Global health review

A weekly round-up of all the latest global health research from MSF projects and beyond

10 January 2025     

This week, The Lancet eClinical Medicine reports that mpox vaccine uptake in Africa remains low at 5%, hindered by vaccine hesitancy. In The International Journal of Infectious Diseases, MSF reports that the recent expansion of mpox in Africa includes a new human-to-human transmissible strain, emphasising global concerns over limited vaccine supplies, the need for robust surveillance, and the importance of ensuring equitable vaccine access.In The Lancet Microbe, Epicentre’s multi-country study found that BCG’s protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection varies across groups, providing new insights for tuberculosis vaccine trials. In The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, MSF highlighted the rising incidence of diabetes among refugees, who face high rates of preventable deaths due to limited access to affordable insulin and glucose monitoring tools through primary health care.In The Lancet Infectious Diseases, MSF contributed to a two-part series reflecting on the West Africa Ebola epidemic. The first paper examined advancements made since the epidemic, including vaccines and treatments. The second emphasised progress made in care provision such as the integration of palliative care. As highlighted by MSF in the book, Transforming Global Health Partnerships, effective research requires engaging communities as essential partners.Finally, an MSF abstract from the 33rd International Congress of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, in the Journal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance, assessed post-traumatic osteomyelitis treatment outcomes in Gaza (2018-2022). The study found high rates of drug-resistant infections and recurrence, underscoring the need to rebuild the local healthcare system for long-term care.This week, The Lancet eClinical Medicine reports that mpox vaccine uptake in Africa remains low at 5%, hindered by vaccine hesitancy. In The International Journal of Infectious Diseases, MSF reports that the recent expansion of mpox in Africa includes a new human-to-human transmissible strain, emphasising global concerns over limited vaccine supplies, the need for robust surveillance, and the importance of ensuring equitable vaccine access.In The Lancet Microbe, Epicentre’s multi-country study found that BCG’s protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection varies across groups, providing new insights for tuberculosis vaccine trials. In The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, MSF highlighted the rising incidence of diabetes among refugees, who face high rates of preventable deaths due to limited access to affordable insulin and glucose monitoring tools through primary health care.In The Lancet Infectious Diseases, MSF contributed to a two-part series reflecting on the West Africa Ebola epidemic. The first paper examined advancements made since the epidemic, including vaccines and treatments. The second emphasised progress made in care provision such as the integration of palliative care. As highlighted by MSF in the book, Transforming Global Health Partnerships, effective research requires engaging communities as essential partners.Finally, an MSF abstract from the 33rd International Congress of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, in the Journal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance, assessed post-traumatic osteomyelitis treatment outcomes in Gaza (2018-2022). The study found high rates of drug-resistant infections and recurrence, underscoring the need to rebuild the local healthcare system for long-term care.This week, The Lancet eClinical Medicine reports that mpox vaccine uptake in Africa remains low at 5%, hindered by vaccine hesitancy. In The International Journal of Infectious Diseases, MSF reports that the recent expansion of mpox in Africa includes a new human-to-human transmissible strain, emphasising global concerns over limited vaccine supplies, the need for robust surveillance, and the importance of ensuring equitable vaccine access.In The Lancet Microbe, Epicentre’s multi-country study found that BCG’s protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection varies across groups, providing new insights for tuberculosis vaccine trials. In The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, MSF highlighted the rising incidence of diabetes among refugees, who face high rates of preventable deaths due to limited access to affordable insulin and glucose monitoring tools through primary health care.In The Lancet Infectious Diseases, MSF contributed to a two-part series reflecting on the West Africa Ebola epidemic. The first paper examined advancements made since the epidemic, including vaccines and treatments. The second emphasised progress made in care provision such as the integration of palliative care. As highlighted by MSF in the book, Transforming Global Health Partnerships, effective research requires engaging communities as essential partners.Finally, an MSF abstract from the 33rd International Congress of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, in the Journal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance, assessed post-traumatic osteomyelitis treatment outcomes in Gaza (2018-2022). The study found high rates of drug-resistant infections and recurrence, underscoring the need to rebuild the local healthcare system for long-term care.This week, The Lancet eClinical Medicine reports that mpox vaccine uptake in Africa remains low at 5%, hindered by vaccine hesitancy. In The International Journal of Infectious Diseases, MSF reports that the recent expansion of mpox in Africa includes a new human-to-human transmissible strain, emphasising global concerns over limited vaccine supplies, the need for robust surveillance, and the importance of ensuring equitable vaccine access.In The Lancet Microbe, Epicentre’s multi-country study found that BCG’s protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection varies across groups, providing new insights for tuberculosis vaccine trials. In The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, MSF highlighted the rising incidence of diabetes among refugees, who face high rates of preventable deaths due to limited access to affordable insulin and glucose monitoring tools through primary health care.In The Lancet Infectious Diseases, MSF contributed to a two-part series reflecting on the West Africa Ebola epidemic. The first paper examined advancements made since the epidemic, including vaccines and treatments. The second emphasised progress made in care provision such as the integration of palliative care. As highlighted by MSF in the book, Transforming Global Health Partnerships, effective research requires engaging communities as essential partners.Finally, an MSF abstract from the 33rd International Congress of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, in the Journal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance, assessed post-traumatic osteomyelitis treatment outcomes in Gaza (2018-2022). The study found high rates of drug-resistant infections and recurrence, underscoring the need to rebuild the local healthcare system for long-term care.This week, The Lancet eClinical Medicine reports that mpox vaccine uptake in Africa remains low at 5%, hindered by vaccine hesitancy. In The International Journal of Infectious Diseases, MSF reports that the recent expansion of mpox in Africa includes a new human-to-human transmissible strain, emphasising global concerns over limited vaccine supplies, the need for robust surveillance, and the importance of ensuring equitable vaccine access.In The Lancet Microbe, Epicentre’s multi-country study found that BCG’s protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection varies across groups, providing new insights for tuberculosis vaccine trials. In The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, MSF highlighted the rising incidence of diabetes among refugees, who face high rates of preventable deaths due to limited access to affordable insulin and glucose monitoring tools through primary health care.In The Lancet Infectious Diseases, MSF contributed to a two-part series reflecting on the West Africa Ebola epidemic. The first paper examined advancements made since the epidemic, including vaccines and treatments. The second emphasised progress made in care provision such as the integration of palliative care. As highlighted by MSF in the book, Transforming Global Health Partnerships, effective research requires engaging communities as essential partners.Finally, an MSF abstract from the 33rd International Congress of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, in the Journal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance, assessed post-traumatic osteomyelitis treatment outcomes in Gaza (2018-2022). The study found high rates of drug-resistant infections and recurrence, underscoring the need to rebuild the local healthcare system for long-term care.This week, The Lancet eClinical Medicine reports that mpox vaccine uptake in Africa remains low at 5%, hindered by vaccine hesitancy. In The International Journal of Infectious Diseases, MSF reports that the recent expansion of mpox in Africa includes a new human-to-human transmissible strain, emphasising global concerns over limited vaccine supplies, the need for robust surveillance, and the importance of ensuring equitable vaccine access.

In The Lancet Microbe, Epicentre’s multi-country study found that BCG’s protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection varies across groups, providing new insights for tuberculosis vaccine trials. In The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, MSF highlighted the rising incidence of diabetes among refugees, who face high rates of preventable deaths due to limited access to affordable insulin and glucose monitoring tools through primary health care.

In The Lancet Infectious Diseases, MSF contributed to a two-part series reflecting on the West Africa Ebola epidemic. The first paper examined advancements made since the epidemic, including vaccines and treatments. The second emphasised progress made in care provision such as the integration of palliative care. As highlighted by MSF in the book, Transforming Global Health Partnerships, effective research requires engaging communities as essential partners.

Finally, an MSF abstract from the 33rd International Congress of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, in the Journal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance, assessed post-traumatic osteomyelitis treatment outcomes in Gaza (2018-2022). The study found high rates of drug-resistant infections and recurrence, underscoring the need to rebuild the local healthcare system for long-term care.

Best Regards, 

Lydia Lampiri, Zhi Wei Ching, Ononna Thuli, Madeleine Baxter and Holly Baker with MSF-authored article assistance from Amelia Zhao.

All MSF-authored publications can be found on MSF Science Portal, as well as recordings, abstracts and posters from the MSF Scientific Days 2024 conference. 

Antimicrobial resistance 

PLOS Global Public Health • Comment: Response to “Global trends in antimicrobial use in food-producing animals: 2020 to 2030”

PLOS Global Public Health • Article: Antibiotic prescribing patterns at outpatient clinics in Western and Coastal Kenya

Journal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance • Article***MSF AUTHOR***: Outcomes of post-traumatic osteomyelitis in a conflict setting: a retrospective cohort study in Gaza

Climate change and Planetary Health

The Lancet Global Health • Comment: Metrics for access to water and sanitation need structural changes

Ebola

The Lancet Infectious Diseases • Review***MENTIONS MSF***: Embedding treatment in stronger care systems

The Lancet Infectious Diseases • Review***MENTIONS MSF***: Ebola disease: bridging scientific discoveries and clinical application

Transforming Global Health Partnerships • Chapter***MENTIONS MSF***: Building Partnerships and Confronting Challenges: Implementation of an Ebola Virus Vaccine Clinical Study During an Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Global health 

PLOS Global Public Health • Article: Technical and management coaching for government institutions: Lessons learned and health systems transformations across 8 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and India

PLOS blog: ‘Speaking of Medicine’ • Blog: Breaking the Aid Trap: Why Fragile States Need Local Solutions, Not Global Fixes

PLOS blog: ‘Speaking of Medicine’ • Blog: Where We Stand, Where We Look: A book review of The Foreign Gaze by Ṣẹ̀yẹ Abímbọ́lá

The Lancet Global Health • Comment: Global primary care: what it is, what it isn’t, and why it matters to us all

The Lancet Global Health • Comment: Monitoring essential medicines access—unfinished business

The Lancet Global Health • Letter***MENTIONS MSF***: Improving access to liposomal amphotericin B worldwide – Authors’ reply

The Lancet Global Health • Letter***MSF AUTHOR***: Improving access to liposomal amphotericin B worldwide

HIV 

PLOS Global Public Health • Article: Costs of home-delivered antiretroviral therapy refills for persons living with HIV: Evidence from a pilot randomized controlled trial in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

PLOS Global Public Health • Article: Factors associated with retention and adherence on Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis among men who have sex with men in Kigali, Rwanda

PLOS Global Public Health • Article: Costs of home-delivered antiretroviral therapy refills for persons living with HIV: Evidence from a pilot randomized controlled trial in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

The Lancet HIV • Editorial: Bleak prospects for HIV response under new US administration

The Lancet Global Health • Correspondence: Double stigma among pregnant adolescents living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa: a call to action

Infectious diseases 

The Lancet eClinicalMedicine • Article: Mpox vaccination hesitancy, previous immunisation coverage, and vaccination readiness in the African region: a multinational survey

The Lancet Global Health • Article: Association of current Schistosoma mansoni, Schistosoma japonicum, and Schistosoma mekongi infection status and intensity with periportal fibrosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

The Lancet Infectious Diseases • Editorial: Reflecting on lessons from the 2014–16 Ebola virus outbreak

Tropical Medicine and International Health • Article: Seroprevalence and risk factors for Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus exposure among febrile patients in northern Tanzania

PLOS Global Public Health • Article: ASEAN’s response to mpox: Advancing regional and inter-regional cooperation to manage public health emergencies

PLOS Global Public Health • Article: Non-detection of emerging and re-emerging pathogens in wastewater surveillance to confirm absence of transmission risk: A case study of polio in New York

The Lancet Global Health • Correspondence: Women at the front line of the Marburg virus disease response in Rwanda: balancing clinical care, public health, and family life

The Journal of Infectious Diseases • Article***MENTIONS EPICENTRE***: The Genetic Diversity of Nipah Virus Across Spatial Scales

The Lancet Digital Health • Opinion***MENTIONS MSF***: From the 100 Day Mission to 100 lines of software development: how to improve early outbreak analytics

International Journal of Infectious Diseases • Commentry***MENTIONS MSF***: Possible scenarios for the spread of mpox outside the endemic focus in Africa

Malaria 

Malaria Journal • Article: Attractive targeted sugar baits for malaria control in western Kenya (ATSB-Kenya): enrolment characteristics of cohort children and households

Malaria Journal • Article: Routine malaria vaccination in Africa: a step toward malaria eradication?

PLOS Global Public Health • Article: A matter of timing: Biting by malaria-infected Anopheles mosquitoes and the use of interventions during the night in rural south-eastern Tanzania

Maternal and child health

The Lancet Global Health • Article: Rates and risk factors for relapse among children recovered from severe acute malnutrition in Mali, South Sudan, and Somalia: a prospective cohort study

The Lancet Global Health • Article: Global burden of tuberculous meningitis in children aged 0–14 years in 2019: a mathematical modelling study

PLOS Global Public Health • Article: Ethnicity and anthropometric deficits in children: A cross-sectional analysis of national survey data from 18 countries in sub-Saharan Africa

The Lancet Global Health • Comment: Relapse after recovery from acute malnutrition

Neglected tropical diseases

The Lancet eClinicalMedicine • Article: Global prevalence and risk factors of fatigue and post-infectious fatigue among patients with dengue: a systematic review and meta-analysis

The Lancet Infectious Diseases • Profile: Ana Bispo—from polio to Zika virus and beyond

Tropical Medicine and International Health • Article: Epidemiological models to estimate the burden of snakebite envenoming: A systematic review

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases • Article: Challenges and motivating factors for integrating geostatistical models in targeted schistosomiasis control: A qualitative case study in Northwestern Tanzania

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases • Article: The first direct detection of spotted fever group Rickettsia spp. diversity in ticks from Ningxia, northwestern China

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases • Article: Progress in antileishmanial drugs: Mechanisms, challenges, and prospects

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases • Perspectives: On the nature and structure of epistemic injustice in the neglected tropical disease knowledge ecosystem

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases • Article: Human and entomological determinants of malaria transmission in the Lihir Islands of Papua New Guinea: A cross-sectional study

Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases • Article***MENTIONS EPICENTRE***: Snakebites in Cameroon by Species Whose Effects Are Poorly Described

Non-communicable diseases

The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology • Comment***MSF AUTHOR***: Barriers to care for refugees and migrants with diabetes

The Lancet Healthy Longevity • Review***MSF AUTHOR***: Health needs of older people and age-inclusive health care in humanitarian emergencies in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review

 

Research and reporting

The Lancet Global Health • Comment: Strategies for more equitable engagement for African researchers 

Sexual and reproductive health 

The Lancet Global Health • Article: Safety and immunogenicity of an acellular pertussis vaccine containing genetically detoxified pertussis toxin administered to pregnant women living with and without HIV and their newborns (WoMANPOWER): a randomised controlled trial in Uganda 

Conflict and Health • Article: The association between perceived neighborhood social cohesion and intimate partner violence in a refugee camp in Dollo Ado, Ethiopia 

PLOS Global Public Health • Article: Integration and acceptability of cervical cancer screening as part of postnatal care among women attending postnatal clinics in the Accra Metropolis, Greater Accra Region, Ghana 

PLOS Global Public Health • Article: The burden of generational harm due to alcohol use in Tanzania: A mixed method study of pregnant women 

The Lancet Global Health • Article: Effect of a community-based intervention for sexually transmitted infections on population-level prevalence among youth in Zimbabwe (STICH): a cluster-randomised trial 

The Lancet Global Health • Comment: Contraceptive equity: insights from the progress in 48 FP2030 countries 

Front. Glob. Womens Health • Review***MENTIONS EPICENTRE***: Pregnancy and neonatal outcomes in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo: a systematic review 

Women's Health • Case Study***MSF AUTHOR***: Uterine rupture with induction using misoprostol for intrauterine foetal death in the second trimester: A case report 

Tuberculosis

The Lancet Microbe • Article***MENTIONS EPICENTRE***: Effectiveness of the primary Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine against the risk of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and tuberculosis disease: a meta-analysis of individual participant data 

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