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96 Global Health NOW: The Addiction-Fighting Promise of GLP-1s; and Punished for Pregnancy Loss in El Salvador Plus: Just a Little R & R.I.P. March 5, 2026 TOP STORIES Chile has eliminated leprosy鈥攖he first country in the Americas to do so and the second globally; WHO and PAHO verified the achievement after the country reached 30+ years without a locally acquired case, the result of .     Cuts to RNA vaccine research threaten to stall three decades of high-stakes scientific research into infectious diseases, cancer, and vaccine development, , which found that RNA technology had the potential to 鈥渋mpact virtually every aspect of human health.鈥�     Breast cancer cases worldwide among women are expected to reach ~3.56 million by 2050, up from ~2.30 million cases in 2023, finds a new statistical analysis, which projected that the mounting burden will disproportionately affect 鈥渢he world's most vulnerable populations鈥� and 鈥渨ill further exacerbate health inequalities across the globe without decisive immediate action.鈥�     Global sea levels could be far higher than previously understood, as inaccurate modeling has led to the levels being underestimated,  that could 鈥渟ignificantly鈥� affect current and future assessments of climate change on coastal communities.   IN FOCUS Basak Gurbuz Derman/Getty Images The Addiction-Fighting Promise of GLP-1s    A large new study adds to building evidence that GLP-1s could be a powerful tool in curbing and even preventing addiction to a wide range of substances, offering new insights and new hope in the field of addiction treatment, .    Details: The study, , followed 600,000+ U.S. veterans with type 2 diabetes, and compared the impact of GLP-1 drugs to another diabetes treatment.    Strong risk reductions: Those with existing substance-use disorders who took the GLP-1s saw the following outcomes, : 

• 31% fewer ER visits 

• 26% fewer hospitalizations 

• 39% fewer overdoses 

• 25% fewer suicide attempts 

• 50% fewer drug-related deaths 

Meanwhile, GLP-1 users without prior addiction showed a 14% lower risk of developing substance use disorders to alcohol, nicotine, cannabis, cocaine, and opioids.    Across-the-board-impact: The GLP-1 drugs had a consistent effect across a range of substance types, suggesting a future clinical approach to addiction's root causes. 

• 鈥淸Existing] treatments have been targeting substances one at a time, when the right target was craving, the engine that drives addiction across substances,鈥� .  

Growing insight: Researchers believe GLP-1s quiet 鈥榙rug noise鈥� by acting on brain reward and impulse control circuits鈥攕imilar to quelling food cravings when treating obesity.  

• Or in the words of one Rhode Island mother who was able to reach sobriety from alcohol with the help of a separate pilot program that used GLP-1s: 鈥淚 could walk past those bottles and not care,鈥� . 

Next steps: While scientists say the findings are groundbreaking, they emphasize that randomized trials are still needed before GLP-1 drugs can be recommended as standard addiction treatments,  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS Punished for Pregnancy Loss in El Salvador    After years of slow but sustained progress freeing women jailed under El Salvador鈥檚 total abortion ban, advocates warn that President Nayib Bukele鈥檚 suspension of due process is leading to renewed criminalization of pregnancy loss.    Background: El Salvador has long had one of the world鈥檚 harshest anti-abortion laws, with women facing criminal suspicion and even arrest for obstetric emergencies including miscarriages and stillbirths.  

• Still, steady advocacy between 2009鈥�2023 led to the release of 81 women imprisoned for abortion-related charges. 

Renewed crackdown: Starting in 2022, Bukele suspended a range of civil liberties in an emergency declaration known as the 鈥渟tate of exception鈥� to combat gang violence.  

• Since then, ~29 women have faced prosecution following miscarriages or obstetric emergencies鈥斺�渁 new spiral of criminalization against women,鈥� said advocate Morena Herrera.  

  OPPORTUNITY Global Mental Health Speaker Series: 鈥淲ho is the Provider?鈥� 
Mental health care is delivered in many ways and by many people across diverse settings around the world. The 2026 Virtual Speaker Series from the Johns Hopkins Center for Global Mental Health convenes practitioners, researchers, policymakers, and community leaders to explore a central question: Who provides mental health support, and in what contexts?    Lara Gregorio, LCSW, of 4C Mental Health kicks off the monthly virtual series on March 11, 2026. Subsequent sessions will feature speakers from around the world, including Kenya鈥檚 Kenyatta National Hospital, Utrecht University, the University of Zimbabwe, King鈥檚 College London, and more.  

• Held via Zoom the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 9 a.m. ET 

•  

CORRECTION Capital A-Minus 
Michael Bourgon brought us so much joy with  And how did we thank him? By misspelling his home city. Canada's capital, no less. It鈥檚 Ottawa, of course鈥攏ot Ottowa. We regret the error. Please don鈥檛 send the turkeys after us.鈥擳he Editors  ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION Just a Little R & R.I.P. 
It can be hard to get certain workaholic types to chill out. Spas and meditation retreats just don鈥檛 always cut it for the 鈥淚鈥檒l-rest-when-I鈥檓-dead鈥� set.     But a coffin just might do the trick!     A Japanese wellness trend promotes reclining in a coffin as a way to put things in perspective,  (Such perspective can be gained via closed-or open-lidded casket options.)     In this case, the box is not a final resting place: A typical 30-minute coffin-lying stint (which can cost ~2,000 yen, or $12鈥�$13 USD) offers just enough time 鈥渢o gaze at life through being conscious of death,鈥� explains designer and custom coffin-maker Mikako Fuse.    Immortalize your memento mori: 鈥淐ute coffins鈥� are bedecked with Instagrammable designs including ginghams and florals, . It's all part of making existential dread, the inevitability of mortality, and the staring into oblivion ...鈥渂right and not so scary."  QUICK HITS Scientists create autism panel, citing RFK Jr.鈥檚 politicization of research 鈥�    Emergency supplies for nuclear or chemical attack distributed across Middle East, says WHO 鈥�     Sudan Declared 'Cholera Free' Amid Rise in Dengue, Malaria, Measles 鈥�     Study warns of underrecognized Lassa fever threat with global implications 鈥�     Navigating conversations with children about war, conflict and other traumatic events 鈥�  Issue No. 2875
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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96 Global Health NOW: Stemming the Tide of Stigma; and An Aid Vacuum Leading to Violence March 4, 2026 TOP STORIES The UN issued an urgent call for the protection of civilians amid the Israeli and U.S. airstrikes against Iran, which are displacing thousands and disrupting humanitarian services as violence and instability spreads through the Middle East; UN officials also called for a 鈥減rompt, impartial and thorough investigation鈥� into the Saturday airstrike that hit a Minab school, killing dozens鈥攎any children鈥攁nd injuring dozens more.     26 M茅decins Sans Fronti猫res staffers remain unaccounted for a month after two of the organization鈥檚 medical facilities in South Sudan鈥檚 Jonglei State were attacked, that said the staff fled with much of the local population into rural regions with limited communication connectivity amid ongoing violence.  
A breakthrough shipment of 11 routine vaccines to South Sudan鈥檚 South Kordofan state will 鈥渞estore lifesaving immunization services鈥� to communities cut off from vaccine deliveries since July 2023 because of conflict and siege; the two truckloads of supplies include shots for TB, polio, and measles, and the pentavalent vaccine.  
  U.S. maternal deaths dropped in 2024, that found that 649 mothers died in 2024 during pregnancy or shortly after giving birth, compared to 669 in 2023鈥攁 continued decline from a COVID-19 era spike; the report also found the Black maternal death rate was 3X+ that of the white and Hispanic rates.   IN FOCUS Stemming the Tide of Stigma    The health impacts of stigma on people with mental illness can be severe鈥攊ncluding delays in seeking treatment, lower-quality care, and reduced rates of recovery.     A push for policy: Such impacts are why stigma reduction must play a critical role not just in grassroots advocacy but in national health policy, say Danish health authorities, who adopted a sustained anti-stigma initiative in 2021, . 

• 鈥淪tigma has such an effect that people do not seek psychiatric services,鈥� said Niels Sand酶, the former director of prevention and inequity at the Danish Health Authority, who explained that to strengthen overall treatment, 鈥渨e have to do something about the stigmatization.鈥� 

What Denmark鈥檚 anti-stigma program looks like: Denmark鈥檚 鈥淥ne of Us鈥� program recruits people with lived experience of mental illness to serve as trained 鈥渁mbassadors鈥� who share their stories with professionals in hospitals, schools, and police settings鈥攌ey places where people with mental health illness can encounter help or further harm.     Early impact: Initial evaluations suggest that after meeting the ambassadors, 98% of Danish health workers feel more equipped to meet and care for patients with mental disorders, and 89% said they expected to change their behavior to be less stigmatizing.  

• Such policy-based priorities resonate with a key message of : 鈥淲e cannot change the status quo on mental health without tackling stigma and discrimination.鈥� 

GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES VIOLENCE  An Aid Vacuum Leading to Violence
The abrupt closure of U.S.-funded youth programs in Colombia鈥檚 Choc贸 province last year has left thousands of at-risk young people without a stable source of community, leading gangs to fill that role.     Background: Violence prevention programs like Youth Resilience and Black Boys Choc贸 once provided mentoring, leadership training, and social activities like dance to thousands of young people, helping to keep them out of gangs.  

• But in the months since USAID funds ceased, those initiatives have struggled to stay afloat.  

Gangs fill the void: Meanwhile, armed groups now run their own social activities and offer jobs in illegal mining and drug economies, drawing many youths back toward gangs and unraveling years of prevention work, advocates say.    OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS A new single-pill treatment for HIV shows promising results 鈥�  
Delays in awards and funding calls worry NIH-funded researchers 鈥�     Leana S. Wen: The CDC is in chaos. But here鈥檚 where it鈥檚 devastating. 鈥�     How Kennedy Is Trying to Revamp Medical School 鈥�     Investigation finds 鈥榮ecretly鈥� added chemicals of unknown safety in US food supply 鈥�     Syngenta says it will stop making pesticide linked to Parkinson鈥檚 disease 鈥�     Climate shocks, not just warming, threaten malaria control efforts in Africa 鈥�     Why Is America Fixated on Protein? 鈥�  Issue No. 2874
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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Clashes along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border have continued for a seventh straight day, with humanitarian access to affected areas still restricted, the UN said on Wednesday.

96 Global Health NOW: India鈥檚 鈥楤lood Deserts鈥�; and A 鈥楪ame Changer鈥� for Sleeping Sickness March 3, 2026 TOP STORIES U.S. health officials asked to postpone a PAHO-convened panel to review the U.S. measles elimination status, originally set for April, until November鈥攁fter the midterm elections; the Health and Human Services Department said it needs more time to analyze its measles data.
  The malaria vaccine is reducing hospitalizations and deaths of children in northwestern Nigeria, state health workers say, with hospital cases declining up to 50% a year after the malaria vaccine was added to the routine immunization schedule in Nigeria鈥檚 Kebbi State; 200,000+ children have received at least a first dose. 
  A UN drug alert blocked a shipment of chemicals that could have produced ~1.4 to 3.3 tons of fentanyl鈥攗p to 1.6 billion potentially lethal doses; the UN International Narcotics Control Board released news of the March 2025 seizure as an 鈥渋nternational success story鈥� to demonstrate the importance of the early warning system.
  Consumer Reports found heavy metals in more than half of infant formulas it tested in the U.S.鈥攄espite an FDA pledge to tighten oversight; 26 of 49 formulas contained inorganic arsenic at or above CR's level of concern; more than a quarter of the products tested revealed PFAS, 鈥渇orever chemicals,鈥� and three exceeded CR鈥檚 lead level of concern, though CR stressed none of the levels were high enough to cause immediate harm.   IN FOCUS Employees of a private company donating blood in a LG Mega Blood Donation Camp. March 27, 2025, Noida, India. Sunil Ghosh/Hindustan Times via Getty India鈥檚 鈥楤lood Deserts鈥�    Families of patients needing donated blood in India routinely post desperate pleas on social media because the blood system in states like Jharkhand lacks sufficient supplies, . 

• Large parts of India are considered 鈥渂lood deserts鈥� where local timely, affordable demand goes unmet in at least 75% of transfusion cases.  

• Patients with the inherited blood disorder thalassemia require frequent blood transfusions, so unreliable blood supplies can make tracking down the correct blood group an ordeal for each procedure.   

Shortfall:  that 70% of blood donation is voluntary, critics say it falls far short of that goal. (Voluntarily donated blood to blood banks is  than replacement blood given by relatives or others.) 
Unreliable blood testing: Even when donor blood is obtained, procedures for testing the blood for HIV and other pathogens aren鈥檛 always followed. 

• Three members of a Jharkhand family were infected with HIV in January after the mother received a blood transfusion during labor, . 

Blood donation rate: Though India鈥檚 blood donation rate is twice the average of lower middle-income countries, it鈥檚 less than a third of that of high-income countries, .  GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES NEGLECTED DISEASES A 鈥楪ame Changer鈥� for Sleeping Sickness  
A new treatment for sleeping sickness is being heralded as 鈥渢ruly spectacular鈥濃�攁nd a potential key toward eliminating the parasitic disease by 2030, .   The disease is spread through bites of tsetse flies in sub-Saharan Africa and dramatically impacts the nervous system. It is almost always fatal if left untreated.     The new drug acoziborole鈥攁 one-dose, three-pill treatment for sleeping sickness made by Sanofi鈥攔eceived endorsement from the European Medicines Agency last week, paving the way for approval across Africa, .     What makes it different:  

• The pill treats both mild and severe cases, eliminating invasive diagnostics that can include spinal taps. 

• It is one dose and easily transportable to remote regions. 

• And it is effective:  that 95%+ of treated patients were cured after 18 months.  

鈥淚t鈥檚 a game changer,鈥� said Wilfried Mutombo, a sleeping sickness expert leading the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative鈥檚 clinical operations in West and Central Africa.  OPPORTUNITY QUICK HITS Threat of Child Malnutrition in Iran Amid U.S.-Iran Conflict 鈥�

US Speeds up Signing of Bilateral Health Agreements, DRC Lawyers Challenge Minerals Deal 鈥�     Acting CDC director Bhattacharya urges measles vaccines 鈥�     Egyptian Women Are Still Being Asked to Prove Their Virginity 鈥�     States Move to Limit Access to H.I.V. Treatment 鈥�     Malawi bans dual jobs for health workers 鈥�      Made-in-America Guns Are Fueling Death and Destruction in Mexico 鈥�     Will the next World Food Programme chief answer to Trump? 鈥�     Should tick safety be as popular as 'slip, slop, slap'? 鈥�   Issue No. 2873
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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Pre-teens who struggle to control their video gaming habits are more likely to have psychotic-like experiences a year later, a new study has found.

91黑料网 researchers and colleagues at Maastricht University found that 12-year-olds who showed signs of problematic gaming were more likely to experience mild paranoia, unusual beliefs or disturbed perceptions at age 13.