XUNICEF News and Views

A Danish Couple's Maverick African Research Finds Its Moment in RFK Jr.'s Vaccine Policy. Arthur Allen, KFF Health News, May 18, 2026 An elementary school student in Indonesia receives a diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis, or DTP, shot in 2018. (Aditya Irawan/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Title: Opinion | This Is What Happened After We Gutted U.S.A.I.D. Author: Nicholas Kristof Publication: The New York Times Date: May 9, 2026

Not quite as adventurous as Detlef Palm as witnessed in his recent “Sacred Heights” story and photos, but still “venturesome”, I am reminded of an excellent visit as a (slow) hiker in Bryce Canyon National Park.

Project Maven's Cheery Seal Features Smiling Robots of War* On 19 March I posted my article, How AI and Distance Killed the Children at Al Minab . My focus then was on the moral chasm that opens when killing is automated and carried out at a distance — the way technology allows those who give the orders, or push the button, to remain untouched by what happens at the other end.  I also wrote about the absence of the fail-safe systems of the past - human spotters who could halt attacks on civilians.

Within the space of two days this week, US juries in two separate states delivered verdicts that together mark a watershed in the legal protection of children from social media harm. The New Mexico jury's $375 million ruling against Meta was followed within 24 hours by a California jury finding both Meta and Google's YouTube negligent.  With TikTok and Snap having already settled out of court, all four of the dominant social media platforms consumed by children now face legal accountability in the United States — a precedent with implications far beyond these cases.  Potentially hundreds more such cases may now go forward seeking huge settlements or fines against social media.  Tom

This verdict is more than a legal milestone for children and families in the US — it is the first formal acknowledgement by a US jury that a social media giant knowingly put profit ahead of child safety, and that such a choice carries consequences. With more than 40 state attorneys general pursuing similar claims, the New Mexico verdict transforms what was once a argument about the reputation of Meta and other online giants into a legal one: that tech platforms cannot hide behind Section 230 when their own algorithms are the instrument of harm.  Tom

Stephanie Nolen, The New York Times , 16 March 2026 Click here for the article Additional analysis: Asia Russell, Health GAP (Global Access Project) , 16 March 2026 Click here for the Health GAP analysis Summary For  1.3 million people living with HIV in Zambia, the question of whether the United States will continue its PEPFAR-funded HIV treatment programme has become a matter of immediate survival. A leaked draft memorandum prepared by the US State Department's Africa Bureau for Secretary of State Marco Rubio reveals that the Trump administration is considering withholding lifesaving HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria assistance from Zambia as early as May 2026 unless the Zambian government signs a deal granting American companies preferential access to the country's copper, cobalt, and lithium deposits. The document states that the United States “will only secure our priorities by demonstrating willingness to publicly take support away from Zambia on a massive scale.” ...

Many thanks, dear Sam, for sharing this inspiring article. So proud of our RESULTS.org colleagues and the transformational advocacy skills that you have instilled in them. I recall fondly how RESULTS advocacy helped mobilize similar US support for the highly successful "child survival revolution" interventions spearheaded by UNICEF in the 1980s and 90s. Let's hope that these life-saving appropriations for global health, approved by Congress and signed by the President, will actually be disbursed, and not withheld by OMB under any pretext. Thank you.

According to the article, the US will soon make an 'initial payment' of its dues.  Something is better than nothing and we can be pleased to see some movement at long last.  It is also nice to see that Trump views the UN more positively than we thought.  Tom

Fort Snelling National Cemetery - Minneapolis Opinion | The Greatest Generation fought fascism. Let's not forget their lessons.

Dear Marta, I believe this is very wise advice to S-G Guterres, especially coming from a very pro-UN historian, Stephen Schlesinger, the author of “Act of Creation: The Founding of The United Nations,” which won the 2004 Harry S. Truman Book Award. This is one of the finest books I have read on the origins of the UN, and a must-read for all aficionados of the UN. I believe Guterres has much to gain and nothing to lose by reaching out to Donald Trump at this critical juncture for the UN. As Schlesinger says, "Guterres owes it to his constituents, 193 countries, and the entire world to make the call. Trump has publicly invited him to do it. If he doesn’t, he’ll never know whether he could have reversed the UN’s troubled straits. It’s only a few numbers to punch on the keypad to put the call through. He should do it to preserve the institution that he has spent almost 10 years running. It will be his greatest legacy — and, if he does not, his greatest shame". I hope you and Jo...

Good Evening All, Here is another piece from Lancet I think useful to XUNICEF.   What's interesting for me to to see Prof/Dr Stanley Plotkin among the authors cited.  You've heard me already reminiscing about Maurice Hillelman the head of Merck vaccine research in the 70's 80's and still active in the 90's (Maurice was at the Children's Summit, so was Jonas Salk), but here is Stanley Plotkin summing up the impact of vaccines in the USA mainly since the 1960's, and then nicely discussing the future impact of current changes.  All this in one readable tight paragraph.  Here's a sample;  " Routine childhood immunisations prevented an estimated 32 million hospitalisations and over 1 million deaths in the USA from 1994 to 2023. 3  As a result, the USA has been a global leader in vaccine policy, "   Dr. Plotkin is the author of Vaccines, which is now in its eighth edition and used widely in the field. What is the value of preventing 32 million child...