Join us on聽May 7th聽at noon for the next 黑料不打烊 Cares webcast to support informal caregivers. During candid, interviews with leading experts, Claire Webster explores topics related to caring for a loved one with dementia.

Join us on聽May 7th聽at noon for the next 黑料不打烊 Cares webcast to support informal caregivers. During candid, interviews with leading experts, Claire Webster explores topics related to caring for a loved one with dementia.

Join us on聽May 7th聽at noon for the next 黑料不打烊 Cares webcast to support informal caregivers. During candid, interviews with leading experts, Claire Webster explores topics related to caring for a loved one with dementia.

Join us on聽May 7th聽at noon for the next 黑料不打烊 Cares webcast to support informal caregivers. During candid, interviews with leading experts, Claire Webster explores topics related to caring for a loved one with dementia.

Join us on聽May 7th聽at noon for the next 黑料不打烊 Cares webcast to support informal caregivers. During candid, interviews with leading experts, Claire Webster explores topics related to caring for a loved one with dementia.

Join us on聽May 7th聽at noon for the next 黑料不打烊 Cares webcast to support informal caregivers. During candid, interviews with leading experts, Claire Webster explores topics related to caring for a loved one with dementia.

Join us on聽May 7th聽at noon for the next 黑料不打烊 Cares webcast to support informal caregivers. During candid, interviews with leading experts, Claire Webster explores topics related to caring for a loved one with dementia.

Join us on聽May 7th聽at noon for the next 黑料不打烊 Cares webcast to support informal caregivers. During candid, interviews with leading experts, Claire Webster explores topics related to caring for a loved one with dementia.

Join us on聽May 7th聽at noon for the next 黑料不打烊 Cares webcast to support informal caregivers. During candid, interviews with leading experts, Claire Webster explores topics related to caring for a loved one with dementia.

Join us on聽May 7th聽at noon for the next 黑料不打烊 Cares webcast to support informal caregivers. During candid, interviews with leading experts, Claire Webster explores topics related to caring for a loved one with dementia.

Join us on聽May 7th聽at noon for the next 黑料不打烊 Cares webcast to support informal caregivers. During candid, interviews with leading experts, Claire Webster explores topics related to caring for a loved one with dementia.

Join us on聽May 7th聽at noon for the next 黑料不打烊 Cares webcast to support informal caregivers. During candid, interviews with leading experts, Claire Webster explores topics related to caring for a loved one with dementia.

Join us on聽May 7th聽at noon for the next 黑料不打烊 Cares webcast to support informal caregivers. During candid, interviews with leading experts, Claire Webster explores topics related to caring for a loved one with dementia.

Join us on聽May 7th聽at noon for the next 黑料不打烊 Cares webcast to support informal caregivers. During candid, interviews with leading experts, Claire Webster explores topics related to caring for a loved one with dementia.

96 Global Health NOW: Deadly Risks in India鈥檚 Fireworks Factories; Keeping Warm Can Be Toxic in Mongolia; and An Extra Coat of Coolness in Cape Town April 15, 2025 Millions of Indians celebrate the Diwali Festival with fireworks鈥攚ithout realizing the dangerous conditions factory workers in Sivakasi endure. Gurugram, India, October 31, 2024. Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times via Getty 鈥業nvisible Suffering鈥�: Deadly Risks In India鈥檚 Fireworks Factories
SIVAKASI, India鈥擳he explosion shook the ground beneath the fireworks factory and threw him into the air.

The February 19 blast broke bones in both his legs and broke his right arm. His face is covered in scars from third-degree burns, and both his eyes have been badly damaged.

鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 see anything but darkness, and I couldn鈥檛 open my eyes,鈥� Palpandey, 31, said from his hospital room days after the explosion. 鈥淚鈥檝e never felt fear like that in my life.鈥�

Fireworks鈥� Toll:

• Explosions like the one at Neerathilingam Fireworks are not uncommon in this city in Southern India that produces nearly 90% of the country鈥檚 fireworks and employs tens of thousands of workers like Palpandey (who uses only his first name).


• Employers typically pay for injured workers鈥� initial care, but then workers are often on their own in subsequent months and years.


• A 2023鈥�2024 government report said 91 workers were killed in the most recent year, but only those killed at the site of an explosion are counted鈥攏ot those who die later.

The Quote: 鈥淭he suffering of these people who die later is invisible鈥攖hey don鈥檛 show up on government counts of deaths,鈥� says social activist Vijay Kumar.



Ed. Note: Our thanks go to Padmavathy Krishna Kumar, who shared the idea for this topic and received an honorable mention in the , co-sponsored by Global Health NOW and the .

Look for part II of the series tomorrow: 鈥淔ireworks and Heartbreak in a Hard-Hit Village.鈥� GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   Denmark could eliminate cervical cancer by 2040, the Danish Cancer Society says, as a national HPV vaccination campaign has brought the rate down to lower than 10 out of 100,000 women; the is lower than four per 100,000 women.

Female genital mutilation is linked to significant long-term health complications, including a 2X+ risk of prolonged or obstructed labor in childbirth and a 4.4 times higher likelihood of experiencing PTSD, that analyzes evidence from ~30 countries.
 
A group of national organizations representing America鈥檚 academic, medical, and independent research institutions announced a joint effort to develop a new indirect costs funding model for federal research grants to submit to the federal government.

Participants of a study in Tanzania who were cured of infection with Wuchereria bancrofti worms鈥攚hich cause lymphatic filariasis鈥攕howed a ~60% reduction in HIV infections in a follow-up comparison of two study periods . U.S. and Global Health Policy News Trump plan would slash State Dept. funding by nearly half, memo says 鈥�

Trump eyes huge climate research cuts at NOAA 鈥�

Federal government to remove gender dysphoria from protected disabilities list 鈥�

Free US family planning clinics face financial ruin after White House freezes funds 鈥�

Impact of CDC Hepatitis Lab Closure on US Public Health 鈥�

EPA Plans to Stop Collecting Emissions Data From Most Polluters 鈥� CLIMATE CHANGE Keeping Warm Is Killing Thousands in Mongolia
Some 7,000 people in Mongolia have died this winter due to air pollution, caused by the coal that provides 70% of the nation鈥檚 energy and warms most homes.

Raw coal smoke contains carcinogenic particles, and the briquettes introduced by Mongolia鈥檚 government can cause carbon monoxide poisoning.

• Citizens regularly suffer from respiratory diseases, liver and lung cancers, asthma, and flu.


• By February, there had been 811 deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning. 

The climate crisis has exacerbated Mongolia鈥檚 pollution problem, as extreme winters are killing off animals that have supported nomadic herding families, forcing them into cities. 

There they construct gers: circular tents with central stoves that feed out through a chimney in the roof. More than 50% of Mongolia鈥檚 population live in gers; each household burns ~50 pounds of coal daily in winter.

GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES TECH & INNOVATION An Extra Coat of Coolness in Cape Town
South Africa鈥檚 summer sun can quickly make informal dwellings unbearably hot. The homes鈥攐ften made of corrugated metal sheets and wood鈥攃an reach temperatures of 95掳F / 35掳C during the day, and barely budge at night. 

The heat takes a heavy toll on the millions of South Africans who live in such settlements, preventing sleep and compounding stress. 

A paint-related program aims to bring relief: Researchers are investigating the effect of painting roofs with reflective, UV-resistant paint鈥攚hich manufacturers say can dramatically reduce temperatures. 

• The study will track buildings鈥� internal temperatures, and also potential impacts on inhabitants鈥� sleep and physiology.

OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS A vaccine expert worries child measles deaths are being 'normalized' 鈥�

Starved in jail 鈥�

'Parkinson's is a man-made disease' 鈥�

Stopping gonorrhoea's descent towards untreatability 鈥�

Why 3.5 Billion People Lack Basic Oral Care鈥攁nd What Needs To Change 鈥�

Young Children鈥檚 Exposure to Chemicals of Concern in Their Sleeping Environment: An In-Home Study 鈥�

The Fly That Ruined the World Record (A Metaphor for Chagas Disease) 鈥�

Europe deplores America's 'chlorinated chicken.' How safe is our poultry? 鈥� Issue No. 2708
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 2025 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All Rights Reserved. Views and opinions expressed in Global Health NOW do not necessarily reflect those of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health or Johns Hopkins University.


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An Israeli strike on a hospital in southern Gaza on Tuesday has further jeopardized already limited access to lifesaving medical care in the war-torn enclave.

96 Global Health NOW: Health Workers Killed as Sudan Marks 2 Years of Civil War; Ghana Grapples With a Deadly Outbreak; and India鈥檚 Global Warming Enigma April 14, 2025 People who fled the Zamzam for the internally displaced camp after it fell under RSF control commiserate in a makeshift encampment near the town of Tawila, Sudan. April 13. AFP via Getty Health Workers Killed as Sudan Marks 2 Years of Civil War
The last medical clinic in Sudan鈥檚 famine-gripped Zamzam camp in Darfur came under fire this weekend, with Rapid Support Forces paramilitaries killing the entire clinical staff, . 

• Nine clinic employees were killed in the attacks, , which runs the facility. 


• The broader assault has killed 100+ people, including ~20 children at the camp, home to ~500,000. 

鈥淒eath is everywhere,鈥� a camp resident . 鈥淧eople are wounded, and there is no medicine or hospital to save them.鈥�

Even before the attacks, conditions at Zamzam camp were 鈥渃atastrophic,鈥� the UN鈥檚 Sudan humanitarian coordinator . 

The attacks come at the two-year mark of Sudan鈥檚 conflict, which has led to the world鈥檚 largest humanitarian crisis and 鈥渟uffering of industrial proportions,鈥� .

• ~150,000 Sudanese have been killed, and ~13 million have been displaced. There have been 156 confirmed attacks on health, per the WHO.


• ~25 million people now face extreme hunger. And sexual violence is pervasive, .

And aid efforts continue to be stymied by both 鈥渟ystematic obstruction鈥� by the warring armies and deep funding cuts, . 

Related: 

Children of war: six orphans鈥� 1,000-mile journey across Sudan in search of safety 鈥�

Sudanese Refugees鈥� Lives at Risk as UNHCR Suspends Medical Help 鈥�

Sudan needs $2.2 bln for first year of health sector rehab, minister says 鈥� GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES The Latest One-Liners   3 million+ children worldwide died from antimicrobial resistance-related infections in 2022, per new research presented at in Vienna; deaths were highest in Southeast Asia and Africa.

New mpox cases are averaging ~3,000 per week in African countries, with Uganda accounting for 50% of those in the past week; the region has received 1 million+ vaccine doses but needs 6.4 million doses over the next six months to slow the virus鈥檚 spread.

More than a dozen cases of invasive meningococcal disease, a life-threatening bacterial infection caused by Neisseria meningitidis, have been linked to religious pilgrimages to Mecca in Saudi Arabia amid declining compliance with vaccination requirements over the past two years.

Whooping cough cases have surged 1,500%+ in the U.S. since hitting a low in 2021; there were 10 pertussis-related deaths last year, compared with two to four in previous years. Health, Foreign Aid, and Science Cuts USDA鈥檚 $1B bird flu plan uses money intended for schools, food banks 鈥�

NOAA Scientists Are Cleaning Bathrooms and Reconsidering Lab Experiments After Contracts for Basic Services Expire 鈥�

Dozens of USAID contracts were canceled last weekend. Here's what happened 鈥�

Why CDC cuts are being called 鈥榯he greatest gift to tobacco industry in the last half-century鈥� 鈥�

After Trump grant cuts, some universities give researchers a lifeline 鈥�

OCHA, the UN鈥檚 emergency aid coordination arm, to cut staff by a fifth 鈥�

Fearing paper on evolution might get them deported, scientists withdrew it 鈥�

Hopkins trailblazer scrambles to protect cancer research as Trump cuts hit home 鈥� MENINGITIS Ghana Grapples With a Deadly Outbreak
A lethal meningitis outbreak is escalating in Ghana鈥檚 Upper West region, upending an already strained health system.

A closer look: 

• The region has reported 200+ cases and ~17 deaths. 


• Ghana is in Africa鈥檚 鈥渕eningitis belt鈥濃�攁 stretch of 26 countries where dry seasonal winds allow further bacterial spread.

Already overwhelmed: The outbreak comes as Ghana鈥檚 health system struggles with understaffed hospitals, supply shortages, and slashed USAID funding.

• Ghana faces a $156 million funding shortfall due to the aid freeze鈥攁 major setback to the country鈥檚 health programs.


• There is no vaccine for the rare Streptococcus strain causing the outbreak, and officials say economic turmoil means that hopes for developing one have dimmed. 

  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES CLIMATE India鈥檚 Global Warming Enigma
As India increasingly grapples with punishing heat waves, scientists are puzzling over a strange phenomenon: The country is warming more slowly than many others鈥攁mounting to half the global average over the last decade. 

Why? Scientists aren鈥檛 sure. But theories include: 

• The shroud of air pollution: India鈥檚 air pollution may be reflecting solar radiation, which could help with cooling. 


• Shifting winds: Warming over the Middle East has pulled monsoon winds northward, leading to an increase in extreme rains鈥攁nd, potentially, cooling. 


• Impact of irrigation: The expansion of irrigation in northern India could also be a factor; as water evaporates, it absorbs heat from the air, reducing warming. 

Scientists say understanding the trend will allow more accurate forecasts and help the country better prepare for future warming.



Related: India races to beat the smog with an electric mobility revolution in Kashmir 鈥� OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Somalia: Frontline hospitals under pressure as fighting escalates 鈥�

Measles outbreaks spark concern over rare 'horrific' neurological disorder 鈥�

Africa's Plan to Fill Health Funding Gaps Amidst Declining Coffers 鈥�

Tuberculosis could end if there鈥檚 more US public health funding, experts say 鈥�

Educate to Empower: Protecting Reproductive Rights in Texas 鈥�

CDC denies Milwaukee's request for help with unsafe lead levels in public schools 鈥�

Recent hospital violence fuels effort to create workplace protections 鈥�

Dogs could help predict valley fever spread in humans 鈥� Issue No. 2707
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 2025 Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All Rights Reserved. Views and opinions expressed in Global Health NOW do not necessarily reflect those of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health or Johns Hopkins University.


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

More than 12.4 million people have been forced from their homes across Sudan 鈥� including over 3.3 million refugees who have fled to neighbouring countries 鈥� as two years of civil war fuel famine, disease outbreaks and the collapse of the health system.

The Israeli bombardment of Al-Ahli, a Gaza City hospital, has put even more pressure on the remaining health facilities in the occupied Palestinian territory, where the delivery of aid and movement of humanitarian workers is highly restricted by the Israeli authorities.