be political – FDA to reassess the safety of BHA, a preservative used in popular snack foods – Affordable microscope speeds up malaria diagnosis with AI – Issue No. 2862
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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The U.S. FDA has refused to review Moderna’s application for a new mRNA flu vaccine, though no safety or efficacy concerns were identified; Moderna has requested an urgent meeting with the FDA, noting that it has submitted the vaccine for review in Europe, Canada, and Australia.
Aluminum exposure from dietary sources over the course of a 100-year lifespan is “orders of magnitude” higher than the cumulative lifetime exposure from all the recommended aluminum-containing vaccines, .
Tanning companies are spreading harmful misinformation about suntanning beds—claiming a range of health benefits, from boosting energy to preventing colds and flu—on social media ads targeting young people, while cancer charities link the sunbeds to rising melanoma cases among youth in the UK. IN FOCUS Texas State Troopers prepare to disperse a crowd protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside the South Texas Family Residential Center. January 28, Dilley, Texas. Joel Angel Juarez/Getty Deteriorating Health Conditions in Immigration Detention As U.S. immigration detention centers expand under the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign, detainees and health workers are reporting severe health and safety breakdowns—including among children. In Dilley, Texas: Families are being held for weeks or months at facilities like the Dilley Detention Center, . Despite legal limits on detaining minors, ~300 have been held for 20+ days.
- Parents and children there report regular illness and limited medical attention. “Children with medical complaints frequently experience delays, dismissals, or lack of follow-up,” reported nonprofit advocacy organization RAICES, which has logged ~700 reports of insufficient medical care since August 2025.
- Others describe worsening mental health, with many children struggling with depression and self-harm amid prolonged stays and lack of schooling.
- U.S. Public Health Service officers describe inadequate care, overcrowding, and dark, windowless cells. Several have resigned, saying they cannot serve under such conditions.
- “Public health officers are being asked to facilitate a man-made humanitarian crisis,” said nurse Rebekah Stewart, who resigned from the service.
91%
—ĔĔ
Share of Americans across the political spectrum who agree it is important for the U.S. to be a global leader in science and technology; 63% expressed willingness to pay $1 more per week in taxes in support of medical and health research. — MENTAL HEALTH The Struggle to Keep Mobile Crisis Teams in Action Over the last decade, U.S. communities have increasingly turned to mobile crisis teams to respond to psychiatric emergencies rather than dispatching law enforcement.
- A found that there are ~1,800 mobile teams nationwide, providing people with therapeutic care and helping them avoid jail or the ER.
- “A much-needed service is available and then not available, available and then not available,” said Sierra Riesberg, director of the Behavioral Health Alliance of Montana.
We incorrectly spelled out IOM in our top story yesterday, about a ; IOM stands for the International Organization for Migration. Thanks to a sharp-eyed reader for setting us straight! QUICK HITS In Sudan, sick and starving children ‘wasting away’ –
India sticks to e-cigarette ban in snub for Philip Morris – Landmark settlement could create new protections for harm reduction under disability law – Film series memorializing the AIDS epidemic provides 'chilling parallels' to today – Dozens of researchers will move to France from US following high-profile bid to lure talent – Benjamin Korinek: Why global health shouldn’t be political – FDA to reassess the safety of BHA, a preservative used in popular snack foods – Affordable microscope speeds up malaria diagnosis with AI – Issue No. 2862
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
Measles cases across Europe and Central Asia declined by 75 per cent in 2025 compared to 2024, according to preliminary data released on Wednesday by the World Health Organization (WHO), which warned of remaining outbreak risks.
Categories: Global Health Feed
96
Global Health NOW: Health Crisis in Gaza; and Supporting Breastfeeding Mothers in South Africa
February 10, 2026
TOP STORIES
53 refugees and migrants from several African countries died after their boat capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya’s coast last Friday; the International Office for Migration reports that at least 375 people have been reported dead or missing in January.
The Trump administration plans to cut $600 million in public health funding in four Democrat-led states—California, Colorado, Illinois, and Minnesota; the programs, deemed “inconsistent with agency priorities,” include HIV prevention and surveillance and disease outbreak management.
Mexico state officials announced stepped-up health screening and face mask recommendations in schools for the area, which borders Mexico City, in response to a spreading measles outbreak; the country had 2,143 confirmed cases and nearly 6,000 suspected cases as of last Friday, with the western state of Jalisco hardest hit.
The U.S. National Cancer Institute is investigating ivermectin as a possible cancer treatment, despite the lack of new evidence of the antiparasitic drug’s anti-cancer potential; “I am shocked and appalled,” one NCI scientist said. IN FOCUS Palestinian patients prepare for evacuation to Egypt at the Red Cross Hospital. Khan Yunis, Gaza, February 2. Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Health Crisis in Gaza Clashes over WHO reporting and the health situation in Gaza continue months after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire raised hopes for reconstruction and improved health.
Women employed as domestic workers in South Africa often face a wrenching dilemma shortly after giving birth: Return to work at their employer’s home without their baby, or lose their job.
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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The Trump administration plans to cut $600 million in public health funding in four Democrat-led states—California, Colorado, Illinois, and Minnesota; the programs, deemed “inconsistent with agency priorities,” include HIV prevention and surveillance and disease outbreak management.
Mexico state officials announced stepped-up health screening and face mask recommendations in schools for the area, which borders Mexico City, in response to a spreading measles outbreak; the country had 2,143 confirmed cases and nearly 6,000 suspected cases as of last Friday, with the western state of Jalisco hardest hit.
The U.S. National Cancer Institute is investigating ivermectin as a possible cancer treatment, despite the lack of new evidence of the antiparasitic drug’s anti-cancer potential; “I am shocked and appalled,” one NCI scientist said. IN FOCUS Palestinian patients prepare for evacuation to Egypt at the Red Cross Hospital. Khan Yunis, Gaza, February 2. Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Health Crisis in Gaza Clashes over WHO reporting and the health situation in Gaza continue months after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire raised hopes for reconstruction and improved health.
- The WHO’s Executive Board voted down Israel’s proposal last week to consolidate the twice-annual health reports on the occupied Palestinian Territories, .
- 18,000 patients, including 4,000 children, have life-threatening conditions and need evacuation, according to Saudi Arabia’s delegate.
- Israel responded that it had approved the departure of thousands of Palestinians, but other countries weren’t accepting enough patients.
- Delegates described 90% of hospitals destroyed, 1,600 health workers killed, inadequate sanitation, and extensive disease risks.
- Israel called such reports outdated and distorted.
- 68% of 400+ older Gazans surveyed said they had reduced or stopped chronic disease treatment because of access problems, .
- 76% of respondents report living in tents.
- A kidney disease patient about the difficulty of getting medicines and care in Gaza.
- An Israeli court on Feb. 8 turned down an appeal that would have allowed a 5-year-old cancer patient into Israel for treatment, .
- Nigeria records ~43,000 snakebites and ~1,900 related deaths each year. Meanwhile, ~50% of Nigerian health facilities lack the capacity to treat snakebite envenoming, .
- Supply chain breakdowns, high treatment costs, and inadequately trained personnel have contributed to a scourge of avoidable deaths, .
Women employed as domestic workers in South Africa often face a wrenching dilemma shortly after giving birth: Return to work at their employer’s home without their baby, or lose their job.
- Many women in this position are unable to breastfeed their babies, which the WHO recommends for the first six months, depriving them of numerous health benefits.
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
96
Global Health NOW: Life After Leprosy; and Few Resources for Migrating Minors
February 9, 2026
TOP STORIES
At leprosy colonies throughout India, people who have long been cured of the disease continue to live and thrive inside the communities—a testament to the support systems there, and to the stigma that persists outside, .
India is home to ~750 leprosy colonies today, where tens of thousands of former patients, their children, and grandchildren live.
4 million+
—ĔĔ—ĔĔ
Girls still at risk of female genital mutilation. — HEALTH SURVEILLANCE Few Resources for Migrating Minors Children and juveniles migrating north through Mexico live in “precarious and unsafe” conditions, both in their place of origin and on their journey—with ongoing barriers to medical care, finds a 2024 study of 200 minors. A range of adversities: Many children experience deterioration in their physical and mental health during transit, as they encounter “persecution, coercion, violence, and discrimination, as well as unsanitary living and transit conditions, food insecurity, and exposure to environmental hazards,” per the study. A need for interventions: Researchers described a need for sustainable health and psychological programs for children at migratory shelters–and called for more civil society-led mobile clinics. QUICK HITS Newly obtained emails undermine RFK Jr.'s testimony about 2019 Samoa trip before measles outbreak –
‘Take the vaccine, please,’ Dr Oz urges amid rising measles cases in US –
China criticizes U.S. for WHO pullout, accusing it of sidestepping international law – Argentina: No Withdrawal from Pan American Health Organization – Despite Leaving WHO – Women’s Preferences for Home-Based Self-Sampling or Clinic-Based Testing for Cervical Cancer Screening – Federal Vaccine Advisers Take Aim at Covid Shots – CDC study highlights growing threat of invasive E coli – Inside the quest to make a safer football helmet – Issue No. 2860
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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Landmines and other explosives that are remnants of war in Afghanistan killed ~92 people and injured 379 others last year; more than two-thirds of the victims were children, per the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
A USAID division cut by the Trump administration, Development Innovation Ventures, was revived last week as an independent nonprofit: the DIV fund, which will continue the former program’s mission to fund and support international interventions, thanks to $48 million in private donor funding.
Burundi has signed a bilateral agreement with the U.S. as a part of the ongoing rollout of the America First Global Health Strategy, which will result in $129 million in funding from the U.S. State Department over five years to support HIV/AIDS and malaria initiatives, and in Burundi increasing its domestic health funding by $26 million over the same time span.
After facing years of litigation, U.S. chemical company Corteva will stop producing Enlist Duo, an herbicide containing a “toxic cocktail” of the Agent Orange chemical 2,4-D and glyphosate—which have both been linked to cancer and ecological harm; Corteva will still use 2,4-D in another of its products, Enlist One.
At leprosy colonies throughout India, people who have long been cured of the disease continue to live and thrive inside the communities—a testament to the support systems there, and to the stigma that persists outside, .
India is home to ~750 leprosy colonies today, where tens of thousands of former patients, their children, and grandchildren live.
- The colonies have long been places of exile: People who contracted the disease were segregated and forced to live in deep poverty and isolation.
- ~173,000 new leprosy cases were reported globally in 2024, .
4 million+
—ĔĔ—ĔĔ
Girls still at risk of female genital mutilation. — HEALTH SURVEILLANCE Few Resources for Migrating Minors Children and juveniles migrating north through Mexico live in “precarious and unsafe” conditions, both in their place of origin and on their journey—with ongoing barriers to medical care, finds a 2024 study of 200 minors. A range of adversities: Many children experience deterioration in their physical and mental health during transit, as they encounter “persecution, coercion, violence, and discrimination, as well as unsanitary living and transit conditions, food insecurity, and exposure to environmental hazards,” per the study. A need for interventions: Researchers described a need for sustainable health and psychological programs for children at migratory shelters–and called for more civil society-led mobile clinics. QUICK HITS Newly obtained emails undermine RFK Jr.'s testimony about 2019 Samoa trip before measles outbreak –
‘Take the vaccine, please,’ Dr Oz urges amid rising measles cases in US –
China criticizes U.S. for WHO pullout, accusing it of sidestepping international law – Argentina: No Withdrawal from Pan American Health Organization – Despite Leaving WHO – Women’s Preferences for Home-Based Self-Sampling or Clinic-Based Testing for Cervical Cancer Screening – Federal Vaccine Advisers Take Aim at Covid Shots – CDC study highlights growing threat of invasive E coli – Inside the quest to make a safer football helmet – Issue No. 2860
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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96
Global Health NOW: Going on the Offensive Against Cholera; and Best in Show, First in Our Hearts
February 5, 2026
TOP STORIES
A South Sudan hospital has been hit by a government air strike, says Médecins Sans Frontières, which runs the facility; the attack in Lankien, Jonglei state, marks the tenth attack in 12 months on MSF-run medical facilities in the country amid a resurgence in fighting between soldiers and a coalition of opposition forces.
Raw milk has been linked to the listeria death of a newborn in New Mexico, per state officials, who say that “the most likely source of infection was unpasteurized milk” the mother consumed during pregnancy. Researchers identified a genetic mutation that helps malaria-spreading Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes resist pyrethroids—the main insecticides used to treat bednets; the research, led by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and Cameroon’s Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases, also developed a DNA test to track the mutation across West and Central Africa. A new rapid test can identify bacteria and effective antibiotics to use against them in just 36 minutes, per a study published in —a key tactic to fight antimicrobial resistance, say researchers. IN FOCUS A member of the Syria Immunization Team holds cholera vaccination ampoules in Sarmada, Syria, on March 7, 2023. Anas Alkharboutli/picture alliance via Getty Going on the Offensive Against Cholera
Preventive cholera vaccination programs will restart globally after a ~4-year hiatus—a signal that the global supply has seen significant recovery after critical vaccine shortages, .
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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Raw milk has been linked to the listeria death of a newborn in New Mexico, per state officials, who say that “the most likely source of infection was unpasteurized milk” the mother consumed during pregnancy. Researchers identified a genetic mutation that helps malaria-spreading Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes resist pyrethroids—the main insecticides used to treat bednets; the research, led by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and Cameroon’s Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases, also developed a DNA test to track the mutation across West and Central Africa. A new rapid test can identify bacteria and effective antibiotics to use against them in just 36 minutes, per a study published in —a key tactic to fight antimicrobial resistance, say researchers. IN FOCUS A member of the Syria Immunization Team holds cholera vaccination ampoules in Sarmada, Syria, on March 7, 2023. Anas Alkharboutli/picture alliance via Getty Going on the Offensive Against Cholera
Preventive cholera vaccination programs will restart globally after a ~4-year hiatus—a signal that the global supply has seen significant recovery after critical vaccine shortages, .
- “Global vaccine shortages forced us into a cycle of reacting to cholera outbreaks instead of preventing them. We are now in a stronger position to break that cycle,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
- That surge continues: 600,000+ cholera cases and ~7,600 deaths were reported to WHO last year—with children most at risk.
- Last month alone, 11,965 new cholera cases, and 126 new deaths globally were .
- 6.1 million doses have been sent to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and 10.3 million to Bangladesh—other high-risk regions.
- The income cap for benefits will be drastically lowered, putting medication out of reach for ~16,000 people.
- “It’s terrifying,” said Tori Samuel, a mother of three who has relied on the program for decades.
In our summary yesterday about cancer prevention, the projected 50% rise is in cancer cases, not rates. We regret the error.
ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION Best in Show, First in Our Hearts God loves a terrier. It is a truth crooned by legendary Norwich terrier owner Cookie Fleck, played by Catherine O’Hara in the 2000 mockumentary Best in Show. But before the terrier group was judged Tuesday night at the 150th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, all the love was focused on O’Hara herself, who died last week at 71—as organizers paid tribute to the actor with a video montage on the Madison Square Garden jumbotron, . The tribute reflected just how beloved the film and O’Hara have become in that subculture, even though both “gently lampooned eccentricities and intensity” of dog shows.- “The first time I watched it, I was highly insulted,” said David Fitzpatrick, this year’s best in show judge. “Then I watched it again and I started thinking, ‘Oh my God, they really have some of us pegged.’”
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
The UN agency leading the global effort to end HIV/AIDS worldwide welcomed legislative approval from the United States on Thursday for a $6 billion spending package to help tackle the disease, following nearly a year of sharp aid cuts.
Categories: Global Health Feed
