Zimbabwe rejects US health deal over sensitive data concerns - BBC

The United States will end funding for Zimbabwe’s health programmes at the end of September following the collapse of negotiations over a US-proposed deal that Zimbabwe rejected in part over a requirement to share sensitive health data, the US Embassy said on Friday. An embassy spokesperson in Harare confirmed the decision and released remarks delivered this week by US Ambassador Pamela Tremont at an event titled “Beyond assistance. "Tremont said the end of US-supported health programmes followed “Zimbabwe’s decision to decline a bilateral health MOU. " She added that the US will now shift its relations with Zimbabwe “from one largely focused on health and humanitarian assistance, to one built on broader economic, trade and investment opportunities.”Zimbabwe is among the first countries to face action following Washington’s new approach to tie health aid to bilateral country-to-country agreements. Data safety concernsThe withdrawal casts uncertainty over programmes to combat HIV and other diseases. For decades, the US has supported Zimbabwe in its fight against HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria.

Dengue feverAccording to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) in Dhaka, at least six dengue patients died and 2,088 others were hospitalised in the past 24 hours, bringing the total cases and deaths to 112,400 and 348, respectively. September has been the deadliest month of the year so far, logging 43,774 hospital admissions and 148 deaths. Significant outbreaks are hitting the Dhaka area and the Chattogram, Khulna, and Barishal divisions due to high population density and inadequate waste management. Typically a monsoon-season illness (June to September), dengue transmission in Bangladesh is increasingly shifting and extending into late autumn due to unseasonal rains and climate shifts. Currently, 6,026 dengue patients are undergoing treatment at hospitals across the country. Bangladesh’s record dengue fever season in 2023 with Dr. Md Rafiul HasanMeaslesThe large measles outbreak in Bangladesh has yet to be contained. Sonce mid-March, the country reported 203,000 suspected measles cases, including 23,000 confirmed cases have been reported. At least 1,196 people have died, with children under five accounting for 94% of reported deaths.

LOS ANGELES — Scientists have found microplastics in virtually every part of the human body. Yet many questions remain about what exactly these infinitesimal flecks of synthetic polymers do to human health, and how they might cause disease. A new paper looking at the chemical reactions between water and disintegrating plastic offers a potential hypothesis for how microplastics might make us sick.