Mpox in Madagascar: Confirmed mpox cases have reached 3,022 since the outbreak began in December 2025, with 2,114 recoveries and 20 deaths reported. To contain spread, the Ministry of Public Health is boosting surveillance, public awareness, testing, and contact management, and has received a second batch of 30,000 UNICEF-supported vaccine doses for high-risk groups. Hunger and child malnutrition: A new warning says Madagascar’s food crisis is worsening, with projections of 3.72 million people facing crisis hunger between October and February, including about 502,000 children under 5 and 21,000 pregnant or breastfeeding women at risk of acute malnutrition. Global HIV funding shock: Reports tied to AIDS 2026 warn that global HIV response funding fell 25% in 2025, driven largely by steep US cuts, threatening treatment and prevention progress even as domestic spending rises. Cancer drug manufacturing breakthrough: New research highlights a faster way to produce vinblastine, a cancer medicine, by learning how the Madagascar periwinkle makes it—potentially speeding lab production. Western Indian Ocean noise: Kenya’s rerouted marine cargo traffic is increasing underwater ocean noise, raising concerns for whales, dolphins, fish, and other marine life across the region that includes Madagascar. Rare-earth push in Madagascar: The US is backing the Ampasindava rare-earths project with support for pilot plant work and lab testing, aiming to diversify critical mineral supplies.