Introducing the STATUS List

Today STAT is taking this moment to recognize standout individuals in health, medicine, and science. From countless contenders, STAT selected 46 changemakers — in homage to the number of chromosomes in human DNA. Many on the STATUS List are well-known, others are largely unheralded heroes, but all have compelling stories to tell. To assemble the list, STAT leaned on its editorial team and a panel of external experts to research and identify hundreds of finalists. Then the list was winnowed further to place special emphasis on people who have sought to help others and build community. You can see the full list here.

Paul Farmer, global health leader, dies at 62

Paul Farmer, the infectious diseases physician and co-founder of Partners In Health whose name has become synonymous with community-based strategies to improve health around the world, has died at 62. He and his colleagues at Harvard and in resource-poor settings in Rwanda and Haiti demonstrated the power of people in the community to deliver high-quality health care as well as or better than sophisticated systems in high-income countries. Author Tracy Kidder, writing in “Mountains Beyond Mountains,” described Farmer's movement in medicine while Farmer offered his own views in “Infections and Inequalities: The Modern Plagues.” Partners in Health said in a statement that Farmer died in his sleep yesterday in Rwanda. “Paul taught all those around him the power of accompaniment, love for one another, and solidarity. Our deepest sympathies are with his wife Didi and three children.”

Malawi polio case raises concerns the virus could reemerge in region

Teams of international disease investigators arrived in Malawi over the weekend to probe how this East African country came to have its first wild polio case in three decades and the continent’s first in five years. A 3-year-old girl who lives on the outskirts of the capital, Lilongwe, was paralyzed on Nov. 19. Comparison of the virus’ genetic sequence to other previous viruses revealed that it derived from a family of viruses that was seen circulating in Pakistan’s Sindh Province in October 2019. How the virus traveled more than 3,500 miles is unknown. How many children were exposed to it over that 25-month period is unknowable. “It certainly wasn’t on our radar as one of our highest-risk areas,” Aidan O’Leary of WHO told STAT’s Helen Branswell. Read more.

Closer look: A legislative blitz aims to roll back public health measures against Covid

State legislators are mobilizing anew to roll back public health measures meant to contain the spread of Covid-19. They are introducing bills in both liberal and conservative states that target measures like vaccine and mask requirements, which have become political lightning rods throughout the pandemic. Several state lawmakers are also pushing legislation that would prevent hospitals and nursing homes from restricting visitors during outbreaks. If this sounds familiar, that’s because it resembles a similar push last year, when more than half of U.S. states took some action to roll back public health powers. This year’s bills fall into three buckets: restricting mask mandates, banning vaccine verification systems or vaccine mandates, and rejiggering hospital and nursing home visitation policies. It’s unclear how many bills will actually become law, but many are already gaining political traction. STAT’s Nicholas Florko has more.

WHO’s chief scientist would like ‘Moderna not to enforce its patents — period’ on African vaccine

WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan. (FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES)

In response to growing concerns over vaccine inequity, the WHO created a manufacturing hub for vaccines using mRNA technology, starting with Covid-19 shots. STAT’s Ed Silverman spoke with Soumya Swaminathan, the WHO’s chief scientist, about its progress.

When do you expect a vaccine?
Realistically, it would be 2024. If Moderna would have transferred its technology, we would have bypassed some phases. But since this is a new construct, it will take time.

Are you concerned it will arrive too late?
We don’t know. Variants could have completely changed. But the advantage with mRNA technology is you can adapt as variants change.

Moderna applied for patents in South Africa for its vaccine. How concerned are you?
What we would like to see is for Moderna not to enforce its patents — period. Not just in a pandemic, but beyond.

Read the full interview in STAT+.

Survey finds parents open to CBD products for children if standard medications fail

There’s only one FDA-approved product containing the chemical compound known as CBD found in marijuana, and it’s for children who have seizures from a rare disease. A new poll asked parents what they thought about giving their children CBD products, sold online and in stores and which come in forms like oils and gummies. While most had not heard of using CBD for their kids and never considered CBD to manage pain or mood disorders, nearly three-quarters of parents who answered the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health said they were open to the idea. More than three-quarters thought such products should be regulated by the FDA and prescribed by a doctor. The conditions parents might think about, in descending order, included anxiety, sleep problems, ADHD, muscle pain, autism, and to help their child “feel better.” Research on side effects in children is limited; most parents said in the poll that side effects were a concern.