A few years ago, pesticides鈥攐r 鈥減lant medicines,鈥 as the locals called them鈥攚ere used in roughly a third of Nepal鈥檚 suicides.
鈥淲hat if the pesticide had not been on the market?鈥 wondered one doctor, Rakesh Ghimire, recognizing that most suicides are impulsive, and the chemicals were too easily available.
The eye-opening turning point: Ghimire helped launch a ban on the sale and import of eight pesticides in 2019. Deaths began to fall鈥攂y as much as 30% by 2023.
It鈥檚 not just Nepal: Globally, pesticide consumption is linked to ~140,000 suicide deaths each year鈥攎ost in LMICs, 鈥渨here the toxins can still be bought in small bottles for just a few pence in local shops.鈥
- After phasing out or banning dangerous pesticides, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and South Korea all saw suicides linked to the hazardous products fall dramatically鈥攚ithout damaging agricultural yields.
- Most countries in the West鈥攚here most pesticide manufacturers are based鈥攈ave already banned or restricted use of potentially lethal pesticides.
- Ghimire and others developed the country鈥檚 first treatment guidelines, which led to Nepal鈥檚 first Poison Information Center鈥攁 Brown University-funded effort that provides a 24/7 advice hotline for health workers across Nepal.
- Also needed: more mental health services鈥攁nd erasing stigma.
More women opted for tubal ligations after the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, based on insurance claims data鈥攁nd states that banned abortion showed the largest rise in the procedure, 3% each month.
India鈥檚 expanded health coverage will provide people 70 and older with annual coverage of $6,000 per family鈥攁 plan expected to benefit 60 million citizens.
An NIH-funded database is slated to shut down this weekend, cutting off access to molecular information on parasites and fungi that cause a range of infectious diseases, from malaria to Chagas disease; parasitologists and vector biologists say planned replacements are inadequate and critical research will suffer. TICKBORNE ILLNESSES New Tickborne Virus Discovered in China
In June 2019, a patient with a fever and organ dysfunction reported being bitten by a tick in a wetland park in Inner Mongolia, in northeastern China.
Researchers conducted next-generation sequencing to determine the origin, revealing a new tickborne illness called Wetland virus (WELV), earlier this month.
- People infected with WELV most commonly 鈥減resented with nonspecific symptoms, including fever, dizziness, headache, malaise, myalgia, arthritis, and back pain,鈥 the researchers report, per .
- Since identifying the new virus, researchers have collected and analyzed thousands of ticks and tested hundreds of animals and people for the virus.
Thanks for the tip, Cecilia Meisner! GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES MATERNAL HEALTH Delivering with Dignity ... for All
Despite policies to safeguard the rights of people with disabilities in Malawi, pregnant women with disabilities suffer extra challenges鈥攚ith mistreatment, miscommunication, and discrimination affecting their access to care.
- Myths, such as women with disabilities having different biology, perpetuate false stereotypes.
- Patients with disabilities鈥攅specially speech and hearing impairments鈥攐ften must rely on friends and guardians to communicate due to a lack of medical professionals trained to meet their needs.
- Infrastructure such as bathrooms, ambulances, and labor wards are not special needs-friendly, providing little privacy.
Related: I'm Embarrassed to Admit I Have No Idea How to Care for Patients With Disabilities 鈥 ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION Nacho Average Side Effect
The magical powers of Doritos dust are well-known to those of us who have polished off a bag鈥檚 finger-licking orange remnants鈥攂ut 鈥渪-ray vision鈥 has not typically been on the list.
Until now: In a head-spinning (and stomach-spinning) new published in Science, scientists demonstrated how the same dye used in Doritos and other snacks鈥擸ellow No. 5, also known as tartrazine鈥攃an render mice skin temporarily transparent, giving scientists a window into pulsing vessels and organs beneath.
- 鈥淚t鈥檚 not magic, but it鈥檚 still very powerful,鈥 said biophotonics researcher Christopher Rowlands.
- When skin absorbs the dye, it changes how blue wavelengths are refracted by the animal tissues.
Thanks for the tip, Xiaodong Cai!
Related: US cave system鈥檚 bats and insects face existential threat: discarded Cheetos 鈥 QUICK HITS The midwives who stopped murdering girls and started saving them 鈥
How a Maine County Jail Helped Prisoners Blunt Opioid Cravings 鈥
How a Video Game Community Became a Mental Health Support System for Military Veterans 鈥
Estimate: COVID vaccines saved up to 2.6 million lives in Latin America, Caribbean 鈥
Suspicious phrases in peer reviews point to referees gaming the system 鈥
The clown doctor will see you now 鈥 and you鈥檒l get better, quicker 鈥 Issue No. 2779
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, Aliza Rosen, 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 2024 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 Bloomberg School.
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can or .
Reproductive rights were a central鈥攁nd incendiary鈥攖opic at the first presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump Tuesday night, .
Harris roundly criticized Trump for his role in overturning Roe v. Wade and condemned state-level abortion bans, sharing stories of pregnant women unable to access critical care, .
- She pledged that if Congress passed a bill reviving abortion protections, she would 鈥減roudly sign it into law鈥 if elected president.
- He falsely claimed that most legal scholars wanted Roe overturned.
Other health points:
On the Affordable Care Act: While Trump again expressed interest in overturning the health law, he described having only 鈥渃oncepts of a plan鈥 to replace it, .
- Harris, meanwhile, pledged to expand drug pricing reforms and to 鈥渕aintain and grow the Affordable Care Act,鈥 .
Healthy Black women in the U.S. were ~20% more likely to receive unnecessary, unscheduled C-sections than white women with similar medical histories鈥攅specially when operating rooms were unbooked鈥攑er based on 1 million births in New Jersey hospitals.
Most people over age 70鈥攅ven those without a history of cardiovascular disease鈥攕hould consider taking statins, according to that linked the cost-effective treatment to better health outcomes for that age group.
Early puberty in girls may be triggered by an endocrine-disrupting chemical compound found in a wide variety of cosmetic and cleaning products, according to published in Endocrinology. POLIO Tragic Consequences of 鈥楾he Switch鈥
The polio outbreak now prompting an emergency vaccination campaign in Gaza stemmed from 鈥渁 fateful decision鈥 in 2016 by global health organizations to change the oral polio vaccine.
The intent: The move, dubbed 鈥渢he switch,鈥 involved removing the Type 2 virus from the vaccine to prevent the rare risk of vaccine-derived polio.
How it backfired: Problems in the execution of the vaccine鈥檚 rollout left more children vulnerable to poliovirus Type 2. Cases of vaccine-derived Type 2 polio have increased 10X since before 2016, affecting dozens of countries and paralyzing 3,300+ children.
A formal evaluation has now called the move 鈥渁n unqualified failure.鈥
Related: Polio vaccination starts in north Gaza despite obstacles 鈥 GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES CANCER Tribes Seek Answers
As cancer cases proliferate on the remote Duck Valley Indian Reservation, leaders of the Shoshone-Paiute tribes living there are demanding answers from the U.S. government about chemicals that could have contributed to 鈥渨idespread illness.鈥
Questions About Agent Orange: Toxins have been found in the reservation鈥檚 soil, and petroleum is in the groundwater. But the recent discovery of a decades-old document has raised more fears:
- In the 1997 document, government officials mention using Agent Orange chemicals to clear foliage along widely used reservation canals.
Meanwhile: The tribal health clinic has logged 500+ illnesses since 1992 that could be cancer.
CLIMATE CRISIS & FOOD SAFETY Baaa-d Lettuce to Blame
Lettuce contaminated by sheep feces was the likely source of a 2022 outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, U.K. public health officials say.
A found that climate change鈥搑elated heavy rainfall and flooding washed the feces into lettuce fields. Investigators found no failures by the lettuce grower.
- The tainted lettuce sickened 259 people, 75 of them requiring hospitalization, in August and September 2022.
- 鈥淣ew techniques could help to predict and prevent future outbreaks and inform risk assessments and risk management for farmers growing fresh produce for people to eat.鈥
Bird Flu Is Quietly Getting Scarier 鈥
Deadlier drugs, younger addiction and no help in sight 鈥
White House announces rule that would cut insurance red tape over mental health and substance use disorder care 鈥
Perceptions of HIV self-testing promotion in black barbershop businesses: implications for equitable engagement of black-owned small businesses for public health programs 鈥
Diabetes drug helps the immune system recognize reservoirs of HIV, study discovers 鈥
Apple Will Sell Air Pods With Hearing Aids Built In 鈥
Whatever happened to ... the Brazilian besties creating an mRNA vaccine as a gift to the world 鈥
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, Aliza Rosen, 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 2024 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 Bloomberg School.
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can or .
During pandemic lockdowns, teenage brains鈥攅specially girls鈥 brains鈥攁ged much faster than expected, per a Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences .
- University of Washington researchers used MRI scans from 160 nine- to 17-year-olds to measure cortical thinning鈥攌nown to accelerate in stressful times, and linked to depression and anxiety, .
- Comparing 2018 scans to follow-up scans from the same cohort in 2021 and 2022, boys showed cortical thinning 1.4 years faster than expected鈥攂ut girls were 4.2 years ahead of expectations, .
Caveats and questions: The study size was small. And, the accelerated thinning could have been caused by many other conditions during that time鈥攁 rise in screen time, social media usage, less physical activity, and more family stress, Bradley S. Peterson, a Children鈥檚 Hospital Los Angeles psychiatrist and brain researcher not involved in the study, told the NYT. GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners Abortion policies and legislation in states with the most severe restrictions on the procedure also have the least access to reproductive health care and support programs for pregnant women, a new finds; Northwestern University School of Medicine researchers analyzed insurance data for the study.
A South Korean commission that hospitals, maternity wards, and adoption agencies in the country colluded to coerce parents鈥攎ostly single mothers鈥攊nto giving up their children for adoption to Australia, Denmark, and the U.S., among other countries.
COVID survivors with disabilities experienced 2X the rates of long COVID compared to those without disabilities鈥攐ver 40% compared to 19%, by University of Kansas researchers in the American Journal of Public Health.
More Americans are inclined to believe COVID-19 vaccination misinformation, and are less willing to vaccinate, according to a new Annenberg Public Policy Center health survey that found over 20% of Americans incorrectly believe that getting a COVID-19 infection is safer than getting the vaccine鈥攗p from 10% in April 2021. ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE Nobody Is Safe
Deaths from drug-resistant infections are predicted to number over 10 million a year by 2050.
In most immediate danger: The ill, young, elderly, and those living in poverty.
But everyone is at risk, as a troubling set of profiles reveals:
- In Pakistan, 25-year-old Naveed contracted a hospital-acquired infection following emergency surgery; and 47-year-old Malik faced amputation after a roadside cut on his foot left him with an infection that would not heal.
- In Nigeria, 9-day-old Ahamba fought a life-threatening infection that started hours after birth.
- In the U.S., 39-year-old Tamara developed a series of urinary tract infections that no longer responded to antibiotics.
GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES ATTACKS ON AID WORKERS 鈥楧eadliest Year鈥 for Humanitarian Workers
An ambulance driver in Ethiopia, shot while driving to the hospital.
A volunteer in Sudan gunned down while collecting data.
A paramedic killed while evacuating wounded civilians from the West Bank.
These workers are among the killed globally in 2024 in what is tracking toward the 鈥渄eadliest year ever for aid workers鈥 amid growing disregard for international protections.
- 101 aid workers have been wounded and 68 have been kidnapped.
Areas of high risk: Gaza, Sudan, and South Sudan accounted for most of the deaths.
SPILLOVER Dangers Percolating at Fur Farms
A host of novel viruses have been detected at fur farms in China鈥攊ncluding a 鈥渃oncerning鈥 new bat coronavirus, a new published in Nature finds.
A closer look: After analyzing samples from 461 dead animals, including raccoon dogs, mink, and guinea pigs.
- The scientists identified 125 different virus species, including 36 new pathogens.
- Of the viruses detected, 39 were deemed to have 鈥渉igh spillover potential.鈥
- Among those: A dangerous new bat coronavirus called HKU5, found in a mink.
OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Polio vaccination starts in north Gaza despite obstacles 鈥
Poliovirus that infected a Chinese child in 2014 may have leaked from a lab 鈥
More support is needed for more than 4.2 million refugees and migrants who seek safety and stability in the Americas 鈥
Officials await testing clues from Missouri H5 avian flu case as Michigan reports more affected cows 鈥
Dobbs Has Fundamentally Changed Obstetric Care, Study Finds 鈥
Native-led suicide prevention program focuses on building community strengths 鈥 Issue No. 2777
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, Aliza Rosen, 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 2024 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 Bloomberg School.
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can or .
Eighteen months of brutal civil war in Sudan have left the nation trapped in a 鈥渘ightmare of conflict鈥 that the world continues to ignore, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said yesterday, .
Additionally, a from the latest UN fact-finding mission cataloged 鈥渉arrowing鈥 human rights abuses committed by both sides of the conflict and called for independent peacekeepers to intervene, .
The toll 500 days in:
- 20,000+ people have been killed; 12+ million people have been displaced.
- The nation鈥檚 health system is 鈥渘ear collapse,鈥 with 70%鈥80% of facilities affected.
- ~25 million people are 鈥渋n dire need of humanitarian aid.鈥
- But: Sudan鈥檚 government said it 鈥渞ejects in their entirety鈥 the UN鈥檚 recommendations, demanding that the body support its 鈥渘ational process,鈥 .
- 25.6 million people鈥攈alf the population鈥攁re facing acute food insecurity.
- Outbreaks of cholera are on the rise, .
- Disease surveillance has been impossible in areas under RSF control, .
- Floods have destabilized infrastructure.
鈥淭he best medicine is peace,鈥 said Tedros. GHN FOR FREE Share GHN With a Student What do global health students need? I mean, besides coffee.
They need to know what鈥檚 going on in global health鈥攑ractical examples of global health issues and solutions IRL. There鈥檚 no better source than Global Health NOW.
Please share with students you know. It will help them:
- Stay on top of current issues in global health.
- Enrich their theoretical learning with real-world examples.
- Explore careers and learn about opportunities like webinars, fellowships, and travel grants.
Texas is suing the Biden administration to overturn a federal rule that protects the medical records of women from criminal investigation if they cross state lines to seek legal abortion.
Hair and skin care products expose kids to endocrine-disrupting chemicals called phthalates, per a published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, which found that Black children had the highest levels of phthalates in their urine.
Teen vaping has dropped to a 10-year low, CDC officials 鈥攁ttributing the 鈥渕onumental public health win鈥 to recent age restrictions and aggressive enforcement against retailers and manufacturers. RADAR: AVIAN FLU Missouri鈥檚 First Case
The the first case of H5 bird flu in a person with no known animal contact, .
- The case, in Missouri, was detected through the state鈥檚 seasonal flu surveillance system.
- The patient, who was hospitalized in August and has been released, had underlying medical conditions.
- At least 13 other people in the U.S. have been infected with bird flu this year, but all had occupational exposure to infected animals.
- The CDC said the risk to the general public remains low.
A 鈥済roundbreaking鈥 study showing the connection between bats鈥 decline in the U.S. and infant mortality is the latest to demonstrate the stark toll of imbalanced ecosystems.
According to the research, , a decline in bat populations due to a fungal disease led farmers in 245 counties to increase their use of insecticides by 31% to combat an increase in insect activity.
- In those same counties, infant mortality rose by ~8%鈥攁ccounting for 1,334 infant deaths鈥攆rom 2006 to 2017.
Other possible factors鈥攍ike unemployment and drug use鈥攚ere ruled out as causes.
A warning: 52% of bat species in North America are at risk of severe declines over the next 15 years.
CORRECTION Not 鈥楯abbed鈥
Our Sept. 3 lead summary on the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza incorrectly said that 161,000+ children under 10 had been 鈥渏abbed鈥 during the drive鈥檚 first two days. The campaign is distributing the oral polio vaccine. We regret the error. Thanks, Alexandra Brown for pointing out our mistake! OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Hundreds of thousands of parents died from drugs. Their kids need more help, advocates say. 鈥
US is beefing up mpox testing, vaccine access against new strain, officials say 鈥
India records first suspected mpox case, male patient in isolation 鈥
Determinants of the desire to avoid pregnancy after the disaster of the century in T眉rkiye 鈥
Strengthening surgical systems in LMICs: data-driven approaches 鈥嬧嬧
New polio strain threatens setback to eradication in Nigeria 鈥
Light pollution at night may increase risk of Alzheimer鈥檚, study finds 鈥
Off-Broadway musical warns of deadly threat of antibiotic resistance 鈥 Issue No. 2776
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, Aliza Rosen, 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 2024 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 Bloomberg School.
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can or .
Cholera deaths shot up 71% last year, according to shared yesterday鈥攁mounting to 4,000+ deaths last year from a disease that is preventable and treatable, .
- Cases were up 13% in the same period (2022-2023), with 45 countries reporting cases last year.
- 38% of the reported cases were among children under 5.
- 32% less cases reported in the Middle East and Asia and a 125% increase in Africa; top hot spots included Afghanistan, the DRC, Malawi, and Somalia.
A new monitoring metric: Many African countries reported a high proportion of community deaths鈥攖hose that occurred outside hospitals鈥攁n indication of 鈥渟erious gaps in access to treatment,鈥 per the WHO.
Vaccines: The cholera vaccine supply hasn鈥檛 been able to keep up with demand; WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has asked other vaccine manufacturers to help boost the supply. GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners
Moderna鈥檚 mRNA mpox vaccine candidate proved more effective at preventing severe disease in monkeys than the dominant Jynneos vaccine, according to a new ; in lab tests researchers found that the vaccine also neutralizes other orthopox viruses, like camelpox, rabbitpox and multiple mpox strains.
The DRC is set to receive its first batch of 100,000 mpox vaccines鈥攎anufactured by Bavarian Nordic鈥攆rom the European Union today, and a second delivery should arrive soon.
Men aged 30 to 45 exposed to air pollution over ~five years had a 24% higher risk of being diagnosed with infertility, per a large new that also found a previously unknown association between road traffic noise pollution and infertility among women aged 35 to 45.
YouTube plans to restrict teenagers鈥 exposure to videos about weight and fitness, tweaking its algorithms to stop pushing 13-17-year-olds down 鈥渞abbit holes鈥 of related content after they view an initial video. DATA POINT GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES FAMILY PLANNING Paraguay鈥檚 Sex Ed Curriculum Stirs Controversy
鈥淢en conquer, not seduce.鈥 鈥淕irls have smaller and lighter brains.鈥 鈥淏oys don鈥檛 cry easily.鈥 鈥淕irls don鈥檛 like taking risks.鈥
Those phrases are lifted from Paraguay鈥檚 first national sex ed curriculum鈥攅ndorsed by the Ministry of Education, which left-leaning senator Esperanza Mart铆nez called 鈥渁n affront to science.鈥
- The text promotes abstinence, deems sex 鈥淕od鈥檚 invention for married people,鈥 discourages condom use, and ignores sexual orientation or identity, to the approval of conservative forces and dismay of sexual health educators.
- Many mothers in the country鈥攚hich has South America鈥檚 highest rate of teenage pregnancy鈥攂lame their teen pregnancies on norms that kept them in the dark about sex.
Police were recently called to a grocery store in Bilbao, northern Spain, after it became "overwhelmed" with young people emptying the produce shelves.
Their crime? Looking for love. And hijacking pineapples for the purpose, .
The pine-apple of your eye: According to the TikTok-driven rules of engagement, hopeful romantics are to arrive at the Mercadona grocery store between 7鈥8 p.m.鈥斺渓a hora de ligar鈥 (the hour of flirting)鈥攖hen place an upside-down pineapple in their cart and head to the wine section.
A-peel-ing prospects?: Instead of swiping right, potential matches bump carts, .
Pineapples > apps: The trend鈥檚 popularity tracks with Gen Z鈥檚 growing frustration with dating apps, .
A fruitless search: One Telegraph columnist flew from England to Spain to try her luck鈥攂ut left empty-carted and brokenhearted, : 鈥淪urely there鈥檚 no sadder sight than a woman, at the end of la hora de ligar, returning her pineapple. Alone.鈥 QUICK HITS Doctors grapple with how to save women鈥檚 lives amid 鈥榗onfusion and angst鈥 over new Louisiana law 鈥
It Matters If It鈥檚 COVID 鈥
Alarming HIV/AIDS rates among Black people in Georgia 鈥
Preventing the next 鈥楩ukushima鈥 鈥
Russia's Growing Footprint on the African Health Landscape 鈥
Fake Ozempic: How batch numbers help criminal groups spread dangerous drugs 鈥
In a rural small town, a group of locals steps up to support senior health 鈥 Issue No. 2776
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, Aliza Rosen, 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 2024 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 Bloomberg School.
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can or .
Doctors across India are demanding safer working conditions at government hospitals, saying the killing of a junior doctor in Kolkata underscores daily perils faced on the job.
Background: Doctors鈥 鈥渉arrowing working conditions鈥 have been put in the spotlight this month after a 31-year-old junior doctor was raped and murdered while she was resting after a 36-hour shift.
Everyday threats: Young doctors say the crime speaks to daily dangers they face while working grueling shifts in overwhelmed wards often lacking in safety and hygiene, and where practitioners have little to no security against frequent verbal and physical abuse from patients鈥 families.
- 鈥淸Doctors] are either seen as supra-human, or not human at all,鈥 said anesthesiologist Richa Sharma, who moved to the U.S. after becoming disillusioned with the Indian medical system.
GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES EDITOR鈥橲 NOTE Four-Day Success
Hey Readers,
After this summer鈥檚 successful pilot of a four-day per week GHN newsletter, we鈥檙e making the no-Friday schedule permanent this fall.
We鈥檙e doing this for two main reasons:
- In the 10 years since we founded GHN, news production has shifted into hyperdrive. There are too many blips of news, factoids, and events鈥攁nd not enough context. Moving to four days per week allows us a bit more time to consider global health issues and put them in context.
- And, publishing a newsletter as comprehensive as GHN is not easy. It can be a grueling pace, especially for a lean team that has multiple responsibilities beyond GHN.
We鈥檒l still be here for you. Thanks for reading and sharing GHN. As always, let me know what you think.
All best,
Brian The Latest One-Liners African drugmaker Aspen is in talks to manufacture mpox vaccines on two protective conditions: a commitment to a predetermined volume of orders and coverage of costs to transfer the technology into the facility.
The WHO published the 鈥攁ddressing all steps of the manufacturing process, from the production of pharmaceutical ingredients to the finished products and packaging鈥攁head of the UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on antimicrobial resistance to take place later this month.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to restore millions in federal family planning funds to Oklahoma; the funds were pulled after state officials refused to offer a hotline number for patients to call and receive information on abortion.
Over half of the world鈥檚 population isn鈥檛 getting enough essential micronutrients including calcium, iron, and vitamins C and E, from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, UC Santa Barbara, Tel Aviv University, and others. LEAD Everyday Poisoning in Afghanistan
Afghanistan has one of the world鈥檚 highest rates of lead exposure. In recent years, researchers have been trying to understand why鈥攅specially as Afghan refugee children arriving in the U.S. showed 鈥渄ramatically elevated blood lead levels.鈥
The culprit: In 2022, researchers in Washington state screened dozens of aluminum cooking pots donated by Afghan refugee families, and found that each one exceeded the FDA鈥檚 limit for the maximum lead intake from food.
- The worst offenders were kazans, commonly used cooking pots made from recycled aluminum鈥攐ne of which 鈥渓eached sufficient lead to exceed the childhood limit by 650-fold.鈥
GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES OPIOID CRISIS A Chemical Crackdown in China
Chinese officials have debuted new regulations increasing government oversight on seven chemicals, including three compounds used to make illicit fentanyl鈥攁n opioid that kills tens of thousands of people in the U.S. every year.
- Chemical plants in China have emerged as major suppliers for criminal drug cartels producing synthetic drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamines.
John Coyne, a drug expert with the Australia Strategic Policy Institute, described them as 鈥渓ittle more than a public-relations stunt鈥 amid evidence suggesting Chinese officials are complicit in the fentanyl trade.
OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS New UN report details Nicaragua鈥檚 ongoing human rights crisis 鈥
Gender equality stalling or going backwards for 1bn women and girls 鈥
African countries leverage China鈥檚 expertise in collaborative fight against malaria 鈥
Newly discovered antibody protects against all COVID-19 variants 鈥
Former Argentine president sued for extending Covid-19 lockdowns beyond sanitary needs 鈥
Diary of a day in Syria鈥檚 extreme summer heat 鈥
How a Leading Chain of Psychiatric Hospitals Traps Patients 鈥
What Texas can learn from Italy鈥檚 big bet on tiny community health homes 鈥 Issue No. 2775
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, Aliza Rosen, 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 2024 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 Bloomberg School.
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can or .