bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Voices and experiences of health/illness from female victims of gender violence in Tabasco, Mexico. Because this happens to me, I have to suffer
Authors: Martínez González Angela Beatriz , Barroso Martínez Alejandro Arnaldo
Published: January 2025

Violence against women has a great impact on health and the health system, they present a greater number of physical and emotional diseases. This phenomenon has been constructed under processes of invisibility and naturalization as a result of a patriarchal society. This work focused on exploring the effects of different forms of violence against women: in terms of health, physical as well as psychological. Under a qualitative methodology, the experience of eight battered women from rural and urban areas of the Mexican state was recovered of Tabasco. To do this, the interview was used through the autobiographical story technique. The findings show that women suffer different types of violence ranging from physical to economic, identified incidence of diseases, suffering and mental suffering caused by violence of any kind. On the other hand, the social constructions about what it means to be a woman in certain circumstances allow to justify the violence exercised by men, in addition in the production of subjectivities of the feminine gender a process of socialization prevails that reduces the woman to her traditional functions and it places it as the sole guarantor of identity.
A critical literature review of the research on suicide from a gender perspective
Authors: Barroso Martínez Alejandro Arnaldo
Published: January 2025

Suicide is a growing social problem worldwide. The epidemiological characterization of the same has differences in the rates and means used by men and women from all over the world. In this sense, this work starts from the fact that gender can be a category that facilitates a comprehensive approach to the subject. This view is complemented on the basis that gender is not an essentialist category, but implies the generation, circulation and assumption of historical social constructions that express the economic, political and cultural processes of a society. Therefore, the objective of the work is to identify unresolved scopes and questions by the investigation of suicide with a gender perspective, which are necessary to respond to contribute to the understanding of this as a social phenomenon. To this end, a bibliographic review of a thematic type was carried out. The contribution of this critical understanding is that it can become one of the references to take into account for the design, planning, and implementation of public policies for the prevention of suicide with a view to gender.
Perceptions and practices of sexual and reproductive health in the health team of the Santa Teresita-Cerrillos Hospital and in women from the locality of Cerrillos, Salta, Argentina
Authors: Ulivarri Paula
Published: January 2025

This article presents a synthesis of research results from the study: ¨Perceptions and practices of sexual and reproductive health in the health team of the Santa Teresita-Cerrillos Hospital and in women from the locality of Cerrillos, Salta, Argentina: Multiparity in young women and local health actions linked to Sexual and Reproductive Health". The method chosen was qualitative, based on Grounded Theory. In-depth interviews were conducted with women who had more than two children, and with the health team of Santa Teresita Hospital, Cerrillos, Salta. Through the employment of diverse data collection techniques, as well as through Grounded Theory analysis strategies, the principle of right to health and respect towards others emerges as a relevant result. At the same time, discrepancies were found between individuals´ healthcare needs and their perception of the institution´ accessibility. I expect the results to serve as a foothold for the generation of local health policies that answer the needs of women while respecting the socio-cultural context, from a law and gender perspective.
Sweet extermination: Soda and beer, as trigger cause and complications in diabetics, among high land mayans of Chiapas, Mexico
Authors: Page Pliego Jaime Tomás
Published: January 2025

Excessive intake of Coca-Cola and beer stand in High Land Chiapas as trigger cause in diabetes. With them a huge percentage of Maya population substitute water.
In every day meal, an adult caloric income goes from 3566 to 4488 Kcal. If we ad Soda or beer, which by themselves represent 788 to 985 Kcal, then we have diets that provide more than 5000 Kcal. a day.
Chiapas, is the world region where more Coke is consumed, the estimates go up to 180.65 gallons a year per person. In the USA, the average intake is 26 gallons. These paper is about the perception that Maya diabetics have about Coke and beer.
Choosing Drugs to Alter Weight: An Informed Choice or Not?
Authors: Islam Quazi Sufia , Mahzabin Nawshaba
Published: January 2025

With the growing drug industry all over the globe and the drastic inclination of people specifically the youth towards healthier lifestyle, there has been a sudden upsurge of the usage of weight altering drugs. Previous studies have been conducted concentrating on the obesity rate and consciousness about associated diseases among the rural people of Bangladesh. There had also been reports on the adverse effects and lasting hazards on health due to the uncontrolled use of medication for correcting weight worldwide. This study focused on the majority of the urban youth of Bangladesh with a view to gather information regarding their current knowledge about the adverse effects of the misuse or over dosage of these medications. Resulting in 13% of the total sample being aware vaguely and only 2% of the respondents to be clearly informed about the side effects; the revelations of the conducted survey demands for further investigation and definitive effort to spread awareness to seek proper professional opinion before being exposed to any drugs responsible for weight alteration.
On Trump’s New Call to Terror and Resistance Like Harriet Tubman
Authors: Smith Clyde Lanford
Published: January 2025

The US President has trumpeted his threat to visit systemic terror Sunday 7/14/19 on the homes of families where one or another person does not have their immigration papers in order. The threat has brought distress, panic even, to many in the USA. Perhaps campaign strategy, the rhetoric and its effect hearken to Dred Scott Days (the period after the U.S. Supreme Court Decision “Dred Scott vs. Sandford,” March 6th, 1857) when persons abetting escaped slaves avoid re-capture were themselves considered law-breakers and punished. As if in flash-back, persons in our time who provide refugees water in Arizona’s desert are targeted with prison. But today’s refugee-hunters count driver’s license photo facial recognition software (notorious for increased mis-identification with People of Color, a new spin on the “crime” of “Driving While Black”) in their civil rights dismantling tool-kit.
Complicit
Authors: Donohoe Martin
Published: January 2025

This essay is entitled “Complicit,” and it is directed at those who support our current president, who fail to acknowledge the very real threats he poses to civilized society, and who remain silent, grateful for the benefits he bestows on their wallets or policy agendas.
Health care under the knife: moving beyond capitalism for our health
Authors: Donohoe Martin
Published: January 2025

Reviewer’s note: Authors of each subsection are a who’s who of social medicine, many of whom I count as mentors and friends (including Waitzkin), and as such I am neither a disinterested nor unbiased reviewer. Dr. Waitzkin1 also endorsed my own book2 with a back of the cover blurb (as did others), although my (perhaps) fragile ego and my mother’s equally glowing endorsement compel me to write this off to my literary skills, rather than our friendship! I have no financial arrangements with any of the authors. I have critically assessed the volume with recognition of my subjective biases as best as humanly possible. Furthermore, I have supplemented my review with my own critiques of contemporary medicine and suggestions for improving health care for all.
Non-Violent Action to Reform Medical Education in Nepal - The Fasts-unto-death of Dr Govinda KC
Authors: Maskarinec Gregory G. , Subedi Madhusudan , Subedi Prativa , Karki Arjun
Published: January 2025

At present, reforms of the critically flawed system of medical education in Nepal are urgently needed. The integrity of Nepal’s medical education system is threatened by investors, including members of Nepal's parliament, political leaders, and influential businessmen who treat the creation of new for-profit medical schools as an easy way to generate profits quickly and effortlessly, while no effective, impartial central authority exists to regulate the situation. The pressure to approve new medical schools increases even when the resulting education may be substandard and debt-burdened graduates neither able to find post-graduate training opportunities nor willing to accept positions outside of the Kathmandu Valley. A major force driving efforts to reform, systematize, and improve medical education in Nepal is the series of ten non-violent fasts-unto-death campaigns of one dedicated physician, senior orthopedic surgeon Dr. Govinda KC. To put his efforts into historical context, we review medical education in Nepal from 1978, when Nepal's first medical school, the Institute of Medicine, was created. We seek to clarify whether the current trend toward for-profit medical education is compatible with the rule of law in Nepal, or whether Nepal risks becoming a failed state as it ignores the need to align the production of physicians with that of national health needs.
Residential density, behavior and dengue haemorraghic fever (dhf) incidence in Surabaya, Indonesia
Authors: Prastiani Ika , Prasasti Corie Indria
Published: January 2025

Dengue Haemorraghic Fever (DHF) has been one of the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Indonesia. Surabaya has been one of the districts in East Java Province categorized as dengue endemic, particularly the Gunung Anyar Subdistrict. The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between the presence of larvae, residential density and public behavior, with the incidence of dengue in Gunung Anyar Village, Subdistrict of Gunung Anyar, Surabaya. The type of study is observational with cross sectional study design, with the primary data obtained from observation and interviews with 50 respondents, and the secondary data from The Local Health Clinics and Health Department. The samples are obtained with cluster random sampling. The results showed that variables related with the presence of larvae is residential density (p=0.018), knowledge (p=0.007) and attitude (p=0.000). However, the study found no correlation between the presence of larvae with the incidence of dengue (p=0.190). The study concludes that residential density and public behavior correlate with the larvae presence, but the larvae presence does not correlate with the incidence of dengue in Gunung Anyar Village, Surabaya. The Public Health Center and the Health Department should make innovation in method and public counseling media to increase public knowledge about dengue incidence and prevention.
Ebola Lessons for a Global Village: I am my brothers’ (and sisters’) keeper
Authors: Houghton Frank Thomas , Houghton Sharon
Published: January 2025

The ongoing Ebola outbreak is estimated to have resulted in over 8,300 deaths, and is the largest such outbreak in recorded history. Although largely confined, this time, to West Africa the ramifications of the disease have been global. Widespread transmission of the disease was evident in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, with additional cases also noted in Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Spain, the UK and the USA.
Information design and students’ assimilation after Covid-19
Authors: Ades Andaleep Sadi
Published: January 2025

The learning strategies have changes after Covid-19. Online and self-learning method become the main axis of study. Information design is considered the important point in structuring studying materials. It illustrates data that has an objective and make it easier to understand. In addition, good information design help to capture the students’ attention which makes them spend longer time on studying without boredom. The aim of the study is to illustrating different tools and techniques that students can utilize within a classroom to promote successful assimilation of information design. The study examined 700 Saudi participants through Twitter and Facebook I 2021. The results reveal that the use of infographics to illustrate information on a graph, watching documentaries and videos promote better study results. Students intend to utilize Google to gather relevant data and information related to their field. The study contributes to educational experts to design affective, interactive and engagement methods in learning. The study provided large data to understand the approached that student prefer and intend to use during their study as well as the reasons behind that.
Seize the Hospital to Serve the People
Authors: Mullan Fitzhugh
Published: January 2025

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The behavioral impacts of SARS and its implication for societal preparedness for other emerging infections
Authors: Lee Sing , Lee Shui-shan , Fung Corina Shuk-ching , Kwok Kathleen Pik-san
Published: January 2025

Introduction:
This study examined public attitudes toward Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in Hong Kong three months after the peak of the 2003 outbreak in order to shed light on SARS-related complaints received by the Equal Opportunities Commission of Hong Kong.

Methods:
A cross-sectional telephone survey was conducted three months after the SARS outbreak of 1,023 randomly selected Chinese-speaking residents in Hong Kong.

Results:
Most of the respondents (72.2%) reported worry about contracting SARS. They attributed their anxiety to the perceived danger of the disease, the government’s unsatisfactory style of crisis management, and inconsistent health information dissemination. The majority of respondents endorsed up to 3 avoidant (67.8%) and 3 imposing (72.7%) attitudes toward individuals and/or situations considered to be at risk of spreading SARS. Logistic Regression analyses indicated that the odds for avoidant and imposing attitudes increased significantly for those who were middle aged (35-54), employed full-time or part-time, and worried over contracting SARS.

Conclusions:
Public attitudes that endorsed avoidant and imposing behaviors were common during the outbreak of SARS. While essential for preventive health practices, they might bring about workplace conflicts, stigma, and other negative interpersonal experiences. These problems may complicate public health efforts to control the epidemic. They may also suggest ways in which societal preparedness for future emerging infections can be improved.
Interview with Chilean Activist Victor Toro
Authors: Smith Clyde Lanford
Published: January 2025

Victor Toro Ramirez. Immigrant activist in the United States, ex-political prisoner of the military dictatorship in Chile and in process of deportation by the Bush government and its immigration scandal.
Health Policy in Bogota (2004-2008):An Analysis of the Experience with Primary Health Care
Authors: Vega Romero Roman , Acosta Ramirez Naydu , Mosquera Mendez Paola Andrea , Restrepo Velez Maria Ofelia
Published: January 2025

This study summarizes the health policy and the Primary Health Care strategies developed by the Bogota municipal government from 2004-2008. The experiences and outcomes during this time period indicate that, despite the market-oriented health policy that exists in Colombia, it was beneficial to implement health policies and strategies at the local level so as to guarantee the right to health and equitable access to health care. National level restrictions, however, impose constraints on the potential implementation of such policies and strategies. This suggests that in order to achieve effective and sustainable changes at the local level, it is necessary to promote substantial reforms within national health care policy.
Neoliberal Policies and their Impact on Public Health Education: Observations on the Venezuelan Experience
Authors: Feo Ostúriz Oscar
Published: January 2025

This article discusses the impact of neoliberal policies on the training of specialists in Public Health and describes the Venezuelan experience. In Venezuela, like other countries of the American continent, Public Health Schools had been transformed from institutions under the direction of the Ministry of Health to a model in which training took place under market conditions. Education in Public Health became a private good for individual consumption, and schools, lacking official funding, survived by offering courses in a market that did not necessarily respond to a country’s health needs. The conclusion discusses the currrent Venezuelan experience, in which the State has resumed control of the training of specialists in public health, making it more democratic, and adoptng an educational model centered around practice and whose purpose is the mass training of leadership teams to bolster the National Public Health System.

In order to comment on the impact of neoliberal policies on training in public health we must first briefly review the following themes:

1. Basic concepts such as neoliberalism, globalization, and health systems.

2. The impact of neoliberal reforms on health.

3. The Venezuelan situation: basic principles for the training of professionals and technicians in health within the framework of a model of independent and sovereign national development.

4. Final reflections: challenges for the coming years.
The Social Determinants of Organ Trafficking: A Reflection of Social Inequity
Authors: Budiani-Saberi Debra A. , Karim Kabir
Published: January 2025

Organ trafficking has become evident in its global scope and consequences. Poverty, vulnerability, destitution and a system of exploitative transplant practices are social determinants for commercial living organ donation. Guided by the WHO resolution on organ transplants and the Istanbul Declaration, transplant practices can advanced standards of greater social equality rather than exploit social determinants of poverty, vulnerability and destitution by way of exploitative health systems.
A Socio-Cultural Diagnosis of Adolescent Diets in Comitán, Chiapas
Authors: Álvarez Gordillo Guadalupe del Carmen , Eroza Solana José Enrique , Ramírez Domínguez Claudia Elizabeth
Published: January 2025

This study, based on group interviews with adolescents (pre-university level students) from various educational institutions and socio-cultural backgrounds in Comitán, Chiapas (Mexico), was undertaken to identify the settings for the dietary practices of young people. Using a multi-dimensional analysis, we found that the predominant paradigm in public health, based on concepts such as risk factors and lifestyle, tends to obscure the complexity of social processes and to place responsibility for health on each individual. The dietary practices of adolescents are determined by the dynamics established in school and family environments and occur in a context of time pressures as well as the poor provision and choice of foods. We noted a discrepancy between knowledge on the one hand and dietary practices, weight control and perceived risks or expectations concerning body image on the other.
An Interview with Dr. Walter Lear
Authors: Editors The
Published: January 2025

In this issue of the English version of Social Medicine we are publishing the first of several pamphlets loaned to us by the US Health Activism History Collection. To introduce this collection we travelled to Philadelphia on June 18, 2008 to interview Dr. Walter J. Lear. Dr Lear, born in 1923, is the person responsible for the collection. In a wide-ranging interview in his home Dr. Lear discussed his personal background, the origins and purpose of the collection, the impact of the McCarthy period on the US health left, as well as his vision for the future.
Participation and empowerment in Primary Health Care: from Alma Ata to the era of globalization
Authors: De Vos Pol , Malaise Geraldine , De Ceukelaire Wim , Pérez Denis , Lefèvre Pierre , Van der Stuyft Patrick
Published: January 2025

With the 1978 Alma Ata declaration, community participation was brought to the fore as a key component of primary health care. This paper describes how the concepts of people’s participation and empowerment evolved throughout the last three decades and how these evolutions are linked with the global changing socio-economic context.
On the basis of a literature review and building on empirical experience with grass roots health programs, three key issues are identified to revive these concepts: The recognition that power, power relations and conflicts are the cornerstone of the empowerment framework; the need to go beyond the community and factor in the broader context of the society including the role of the State; and, considering that communities and society are not homogeneous entities, the importance of class analysis in any empowerment framework.
‘Top heavy’ systems and quality of health care: A survey of select departments in R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, India
Authors: Husain Zakir , Ghosh Saswata , Roy Bijoya
Published: January 2025

The paper is based on a primary survey of 1095 patients from the Medicine, General Surgery and Cardiac departments in R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital (a major public sector health care institution in the metropolitan city of Kolkata, India). The results show that public health care institutions remain a vital life support system of the poorer sections of the population. However, this is not a matter of choice, but necessity. The breakdown of the three tiered referral system in the region has resulted in the Hospital, originally conceived as a super specialty hospital and referral health care institution for patients from the adjacent district of North 24 Parganas, functioning as a diagnosis unit. The resultant pressure has exceeded the carrying capacity of the institution and led to poor quality of health care in the Hospital. Revitalizing lower level institutions is therefore essential not only to increase accessibility of health services, but also to ensure efficiency in higher level health care institutions.
Health & Life: A tribute to the late Edmundo Granda Ugalde
Authors: Betancourt Zaida
Published: January 2025

At the initiative of several Ecuadorian organizations – the National Council of Health (CONASA), the University of Cuenca, the National University of Loja, and the National Council of Higher Education (CONESUP) – and with the collaboration of both the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Latin American Social Medicine Association Social (ALAMES), we are publishing the selected writings of Edmundo Granda as well as a volume of tributes.
An Interconnection of Armed Conflict and Health Service system in Rolpa District of Nepal
Authors: Ghimire Sachin Kumar
Published: January 2025

The health service system is the part of the political system. Likewise, political systems should be an integral part of the health system. Contrary to this, local political tussle, national level power conflicts, long-term civil war, and crises in the bureaucracy have led to the continuous ignorance of people’s health issues in Rolpa. War is always detrimental for people's health, health service system and social well-being of the population. The chronic condition of exclusion prevalent in large section of the society is the “favorable” fertile ground to capitalize the expectations toward inclusive and healthy condition in Rolpa. The process of capitalizing such historical exclusion in the name of “revolution” gives rise to new sects of political actors. However, rising expectations and aspirations toward “equitable society” have been resulting in severe frustrations because no significant changes have been done to address the general living conditions of people. The continuous rise and fall of expectations after all lead to infinitive journey of producing ill health that could be extremely detrimental to people's expectation, even to live a normal life as a human.
Reporting Back: U.S. ELAM Students Return from their Summer BES Projects
Authors: Souers Joanna Mae
Published: January 2025

During the summer of 2009, 19 students of the U.S. delegation from the Latin American School of Medicine (Spanish acronym ELAM), in Havana, Cuba, participated in the Brigadas Estudantil de Salud (BES), launching two student groups; the ¡Salud! Southwest Exchange and the ¡Salud! New Orleans Project. Now, Joanna Mae Souers, one of the principle organizers of the Salud Southwest Exchange and 3rd year student at ELAM, reports back on behalf of the students' summer of success.
Health of the individual, of the family, of society
Authors: Pioneer Health Foundation The
Published: January 2025

Twenty-one years ago the Pioneer Health Centre housing the Peckham Experiment, closed. During twelve working years it explored the nature of health and had devised a method for its scientific investigation. Since that time the particular contribution the experiment made to the knowledge of health has not been further developed on.a laboratory scale. But there has been published a statement of the underlying hypothesis which determined the scope of its experimental approach to health.1 This hypothesis opens up a wealth of possibilities for future research and exploration. It is our belief that the times are such that the search for health is a first priority and that it is therefore urgent that this study should be resumed.
The following pages give a very brief description of some features of the original experiment. The field is that of health:- of the individual, of the family, of society.
The Ouro Preto Declaration: Creation of the Latin American Social Medicine Association (1984)
Authors: Social Medicine Association Latin American
Published: January 2025

Those signing below, attendees of the II Latin American Seminar on Social Medicine, have decided to establish the Latin American Association of Social Medicine.
Social Determinants of Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Families of Migrants participating in Mexico-Canada Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program: A Study in Guadalupe Zaragoza
Authors: Lobato Sagrario , Pezzat Said Elías Bernardo , Duarte Angela , Martínez Fernández Rodolfo Gines , Sánchez Ana
Published: January 2025

Objective: To analyze the social determinants of pulmonary tuberculosis in the families of migrant laborers registered in the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP) and residing in Guadalupe Zaragoza Tlahuapan, Puebla, México. Methods: An exploratory cross-sectional study of the interaction between migration, social determinants, and pulmonary tuberculosis. Results: In this poor and patriarchal community, the SAWP offers financial opportunities for the men of Guadalupe Zaragoza. The remittances of these migrant workers have enabled their families to live in adequate housing, but their health situation is still vulnerable. Only half of the families have access to public health services or the special health programs for migrant worker families. 13% of migrant family members were infected with pulmonary tuberculosis as measured by the Quantiferon-TB test. The female partners of migrants typically do not study past elementary school, become housewives with no pay, are forced to take on added work in the household, and experience subjective symptoms of stress and fatigue. The children of Guadalupe Zaragoza are also vulnerable; the number of children in this community who can regularly attend school is below the national average because many children have to work. These families end up paying more for education, housing, and health services than the average Mexican family. Conclusions: In the families of SAWP migrant workers, the prevalence of latent pulmonary tuberculosis was found to be lower than the national average based on studies using the tuberculin test; this may be due to the greater specificity of the Quantiferon-TB Gold test. There is a significant risk of reactivation tuberculosis in these families due to the inequity in the social determinants of health.
Clinical Predictors of Psychopathology
Authors: Vargas-Huicochea Ingrid , Caraveo Anduaga Jorge
Published: January 2025

Psychiatric disorders affect up to one third of patients with non-psychiatric diseases.1-5 Nevertheless, despite the high prevalence of psychopathology in general medical patients, only between 30-50% of all cases are detected.2,6-8 Some have suggested that the difficulty in the detection and diagnosis of mental disorders among patients who seek medical attention for other reasons, lies in the lack of screening questions that might alert the physician to the possibility of a psychiatric co-morbidity.9 Such questions would identify medical patients at high risk of psychiatric problems.
Previous work on clinical predictors of psychopathology have identified the following: specific physical symptoms10-11; patient report of severity of illness11; recent stress12,13; low self-perception of health status13; and age less than 50.14 Two specific studies on the detection of psychopathology in the general medical population are worth highlighting. The first, by Jackson and his research team13 updating a 2001 study evaluating a prediction model with four parameters (recent stress, severity of physical symptoms, five or more specific symptoms, self-assessment of physical condition). They found that those patients who report recent stress, have five or more physical symptoms or a low self-perception of their health state are at a higher risk of having a psychiatric disorder. The second study, by Lowe et al. published in 2003,9 examines a series of factors that could serve as indicators of psychopathology in ambulatory medical (i.e. non-psychiatric) patients. After evaluating several different models they found that the combination of four of factors (taken as a group) had a high sensitivity (86%), specificity (100%), positive predictive value (100%), and negative predictive value (91%). This suggests that a physician could use the combination of these four indicators to evaluate for the presence of co morbid mental disorders. These factors are: self-reported tension/anxiety/stress present at least 14 days of the past four weeks, a sensation of sadness/despair at least 14 days of the past two weeks, three or more physical symptoms, and relationships troubles.
This research sought to identify clinical characteristics associated with psychopathology in a sample of Mexico City’s general population. Our goal was to find predictors that would in the detection of mental health problems amongst non-psychiatric patients.
Youth, Poverty and Exclusion : Health problems of young Mayans in Yucatan
Authors: Guzmán Medina Violeta
Published: January 2025

This article presents results of research undertaken to identify and assess institutional programs and public policies addressing the health issues of young people of Mayan origin in the Yucatan. We found several, uncoordinated efforts focused at counseling (primarily urban) youth on contraception, rather than programs addressing healthy sexuality. The absence of any public policies regarding youth health represents a failure at various government levels. This failure impacts most severely on Mayan youth living in conditions of poverty and marginalization and is reflected in every aspect of their health, education, and working conditions.
Smoking and the New York State Journal of Medicine: a brief introduction
Authors: Blum Alan
Published: January 2025

2010 marks the 25th anniversary of the publication by the New York State Journal of Medicine of the second of two theme issues on the world tobacco pandemic, the first comprehensive examination of the subject ever published by a medical journal. Aiming to challenge the medical profession to become actively involved in fighting smoking, the issues went beyond a discussion of the well known health consequences of tobacco to a consideration of the social, political, economic, agricultural, religious, and legal aspects of this growing
problem.
Publicación de la serie de cinco volúmenes: La medicina social en México
Authors: Peña Saint-Martin Florencia , León Parra Beatriz
Published: January 2025

La medicina social en México, con cinco volúmenes: Experiencia, subjetividad y salud; Globalización neoliberal; Entre la tradición y la emergencia; Alimentación, cuerpo y corporeidad; Género, sexualidad, violencia y cultura.
I Congreso Iberoamericano sobre Acoso Laboral e Institucional
Authors: Organizador Comité
Published: January 2025

I Congreso Iberoamericano sobre Acoso Laboral e Institucional
Corporations and Public Health: Overview and Case Study of GE Healthcare: Most Admired Company or Foe of Public Health?
Authors: Donohoe Martin , Robinson Claire
Published: January 2025

This article reviews the activities of GE Healthcare and its parent company, General Electric (ranked by Forbes Magazine in 2008 as the world's largest company), which have been antithetical to public health. These activities include unethical human subject experiments; environmental pollution; workers' rights and workplace health and safety violations; fraud; false and misleading advertising; sponsorship of corporate front groups; lobbying; a personal attack on a radiologist for exposing the risks of nephrogenic systemic sclerosis from its contrast agent Omniscan; and an ethically troubling technology transfer agreement with New York Presbyterian Hospital. Despite such activities, General Electric has been highly praised in the business community, including being named "America's Most Admired Company" in a Forbes Magazine poll and one of the "World's Most Respected Companies" in polls conducted by Barron's and Financial Times.
Book review. When death had wings. The yellow fever epidemic in Hermosillo (1883-1885)
Authors: Hernández Espinoza Patricia Olga
Published: January 2025

Review of the book " When death had wings. The yellow fever epidemic in Hermosillo (1883-1885)" published as: Hiram Félix Rosas (2010). Cuando la muerte tuvo alas. La epidemia de fiebre amarilla en Hermosillo (1883-1885). El Colegio de Sonora, Universidad de Sonora, ISBN: 978-607-7775-08-9)
Developing Cross Sectoral, Healthy Public Policies: A Case Study of the Reduction of Highly Toxic Pesticide Use among Small Farmers in Ecuador
Authors: Orozco Terán Asia Fadya , Charles Cole Donald
Published: January 2025

Agricultural development is a health determinant for small-scale farmers. This article examines the process of developing health and agricultural policy at the municipal level. Operational research was conducted in three rural, Andean municipalities in Ecuador. Policy development involved four steps: 1) proposal of a political agenda, 2) political analysis, 3) consultation, and 4) design and implementation of a political strategy. Our study of stage 2 included in-depth interviews with institutional and community leaders in each municipality. We also reviewed secondary sources and took field notes of observations made during the process. Content analysis was used for textual materials. We observed that institutional actors used a functionalist logic with respect to agricultural production processes; this – along with their individual attitudes and aptititudes – limited progress in policy development. On the other hand, social participation tended to facilitate the development of intersectoral programs. The promotion of cross-sectoral policy development fosters cross-sectoral approaches to action on the social determinants of health.
Ethical Issues In Assisted Reproductive Technologies
Authors: Madge Varada Jayant
Published: January 2025

Biomedicine approaches infertility as a disease that can be cured with the application of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART). This study aims to explore some of the ethical issues that surround the use of these technologies in India. The study was carried out in two well-known private health care settings in Pune, Maharashtra. One of the private hospitals was selected on the basis of familiarity with the doctor; the other on the basis of popularity among patients. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted to collect information from a sample of 25 women between December 2007 and April 2008. The study reveals that all the women interviewed found ART treatment to be painful and—at the time of interview—had not achieved a full-term pregnancy. The study also found that there was no uniform protocol specifying the sequenced application of intrauterine insemination (IUI)followed by the enrolment of the woman in in vitro fertilization (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). The interviews found that the women were burdened by the treatment. These technologies are based on profit at the cost of women’s lives. Literature suggests that there are chances that embryos are made available for research without the consent of couples, and these embryos could be manipulated prior to transfer, thus trying to control birth. Based on the findings from this study and on previous literature (Raymond 1993) these IUI, IVF, and ICSI technologies should not become medical practice, until they have undergone a scientific evaluation.

Keywords: IUI, IVF, ICSI, informed consent, painful, burdened, uniform protocol
Syria Neoliberal Reforms in Health Sector Financing: Embedding Unequal Access?
Authors: Sen Kasturi , Faisal Waleed al
Published: January 2025

The recent volatility and uprisings in several countries of the Arab world have been interpreted by the West solely as a popular demand for political voice. However, in all the countries of the region, including those in which there is ongoing violent opposition, the underlying economic dysfunction speaks for itself. The legacy of joblessness, food riots, and hunger is commonplace and is most often related to structural reforms and austerity measures promoted by the IMF and World Bank. These have played a significant role in reinforcing the rich-poor divide over the past three decades, fostering inequality, suffering, social divisions, and discontent, which are often overlooked by Western observers. In Syria, the state introduced policies for the liberalization of the economy as early as 2000; these were formalized into the 10th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010). Economic liberalization has been supported by the European Union with technical support from the German Technical Cooperation agency (GTZ). Changes made to the health sector and the labor market include: the piloting of health insurance schemes to replace universal coverage, the charging of fees for health services in public hospitals, and job losses across the board. While the West views discontent in Syria largely as political, its own role in promoting economic reforms and social hardship has been largely missed. In large part, discontent in Syria and in the region as a whole are a part of a phenomenon that has repeatedly highlighted the failure of policies that aim at rapid commercialization with little consideration for pre-existing disparities in wealth and resources. This paper traces some of the proposed changes to the financing of health care and examines the implications for access and equity.
re and examines teh implications for access and equity.
Undone Science and Blind Spots in Medical Treatment Research: A Case Study
Authors: Cleary Tom
Published: January 2025

Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is a serious eye disease. Two similar drugs, Lucentis and Avastin, are available to slow the progression of wet AMD. Research has been carried out on the highly profitable drug Lucentis, so governments have licensed it for use, whereas equivalent research and formal licensing of Avastin for treatment of eye disease has been delayed and discouraged. This is a case illustrating the problem of undone science: research in socially beneficial areas may be neglected for commercial or political reasons.

Key words: Age-related Macular Degeneration; undone science; Lucentis; Avastin; eye disease
Mobbing and Suppression: Footprints of Their Relationships
Authors: Martin Brian , Peña Saint-Martin Florencia
Published: January 2025

Aims: two important processes involving the exercise of power are mobbing and suppression of dissent. These are examined, compared and contrasted with the aim of expanding the understanding of organisational and professional negative dynamics.

Methods: The characteristic features and patterns of mobbing and suppression of dissent are examined. Areas of overlap and difference are noted and discussed.

Results: Dissent is a challenge to a dominant group or set of ideas, and often met with various reprisals, such as ostracism, harassment and censorship: dissenters are frequently subject to mobbing. However, there are some different processes involved. Some targets of mobbing are chosen because they are different, not because they are challenging an orthodoxy. Some forms of suppression do not involve mobbing: a dissident researcher might be denied jobs and have publications and grant applications rejected, but not be subject to any personal abuse. The result is that individuals or ideas may be marginalised without the usual features of mobbing.

Mobbing and suppression of dissent overlap with reprisals against whistleblowers. Some whistleblowers are mobbed or suppressed. However, suppression can occur without whistleblowing, for example when researchers obtain results unwelcome to powerful groups.

Conclusion: A greater understanding of processes of suppression can assist mobbing researchers understand the wider dimensions of power used by groups against opponents. Mobbing sometimes is used to suppress. They both share many strategies, but nonetheless they are different.

Key words: mobbing, suppression of dissent, whistleblowers
Workplace Harassment and Workers’ Health: Review of the “Mobbing and Health” Working Groups
Authors: Colunga Rodríguez Cecilia , González Mario Ángel , Mendoza Roaf Patricia Lorelei , Gómez Rodríguez Héctor Alfonso
Published: January 2025

This paper reports the experience of the symposium “Mobbing and health”, held at the First Ibero American Conference on Workplace and Institutional Mobbing. Based on original research, the authors agreed that mobbing is harmful to physical and mental health, to social life and the relationship with the partner. Symptoms range from sleeping problems, food habits, mood, psychoactive substance use, anxiety, depression, fatigue and deterioration of sexual life, to headaches, hypertension, fibromyalgia and suicide, in extreme cases. The authors also agreed that family support, social support at work and psychotherapeutic intervention are key ways to help the victims.

Harassment is recognized as a serious public health problem particularly, though not exclusively, in economically disadvantaged countries. This refers to the fact that mobbing, like other forms of violence, is one of the great evils resulting from the economic crisis that increased social inequality.
The authors also said that phenomena such as mobbing should be made clear to the general society in seeking solutions. Thus it is important to target appropriate forums and opportunities to influence public policies and to encourage politicians to legislate and regulate comprehensive health protection of workers.

Key words: mobbing, health, workplaces
The preparation of a syllabus in social medicine: McKeown revisited
Authors: Goldberg Daniel
Published: January 2025

This article revisits Thomas McKeown’s classic
1957 article regarding the difficulties involved in
teaching, and preparing a syllabus in, social medicine.
The present article assesses McKeown’s perspective
for the teacher designing a syllabus in social
medicine for contemporary medical learners in
the U.S. The three principal goals that McKeown
identifies for such a syllabus—coherence, realizable
learning objectives, and accessible presentation—
remain just as important and perhaps just as elusive
today. The article surveys some of the difficulties
involved in positioning social medicine themes and
content within dominant conventions in U.S. medical
curricula. The article focuses especially on difficulties
posed by a wide and interdisciplinary evidence
base, the perceived irrelevance of priorities
and interventions important in virtually any informed
concept of social medicine, and how these
priorities and interventions can be presented within
the framework expected by and familiar to medical
learners in the U.S.
A brief overview of protest medicine
Authors: Anderson Matthew , Cooper Michael
Published: January 2025

This paper was inspired by an important aspect of Victor W. Sidel’s career that is not usually associated with an academic in medicine: his arrest record. Prominently displayed in Vic’s office is a picture of a very determined (and somewhat younger) Vic Sidel being carried off in handcuffs by two policemen. The picture, taken in 1985 at an anti-apartheid protest, was published in The Nation’s Health, the newspaper of the American Public Health Associa-tion. This was one of several arrests in Vic’s career. As recently as 2012, Vic generously offered to be arrested as part of the Occupy Wall Street protests, citing his arrest record as qualification for this rather dangerous proposal.
An appreciation of Vic Sidel’s lifelong contributions to peace and social justice
Authors: Gould Robert M.
Published: January 2025

This article presents a personal appreciation of the lifetime contributions of Victor W. Sidel, MD, to peace and social justice, exemplified by his work in Physicians for Social Responsibility and the American Public Health Association.
Deliberation and decisions in the IRB process
Authors: Dubler Nancy Neveloff
Published: January 2025

Institutional review boards (IRBs) regularly vote to resolve conflict. This article argues that voting minimizes protections for human subjects and violates moral order. Rather than vote, IRBs should be mediating disputes, which respects the moral difference and integrity of IRB members.