Hantavirus, the WHO, and the Conflicts in Weighing Mortality
On May 12, 2026, almost 2,000 people, mostly young children, died of malaria because they could not access effective and relatively cheap treatment quickly enough. About 4,000 people died of tuberculosis (TB), including many young adults leaving orphans. This happens every day. Progress in reducing these numbers is stalling, as partly due to the continuing […]
The Story of the Victorian-Era Anti-Mandate Movement
The epithet “anti-vaxxer” is common in our time for anyone who resists mandates or resents the enormous legal privileges, protections, patents, and subsidies the industry receives today. It also pertains to those who attempt to bring attention to vaccine injury and death, a sensitive and even suppressed subject for an industry that relies on a […]
The Right to Health Sovereignty
International cooperation on health is a widely accepted global good. Capacity building and development assistance reduce historic health inequalities and, as a result, strengthen economies. Management of cross-border infectious disease threats is best done through joint surveillance, data sharing, and response. Collaboration on norms and standards provides efficiencies and facilitates trade in health products. However, […]
Federal Judge Blocks Kennedy’s Vaccine Reforms
On 16 March, federal judge Brian Murphy blocked the U.S. government from making sweeping changes to the US childhood immunization schedule, “in a blow to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s agenda,” as the BBC expressed it. The BBC calls them respected medical groups, which they are not, as illustrated by the hepatitis B vaccine […]
They Acknowledge the Byproducts. Where Are the Data?
Pursuant to the order issued on March 16 in American Academy of Pediatrics et al. v. Kennedy et al., No. 1:25-cv-11916 (D. Mass.), the ACIP meeting previously scheduled for March 18-19 has been stayed until further notice. In light of this notice, I want to outline what should have been addressed at this meeting and […]
How to Build a Post-WHO Global Health Architecture
The United States’ withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) is more than a diplomatic rupture. It creates a unique opening to rethink how global health cooperation should actually work. The real question is not whether countries should cooperate. They must. Humans matter. Health brings economic stability. Pathogens cross borders. Data sharing matters. Standards matter. […]