Finding Disease X and China’s Pending Welfare Crisis

Editors' Note

Following the reauthorization of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) late last week, Jirair Ratevosian, its former acting chief of staff, explains why the one-year extension is welcome but also "injects uncertainty" into the program's lifesaving mission. As of September 2023, PEPFAR had delivered antiretroviral therapy to nearly 20.5 million people and allowed more than 5.5 million babies to be born HIV-free.

Turning to China, CFR Senior Fellow Yanzhong Huang sheds light on the country's emerging welfare crisis and how it is limiting health-care access for farmers, migrant workers, and children—and what that could mean for China's economic growth.

Next, researchers at the University of California, Davis explain how SpillOver, a viral risk ranking platform, could help detect the next novel pathogen, or "Disease X," before it reaches epidemic or pandemic proportions. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations has partnered with the team to expand the tool, while also launching a mission to shrink vaccine development timelines for major outbreaks to under 100 days.

Journalist Nahid Widaatalla then spotlights how gender-based violence is being used as a weapon in Sudan's civil war.

Wrapping up the week, journalist Carrie Arnold describes the efforts of a group of scientists at Duke University to revolutionize snakebite care in Brazil by using math to increase antivenom availability in rural settings.

Until next week!—Nsikan Akpan, Managing Editor, and Caroline Kantis, Associate Editor 