Global health had another difficult year in 2022. The COVID-19 pandemic is not over, but the attention of leaders, emergency interventions by governments, and the extraordinary resources spent for pandemic response are gone. The media interest that transformed public health experts into pundits has focused on other stories. One such story—the war in Ukraine—has produced thousands of deaths, millions of refugees, and billions of dollars in economic losses, humanitarian assistance, and military aid. The potential for a global economic downturn looms large over the aid budgets and health diplomacy.
However, all is not doom and gloom in 2022. The World Health Organization started to revise the International Health Regulations and negotiate a pandemic accord. The Global Fund was replenished at a record level. The World Bank launched a Pandemic Fund to spur country-led preparedness. Regional vaccine manufacturing received more attention. The UN General Assembly is again addressing health topics beyond COVID-19.
Meanwhile, the global health to-do list only gets longer. In May, Mpox cases began spreading globally. In June, polio appeared in New York and later in London and Jerusalem. In September, Uganda suffered an Ebola outbreak. In December, COVID cases were spreading in China at an unprecedented rate for this pandemic. Twenty-three million children around the world missed regular immunizations over the last two years. Food insecurity is increasing. Global health programs have no answer for the chronic disease threat or the dangers of climate change.
We published 175 articles from 240 authors this year. The best of these stories brought new, often personal insights to bear on global health, its challenges, and its resilience. Our authors provide us hope for 2023, a year that can deliver a brighter future.
Think Global Health Top Picks From 2022
The Curious Case of Japan's Alcohol Contest
Japan's young people are turning away from alcohol, but its tax agency wants to reverse the trend
By Annie Chan
Cancer in Africa, a Financially Devastating Disease
A physician in Senegal shares her cancer story from "the land of universal health coverage"
By Naïmatou Moussa
Growing Old in China in the Age of Abundance
A rapidly aging population has witnessed China's ascension to economic security, due in part to better health
By Wang Feng
The United States Needs a Foreign Health Service
Advancing American interests in global health requires transforming U.S. health diplomacy
By Matthew Brown
The Emerging Health Crisis of Microplastic Debris
Microplastics are everywhere, including our bodies
By Dick Vethaak and Concepción Martínez-Gómez
The Quest for Social Connection and Well-Being
Scientists have been slow at developing strategies that measure and promote well-being within communities
By Ali H. Mokdad, Dan Barnes, Sara Curran, Kyle Crowder, Jody Early, and Meg Robertson
Pakistan's Femicide Crisis
Disinformation, state neglect, and patriarchal conditioning have perpetuated violence against women
By Anmol Irfan
Poland's New 'Pregnancy Registry' Raises Red Flags
Some Polish women feel their privacy and autonomy are on the line
By Lillian Posner
The Spiritual Dimension of COVID-19 in Africa
In Nigeria, the pandemic set up a political battlefield between Christian religious leaders and the state
By Ebenezer Obadare
COVID-19 Led to Worse Social and Economic Consequences for Women
Around the globe, the pandemic set back girls and women in education, work, and homes
By Joseph Friedman, Luisa S. Flor, Emmanuela Gakidou
The Tangled Problem of Sugarcane Burning in Thailand
Agricultural burning is causing dangerously high air pollution levels, but stopping it is complicated
By Danny Marks
Inside the Lab that Identified Omicron
For years Botswana's scientists have been on the cutting-edge of research
By Michelle D. Gavin
Wanted: Global Access to Paxlovid
Equitable access to COVID-19 antiviral therapy remains elusive, with many middle-income nations left out
By Katherine Leach-Kemon, Elizabeth Serieux, Christopher Troeger
U.S. Abortion Law and Dissenting from the Norm
The United States has become an outlier on abortion access
By Samantha Kiernan and Lillian Posner
The Steep Price of Education in Africa
Education is unaffordable for many families in low- and middle-income countries
By Emilie Maddison and Angela E. Micah
Paul Farmer Believed Global Health and Health Equity Were About Teamwork
The director of Stanford's Center for Innovation in Global Health remembers her friend's unwavering mission
By Michele Barry
Disarming Russia's Bioweapons Disinformation
Protecting Ukraine's laboratory infrastructure is crucial to prevent a health crisis
By Erin M. Sorrell, Julie E. Fischer, and Gigi Kwik Gronvall
Moving the Needle on Health Disinformation
Preventing harmful health information requires transparency not regulation
By Claire Wardle
India Needs Cancer Care Outside its Big Cities
India's poorest often travel hundreds of kilometers to access cancer care
By Elizabeth Soumya
The Global Fund, PEPFAR, and U.S. Foreign Policy
COVID-19 raises questions about these global health programs and U.S. national interests
By David P. Fidler
Opioid Overdoses Are Reaching New Highs in Washington, DC
The U.S. capital's opioid crisis is fueled by a lack of comprehensive public policy
By Isabella Turilli
