💉 Pop a pill, and die; Drink water, and die; Feel hot, and die
#575 | The kids will never be alright; Neither will the bird apparently; Say bye-bye to forests
Hello, and welcome back to The Kable. We're sure you must've missed us last week, and so, we've got a really packed issue for you today. And yes, there is a lot of doom and gloom because these are the end times, people. Hey, if nothing else, this is definitely the last issue this August.
Over in Palestine, Israel achieved that last "technical" requirement for a declaration of famine. Sure, this declaration is only for Gaza Governorate but at the time of the announcement, the IPC did say that they expect this to extend to all of Palestine. Israel didn't waste the week, trying to bring that extension about as quickly as possible while simultaneously calling the IPC's declaration fraudulent, because maybe the IPC is Hamas too?
Not that this week is only about doom and gloom though. There is good news too. Especially from Africa where there has been a lot of movement on the "Make-in-Africa" front.
First, Nigeria's Codix Bio, who earlier this year was unveiled as the WHO's first partner factory under the H-TAP program, has started production of 147 million rapid diagnostic test kits for HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis.
Keeping up the good work is Zambia's government, which partnered with Indian CDMO Akums, to set up a local manufacturing unit. The facility will manufacture tablets, hard gelatin capsules, liquids, injectables as well as beta-lactam products with an ambitious goal to eventually export all of these to neighboring African countries as well.
From Z to A. Angola’s Ministry of Health extended an agreement with Dubai Investments to set up a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Angola in partnership with Globalpharma.
And it's not only governments and private enterprise at play. The WHO also inked a deal with the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) to step up vaccine production in Africa. The agreement will focus primarily on Vaccine R&D and clinical trials, Regulatory strengthening, Local manufacturing, Workforce development, and Emergency preparedness.
The action wasn't limited to Africa though with MENA stepping up to bat as well, in the form of MS Pharma, who opened the first biologics manufacturing plant in the Middle East in Saudi Arabia. Strangely though, as momentous as this news is, we couldn't find it anywhere on MS Pharma's website or social channels.
The week wasn't all about drugs and vaccines though. Tanzania this week stated its aim to be a world leader in traditional medicine.
And okay, enough good news. Let's talk mpox, shall we? A little over a year after the Africa CDC declared it a continental emergency, it shows no signs of abating. Senegal reported its first case of the year, Mozambique reported 16 new cases, bringing the total active cases up to 33. The Africa CDC, in its weekly brief, once again asked for more support but does the rest of the world care? Hey, does a bear use toilet paper? Meanwhile, scientists in Liberia, not content with the fact that there are enough mpox clades to deal with, have gone ahead and discovered a new strain. 🙄
In Botswana, the worst possible outcome has materialised with the country running out of medicine at clinics nationwide.
Amid all the crises we're dealing with around the world comes this report from the UNFPA that attacks on health workers and facilities have doubled globally. Of course, Israel has contributed. To the attacks, not the report.
And finally, rounding off this section with some potentially good news for those who are on a keto diet. Scientists may have found a way to make artificial sweeteners taste more like sugar. Mate, yeah!
Our annual report on the state of lifesciences in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East and North Africa drops next week and all our wonderful subscribers get early access. Click to download your copy. It's made for mobile, so best viewed on one.
Before we dive into the stories of the week…
The Kable is proud to be Editorial Partner to Pharmaconex—Africa’s most influential hub for pharmaceutical manufacturing across the MEA region.
Like The Kable, Pharmaconex puts the spotlight on the pharma story in Africa and is committed to building a thriving community for industry leaders, innovators, and changemakers to share knowledge, forge partnerships, and move the sector forward.
The show opens next week and will go on from the 1 - 3 September 2025 at the Egypt International Exhibition Centre. If you are in Cairo for the show, we hope you a wonderful time at the event with many meetings and much learning. We've got a booth at the show - H4.D43, so maybe, come say hello to our colleagues Nikita and Harsha.
Stories Of The Week
Painkillers, meet AMR. Your go-to fever fix may be giving bacteria the upper hand. New research shows that common painkillers like ibuprofen and paracetamol don’t just ease headaches - they also fuel E. coli’s ability to outsmart antibiotics. Taken together, they amplify resistance across multiple drug classes, making infections tougher to treat. And yes, the study is from Australia so eventually you will die. Unless you are in Palestine because there Israel won't let any painkillers in so Palestinians don't have to worry about AMR.
(npj Antimicrobials and Resistance)
Water, water everywhere. The UN's annual World Water Week was this week. And so, the UN released a report, worked on by WHO and UNICEF. And one in four people worldwide still lack access to safe drinking water. The report does show progress since 2015, but the gaps remain staggering: 2.1 billion without safe water, 3.4 billion without sanitation, and 1.7 billion without basic hygiene. Of course, the inequalities cut deepest in fragile states, rural communities, and among women and girls who still shoulder the burden of water collection and face barriers during menstruation. With just five years left to hit the SDGs, universal water, sanitation, and hygiene coverage looks increasingly out of reach. Except in Gaza, where according to Israel, rivers of water are probably just flowing.
(UNICEF)
It's getting hot in here. It’s not just your imagination. Sweltering summers really are wearing you down. A 15-year study of nearly 25,000 people in Taiwan, published in Nature Climate Change, finds that long-term exposure to extreme heat accelerates biological ageing, with an effect comparable to smoking or drinking. The higher the heatwave exposure, the more organs showed signs of strain. Manual workers and rural residents were hit hardest, underscoring inequalities in access to cooling. While some adaptation has emerged over time, scientists warn that more frequent and intense heatwaves driven by climate change could mean entire populations age faster with higher risks of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and dementia. Unless you are in Palestine where a combination of reckless bombardment, starvation, and thirst means you won't really have to worry about heat waves.
(Nature Climate Change)
Save the children. A new UN report to the General Assembly shows grave violations against children in conflict zones surged 25% in 2024 compared to the previous year, making it the highest levels on record. From starvation and displacement to killings and recruitment by armed groups, the findings underscore how humanitarian law is being flouted and protection systems are failing. Sure, there has been some progress in places like the Central African Republic, Yemen, Afghanistan and Sudan where more than 220,000 children were freed from armed groups. But with conflicts intensifying and child protection resources stretched thin, the UN warns that only lasting peace can truly safeguard the world’s most vulnerable. But if you are a Palestinian child, you must be safe because the world's most moral army doesn't harm any children. Of course.
(UN)
Breakthroughs
From mice to people. Researchers at the University of Florida are testing an mRNA-based vaccine that could one day work across multiple cancer types, not just a select few. Instead of targeting tumour-specific markers, the vaccine jolts the immune system into a heightened state of readiness - a kind of one-size-fits-all siren. In mice, pairing the vaccine with immune checkpoint inhibitors (drugs that lift the immune system’s natural brakes) produced striking results, including eliminating some treatment-resistant tumours. Human trials are still ahead, but the work offers early proof of concept for what scientists are already calling a possible “off-the-shelf” cancer vaccine.
(Nature Biomedical Engineering)
Bottom line
Make more plastic. Not just fever pills, even plastic can - and will - spur antimicrobial resistance. Microplastics provide perfect real estate for bacteria to huddle, trade genes, and toughen up against antibiotics. In lab tests, E. coli on microplastics were 75 times harder to kill than those floating solo. Field studies from Europe to China back it up: plastisphere biofilms are far more likely than natural surfaces to harbour resistant, metabolically active pathogens. Add that antibiotics themselves stick to ageing plastics, and the result is a global shuttle service for multidrug-resistant bacteria — a “silent tsunami” that could double the five million AMR-linked deaths seen in 2019 by mid-century. Unless you are in Palestine because Israel is keen to ensure you don't see mid-century.
(The Scientific American)
Who needs canaries... when you have songbirds? If the dawn chorus in your neighbourhood feels louder and longer, blame light pollution. A new global study in Science analysed 61 million birdsongs from 580 species and found that artificial light stretches the average birdsong day by nearly an hour — with city birds starting 18 minutes earlier and ending 32 minutes later than their rural counterparts. The implications are double-edged: more time awake could mean more foraging or breeding, but also higher energy demands and less rest. With 80% of the world living under light-polluted skies, researchers warn that the same glow keeping humans awake at night may be quietly reshaping the lives - and survival - of bird populations worldwide. Unless you a Palestinian bird because then, you are, of course, Hamas.
(Science)
Take a breath of fresh air, if you can. The 2025 Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) is out, and the world’s dirtiest air still hangs over South Asia. New Delhi tops the global list for the eighth year in a row, with pollution levels that could shave 8.2 years off a resident’s life expectancy. Bangladesh, meanwhile, has overtaken India on average PM2.5 levels, though Delhi remains the world’s worst capital city. The report does show some decline in long-term exposure risk since 2018, but hasn't attributed it to any specific cause. The US and Canada saw their sharpest year-on-year rise in particulate pollution since 1998, driven by record wildfires. Canada’s most polluted provinces now rival Latin American hotspots, cutting lives short by more than two years. With air pollution shaving more life off South Asians than malnutrition, unsafe water, or poor sanitation, and wildfire smoke now dragging down life expectancy in wealthy countries, the AQLI makes one thing plain: climate change and dirty air are inseparable. Unless you are in Palestine, because Israel is making sure climate change is something you don't need to worry about.
(EPIC - UChicago)
Forests? What forests? We don't need no forests. And forests know that. For years the case for saving rainforests has leaned on carbon math. But new research in Nature Climate Change shows the toll begins long before emissions are counted: clearing tropical forests is making people dangerously hotter. Between 2001 and 2020, deforestation across Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia exposed 300 million people to higher local temperatures and contributed to an estimated 28,000 heat-related deaths annually. In Borneo, cleared land can be up to 6.5°C hotter than intact forest; in the DRC, Indonesia and Brazil, tens of millions now live close enough to feel that furnace. The science is simple: forests cool, clearings bake. Strip away shade, vapour and cloud cover, and rural communities with little access to health care or cooling infrastructure pay with their lives. Unless you are in Palestine, because forest or no forest, Israel is there.
(Nature Climate Change)
Long reads
One shot, two shot. We all saw/read the recent reports about missed childhood vaccinations and how that number is still dangerously high, especially in LMICs, and particularly in Africa. Gavi's VaccinesWork platform breaks down the science behind why and how so many kids are still missing their vaccines.
(Gavi)
Pharmacy of the world? Sure, aspirations are good. But intent needs to keep pace with them. The Hindu takes a look at what the gaps are in India's drug safety protocols and how they could be remedied.
(The Hindu)
Oh, and Gopal Nair doesn't want you to see this.