On a red running track in eastern Uganda, coach Zuena Cheptoek is doing more than training runners. For many girls in the Sebei subregion, she is also a confidante, a mentor and first line of protection against female genital mutilation, child marriage and abuse.
Categories: Global Health Feed
Unleashing natural killer cells against cancer
Scientists have developed a strategy to boost the cancer-fighting power of natural killer (NK) cells, part of the immune system’s first line of defence. NK cells can detect and destroy cancer cells, but tumours often create a protective barrier that blocks them, allowing cancer to grow.
Researchers at 91˿Ƶ’s Rosalind & Morris Goodman Cancer Institute, in collaboration with the Research Institute of the 91˿Ƶ Health Centre, found that suppressing two specific proteins helps NK cells overcome this blockage, turning them into more potent cancer killers.
Categories: Global Health Feed
Over the past 50 years, vaccines have saved more than 150 million lives, as ordinary people chose to protect themselves, their children and their communities from diseases like measles, diphtheria, pertussis, polio, and rotavirus.
Categories: Global Health Feed
A growing share of global hunger is becoming entrenched in a small group of conflict-hit countries, with two-thirds of people facing acute food insecurity concentrated in just 10 nations, a major international report backed by UN agencies warns.
Categories: Global Health Feed
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, .
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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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 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.
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 .
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
Despite significant funding cuts, the World Health Organization (WHO) was able to support significant national health gains for hundreds of millions of people in 2025, according to its annual Results Report released on Thursday.
Categories: Global Health Feed
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, .
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:
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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- But the true toll is difficult to gauge due to restricted reporting, damage to hospitals, and widespread communications blackouts.
- Such impacts will be most deeply felt by low-income countries in Africa and Asia.
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.
- The study showed that “if you use better principles in building, you can probably achieve a massive effect,” he said.
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
More than 840,000 people die each year from health conditions linked to risks such as long working hours, job insecurity, workplace harassment and bullying, according to a new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Categories: Global Health Feed
Extreme heat is pushing global food and farming systems to the brink, threatening the livelihoods of over a billion people as rising temperatures and more frequent heatwaves redefine how food is produced worldwide, a new UN report warns.
Categories: Global Health Feed
NSERC awards two 91˿Ƶ professors $1.65 million each to prepare the next generation of researchers
Projects focusing on MedTech and genomics cut across disciplines while mobilizing expertise at 91˿Ƶ and other Quebec institutions to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow
Categories: Global Health Feed
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, .
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 .
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 .
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.
- “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.
- The country reportedly has until May to decide whether to sign a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. or lose funding.
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 .
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
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.
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. —ĔĔ—ĔĔ—ĔĔ—— 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.
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 .
Please send the Global Health NOW free sign-up link to friends and colleagues:
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- The deaths of infants in neonatal units have raised alarms about possible hospital-acquired transmission.
- 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, .
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. —ĔĔ—ĔĔ—ĔĔ—— 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.
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 .
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
New data shows that nearly three in four countries in Europe now use Artificial Intelligence in their health services to make a diagnosis.
Categories: Global Health Feed
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.
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.” —ĔĔ—ĔĔ—ĔĔ—— 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.––in 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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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.
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.” —ĔĔ—ĔĔ—ĔĔ—— 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.––in 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 .
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
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 :
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.”
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:
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 .
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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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.
- 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.
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.
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
- July 13–24, 2026
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 .
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
AI tool pinpoints cells driving aggressive cancers
91˿Ƶ researchers have developed an artificial intelligence tool that can identify small groups of cells most responsible for driving aggressive cancers.
The tool, called SIDISH, offers scientists a clearer path to designing targeted therapies by showing which cells inside a tumour are most strongly linked with poor patient outcomes, rather than treating all cancer cells as if they behave the same way.
Categories: Global Health Feed
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, .
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 .
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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- “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.
- 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.
- 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.
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 .
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
Measles vaccinations have saved nearly 20 million lives in Africa since the year 2000 and more than 500 million children were protected through routine immunisation, but the continent remains offtrack in the fight against vaccine-preventable diseases.
Categories: Global Health Feed
Weston Family Foundation awards two 91˿Ƶ researchers for human microbiome research
New funding fuels 91˿Ƶ-led breakthroughs on how gut viruses influence childhood health and how engineered proteins can prevent damaging oral bacterial biofilms.
Categories: Global Health Feed
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.
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.
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 .
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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- 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.
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, .
- The cancer rate in the community was 3X the national average by the early 2000s.
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 .
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
