With thanks to Global Health NOW. Read online: https://us14.campaign-archive.com/?u=eb20503b111da8623142751ea&id=13d9a0...
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Measles cases surged 20% globally last year—a trend health leaders worry will only continue if vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. takes the helm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
• Measles cases jumped from 8.6 million to 10.3 million between 2022 and 2023 per a new WHO report—driven largely by a COVID-19 pandemic-era drop in vaccinations, reports The Hill.
• Most affected are the world’s poorest and conflict-riven countries, especially in Africa, where deaths from measles increased by 37%, reports Reuters.
Public health officials fear vaccine coverage could drop further under an HHS headed by RFK Jr., a “leader … in instilling mistrust in public health as a system and the people who do that work,” said Robert Wood Johnson Foundation chief Richard Besser.
• In Samoa, where a 2019 measles outbreak infected 5,700+ people and caused 83 deaths, health officials say misinformation spread by Kennedy’s nonprofit, Children’s Health Defense, worsened the crisis by contributing to vaccine hesitancy, reports The Washington Post (gift article).
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CHIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org