Michael Kessler

@mickessler.bsky.social

Global Health Media Consultant #hiv #tb #infectiousdiseases #CRDs #drugpolicy #ncds #pandemics

The attempted assassination of a Colombian presidential hopeful has reignited fears of a return to a bloody past when organized crime and rebel groups murdered candidates, journalists, judges with impunity. Latest for the @theguardian.com. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

Assassination attempt in Colombia sparks fears of return to bloody past: ‘It’s a devastating moment’

Attack on presidential candidate is oreminiscent of some of the darkest chapters of the country’s history

theguardian.com

Let’s not underestimate what a significant step forward around the Pandemic Agreement we saw early this morning. Multilateralism won out. There’s a way to go but gees given the global health turbulence and potential biomedical threats emerging this is an important win. We needed this.

As the U.S. Government endeavors to make tuberculosis great again, please consider preordering a signed copy of my book about our deadliest infection, its long history, and why in the 75 years since TB became curable, we've allowed over 150,000,000 people to die of the disease. everythingistb.com

cover of my new book everything is tuberculosis: the history and persistence of our deadliest infection

apnews.com/article/trum... Funding for new grants also slowed to a trickle after NIH halted grant application review meetings in January. At Duke, NIH grant and contract award notices plummeted, dropping from 166 in January and February of 2024 to 64 so far in 2025, according to the university.

Universities are facing big cuts to research funding. At Duke, it's a time for 'damage control'

Facing the potential loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding, Duke University is preparing for the worst.

apnews.com

"PEPFAR provides HIV medication to more than 20 million people..stopping its funding essential stops their HIV treatment,” International AIDS Society President Beatriz Grinsztejn said.... “If that happens, people are going to die and HIV will resurge.” #hiv #sciencematters time.com/7210427/cdc-...

CDC Tells Staff to Immediately Stop All Work With World Health Organization

Experts said the sudden stoppage was a surprise and would set back work on investigating and trying to stop outbreaks and brewing global threats.

time.com