Michael Kessler

"If the US government persists down this current path...the world will inevitably witness a tragic increase in child deaths..."

Sobering warning from @drsethberkley.bsky.social @science.org

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

#IAS2025 first ever lenacapavir PrEP implementation study will be in Brazil! Will include a mobile PrEP unit in Sao Paolo to best reach communities who will benefit
@iasociety.bsky.social

At Least 13 People Died by Suicide Amid U.K. Post Office Scandal, Report Says

Holy cow, as an American, I wasn't aware of the Horizon IT scandal. ~1,000 postal workers were wrongfully prosecuted for theft and other crimes, imprisoned, and forced to repay tens of thousands of pounds. 13 of them committed suicide! But it was an IT error! AI will make this worse.

Assassination attempt in Colombia sparks fears of return to bloody past: ‘It’s a devastating moment’ Attack on presidential candidate is oreminiscent of some of the darkest chapters of the country’s history

The attempted assassination of a Colombian presidential hopeful has reignited fears of a return to a bloody past when organized crime and rebel groups murdered candidates, journalists, judges with impunity.

Latest for the @theguardian.com.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

‘People think prison is for rehabilitation. It is all lies’: could community service work better than jail? Colombia has seen a surge in the number of female inmates – many poor, from rural areas and convicted of drug offences. Now a radical scheme could release thousands to support their families

Colombia’s female prison population has increased more than fivefold since 1991, largely driven by drug laws that disproportionately punish women.

Now Colombia is attempting a new approach – pivoting from punishment to rehabilitation.

www.theguardian.com/global-devel... @mickessler.bsky.social

Wow...such preparedness. I just can't handle all the winning. That's Ok, they'll say it was Biden's flu. Stand up for science. 🧪

YouTube video by Cambridge Disinformation Summit Univ of Cambridge Professor Jagolinzer on threats to research scientists

Scientists must lean into uncomfortable roles, like political advocacy, to defend scientific independence.

My thoughts from the 2025 Cambridge Disinformation Summit.

youtu.be/UgA44T1lEPE?...

Everyone working in #globalhealth should read this. Chaos historically follows #pandemics & we are now in an information war which means we need to be much better with our #scientific and #health #communications. More than ever we need more activist scientists too.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Let’s not underestimate what a significant step forward around the Pandemic Agreement we saw early this morning. Multilateralism won out. There’s a way to go but gees given the global health turbulence and potential biomedical threats emerging this is an important win. We needed this.

Surely given Jay Bhattacharya's concern about censorship and academic freedom, he will step in and promptly reverse this decision.

Malcolm Turnbull is right. Silence won't protect us from Trump Turnbull is willing to do what our political leaders won't: pursue a clear-eyed reassessment of what Trump's assault on the global order means for Australia.

Malcolm Turnbull wants Australia to face up to the realities of a new world of Trumpian disorder. Our governing class would prefer he kept quiet, @keanebernard.bsky.social writes.

cover of my new book everything is tuberculosis: the history and persistence of our deadliest infection

As the U.S. Government endeavors to make tuberculosis great again, please consider preordering a signed copy of my book about our deadliest infection, its long history, and why in the 75 years since TB became curable, we've allowed over 150,000,000 people to die of the disease. everythingistb.com

RFK Jr. Makes Disturbing Claims Linking Measles To Poor Diet And Exercise He also baselessly claimed that natural immunity from measles and other diseases could protect people from cancer and cardiac disease.

He also baselessly claimed that natural immunity from measles and other diseases could protect people from cancer and cardiac disease.

Posted by @ianbremmer.com on another platform:

“Mexico president Sheinbaum with 85% approval, strongest leader of a major democracy. Hell of a turnout in Mexico City today.”

Universities are facing big cuts to research funding. At Duke, it's a time for 'damage control' Facing the potential loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding, Duke University is preparing for the worst.

apnews.com/article/trum...
Funding for new grants also slowed to a trickle after NIH halted grant application review meetings in January. At Duke, NIH grant and contract award notices plummeted, dropping from 166 in January and February of 2024 to 64 so far in 2025, according to the university.

Nearly half of women in Africa will be obese or overweight by 2030 – study Stigma, lack of treatment and disproportionate rise of the disease in women draws comparisons with HIV epidemic An alarming rise in obesity in Africa has been compared with the HIV epidemic, with stigma and lack of treatment having a disproportionate…

Nearly half of women in Africa will be obese or overweight by 2030 – study

A crowd of people demonstrating outside in front of the Lincoln Memorial on a clear, sunny day. Some of the signs read “Science over Stupidity,” “Science Makes America Great,” and “Team Public Health, Not Team Measles.”

Today at the “Stand up for Science” demonstration at the Lincoln Memorial.

Not known for political coverage, Wired takes a leading role in tracking Elon Musk's team The tech outlet Wired set up a new politics team in time for the presidential election — but its most impactful work is coming after the election is over.

"Wired gained 62,500 new subscribers in the United States during the first two weeks of February alone"

US joins Russia to vote against UN resolution condemning Russia’s war against Ukraine | CNN Politics The United States joined Russia to vote against a UN General Assembly resolution condemning Russia’s war against Ukraine Monday in a stunning shift from years of US policy.

For the US to side with Russia and North Korea to oppose a UN resolution condemning the illegal invasion of Ukraine defies all common sense and adds insult to the countless injuries suffered by the brave Ukrainian people. edition.cnn.com/2025/02/24/p...

@caglauren.bsky.social Hello Cagla..am trying to reach you to discuss a media workshop we´d like invite you to. michael.kessler@intoon-media.com

NCDs to overtake infectious diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030 The prediction comes at a time Sub-Saharan Africa is grappling with both a growing chronic disease burden and sharp foreign aid cuts for the health sector

nation.africa/kenya/health...

How USAID's dismantling could impact noncommunicable diseases The major halt in funding is expected to have “a ripple effect on all different health issues,” says Katie Dain, the CEO of the NCD Alliance. This could include a move from integrated health care back...

Katie Dain, CEO, NCD Alliance:

“NCDs have already been under-prioritized. Anything on the bottom of the list is going to get even further de-prioritized.”

www.devex.com/news/how-usa...

Trump aid spending freeze halts leading malaria vaccine programme Global collaboration with US researchers likely to be set back by years, including on spread of drug-resistant HIV

Prof Kenneth Ngure, President-elect of the @iasociety.bsky.social: “It’s like you’re having a car speeding on a highway. Then you apply emergency brakes. There are so many things that can go wrong.”

#endAIDS #savinglives #prevention #sciencematters

www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

I think there´s a need to look outside political motivation on a lot of this and consider it also as a product of a narcissistic lack of empathy beginning with, but not ending with Trump.

Charities reeling from USAid freeze warn of ‘life or death’ effects Abrupt order has done ‘serious damage’, say experts, with supply chains halted, HIV clinics struggling to source drugs and refugee camps facing loss of vital services

What does the US foreign aid freeze mean on the ground? @kaamilahmed.bsky.social and I heard about people going without vital medicine, refugee camps facing the loss of services and more. www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

CDC Tells Staff to Immediately Stop All Work With World Health Organization Experts said the sudden stoppage was a surprise and would set back work on investigating and trying to stop outbreaks and brewing global threats.

"PEPFAR provides HIV medication to more than 20 million people..stopping its funding essential stops their HIV treatment,” International AIDS Society President Beatriz Grinsztejn said.... “If that happens, people are going to die and HIV will resurge.”
#hiv #sciencematters

time.com/7210427/cdc-...

RFK Jr.’s allies have a plan to upend childhood vaccination Robert F. Kennedy’s Jr. advisers are sparring over how far he should go on vaccines as health secretary.

This man cannot be confirmed. This is pre-meditated murder of children. www.politico.com/news/2025/01...

Paul Krugman on Leaving the New York Times The paper wanted to take away his newsletter or make him write less frequently, he says.

Now that @pkrugman.bsky.social is free, his work is soaring. Some people (me too) do better when mama is not telling us what to do. www.cjr.org/analysis/pau...

IAS statement: IAS warns of dire impact of global gag rule 25 January 2025 (

📣 The IAS warns that the reinstatement of the “global gag rule” will have dire consequences for the #HIV response, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

Read the full IAS statement now and join our call for policies that heed science: