BK. Titanji

Measles outbreaks are costing the U.S. millions of dollars. The true losses can't be counted. As vaccination rates decline, the economic consequences will increase, research suggests.

Maybe the slogan "Measles will make us lose money" is what would finally break through in a society suffering from end stage capitalism.🤷🏽‍♀️
1.5 billion dollars cost annually for every percentage drop in vaccination coverage just might be what does it.
www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-...

Robert F Kennedy Jr: 1 year of failure In his first speech as Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Robert F Kennedy Jr laid out a plan to restore trust. The COVID-19 pandemic saw public faith in Federal health...

"Kennedy has continued to spread misinformation and push politicised agendas at the expense of the country's most vulnerable...the destruction that Kennedy has wrought in 1 year might take generations to repair."
Bold,factual and somber editorial in @thelancet.com
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

"War! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing."

We have seen this before. We know how this ends. It doesn't end well.

It is challenging time in the global health funding and aid space. How will African governments which have been so dependent on foreign aid be able to protect country sovereignty and their citizens from exploitation in the current climate? Only time will tell .

For example : 1.2 million Zimbabweans are currently receiving HIV treatment through U.S.-supported programs.The rollout of lenacapavir, celebrated in Harare just days before the negotiations collapsed, now faces an uncertain future.

Some countries like Zimbabwe and Zambia are pushing back due to the grossly exploitative nature of these agreements which harken to a more colonial time but there a real human cost to standing up to the U.S.

The U.S. has dismantled USAID and significantly restructured PEPFAR, while pursuing bilateral deals that require co-financing from recipient countries and prioritize U.S. access to data and research outputs. Sixteen African countries have signed similar MOUs .

2.) The U.S. offered no guarantee that any vaccines, treatments, or diagnostics developed using Zimbabwean data would be accessible to Zimbabweans.
3). A bilateral agreements that favored the partner with greater resources to commercialize the results and innovation.

An unfair deal saw Zimbabwe walk away from a U.S. Health Deal worth $367 million.
The U.S. sought:
1). Direct access to Zimbabwe's sensitive health data, including biological samples and epidemiological information from Zimbabwean citizens, over an extended period.

How Zimbabwe Walked Away from a $367 Million U.S. Health Deal — Global Health Unfiltered On February 25, 2026, the U.S. Embassy in Harare issued a terse, four-sentence statement confirming what Zimbabwean officials had already made clear weeks earlier: the United States would begin windin...

Following the dissolution of USAID what is emerging to replace it are exploitative one-sided deals proposing the exchange of aid dollars for sensitive health data, lack of reciprocal benefit and agreements that bypass multilateral frameworks.
www.globalhealthunfiltered.com/blog/jn2u6d5...

Denmark becomes first country in the European Union to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis The World Health Organization (WHO) has certified Denmark for the elimination of mother-to-child transmission (EMTCT) of HIV and syphilis, recognizing the country's sustained commitment to ensuring ev...

Denmark becomes first country in the European Union to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis. This is testament to universal health access and a functioning public health system.
The US recorded 4000 cases of congenital syphilis in 2024.
www.who.int/news/item/27...

Absolutely 💯. Nurses have served as fully qualified surgeon generals before. They had the requisite public health training for the position.

I hope the pricing point is low and affordable so adoption can be strong and impact maximized.

I don't know about you but I want a surgeon general who vaccinates their kids and encourages others to do so, who has completed medical residency and practiced medicine unsupervised, who has an active medical license and who believes in science and facts.
This is the bare minimum!

At this time there are no effective antivirals for mpox despite a global outbreak and two PHEIC declarations. Congratulations to the investigators. Though this is a null result it highlights the need for investing in R&D in the mpox drug development space.

Tecovirimat for the Treatment of Mpox | NEJM Tecovirimat is approved for smallpox treatment under the Food and Drug Administration Animal Rule on the basis of efficacy in nonhuman primate models of mpox (previously known as monkeypox). Howeve...

The full results of the STOMP trial are now published in @nejm.org
Tecovirimat did not shorten time to symptom resolution or impact symptoms of clade II mpox. The findings are similar to PALM007 trial which found no beneficial effects of the drug for clade I mpox
www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

Casey Means, a MAHA leader, makes bid to be nation’s top doctor Casey Means, now the epitome of a “MAHA mom," invokes motherhood and “wholeness” in health in making her case to be the U.S. surgeon general.

If Casey Means is wholly unqualified to be surgeon general of a supplements store let alone the US. That will mot stop her getting confirmed.
www.statnews.com/2026/02/25/c...

Not where they are needed and matter most. That to me is failure.

For 14 yrs, the failure to drive infections closer to 0 is not because we can't it's because we choose not to. The only effective PrEP is that which is accessible readily for all who want it. Until we solve the access issue "star" drugs will remain famous at conferences and in science journals

Truvada the first drug for PrEP was approved in 2012. We now have Descovy, Carbotrgravir and Lenacapavir. All are >95% effective preventing HIV,with good adherence. There were 1.3 million new HIV infections globally. Access to PrEP continues to be abysmal. We have had tools to end HIV transmission

Until the pricing abd accessibility issues are fully addressed, it will simply not live up to its promise. For context manufacturing cost of the generic can be as low as 25$-45$ a year per patient.

Lenacapavir for PrEP was the big "star" of #CROI2026 after showing almost 100% effectiveness in preventing HIV in 2 large RCTs.
Unfortunately at a pricing point of 28000$ a year it remains inaccessible to most. A drug is only as great as the number of people who can access and benefit from it.

That part. The ethical issues are glaring and will need to be carefully addressed. LEN studies enrolled participants in many sites that do not have access to it because of the pricing point of 28000 USD a year.

Today I met a real life person who follows me on bluesky and who has found my educational content useful, especially my monthly Q&As😊. Thanks @drjenbalkus.bsky.social for saying hello. It's always encouraging to know some of what I share has value and is appreciated.

There was a whole workshop on this. Designing vaccine and cure studies in the era of long acting injectable ART. The consensus was we need a clear consensus lol. The wash out time for LEN exceeds 12 months. Most of these studies will only be feasible in Africa where the drugs are largely unavailable

In conclusion a lot of progress has been made but there's still a long way to go to getting an effective and broadly applicable HIV vaccine. Machine learning to identity better targeted bNAbs and the mRNA vaccine platform for easier delivery.

What are the main challenges to developing HIV vaccines?

Two types of vaccine design are being pursued : preventative vaccines and therapeutic vaccines.

The bar for an effective HIV vaccine is very high