💉 Asia becoming the hottest destination; Vaccines go backsliding; Cancer drugs not reliable?

#567 | Gavi gets some pledges; No sleep for the wicked; Drink more coffee, especially in the morning

Jun 27, 2025

Hello, and welcome back to The Kable for one last time this month. As has been the norm for much of this month, this week's issue too is on the lighter side. That doesn't, however, mean that it makes for light reading necessarily.

This week has been dominated by Gavi's investment summit where the alliance aimed to raise close to $12 billion for its five-year investment round. While it didn't quite hit the target, the summit did see Gavi score a record number of pledges totalling about $9 billion. The Gates Foundation alone pledged $1.6 billion towards this over the next five years. Was there a fly in the ointment though? Yes, of course. As has been the case for a while, that fly was the US, who released a pre-recorded video at the summit saying they will not be funding Gavi anymore because Gavi "has ignored the science". The messenger who delivered this video was the great believer in science that the US now has for a health secretary, under whose guidance this week alone, advisers recommended flu vaccines minus an ingredient nobody other than antivax activists believes is scientifically flawed. Nevertheless, the fact that Gavi managed to raise these pledges without US involvement could be construed as a hopeful sign that a better world is in fact possible without this modern coloniser-destroyer. As for the not following science claim, Gavi has a rejoinder. One that doesn't explicitly call out the anti-science beliefs of the people making this claim but a rejoinder nevertheless.

If Gavi had a big week, the WHO wasn't far behind. We're not recounting everything the agency got up to this week but we would be remiss if we didn't say that the WHO has recommended updating info for semaglutide drugs to include non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) as a potential side-effect. The WHO notice says the frequency is very rare with only 1 in 10,000 users being affected. But we've all seen those reports of how obesity, and the use of semaglutide to counter it, is on the rise worldwide. That is a lot of potentially blind people with excellent waistlines to contend with in the future.

Another notable story from the WHO this week was the launch of its Tobacco Epidemic 2025 report. The report, focused on six proven WHO MPOWER tobacco control measures to reduce tobacco use, says 75% of the world's humans – 6.1 billion people – are covered by at least one of these measures. However, tobacco still accounts for over 7 million lives around the world. And, yes, industry lobbying is definitely hampering control efforts. But, as with ~~many~~most of the ills plaguing our world today, tech bros have a role to play here too. Why? Because it was they who introduced e-cigarettes to the world, claiming they're way less harmful. However, a new study, on top of all similar ones previously published, says disposable vapes are way more harmful actually.

Speaking of tech bros, in India, Amazon has a new service: at-home diagnostics. And maybe, if you don't like the results, they'll do a return?

Speaking of India, the country sure loves routine. So much so that, in some areas, it refuses to make any changes, so the same story can keep repeating itself.

A little while ago, we'd written about some researchers wasting time and money by conducting studies that serve no purpose. As further evidence of this, here is this study where researchers discovered two new viruses with pandemic potential in the kidneys of bats happily roosting upside down somewhere in China. Sure, knowing that there are pandemic-causing pathogens out there will help us prepare for a pandemic. Theoretically. But where is the bird flu vaccine? And why are you still unmasked?

And finally, more good news for coffee drinkers. Last week's Kable said drinking black coffee can keep you alive for longer. This week, we have a new study - the useful kind - that proves how your morning cuppa Joe can also slow ageing. As if just drinking coffee for the joy of it wasn't good news enough.

Stories Of The Week

The hottest place to be? Asia. Yes, the continent is now warming at twice the global rate, according to the State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report released by the WMO. Average temperatures in 2024 were 1.04°C above the 1991–2020 baseline, making it the hottest or second-hottest year on record for the continent. Sea surface temperatures were the highest ever recorded, driving sea levels up on both the Pacific and Indian Ocean coasts, surpassing global averages and spelling trouble for low-lying coastal areas. Marine ecosystems and coastal livelihoods are already feeling the heat.

Glaciers are shrinking fast. In the central Himalayas and Tian Shan in Kyrgyzstan, 23 out of 24 glaciers lost mass. Urumqi Glacier No.1 saw its worst-ever decline. The consequences? More glacial lake outburst floods, landslides, and a mounting threat to long-term water security for billions downstream. Extreme heat and rainfall took a deadly toll across Asia as well. And if you've seen the news out of China just this week, this is a phenomenon more or less here to stay.

And while the report doesn’t mention it, it’s hard to ignore the region’s toxic air. Nearly all of the world’s top 50 most polluted cities, according to IQAir, are in Asia, with black carbon accelerating glacier melt and trapping more heat in the air.
(WMO)

Vaccines? We don't need no stinking vaccines. Routine childhood vaccines have already saved an estimated 150 million lives. That legacy is now at risk. Global childhood immunisation - once one of public health’s greatest triumphs - is losing ground. A new Lancet study warns that progress has stagnated since 2010, and in some countries, even reversed. By 2023, 16 million children, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, had received zero vaccines, leaving them vulnerable to deadly but preventable diseases like measles, tuberculosis, polio, and diphtheria.

Covid made a bad situation worse with lockdowns disrupting routine vaccination programmes across continents. But it’s not all Covid's doing. Vaccine misinformation is growing. Heck, spreaders of vaccine misinformation are now in positions of authorising vaccines in many places. Aid cuts are particularly affecting LMICs and conflicts and fragile health systems are making access that much more difficult.
(The Lancet)

Cancer in the system. A global investigation has found that India-made chemotherapy drugs - used in over 100 countries - are failing quality tests and putting cancer patients at risk. Nearly 1 in 5 drug samples tested did not meet international potency standards. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism analysed 189 samples of seven essential chemotherapy drugs from pharmacies in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Malawi. Among the 17 manufacturers involved, 16 of the 17 failing samples were from Indian firms. Some vials contained as little as 26% of the stated dose, far below safe levels. Others exceeded 112%, risking organ damage or worse. We guess it's true what they say. If cancer won't get you, the cure will.
(TBIJ)

Breakthroughs

Pathogen to pill. Scientists have engineered E. coli to help turn PET plastic waste - the kind found in food wrappers and polyester - into paracetamol, one of the world’s most widely used painkillers. Published in Nature Chemistry, the study shows how a chemical-biological hybrid process converts plastic into a key precursor, and then gets E. coli to finish the job. When fed degraded PET, the modified bacteria produced paracetamol with 92% efficiency. The work was part-funded by AstraZeneca, which is now exploring how to scale and industrialise the process. A future where your headache pill starts as a soda bottle isn’t entirely far-fetched anymore even if the plastic-to-paracetamol pipeline needs some optimisation before it can go commercial.
(Nature Chemistry)

Bottom line

Can't sleep now? You won't in the future either. Unless it is the long, deep, dark sleep of eternity. As global temperatures climb, sleep quality is taking a hit, especially for the estimated one billion people with sleep apnea. A new Nature Communications study found that when nighttime temperatures hit 80°F or more, the risk of sleep apnea episodes rises nearly 50%, with severe cases jumping by 40%. Using data from over 125,000 people in 41 countries, researchers linked warmer nights to worsening symptoms, particularly in regions with limited access to cooling.
(Nature Communications)

Long reads

Redefining good living, Africa style. A growing body of research is challenging Western ideas of what it means to live well, with new data showing that many African countries report high flourishing scores in areas like meaning, relationships, and virtue, despite economic hardship. In a global study, Nigeria ranked 5th (excluding financial indicators), ahead of wealthier nations, while countries like Kenya, Egypt, and Ghana also showed strong social and emotional well-being.
(The Conversation)

Measuring distance. Not a read exactly but a video simulation. Not new exactly but pretty relevant now we think. A video that tells you how far you need to be living from a nuclear blast to survive.
(Science Alert)

Fowl play. Another not a read exactly but a podcast episode with a transcript, of course. About how bird flu became the human pandemic threat it is today.
(Scientific American)

Weaponising health and hunger. And finally, as befits the last read of what has been a month of gloomy reads, Health Policy Watch takes a deep dive into all the ways Israel is trying to annihilate Palestinian people.

Oh, and Gopal Nair doesn't want you to see this.