Â鶹ŮÓÅ

House members from both parties are forming a new group to crack down on China's role in the U.S. fentanyl epidemic as part of a more aggressive push to cut off illicit supply of the lethal drug. Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids kill tens of thousands of Americans every year, tearing apart families while fracturing communities and disrupting the labor market. (Saric, 6/20)

In late 2022, a baby born to an active-duty U.S. military family on Guam needed immediate, advanced medical care for a life-threatening pulmonary condition. With no neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU, on the island that meets U.S. standards, a specialty neonatal team was dispatched from U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa, Japan, to provide care. The team arrived 24 hours later, but the newborn was too ill to move. (Kime, 6/18)

A record number of cases of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS) in Japan this year has focused attention on the rare and potentially deadly bacterial infection. There have been 1,019 cases of STSS in the first six months of 2024, surpassing the total number recorded last year in the country. Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases warned of a rise in cases in March, after 77 deaths from the illness were recorded. The majority of the cases at that time were of people above the age of 50. (Masih and Vinall, 6/19)

The global vaccine organization Gavi is likely to seek around $11.9 billion from governments and foundations on Thursday to fund immunization efforts in the world’s poorest countries over five years, board documents reviewed by Reuters showed. The amount will be finalized at a meeting on Thursday in Paris, where donors will make pledges for the organization’s plan for 2026-2030. A separately funded $1 billion scheme to boost vaccine production in Africa, the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator, will also launch on Thursday. (Rigby, 6/20)