Global health review
A weekly round-up of all the latest global health research from MSF projects and beyond
17 July 2026
A special mention this week goes to an MSF article that advances evidence for burn care in conflict-affected settings while standing as a tribute to its first author. Published in PLOS Global Public Health, the study demonstrates how specialised rehabilitation can improve recovery for burn survivors in Gaza. The paper honours longtime MSF physiotherapy manager and first author, Abed El Hamid Qaradaya, who was killed in an airstrike before the study was published. His dedication to rehabilitation continues to shape patient care and clinical practice.
This week, in PLOS Global Public Health, MSF co-authored a review exploring whether mass administration of the antibiotic azithromycin could help reduce preventable child deaths during humanitarian emergencies. The authors point to its potential as a short-term intervention, while acknowledging the need for antimicrobial resistance monitoring. In the same journal, an MSF opinion piece discusses the limited applicability of recent international paediatric sepsis guidelines to low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) settings, which account for 85% of global paediatrics sepsis cases and deaths.
In Cancer Control, a perspective paper advocates for an accelerated global shift from female-only to gender-neutral HPV vaccination, pointing to the delayed uptake of gender-neutral vaccination in LMICs.
Finally, an article in Reuters reports that the University of Oxford has launched the first human trial of a vaccine against the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola.
Best regards,
Maya Fenyk, Lillian Matthes, and Holly Baker with MSF-authored article assistance from Alys Barton and Amelia Zhao.
All MSF-authored publications can be found on the MSF Science Portal, as well as recordings, abstracts and posters from the MSF Scientific Days 2026 conference.
Antimicrobial resistance
The Lancet • Article: Integrated immune and endothelial profiling predicts 90-day mortality in postoperative sepsis and septic shock
The Lancet • Article: Mapping the prevalence of molecular markers of Plasmodium falciparum artemisinin partial resistance in Africa: a systematic review and spatiotemporal modelling study
BMJ Global Health • Article: Ambient temperature variations and antimicrobial resistance: a multicountry analysis of non-linear relationships and temperature thresholds
Clinical Infectious Diseases • Article: The balance between a new Antibiotic and Non-antibiotic Alternatives for the treatment and prevention of uncomplicated Urinary Tract Infections
Conflict, migration and health
BMJ Global Health • Article: Epidemiology of Treponema pallidum, Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Trichomonas vaginalis among forcibly displaced populations: a global systematic review and meta-analysis
BMJ Global Health • Article: Malnutrition trends in displaced Rohingya children from 2017 to 2024: a comprehensive 7-year repeated cross-sectional analysis
The Malaria Journal • Article: Predictors of malaria vaccine acceptability among healthcare providers in conflict-affected Sudan: a cross-sectional analysis
Conflict and Health • Article: Violence against health care workers in a post-conflict context: an exploratory qualitative study in the province of South Kivu, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
Social Science & Medicine • Article: The Effect of Internal Migration on Blood Pressure among a Cohort of Young Adults in South Africa
Global health
The Lancet • Article: Multidomain lifestyle intervention for the prevention of cognitive decline in at-risk older adults in Latin America (LatAm-FINGERS): a single-blind, multicentre, randomised controlled trial
The Lancet • Article: Global and regional inequalities in dairy recommendations: a natural language processing analysis of food-based dietary guidelines across income groups
The Lancet • Article: Human versus analogue insulin for children and young adults with type 1 diabetes in low-resource settings (HumAn-1): a multicentre, open-label, randomised controlled trial
BMJ Global Health • Article: Living in the dark: self-perceived health and social impacts of nationwide electricity rationing in Ecuador
BMJ Global Health • Article: Clustering of countries based on national essential medicines lists: cross-sectional study
Health Policy & Planning • Article: Exploring the roles of informal healthcare providers in urban settings to improve access and quality of care for the urban poor: experience from Bangladesh, Ghana, Nepal and Nigeria
Global Public Health • Article: Socio-ecological factors associated with becoming street-connected among working and homeless children and youth in Namibia
Social Science & Medicine • Article: What’s Behind The ‘Digital Front Door’? Building a digital care infrastructure in a fragmented healthcare system
Social Science & Medicine • Article: The political economy of universal health coverage reform in Kenya: executive dominance, elite alignment, and populist strategy (2004-2023)
Social Science & Medicine • Article: Leaving no one behind: An assessment of the rate of decline in child mortality among the richest and poorest children in 38 low-and-middle-income countries
HIV
Tropical Medicine & International Health • Article: Virological Suppression Rate and Drug Resistance in Children and Adolescents Receiving Dolutegravir-Containing Antiretroviral Therapy in Ndop Health District, Cameroon
Clinical Infectious Diseases • Article: Correlates of Dolutegravir Resistance in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Combined Analysis of Drug Resistance Surveys in Four Countries
Clinical Infectious Diseases • Article: Pre-treatment Gut Microbiome Diversity and Function Linked to Cytotoxic and Natural Killer Cell Immune Responses after N-803 Treatment in People with HIV
Social Science & Medicine • Article: Evaluating the effect of social mobility on the incidence of HIV/AIDS in low-income populations: a dynamic microsimulation study with large cohort data
Infectious diseases
The Lancet • Article: Integrating environmental and clinical surveillance for typhoid: insights from a prospective wastewater surveillance study in urban India
Tropical Medicine & International Health • Article: The Occurrence of Two Arboviral Vectors, Aedes aegypti and Aedes vittatus (Diptera: Culicidae), and Their Associated Risk Factors From a Dengue Outbreak During 2024 in Ghana
Tropical Medicine & International Health • Review: Resurgence of Typhoid Fever in Ghana: A Scoping Review of Epidemiology, Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns, Geographic Distribution, and Public Health Interventions
Tropical Medicine & International Health • Article: Eco-Epidemiological Study of Seropositivity Against Rickettsia and Leptospira Agents in Rural Areas of Urabá, Colombia
TRSTMH • Article: Chagas disease and mortality in a community-based cohort in Colombia: evidence for age-dependent effect modification
TRSTMH • Article: Predisposition to Ascaris lumbricoides reinfection in the Geshiyaro project in southern Ethiopia
Clinical Infectious Diseases • Article: Sensitivity of Measles rRT-PCR Testing During an Outbreak in Persons without Rash
Clinical Infectious Diseases • Article: Protection Against Recurrent Typhoid Fever Conferred by a Prior Episode: Evidence from a Large Cohort Study in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Malaria
BMJ Global Health • Comment: Enhancing malaria-in-pregnancy monitoring: stakeholder experiences and data integration into the BornFyne-PNMS digital platform in Cameroon
The Malaria Journal • Article: Low prevalence of sub-microscopic malaria among rural communities of an endemic area in Kapit Division, Malaysian Borneo
The Malaria Journal • Article: Changes in malaria vector bionomics in Timor Leste between 2009 and 2016; a longitudinal study
The Malaria Journal • Article: Knowledge, attitudes and practices on malaria and mosquitoes in the Far-North region of Cameroon
The Malaria Journal • Review: University students’ contribution to advancing malaria eradication efforts in Rwanda
The Malaria Journal • Article: Malaria prevalence and epidemiological characteristics in Northern Malawi: a nine-year retrospective hospital-based study
The Malaria Journal • Article: Preparation, characterization and pre-clinical evaluation of artemether-lumefantrine-paracetamol (AL-P) loaded nanocarriers in the treatment of malaria
The Malaria Journal • Article: Prevalence of malaria and associated risk factors in Loka Abaya district, Sidama regional state, Southern Ethiopia
The Malaria Journal • Article: Prevalence and associated risk factors of malaria in Amhara National Regional State: a systematic review and meta-analyses
The Malaria Journal • Article: Transfusion-transmitted malaria in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis of Plasmodium spp. carriage in blood units and confirmed transmission in recipient
Maternal and child health
The Lancet • Article: Modelling gestational weight gain trajectories and risk of adverse birth outcomes using super imposition by translation and rotation: findings from two Brazilian cohort studies
The Lancet • Article: Spatiotemporal analysis and socioeconomic determinants of pediatric lymphoid leukemias mortality in Brazil from 2000 to 2021: an ecological study
The Lancet • Article: In-hospital and post-discharge mortality among infants with respiratory syncytial virus in rural Kenya: a 25-year retrospective cohort study
BMJ Global Health • Article: Assessing WHO prioritisation criteria for children 6–59 months treated for moderate wasting in a MUAC-based protocol: a multicountry analysis in West and Central Africa
Tropical Medicine & International Health • Review: Water Pollution and Perinatal or Neonatal Outcomes: A Scoping Review
The Malaria Journal • Case Study: Guillain–Barré syndrome following Plasmodium falciparum malaria in a child: a case report
Clinical Infectious Diseases • Article: Birth in the neonatal HBV vaccination era and hepatitis B surface antigen seroclearance in people with HIV and HBV coinfection on tenofovir-containing antiretroviral therapy
Social Science & Medicine • Article: Embodiment of sociopolitical stress during pregnancy and coping strategies among perinatal Filipina women
Social Science & Medicine • Article: Intersectional parental health inequities one year after childbirth: race/ethnicity, sex/gender and social class in the Elfe birth cohort
Mental health
The Lancet • Article: Health service utilization by people with psychosis during Peru's mental health reform and the COVID-19 pandemic: a population-based study
BMJ Global Health • Article: The science of child and adolescent mental health in Brazil: a nationwide systematic review and compendium of evidence-based resources
Research and reporting
The Lancet • Article: Genetic testing versus clinical screening for relatives of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in the Brazilian public health system: a cost-utility analysis
The Lancet • Article: Healthcare utilisation, expenditure, and admission-based mortality associated with paediatric hepatobiliary diseases in Thailand: a national database analysis (2015–2023)
BMJ Global Health • Article: Community health worker involvement across domains and national infectious disease programmes in rural Madagascar: evidence of fragmentation and determinants of engagement
The Malaria Journal • Review: Diagnostic performance of malaria microscopy among laboratory professionals in Ethiopia: a systematic review
The Malaria Journal • Article: Environmental suitability of Anopheles mosquito species in the Maekel region, Eritrea: species distribution modeling using maximum entropy
The Malaria Journal • Article: Perceptions and acceptability of drone-based larviciding using Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis in rice fields in Madagascar, 2022: a qualitative study
The Malaria Journal • Article: Guiding malaria elimination interventions: a data-driven approach to resource optimization in Benin, West Africa
Sexual and reproductive health
BMJ Global Health • Article: Prevalence and determinants of premature or early menopause: a pooled analysis of 716 648 women from 44 low- and middle-income countries
Vaccines
Tropical Medicine & International Health • Article: Decline in Calmette-Guérin Bacillus Vaccination Coverage and Change in the Spatiotemporal Pattern of Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis in Children and Adolescents in Brazil: An Ecological Study, 2004–2023