#global-health

#global-health

The last outbreak of cholera in Britain was in 1866; in the United States there has not been an outbreak since 1911. And yet today people are sick with this ancient disease in 32 countries, with more than 6,800 deaths reported so far this year already exceeding all of last year's toll of 6,000 deaths, which was itself a 50% increase on 2023.

Antibiotics have turned once deadly infections into minor inconveniences. They make lifesaving interventions, from surgery to chemotherapy, safer. But every time this powerful tool gets used, there's a risk antibiotic resistance. Out of the billions of bacteria causing an infection in an individual, some small fraction may be naturally resistant to a given drug. Taking an antibiotic can clear the field for those resistant bacteria to spread.

Dr. Solomon Zewdu is based in South Africa and he says the thing that struck him most this General Assembly is that global health leaders are "talking in silos." "We're not hearing each other," he says. Some are having conversations about how dependent countries are on aid, while others are lamenting the cuts. "But now, what's the next step? Let's move on. There's urgency. Time kills people," he says. He's afraid "everybody's going to scatter, and then we might wait for the next summit to happen and, in between, people dying, people's health is being compromised."

The extremely limited availability of mpox vaccines in DRC has already drastically reduced the reach of the national strategic plan for vaccination against mpox. This means that without improved access to vaccines, thousands of people may be left unprotected.

Morie Abibu, paralyzed and suffering from a growing mass near his spinal cord, requires urgent neurosurgery to prevent suffocation and a devastating end of life.

An estimated 107,500 people died from measles in 2023, most of them under the age of five, according to a new World Health Organization study.

In South Korea, a stockpile of oral cholera vaccines is in constant use, shipping about 5 million doses monthly to countries like Angola, Sudan, and South Sudan.

World leaders face immense challenges in securing funds for development. Aid cuts have disrupted health and humanitarian work while economic instability drains government resources.

Despite monumental vaccine rollout efforts leading to the saving of 154 million children, progress on immunization has stalled or even reversed, putting millions at risk.

I was born in Thomasville, Alabama, and raised in Florida. I'm the first male of seven siblings, and our parents, especially my father who was a preacher, taught us to live with purpose. Four of us were high school valedictorians. I studied chemistry and biology at Oakwood University and then entered Loma Linda Medical School, finishing in three years. I knew early on I wanted to help others.

"Blood donation services in many countries are unable to meet the demands for collecting and storing healthy blood, leading to critical shortages worldwide."

"I try to be optimistic, but the truth is I live my life very close to despair."

Although this is a first step and national health systems still need to develop policies to implement the resolution, experts agree that the measure opens a new path for skin conditions to be seen not merely as an aesthetic issue but as a global public health priority.

I think I'm only now realizing how difficult it was five years on, and the responsibility and the pressure.