Shannon Kowalski
@sbkowalski.bsky.social
SRHR, HIV and gender global policy wonk. Independent consultant.
This is AMAZING.
November 26, 2025 at 9:18 PM
This is AMAZING.
As we're scaling up PrEP, integration with family planning and SRH services is going to be critical for reaching women and key populations in need. This study shows how it can be done practically, with caution about need for adequate HCW staffing and training.
🆕"By integrating PrEP services in family planning clinics—a trusted and routinely accessed service among women—we successfully reached nearly 25000 women in 24 months, 19773 of whom were screened for PrEP eligibility, demonstrating the potential to efficiently reach women with HIV prevention needs”
November 25, 2025 at 4:17 PM
As we're scaling up PrEP, integration with family planning and SRH services is going to be critical for reaching women and key populations in need. This study shows how it can be done practically, with caution about need for adequate HCW staffing and training.
Reposted by Shannon Kowalski
A great divergence as African countries embrace science to extend life expectancy while the US and Canada see movements growing in power that do the opposite and lose/move toward losing elimination status.
In a significant public health achievement, Cabo Verde, Mauritius and Seychelles have eliminated measles and rubella, becoming the first sub-Saharan countries to attain this milestone.
Cabo Verde, Mauritius and Seychelles eliminate measles and rubella
In a significant public health achievement, Cabo Verde, Mauritius and Seychelles have eliminated measles and rubella, becoming the first sub-Saharan countries to attain this milestone.
www.afro.who.int
November 24, 2025 at 11:50 AM
A great divergence as African countries embrace science to extend life expectancy while the US and Canada see movements growing in power that do the opposite and lose/move toward losing elimination status.
HUGE Kudos to South Africa & UK for leading the Global Fund's 8th replenishment & for shepherding in $11.34 billion in new commitments so far, with some major donors still to pledge. The Global Fund is a testament to the power of global solidarity, one of the best things the world has ever done.
November 21, 2025 at 5:19 PM
HUGE Kudos to South Africa & UK for leading the Global Fund's 8th replenishment & for shepherding in $11.34 billion in new commitments so far, with some major donors still to pledge. The Global Fund is a testament to the power of global solidarity, one of the best things the world has ever done.
Now that the CDC is perpetuating lies, it cannot be salvaged. We are going to have to rebuild something else to replace it, from the ground up. The damage to the health and wellbeing of Americans will be profound in the meantime. We now have no national public health institutions that we can trust.
November 20, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Now that the CDC is perpetuating lies, it cannot be salvaged. We are going to have to rebuild something else to replace it, from the ground up. The damage to the health and wellbeing of Americans will be profound in the meantime. We now have no national public health institutions that we can trust.
@who.int released new data on violence against women and girls today, showing that nearly 1 in 3 have experienced violence in their lifetimes. This figure has barely budged since 2000. And with funding for prevention and response precipitously decreasing this year, it's likely to get worse.
Violence against women prevalence estimates, 2023
Global, regional and national prevalence estimates for intimate partner violence against women and non-partner sexual violence against women
www.who.int
November 19, 2025 at 11:12 PM
@who.int released new data on violence against women and girls today, showing that nearly 1 in 3 have experienced violence in their lifetimes. This figure has barely budged since 2000. And with funding for prevention and response precipitously decreasing this year, it's likely to get worse.
Reposted by Shannon Kowalski
Despite stark findings, World Health Organization says violence against women and girls is 'a deeply neglected crisis'.
Nearly one-third of women worldwide faced partner or sexual violence: WHO
Despite stark findings, World Health Organization says violence against women and girls is 'a deeply neglected crisis'.
bit.ly
November 19, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Despite stark findings, World Health Organization says violence against women and girls is 'a deeply neglected crisis'.
Reposted by Shannon Kowalski
I really hate it when scientists keep saying that “we need to rebuild trust in science,” because it implies that scientists are to blame for the mistrust rather than the millions of dollars of dark money that have funded political attacks on science in order to advance a far right agenda.
November 19, 2025 at 9:48 PM
I really hate it when scientists keep saying that “we need to rebuild trust in science,” because it implies that scientists are to blame for the mistrust rather than the millions of dollars of dark money that have funded political attacks on science in order to advance a far right agenda.
Reposted by Shannon Kowalski
NEW:
In 2024, Tierra Walker was sick and getting sicker. She was also pregnant.
She knew abortion was illegal in Texas, but thought there was an exception for women like her, whose health was at risk. Doctors told her there was no emergency.
Then she died.
www.propublica.org/article/texa...
In 2024, Tierra Walker was sick and getting sicker. She was also pregnant.
She knew abortion was illegal in Texas, but thought there was an exception for women like her, whose health was at risk. Doctors told her there was no emergency.
Then she died.
www.propublica.org/article/texa...
“Ticking Time Bomb”: A Pregnant Mother Kept Getting Sicker. She Died After She Couldn’t Get an Abortion in Texas.
Walker is one of several women ProPublica found with underlying health conditions who died when they couldn’t access abortions.
www.propublica.org
November 19, 2025 at 11:08 AM
NEW:
In 2024, Tierra Walker was sick and getting sicker. She was also pregnant.
She knew abortion was illegal in Texas, but thought there was an exception for women like her, whose health was at risk. Doctors told her there was no emergency.
Then she died.
www.propublica.org/article/texa...
In 2024, Tierra Walker was sick and getting sicker. She was also pregnant.
She knew abortion was illegal in Texas, but thought there was an exception for women like her, whose health was at risk. Doctors told her there was no emergency.
Then she died.
www.propublica.org/article/texa...
Sometimes I wonder if using the terms misinformation and disinformation to describe lies helped to legitimize them by implying that there may be a kernel of truth in what they are saying. Even if there is, the intent is to mislead and obfuscate the truth. So, I'll be calling them lies from now on.
November 19, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Sometimes I wonder if using the terms misinformation and disinformation to describe lies helped to legitimize them by implying that there may be a kernel of truth in what they are saying. Even if there is, the intent is to mislead and obfuscate the truth. So, I'll be calling them lies from now on.
Reposted by Shannon Kowalski
I never tire of seeing the amazing success of HPV vaccination. We are seeing the elimination of a leading oncogenic virus pathogen in real time
(Source: GAVI)
www.gavi.org/vaccineswork...
(Source: GAVI)
www.gavi.org/vaccineswork...
November 18, 2025 at 3:03 PM
I never tire of seeing the amazing success of HPV vaccination. We are seeing the elimination of a leading oncogenic virus pathogen in real time
(Source: GAVI)
www.gavi.org/vaccineswork...
(Source: GAVI)
www.gavi.org/vaccineswork...
This is absolutely amazing news from @gavi.org and something that is worth celebrating! The rapid scale up over the last couple of years to reach 86 million girls with the HPV vaccine shows the value of partnerships like this in driving public health progress.
Gavi and partners reached HPV vaccine goal, immunizing 86 million girls
The vaccine alliance reached its target of immunizing an estimated 86 million girls with the vaccine that prevents human papillomavirus, a sexually transmitted infection which can lead to cervical can...
www.devex.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:37 PM
This is absolutely amazing news from @gavi.org and something that is worth celebrating! The rapid scale up over the last couple of years to reach 86 million girls with the HPV vaccine shows the value of partnerships like this in driving public health progress.
Health providers I have spoken to around the world have echoed this sentiment: it's easier to object than to provide abortions services in a system where there is little to no support. Those who do often face significant professional & personal obstacles, but do it because they care about women.
I’m so glad to see this paper — my first solo-authored one and second from my dissertation — finally published! If you’ve heard me talk about my research in the last couple of years, you know this is the story that started it all for me, and I’m so happy to finally have it out there in the world.
November 17, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Health providers I have spoken to around the world have echoed this sentiment: it's easier to object than to provide abortions services in a system where there is little to no support. Those who do often face significant professional & personal obstacles, but do it because they care about women.
Reposted by Shannon Kowalski
no I’m not surprised, just imagining (among other things) an opposition party that took this population seriously and devoted itself over the many years it would take to make this country actually livable for them
"In 2025, 40% of women aged 15 to 44 say they would move abroad permanently if they had the opportunity. The current figure is four times higher than the 10% who shared this desire in 2014, when it was generally in line with other age and gender groups."
Record Numbers of Younger Women Want to Leave the U.S.
The percentage of younger women in the U.S. who express a desire to migrate permanently has surged in the past decade.
news.gallup.com
November 13, 2025 at 6:36 PM
no I’m not surprised, just imagining (among other things) an opposition party that took this population seriously and devoted itself over the many years it would take to make this country actually livable for them
Reposted by Shannon Kowalski
Kind of crazy that evidence is mounting that the world is run by a group of rapists, pedophiles, and men convinced of women’s inmate natural inferiority, and the pundit class is trying to convince us that the real social crisis is that men are victimized and lonely because women have too many jobs.
You just know that “Did Women Ruin the Workplace?” bit would have done NUMBERS in this little clique
Something absolutely perfect about Larry Summers riffing about the scourge of woke cancel culture being unfair to predatory men in a friendly email to his pal JEFFREY EPSTEIN.
November 13, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Kind of crazy that evidence is mounting that the world is run by a group of rapists, pedophiles, and men convinced of women’s inmate natural inferiority, and the pundit class is trying to convince us that the real social crisis is that men are victimized and lonely because women have too many jobs.
Reposted by Shannon Kowalski
Join us and @fcaaids.bsky.social TODAY at 10:00am ET ⬇️
HIV advocacy is powerful — yet underfunded. On Nov. 12, join FCAA’s Marvell Terry II and an expert panel as they discuss how funders can invest in advocacy as a tool for change. Register: www.fcaaids.org/events/from-...
November 12, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Join us and @fcaaids.bsky.social TODAY at 10:00am ET ⬇️
Super interesting study that shows significant impacts of cash transfer programs on sexual, reproductive and child health outcomes.
New in @thelancet.com: a follow-up to our @nature.com paper on cash transfers and mortality in low- and middle-income countries.
This studies explores *why* cash transfers reduce death, tracing effects on determinants of survival.
free access 🔗: kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...
This studies explores *why* cash transfers reduce death, tracing effects on determinants of survival.
free access 🔗: kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...
November 11, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Super interesting study that shows significant impacts of cash transfer programs on sexual, reproductive and child health outcomes.
Disappointing.
NEW: UK confirms 15% cut to the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria for its next funding round, a decision aid agenices say will result in hundreds of thousands of otherwise avoidable deaths.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
UK cuts contribution to Aids, tuberculosis and malaria fund by £150m
Campaigners say 15% cut, which is smaller than had been feared, is serious setback in efforts to combat the diseases
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Disappointing.
This.
How would this work for people who don't have employer-sponsored FSAs (many of us)? A lot of people are in the ACA market BECAUSE they don't have employer-sponsored health insurance
November 10, 2025 at 12:06 AM
This.
Reposted by Shannon Kowalski
The Clash’s Paul Simonon, running into some young street musicians, will make your day. 💕 🎸
@theclash.com @faroutmagazine.co.uk
@theclash.com @faroutmagazine.co.uk
November 9, 2025 at 12:12 AM
The Clash’s Paul Simonon, running into some young street musicians, will make your day. 💕 🎸
@theclash.com @faroutmagazine.co.uk
@theclash.com @faroutmagazine.co.uk
Reposted by Shannon Kowalski
If this is true and U.K. Government really is planning to cut its contribution to the Global Fund, at a time when Trump’s action will cause deaths on a massive scale, it is moral bankruptcy.
@friendseurope.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
@friendseurope.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Cutting aid for disease fund would be moral failure, Labour MPs tell Starmer
UK expected to reduce contribution to Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria by 20%
www.theguardian.com
November 8, 2025 at 11:50 AM
If this is true and U.K. Government really is planning to cut its contribution to the Global Fund, at a time when Trump’s action will cause deaths on a massive scale, it is moral bankruptcy.
@friendseurope.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
@friendseurope.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Rina is an incredible and important leader in the global feminist movement. We became friends advocating together for development justice and gender equality during the negotiations on the SDGs more than a decade ago. Please join me in supporting her in this fight if you can.
Donate to Support Rina's Fight Against Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer, organized by Kate Lappin
Dear friends, family, and comrades in solidarity,
We are writin… Kate Lappin needs your support for Support Rina's Fight Against Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer
www.gofundme.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Rina is an incredible and important leader in the global feminist movement. We became friends advocating together for development justice and gender equality during the negotiations on the SDGs more than a decade ago. Please join me in supporting her in this fight if you can.
Reposted by Shannon Kowalski
Unconscionable.
UK to put 250,000 lives at risk from HIV, TB and malaria with aid cuts
Exclusive: The UK is expected to pledge £850m to the the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria – a cut of 15 per cent – despite previous assurances to protect funding
www.the-independent.com
November 7, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Unconscionable.
Reposted by Shannon Kowalski
Last year we got a tip about a children's pastor who'd managed to stay in ministry for decades even as allegations of sex abuse trailed him across four states.
I kept pulling thread and found something far bigger: a 50-year pattern of abuse and cover-up in the largest Pentecostal denomination 🧵 1/
I kept pulling thread and found something far bigger: a 50-year pattern of abuse and cover-up in the largest Pentecostal denomination 🧵 1/
October 30, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Last year we got a tip about a children's pastor who'd managed to stay in ministry for decades even as allegations of sex abuse trailed him across four states.
I kept pulling thread and found something far bigger: a 50-year pattern of abuse and cover-up in the largest Pentecostal denomination 🧵 1/
I kept pulling thread and found something far bigger: a 50-year pattern of abuse and cover-up in the largest Pentecostal denomination 🧵 1/
As a survivor, it's my duty to mark World Stroke Day by reminding you all that while face drooping, arm weakness and speech trouble are critical signs, you may also be having a stroke if you have a sudden severe headache, nausea and vomiting, dizziness, and/or numbness or tingling. #ActFAST
October 29, 2025 at 7:14 PM
As a survivor, it's my duty to mark World Stroke Day by reminding you all that while face drooping, arm weakness and speech trouble are critical signs, you may also be having a stroke if you have a sudden severe headache, nausea and vomiting, dizziness, and/or numbness or tingling. #ActFAST