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Think Global Health

A Coordinated Bird Flu Response and a Visit to a Guatemalan Deportee Camp

February 28, 2025

 

Editors' Note

On Wednesday, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced that the country will invest up to $1 billion to contain the spread of H5N1 avian influenza. The statement comes after the death of one person from the virus in Louisiana, the culling of more than 54 million chickens since December, and a record-setting spike in egg prices. 

The funds could be a step in the right direction, and Amanda McClelland, senior vice president of Prevent Epidemics at Resolve to Save Lives, says that public health and politics should work together to restore trust, ensure cohesion across agencies, and commit to long-term investments that protect against the ongoing bird flu outbreak and future threats. 

Next, with women's history month approaching, physician and journalist Mohammad Saeed Gharaati Jahromi describes how endometriosis—a condition that affects more than 190 million women worldwide—influences mental health. Jahromi notes that endometriosis and mental disorders connect through multiple pathways, but health systems fail to train physicians to recognize those links.  

CFR's Mariel Ferragamo continues the discussion of women's health by previewing the upcoming short documentary The Power of Joy. The film follows an Ethiopian woman who survived a traumatic childbirth and fistula to become an ambassador for women's health in her country—but not all share that triumph. As a result of Ethiopia's ongoing conflict, more than 400 new cases of fistula now happen annually in the Tigray region, versus just 50 in 2019.  

To wrap up the issue, journalist Isabella Rolz shares a dispatch from an emergency center for U.S. deportees in Guatemala. She speaks with two young women who were recently deported after migrating to the United States in search of job opportunities. They describe their deportations as "terrifying" and say they no longer want to pursue the American dream. 

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

 

This Week's Highlights

GOVERNANCE

Image

H5N1 Demands Coordination, Not Confusion 

by Amanda McClelland

Public health and politics should work together to restore trust and ensure a cohesive response to bird flu 

Read this story

GENDER

Image

When Endometriosis Causes Mental Illness 

by Mohammad Saeed Gharaati Jahromi

Despite endometriosis's links to psychiatric conditions, health systems fail to train doctors to spot the connections  

Read this story

GENDER

Image

Power of Joy: New Film on Childbirth During Ethiopia's Civil War 

by Mariel Ferragamo 

The documentary follows a girl who survived a harrowing childbirth to become an ambassador for women's health 

Read this story

 

Figures of the Week

This week, the United States reported its first measles death in a decade amid a growing outbreak in Texas. Measles outbreaks have already occurred worldwide in the first two months of 2025

A line chart showing large life expectancy disparities between different groups in the U.S. with steep declines during the pandemic.
 
A line chart showing large life expectancy disparities between different groups in the U.S. with steep declines during the pandemic.
 

Recommended Feature

MIGRATION

Image

U.S. Deportees on Their Return to Guatemala

by Isabella Rolz

Two Guatemalan migrants share their experiences from a returnee center as U.S. deportations rise

Read this story

 

What We're Reading

Starmer Announces Big Cut to UK Aid Budget to Boost Defense Spending (The Guardian)

Myanmar Villagers Reveal "Desperate" Illegal Kidney Sales (BBC)

Trump Officials Prepare Plans to Revive Title 42 Policy to Expel Migrants, Documents Show (CBS News)

Chinese Researchers Find Bat Virus Enters Human Cells Via Same Pathway as COVID (Reuters)

Trump Administration Says It's Cutting 90% of USAID Foreign Aid Contracts (Associated Press)

United States Joins WHO-Led Flu Vaccine Meeting, Despite Planned Withdrawal From Agency (STAT)

26 Countries Are Most Vulnerable to U.S. Global Health Aid Cuts. Can Other Funders Bridge the Gap? (Center for Global Development)

 

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