Michele Morales

For many years, patients experiencing lingering symptoms long after treatment for Lyme disease often found themselves facing skepticism, both from the medical community and broader public. These individuals reported chronic fatigue, joint pain, cognitive difficulties, and neurological issues, even after completing standard antibiotic therapies. While these symptoms were real to patients, the concept of “chronic Lyme disease” remained contentious in the world of medicine. Today, however, there is a noticeable shift in how the condition is being acknowledged and addressed by healthcare professionals.Lyme disease, resulting from the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and spread by the bite of infected blacklegged ticks, stands…

The U.S. government’s flagship HIV/AIDS response program has avoided a proposed budget cut under the Trump administration’s broader efforts to retract federal spending. The ongoing debate over the program’s funding underscores the tension between fiscal restraint and global health priorities.At the center of the controversy is PEPFAR (the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), a cornerstone of U.S. health diplomacy since its launch in 2003. Over its two-decade run, PEPFAR has funded lifesaving treatment, prevention, and support services in dozens of countries—helping to curb new infections, reduce mother-to-child transmission, and save millions of lives.At the start of the year, President…