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Global Health NOW: The Bacterial Detective Battling Superbugs in Nigeria; and Historic Clues for a Modern Medical Mystery
January 20, 2026
TOP STORIES
Unusually heavy rains across Mozambique in the last few weeks have triggered a 鈥渞apidly escalating emergency鈥� affecting 513,000+ people鈥攐ver half of them children, who are at an especially high risk in disease outbreaks, given compromised access to safe water and preexisting high malnutrition rates.
Chinese authorities are blocking online searches about the country's plunging births after official figures released yesterday showed the country's birth rate dipped to 5.63 per 1,000 last year鈥攖he lowest since the 1949 founding of the People's Republic. A personalized experimental drug based on mRNA technology halved melanoma patients鈥� risk of recurrence or death after five years compared with patients treated only with immunotherapy, per Moderna.
A new meta-analysis and systematic review of 43 studies concluded that taking Tylenol (also known as paracetamol) during pregnancy does not cause autism in children, ; the review follows President Trump鈥檚 warning against taking the medication during pregnancy. IN FOCUS: GHN EXCLUSIVE Iruka Okeke and her small team run a national surveillance project tracking antimicrobial resistance in Nigeria. Andrew Esiebo The Bacterial Detective Battling Superbugs in Nigeria IBADAN, Nigeria鈥�Inside a crowded University of Ibadan lab, Iruka Okeke and her dozen students are running a national surveillance project for one of Nigeria's鈥攁nd Africa's鈥攎ost understudied problems: antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
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The number of midwives needed across 181 countries鈥�90% of them LMICs; improved access could potentially save 4.3m lives a year by 2035, by the International Confederation of Midwives. 鈥�
CANCER Historic Clues for a Modern Medical Mystery U.K. scientists seeking to understand why colorectal cancer continues to rise sharply among young people are looking to hospital archives for leads. The clues: A vast collection of century-old cancer samples stored at St. Mark鈥檚 Hospital in London.
What science says about how weight-loss drugs affect cancer risk 鈥�
Sugar Land resident advances global cancer research while still an undergrad 鈥� GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES QUICK HITS Napkins for bandages: How 11 doctors survived the siege of El Fasher 鈥� The near death 鈥� and last-minute reprieve 鈥� of a trial for an HIV vaccine 鈥� The Obituary Of The US Childhood Immunization Schedule 鈥� Drug use disorders a growing public health concern in the Americas, PAHO study finds 鈥� Public Views About Opioid Overdose and People With Opioid Use Disorder 鈥� More than half of mpox patients in 2022 outbreak experienced lasting physical effects: Study 鈥� Alzheimer's finger-prick test could help diagnosis 鈥� Issue No. 2849
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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Chinese authorities are blocking online searches about the country's plunging births after official figures released yesterday showed the country's birth rate dipped to 5.63 per 1,000 last year鈥攖he lowest since the 1949 founding of the People's Republic. A personalized experimental drug based on mRNA technology halved melanoma patients鈥� risk of recurrence or death after five years compared with patients treated only with immunotherapy, per Moderna.
A new meta-analysis and systematic review of 43 studies concluded that taking Tylenol (also known as paracetamol) during pregnancy does not cause autism in children, ; the review follows President Trump鈥檚 warning against taking the medication during pregnancy. IN FOCUS: GHN EXCLUSIVE Iruka Okeke and her small team run a national surveillance project tracking antimicrobial resistance in Nigeria. Andrew Esiebo The Bacterial Detective Battling Superbugs in Nigeria IBADAN, Nigeria鈥�Inside a crowded University of Ibadan lab, Iruka Okeke and her dozen students are running a national surveillance project for one of Nigeria's鈥攁nd Africa's鈥攎ost understudied problems: antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
- More than 1 million deaths in the were associated with bacterial AMR.
- 鈥淎MR deaths threaten Africa鈥檚 future,鈥� says Okeke.
- She and her team use whole genome sequencing and other tools to understand how microbes inherit and spread resistant traits.
- They鈥檝e already investigated more than a dozen suspected outbreaks.
- The lab鈥擭igeria鈥檚 first reference lab for AMR surveillance鈥攐btains samples from three sentinel hospitals in Ibadan and sequences pathogenic bacteria, sharing data with the Nigeria CDC.
- 鈥淭here are days I wake up, and I think, 鈥極h, gosh, there鈥檚 too many problems to solve鈥攍ike how are you going to keep the electricity uninterrupted?鈥欌�� Okeke says. 鈥淎nd then, there are days I wake up and think, 鈥業t鈥檚 amazing we鈥檙e doing this stuff that nobody else is doing.鈥欌��
980,000
鈥斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌�
The number of midwives needed across 181 countries鈥�90% of them LMICs; improved access could potentially save 4.3m lives a year by 2035, by the International Confederation of Midwives. 鈥�
CANCER Historic Clues for a Modern Medical Mystery U.K. scientists seeking to understand why colorectal cancer continues to rise sharply among young people are looking to hospital archives for leads. The clues: A vast collection of century-old cancer samples stored at St. Mark鈥檚 Hospital in London.
- The samples, which have been preserved in wax, are being sent to the Institute of Cancer Research for molecular tests that can identify DNA damage 鈥渟ignatures,鈥� revealing possible triggers.
What science says about how weight-loss drugs affect cancer risk 鈥�
Sugar Land resident advances global cancer research while still an undergrad 鈥� GLOBAL HEALTH VOICES QUICK HITS Napkins for bandages: How 11 doctors survived the siege of El Fasher 鈥� The near death 鈥� and last-minute reprieve 鈥� of a trial for an HIV vaccine 鈥� The Obituary Of The US Childhood Immunization Schedule 鈥� Drug use disorders a growing public health concern in the Americas, PAHO study finds 鈥� Public Views About Opioid Overdose and People With Opioid Use Disorder 鈥� More than half of mpox patients in 2022 outbreak experienced lasting physical effects: Study 鈥� Alzheimer's finger-prick test could help diagnosis 鈥� Issue No. 2849
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 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.
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can or .
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