What We're Reading

Every day, we share what we're reading, listening to, and watching in the world of global health — from well-reported news articles and in-depth studies to timely podcast episodes and features

Latest

Nature

The World Just Lived Through the 11 Hottest Years on Record—What Now?

by Rachel Fieldhouse and Mohana Basu

Earth is increasingly "out of balance", as more heat is trapped in the atmosphere, driving global warming

Reuters

U.S. State Department Forms New Humanitarian Bureau After Foreign Aid Overhaul

by Simon Lewis

The ​U.S. State Department on Friday established a new bureau to oversee U.S. ‌responses to natural disasters and humanitarian crises around the world

New York Times

Inside the Turmoil at Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s CDC

by Jeneen Interlandi

Forty-three current and former C.D.C. employees on the changes they say are replacing science with ideology — and making Americans more vulnerable

The Conversation

Does Medicinal Cannabis Work for Depression, Anxiety or PTSD? Our Study Says There’s No Evidence

by Jack Wilson and Emily Stockings

New research in Lancet Psychiatry found little evidence medicinal cannabis effectively treats anxiety, sleep disorders, PTSD, or ADHD

New York Times

Scientists Get a Glimpse of How New Pandemics Are Made

by Carl Zimmer

Researchers have devised a new tool for discerning between naturally occurring viral outbreaks and those resulting from lab accidents

NBC News

Measles Is “Worse Than Expected” in Utah, Officials Say

by Erika Edwards

Measles patients in Utah are developing severe complications, health officials say, including potentially life-threatening anemia and liver inflammati

The Guardian

Weight-Loss Jab Could Be Made for $3 a Month, Study Finds

by Kat Lay

Cheap semaglutide, the drug in Ozempic and Wegovy, could help millions with diabetes and obesity in 160 countries

Wall Street Journal

FDA’s Controversial Vaccines Chief Will Leave the Agency

by Liz Essley Whyte

Vinay Prasad will depart in April, after a year leading the division that approves vaccines and biotech drugs

The New Humanitarian

Will the Next World Food Program Chief Answer to Trump?

by Sam Vigersky

Odds are, a Trump pick could run the world’s largest aid agency. The stakes could not be higher

Health Affairs

A Tale Of Two Mpox Outbreaks

by Nikki Romanik and Stephanie Psaki

The two mpox responses in the United States highlight a public health truism—when preparedness works, it is often invisible to the public

CFR

Beyond Conventional Aid: Institutionalizing Public-Private Partnership in Ukraine’s Humanitarian Response

by Sam Vigersky

The collapse of key aid programs has exposed a critical gap in the international response—one that the United Nations cannot fill alone

Nature

COVID’s Origins: What We Do and Don’t Know

by Marietjie Venter et al.

Researchers summarize key insights from the world’s first comprehensive investigation into how a pandemic started