Stopping Bird Flu, Understanding Autism, and Mapping Drug Supply Chains

Editors' Note

On Tuesday night, President Donald Trump delivered a joint address to Congress. His speech focused on an array of topics recently covered by Think Global Health such as soaring egg prices due to bird flu outbreaks, immigration at the southern border, and cuts to foreign aid. His remarks saluted his administration's cuts to funding for male circumcision in Mozambique, a country struggling to hit target rates for the procedure known to reduce the risk of HIV infection by 60%.

During his speech, Trump also cited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's finding that 1 in 36 U.S. children has been diagnosed with autism. In this week's newsletter, the University of Queensland's Damian Santomauro describes the challenges he faced navigating life on the autism spectrum. Santomauro leads the team at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation that estimates the global burden of autism. He calls for greater recognition of the condition's social disability and emphasizes the importance of early diagnosis and support.

Returning to bird flu, Conservation International's Senior Director for One Health Neil Vora pens a guide to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Vora says Kennedy should leverage his environmental activism to stop the outbreak from spilling between wild birds to domesticated animals to people. Vora's suggestions include supporting farm workers and demolishing long-standing barriers between the agricultural and health sectors.

CFR Senior Fellow Prashant Yadav then maps the global pharmaceutical supply chain to illuminate where raw materials are being sourced, where ingredient producers are located, and where finished products are manufactured. Yadav notes that this information has been historically difficult to access but is necessary for U.S. drug manufacturing to thrive.

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Until next week!—Nsikan Akpan, Managing Editor, and Caroline Kantis, Associate Editor