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96 Global Health NOW: Africa鈥檚 Monumental Vaccination Gains; and South Korea鈥檚 Deadly 鈥楨R Runaround鈥� 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鈥檚 civil war; the meeting sought to increase aid support and revive negotiations to end the fighting.    A review of Alzheimer鈥檚 drug studies spanning a decade concluded the drugs had negligible clinical benefit; but many Alzheimer鈥檚 experts criticized , saying it unfairly put a range of dissimilar drugs鈥攊ncluding failed drugs and two recently approved treatments鈥攊n 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 鈥減ublic health threat鈥� 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鈥檛 publish on Fridays, but tomorrow we鈥檒l be sending a special edition of GHN with exclusive coverage from the Consortium of Universities for Global Health meeting鈥攊ncluding the announcement of this year鈥檚 Untold Global Health Stories contest winners! 鈥擳he 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鈥檚 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 :  

• Measles vaccinations halved deaths from the virus, saving ~20 million lives since 2000, . 

• The eradication of wild poliovirus in 2020 was a 鈥渉istoric milestone.鈥� 

• 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.  

But these advances are fragile, and threatened: 鈥淧rogress is uneven, and even slowing, leaving too many children unprotected as key targets are still missed,鈥� said Mohamed Janabi, WHO Regional Director for Africa, . 

• 10 countries account for 80% of children who haven鈥檛 received any vaccine in the region, said Janabi, calling it 鈥渁 profound equity issue鈥� 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. 

EMERGENCY CARE South Korea鈥檚 Deadly 鈥楨R Runaround鈥�  
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鈥攁 crisis dubbed 鈥淓R runaround鈥� and 鈥渁mbulance pingpong.鈥� 

• 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.  

Officials have pushed for reforms, including giving paramedics more authority to designate emergency hospitals, but ER doctors worry about staffing and liability risks.      Related: For Many Patients Leaving the ICU, the Struggle Has Only Just Begun 鈥�  Thanks for the tip, Chiara Jaffe!   OPPORTUNITY Gain Skills to Respond to Humanitarian Emergencies 
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 

The course combines prerecorded lectures with interactive sessions and practical exercises, including crisis simulations.

• July 13鈥�24, 2026

ALMOST FRIDAY DIVERSION Kelsea Petersen/The Athletic; Jacob Kupferman/Getty, Icon Sportswire/Getty, Ric Tapia/Getty, Nur Photo/Getty A Fandom for the Greatest Fans  
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鈥檚 Lincoln Park Zoo, and other experts to judge a pool including 鈥渁 variety of dogs, Quakers, multiple birds, weather events, various historic military figures,鈥� and more.     Meanwhile, in mascot-saturated Pennsylvania, the governor鈥檚 office courted chaos by launching a tournament won by the Phillie Phanatic, : 鈥淲e are equal parts excited and terrified to see how  responds to this result.鈥�    Love to the moon and back: Leaving Artemis II鈥檚 beloved mini-moon plushie mascot behind was 鈥渘ot something I was going to do,鈥�  Flouting NASA鈥檚 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鈥檚 bid to wipe out the disease 鈥�     Two to three cups of coffee a day linked to lower risk of mental health disorders, study finds 鈥�      Black maternal mortality gap still persists in U.S. 鈥�      FDA to consider lifting restrictions on peptides touted by RFK Jr. 鈥�      After 'unprecedented' results, SF researchers get closer to HIV cure 鈥�      Would you save more lives or more years of life? A global study reveals how people really think 鈥�  Issue No. 2899
Global Health NOW is an initiative of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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