A human hookworm vaccine is being developed by @bcmhouston.bsky.social, but a new study suggests that a combined hookworm/malaria vaccine may be preferred in endemic countries. We interviewed stakeholders about the idea of a dual-parasite vaccine: https://bit.ly/4jivdvw #VaccinesWork

And a follow-up article: www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic... 🤔Not convinced the govt response really meets the moment in flagging: a) a not-yet-announced funding increase for #measles awareness; b) some unknown type of formal review that may be possible; c) ongoing data collection "challenges".

👀"Providers dropping common anesthesia drug that’s also a climate super pollutant - The European Union now prohibits desflurane’s use during most procedures." arstechnica.com/science/2026...

Interesting piece on #clofazimine access in the USA and elsewhere from @akesselheim.bsky.social and colleagues. "The curious constraints on clofazimine" 💊🌐 (as a bonus, nice to see someone out there actually reading some of my articles on access to old #EssentialMedicines in Canada😜)

🤨"Danish drug maker Novo Nordisk is preparing to introduce a new version of its blockbuster drug Ozempic to compete with cheaper generics that became legal on Monday, but which are not expected to hit shelves immediately because of delays at Health Canada." www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

"Novo Nordisk launches Wegovy weight-loss pill in US, triggering price war - First and only GLP-1 pill on the market costs significantly less than injectable versions" www.theguardian.com/business/202...

I had missed both this article and any episodes of the medical/procedural shows I can only presume it inspired: 🕵️💀🍄 "For decades, a grisly mystery has buzzed around one fly-killing fungi. No matter when the fungus infects a fly, it always dies at the same time of day. Death always comes at sunset."

And a follow-up article: www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic... 🤔Not convinced the govt response really meets the moment in flagging: a) a not-yet-announced funding increase for #measles awareness; b) some unknown type of formal review that may be possible; c) ongoing data collection "challenges".

ICYMI over the holidays, this is a thorough, and thoroughly depressing, deep dive into just how lousy Canada's public health data on things like #measles vaccination actually is, and the multiple reasons why that's the case. 💉🧮

🤔"McDonald’s hit with class action lawsuit claiming McRib doesn’t contain any rib meat." www.the-independent.com/life-style/m...

While "Welder's Anthrax" kinda sounds like the occupational diseases version of MadLibs, this is interesting. "Welder’s Anthrax Treated with Obiltoxaximab — Louisiana, 2024" www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes...

I had missed both this article and any episodes of the medical/procedural shows I can only presume it inspired: 🕵️💀🍄 "For decades, a grisly mystery has buzzed around one fly-killing fungi. No matter when the fungus infects a fly, it always dies at the same time of day. Death always comes at sunset."

👀"Why does Canada have such high rates of forced psychiatric hospitalizations?" www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

A fact rather than an opinion, headline aside... "Opinion: Edmonton's #tuberculosis outbreak shows need for housing" edmontonjournal.com/opinion/colu...

Sadly evergreen #NewYearsResolution for Canada's Government: Stop (unsuccessfully!) treating Canada's publicly-owned, public good-mandated Biologics Manufacturing Centre as a contract manufacturer for industry, and start choosing & making vaccines/drugs to fill the needs industry isn't meeting. 💉💊🏭

Sadly evergreen #NewYearsResolution for Canada's Government: Stop (unsuccessfully!) treating Canada's publicly-owned, public good-mandated Biologics Manufacturing Centre as a contract manufacturer for industry, and start choosing & making vaccines/drugs to fill the needs industry isn't meeting. 💉💊🏭

Something to ponder as folks formulate New Year's Resolutions...

In 2011, Petronas was warned its South Sudan oil wells may be causing congenital disease. Over a decade later, babies are still being born with serious deformities.

Note: The "most" in the headline refers to just one wealthy country, not to the continent with the vast majority of #sicklecell cases and for which a complex multimillion dollar treatment is much further out of reach.💊⚖️🌐 "The miracle cure for sickle cell is now 2 years old. Most are still waiting."

New Report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development: HAITI’S MULTI FACETED CRISIS AND CANADA’S RESPONSE www.ourcommons.ca/content/Comm...

A fact rather than an opinion, headline aside... "Opinion: Edmonton's #tuberculosis outbreak shows need for housing" edmontonjournal.com/opinion/colu...

This has always been a shocker to me. It is easier to get timely immunization data from most LMICs than Canada.

Putting a little added emphasis on IFPMA's deep commitment to access and benefit sharing for those (like me) whose neurons are operating a little slower over the holiday season. 💊⚖️🌐

Interesting article, though re: government efforts around a "made-in-Canada" vaccine, perhaps worth clarifying that Moderna is now making vaccines at their own facility, while the failed Novavax deal was at the govt's publicly-owned facility (that opened in 2022 but hasn't made...anything at all).💉🏭

Something to ponder as folks formulate New Year's Resolutions...

Note: The "most" in the headline refers to just one wealthy country, not to the continent with the vast majority of #sicklecell cases and for which a complex multimillion dollar treatment is much further out of reach.💊⚖️🌐 "The miracle cure for sickle cell is now 2 years old. Most are still waiting."

"Advocates push for advance MAID requests two years after Parliament recommendation - The Liberal government has given no indication of whether it intends to change the existing laws for medical assistance in dying." www.thestar.com/news/canada/...

"PHAC lacks timely national data on children’s vaccination rates as report finds agency is not meeting targets" 🤔💉🧮 www.hilltimes.com/story/2025/1...

Putting a little added emphasis on IFPMA's deep commitment to access and benefit sharing for those (like me) whose neurons are operating a little slower over the holiday season. 💊⚖️🌐

Australia issues health alert on fake rabies vaccine, Abhayrab®, in India open.substack.com/pub/outbreak...

By contrast, this article describes the Grifols pay-for-plasma experience.🩸💰 "Some Torontonians are selling their blood to make ends meet. Paying for blood is illegal in Ontario, but a for-profit company recently opened two new paid locations in Toronto thanks to a Canadian Blood Services exemption"

Interesting article, though re: government efforts around a "made-in-Canada" vaccine, perhaps worth clarifying that Moderna is now making vaccines at their own facility, while the failed Novavax deal was at the govt's publicly-owned facility (that opened in 2022 but hasn't made...anything at all).💉🏭

🤔"The Patented Medicine Prices Review Board has closed any outstanding investigations into excessive pricing in order to start “fresh” when updated guidelines are implemented in the new year, says its director general." 🇨🇦💊💰 #PMPRB www.hilltimes.com/story/2025/1...

"A Year of Health Science Under Siege" by the aptly monikered @pessimist13.bsky.social thetyee.ca/Opinion/2025...

"PHAC lacks timely national data on children’s vaccination rates as report finds agency is not meeting targets" 🤔💉🧮 www.hilltimes.com/story/2025/1...

ICYMI: Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs & International Trade’s long-gestating report (1st witnesses heard Dec 2023!) "Canada-Africa: Seizing a Strategic Opportunity" is finally out. Some decent recommendations (but health/humanitarian/human rights issues mostly MIA😕) sencanada.ca/content/sen/...

"He made beer that’s also a vaccine. Now controversy is brewing. A scientist’s unconventional project illustrates many challenges in developing new vaccines"💉🍺 Very intriguing article. But not only choosing a Lithuanian Farmhouse Ale but involving Vilnius University is an angle meriting more detail!

ICYMI: Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs & International Trade’s long-gestating report (1st witnesses heard Dec 2023!) "Canada-Africa: Seizing a Strategic Opportunity" is finally out. Some decent recommendations (but health/humanitarian/human rights issues mostly MIA😕) sencanada.ca/content/sen/...

By contrast, this article describes the Grifols pay-for-plasma experience.🩸💰 "Some Torontonians are selling their blood to make ends meet. Paying for blood is illegal in Ontario, but a for-profit company recently opened two new paid locations in Toronto thanks to a Canadian Blood Services exemption"

This is indeed quite a proposal to sneak out the door on the Friday before year-end holidays.🧐 Not sure my 1st reaction is quite as harsh as @mattherder.bsky.social (there are decades-old #EssentialMedicines it should be easier to bring to Canada) but have many questions & need to read in detail.💊🌐

It's also a bit weird that there's an Acting CPHO under the radar with almost no publicity (in contrast with the Interim CPHO, who got a more public announcement in the summer after Dr. Tam's term ended). 🤔

"Corporate types are clamoring for a new kind of plastic surgery — using dead people's fat" 🤔https://www.businessinsider.com/plastic-surgery-fat-from-dead-people-alloclae-corporate-ozempic-2025-12

"‘Matter of survival’: South Korean president urges public health cover for hair loss" 🤔https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/19/south-korean-president-urges-public-health-cover-hair-loss

Interesting update re: the US Strategic Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient Reserve. #API💊 "Drugmakers promise to stockpile certain drugs as part of new drug pricing deals" www.statnews.com/2025/12/19/d...

"Death of dog after avian influenza exposure in Alberta marks second such case in Canada - Goldendoodle died after catching bird flu from snow goose" www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Reading a high profile global health book stating that pre- #smallpox vaccine, a small % of people receiving #variolation got #tuberculosis "accidentally transmitted through the inoculation procedure". Any good source for this? Cited source doesn't say it, only stated in passing in quick lit search?

"Public Health's advice is to leave the toilet lid down and trap the rat there. First, try to flush it away. If that proves difficult, then try throwing dish soap into the toilet to smooth the journey down. If all else fails then a rat trap may be required"🐀🚽 Kitchen instructions were less detailed.

"Corporate types are clamoring for a new kind of plastic surgery — using dead people's fat" 🤔https://www.businessinsider.com/plastic-surgery-fat-from-dead-people-alloclae-corporate-ozempic-2025-12

"‘Matter of survival’: South Korean president urges public health cover for hair loss" 🤔https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/19/south-korean-president-urges-public-health-cover-hair-loss

Of note: The Canadian Government itself very notably did not step up on aid, choosing to follow the disastrous lead of other countries in making billions in cuts to global health and other key areas, even after the deadly consequences of cuts by others became inescapably apparent.