Good New Friday: Good Global Health News from 2023

Many of us have a feeling that 2024 is going to be a year filled with challenges. Starting today my plan is to post a few "good news" stories each Friday because 2024 feels like a year we are all going to need as much good news stored up as possible.

(Though we will see we know what we do with plans LOL "Gentle, Gentle")

Today I am highlighting some good health news from around the world in 2023 as shared on the site gapminder.com

1. New malaria vaccine approved: A new, cheaper, more effective malaria vaccine was approved for widespread use by the WHO
2. Cervical cancer drug advance: Biggest breakthrough in treatment of cervical cancer for 20 years, with trials showing it cut risk of death by 35%
3. First whole eye transplant: Surgeons successfully performed the first every whole eye transplant in a human
4. Bangladesh became the first country in the world to eliminate the tropical disease “”kala-azar”” (the medical name is Visceral Leishmaniasis). 
5. Major breakthroughs in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease: Two new medications proved they are able to slow down cognitive decline from Alzheimer’s disease. 
6. In a medical first, a paralyzed man from the Netherlands walked again thanks to implants in his brain that could read his thoughts
7. The WHO certified Belize as malaria-free, following the country’s over 70 years of continued efforts to stamp out the disease
8. First vaccine against RSV: RSV is a common respiratory illness that can make babies and older adults very sick and the vaccine will help prevent severe illness.
9. Vaccine factory in Africa: Africa’s first mRNA vaccine factory opened in Rwanda
10. Suicide no longer a crime in four countries: Another step was taken towards breaking the taboo around mental health, when Ghana was one of four countries to have decriminalized suicide in the past year – Malaysia, Guyana and Pakistan are the others.