fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Twelve Forgotten Principles of Public Health
By: Howard Morgenstern
Tags: Coronavirus, Lockdown, Public Health, Covid 19, Government

Twelve Forgotten Principles of Public Health

#1 Public health is about all health outcomes, not just a single disease like #COVID19. It is important to also consider harms from public health measures.

#2 Public health is about the long term rather than the short term. Spring #COVID19 #lockdowns simply delayed and postponed the pandemic to the fall.

#3 Public health is about everyone. It should not be used to shift the burden of disease from the affluent to the less affluent, as the #COVID19 #lockdowns have done.

#4 Pubic health is global. Public health scientists need to consider the global impact of their recommendations.

#5 Risks and harms cannot be completely eliminated, but they can be reduced. Elimination and zero-COVID strategies backfire, making things worse.

#6 Public health should focus on high-risk populations. For #COVID19, many standard public health measures were never used to protect high-risk older people, leading to unnecessary deaths.

#7 While contact tracing and isolation is critically important for some infectious diseases, it is futile and counterproductive for common infections such as influenza and #COVID19.

#8 A case is only a case if a person is sick. Mass testing asymptomatic individuals is harmful to public health.

#9 Public health is about trust. To gain the trust of the public, public health officials and the media must be honest and trust the public. Shaming and fear should never be used in a pandemic.

#10 Public health scientists and officials must be honest with what is not known. For example, epidemic models should be run with the whole range of plausible input parameters.

#11 In public health, open civilized debate is profoundly critical. Censoring, silencing and smearing leads to fear of speaking, herd thinking and distrust.

#12 It is important for public health scientists and officials to listen to the public, who are living the public health consequences. This pandemic has proved that many non-epidemiologists understand public health better than some epidemiologists.

Unknown Author
Polluters, not the public, should pay to clean up toxic waste sites
By: Jillian Gordner
Tags: Superfund, Public Health, Waste, Chicago, Toxic

Polluters, not the public, should pay to clean up toxic waste sites

A toxic waste site was supposed to be cleaned up and re-developed, but after the developer dropped out, the taxpayers are left with a toxic mess and years of cleanup ahead — which they will fund. Jillian Gordner Follow Dec 22, 2020 · 3 min read

Earlier this month, the Chicago Tribune reported on the disappointing fate of the Schroud Property Superfund toxic waste site on Chicago’s South Side, which was supposed to be turned into an industrial park and sports complex that would bring hundreds of jobs to the area. Instead, Donald Schroud, the namesake and owner of the site, who promised to implement these developments, sold a chunk of the area’s less-contaminated land for a profit 84 times larger than what he originally paid for the entire property and abandoned the toxic waste on the rest of the property, just like the steel companies that polluted the land before him.

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Schroud explained: “[The steel companies] declared bankruptcy. So guess what: I’m gone and so are they.”

As Schroud’s disappearing act demonstrates, relying on individuals and companies to pay to clean up their toxic messes often doesn’t work. They can go bankrupt, leave, and even tie up the clean-up process with costly litigation over who should pay. In the absence of funds from those responsible, taxpayers get hit with the bill.

It wasn’t always this way, and it shouldn’t ever be. When the Environmental Protection Agency created its Superfund toxic waste clean-up program in 1980, it was funded by a tax on the industries that produce toxic waste. That type of accountability is what we need moving forward. We need a Polluter Pays Tax to ensure that polluters are held accountable for the contamination they produce. Americans shouldn’t have to live with toxic waste sites, and we definitely shouldn’t be on the hook for millions of dollars to clean up these sites when the parties responsible for the contamination can’t or won’t pay.

The Schroud Property Superfund toxic waste site is only the latest example of a toxic mess that taxpayers have to pay to clean up. The responsible party cannot be found or fails to pay for cleanup at approximately 30 percent of Superfund toxic waste sites across the country, which means the EPA’s Superfund budget, which is currently primarily funded with taxpayer dollars, pays for the cleanup.

In Illinois alone, 45 Superfund toxic waste sites are on the EPA’s National Priorities List of sites marked for cleanup, including the Schroud Property site. These sites threaten human health and environmental safety, potentially exposing people to some of the “ most hazardous chemicals known to humankind.” And, they will cost tens of millions of dollars to clean up. People are already bearing the health costs of this toxic waste; polluters should bear the cost of cleaning it up.
Data Analysis on US Foodborne Outbreak Incident in 1998–2018
By: Chi-Yun Chen
Tags: Public Health, Data Analysis, Food Outbreakdata

Food is one of the necessary things in our daily life. With economic growth, people value the safety of food more. Although the government had passed many acts related to food safety as time goes by, roughly one in six (or 48 million) people in the United States get sick from eating contaminated food every year. More than 250 pathogens and toxins have been known to cause foodborne diseases, and almost all of them can cause an outbreak. Through this analysis project, we can review the status of food safety in the US.

Photo from Yale School of Public Health (shorturl.at/beghC)

Outline

Introduction

Goal

Data Preparation

Exploratory Data Analysis

Model Training & Evaluation

US Heatmap

Conclusion

Introduction

A foodborne disease outbreak occurs when two or more people get the same illness from the same contaminated food or drink. While most foodborne illnesses are not part of a recognized outbreak, outbreaks provide important information on how germs spread, which foods cause illness, and how to prevent infection.

In this project, all the code was conducted on the Google Colab Notebook. The following links are the source code uploaded to Github.

FoodBorne Event Dataset

In all 50 states, public health agencies, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, and Freely Associated States have primary responsibility for identifying and investigating outbreaks and using a standard form to report outbreaks voluntarily to CDC. During 1998–2018, reporting was made through the electronic Foodborne Outbreak Reporting System (eFORS).

This dataset provides data on foodborne disease outbreaks reported to CDC from 1998 through 2015. Data fields include year, state (outbreaks occurring in more than one state are listed as “multistate”), the location where the food was prepared, reported food vehicle and contaminated ingredient, etiology (the pathogen, toxin, or chemical that caused the illnesses), status (whether the etiology was confirmed or suspected), total illnesses, hospitalizations, and fatalities. In many outbreak investigations, a specific food vehicle is not identified; for these outbreaks, the food vehicle variable is blank.

US Population dataset

The US population dataset comes from the US Census Bureau.

Goal

There are some question and goal we want to find out through this project:
A Short Introduction to the Basic Reproduction Number
By: Barry Leung
Tags: Coronavirus, Epidemic, Public Health, Covid 19, Mathematics

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

A Short Introduction to the Basic Reproduction Number

Originated in China, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused more than 76.7 million infections as of December 2020, along with around 1.7 million deaths worldwide. R₀ values help governments decide appropriate measures such as vaccination and herd immunity to stop transmission of diseases.

Definition

In mathematical epidemiology, the basic reproduction number, denoted R₀, represents the expected number of secondary infections directly generated from a single primary infection into a susceptible population.

Photo by Fusion Medical Animation on Unsplash

R₀ and the COVID-19 Pandemic

The R₀ value of the current pandemic estimated by the WHO is around 3 and what that means is that if a person has the disease, then it is expected that they will infect 3 other people. And after some period of time, the 3 newly infected people will then infect another 3 people each. This process keeps on repeating and the number of total infections will grow dramatically.

Moghadas et al. CMAJ 2009

Different Values of R₀

The goal of public health interventions is to reduce the values of R₀ to a number below 1.

If R₀ is less than 1, the disease cannot spread and will die down because each current infection causes less than one new infection.

If R0 is more than 1, the disease can spread as each existing infection causes more than one infection in a susceptible population.

In general, the larger the value of R₀, the faster the disease will spread.

Factors affecting R₀ and it limitations

The basic reproduction number is affected by factors like how many people are susceptible to the disease at the start, the infectiousness of the organism, as well as contact rates and the mode of transmission. However, it’s only an estimate based on an idealized case where an infected person were put in a fully susceptible population. Each of the factors for calculating R₀ is estimated and adds to uncertainty in the overall value of R₀.

That said, the R₀ value of the COVID-19 pandemic has helped governments and scientists to monitor its transmission.
Smoking. Does it really matter?
Tags: Health, Tobacco, Lifestyle, Smoking, Public Health

Why do people smoke?

Everyone around the world knows the adverse effects of smoking, then the question really is why do they smoke?

The scientific reason can be because cigarettes contain nicotine. Nicotine is as addictive as cocaine and heroin and cigarettes are available at stores, so no one’s going to question them. The more time you spend on smoking the harder it becomes to quit, the same follows for other nicotine products.

Most of the deaths are not of people who are direct-smokers, but of non-smokers, due to second-hand smoke. What I mean here by second-hand smoke is that they were exposed to the smoke of cigarettes somewhere.

Why doesn't the government ban tobacco?

The main reason why the government doesn't ban tobacco is that they generate lots of revenue for the government and ban on tobacco may have effects on the people related to tobacco cultivation or production.

On November 2, 2002, the supreme court-ordered ban on smoking cigarettes in public places, because they pose serious damage to the health of non-smokers.

From 1975, inscribing the packets with a statutory warning- ‘ cigarette smoking is injurious to health’ was made mandatory by the government.

According to WHO, If we increase 10% tax on the tobacco then there will be a 5% reduction in smoking in high-income countries and around 10% reduction in medium to low-income countries.

In conclusion, the government may not ban tobacco directly because of the effect on the life of tobacco cultivators and production workers. But they try to implement every measure possible to reduce the usage of tobacco. At last, It depends on the attitude of smokers, Even if the cigarettes were banned they will find a way or other to consume them. As a smoker, people have to think about what their life is going towards and what good does it make to their families.
Everyone Needs to Pay Attention to the British COVID Mutation.
By: Clay Graubard
Tags: Covid-19, UK, Mutation, Pandemic, Public Health

Everyone Needs to Pay Attention to the British COVID Mutation.

Original illustration by the CDC

Yesterday, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that a new strain of COVID-19 had emerged in the country late September which “might be as much as 70% more transmissible.” Today, the U.K. Health Minister called the new strain “out of control.”

This new strain has accounted for more than 60% of new cases in the past week in London (which are up 40% week-over-week), and “20% of viruses sequenced in Norfolk, 10% in Essex, and 3% in Suffolk.”

There is a lot we still do not know about this new strain and the data is still early and subject to review. Therefore, it is possible the new strain is not actually 70% more transmissible. And for context, the U.K. (and in particular England) recently relaxed their COVID restrictions.

However, given the rapid increase of this strain’s share of COVID cases in London and South East England, I believe it is highly unlikely that this new strain is not, to some substantial degree, more transmissible. And early analysis from NERVTAG — the British new virus advisory group — indicates as much.

Hopefully, scientists will be soon be able to determine the true threat of this new strain. But if true — if this new mutation of COVID-19 is 70% more transmissible — then the pandemic’s home-stretch will be a lot worse.

Here’s why.

70% Higher R0 = Disaster

The most obvious way in which a higher transmission rate would make the pandemic worse is by increasing the number of total cases which would thereby increase the total number of deaths.

Death by Transmission Alone

Using a Susceptible, Exposed, Infected and Resistant Model created during the early months of the pandemic by Gabriel Goh and others —designed to determine the effectiveness of lockdown durations — we can get a crude estimation of what a 70% increase of the R0 for COVID-19 mean.

Note: The model was used because it was the only interactive one I could find and was useful enough for illustrative purposes.

(Full disclosure: I am not an epidemiologist, virologist, public health expert, or master statistician. The following numbers and the analysis in this article should be taken as a rough estimation — an illustration. However, I have read a dozens of journal articles, government and intergovernmental reports and playbooks, and a few books on public health crises and SARS-COV-2. I also wrote my master’s thesis proposal on COVID-19 pandemic.)

A 70% increase in the base assumption of the model’s R0 (the number of people who will be infected from a single infected person) from 2.5 to 4.25 would increase the total number of projected deaths by 70%.
Health food List Detail 2021
By: Health Care
Tags: Health, Public Health, Mental Health, Healthcare, Yoga Benefits

Media coverage of mass-produced, processed, light snacks or sweet products sold directly to children in the market has served to damage the policy implications of improving eating habits. The major problem for foods with such advertisements is that alcohol and fast food are portrayed as provoking, escaping, and instant gratification. Especially in the last five years government agencies have tried to deal with the amount and method spent on media coverage on junk foods. More
College is supposed to be the time where you let loose and find yourself.
By: Sabria S Thoughts
Tags: College, Helping, Safety, Drinking, Public Health

College is supposed to be the time where you let loose and find yourself. It’s a time where you’re supposed to go to parties and meet new people. But while we’re in the midst of finding ourselves and partying we tend to try things like alcohol. Now we apply alcohol to a situation where our inhibitions are lowered which is dangerous. And because we are in college now we start to drink more heavily like drinking liters of alcohol. So the question presented is should college campuses have a limit on drinking?Is drinking worth your health?

I am one of those people who chooses not to drink. I made the decision because so many people around me rely on alcohol too much. But I also see that people can die from anything at anytime. Most people start drinking in college. While others began in high school. As I see it the only way to help people is for there to be limitations.

If you disagree tell me why I would love to hear your reasoning. Also answer the questions make me understand how you feel about alcohol.
Common Medications May Increase Risk of Alzheimer’s Dementia
Tags: Patient Safety, Research, Public Health, Dementia, Alzheimers

Common drugs such as Advil, Tylenol, Benadryl, Sominex and many others may increase the risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study published this fall in the journal Neurology.

Known as anticholinergics, this broad class of drugs includes over-the-counter and prescription medications used to treat a wide range of conditions — everything from allergies, sleep issues and mood disorders to high blood pressure, bladder problems, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma and Parkinson’s.

Anticholinergics work by blocking the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is responsible for learning and memory as well as for muscle contractions. More than 600 medications have some degree of anticholinergic activity.

Researchers from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine tracked the cognitive function of 688 older individuals, all of whom had normal memory and cognitive function at the start of the study, over a ten-year period. Participants who had an average age of 74 and were equally divided by sex. Nearly one-third of the participants were taking anticholinergics, on average 4.7 anticholinergics per person among those using them. Researchers administered cognitive tests annually to participants and checked for genetic risk factors for Alzheimer’s as well as biomarkers (biological signs) indicating the presence of the disease.

Who’s at greatest risk for Alzheimer’s disease?

Anticholinergics are metabolized by the liver and normally have short-term effects on the body. However, older adults have a slower ability to metabolize medications. This puts them at an increased risk of adverse drug reactions.

Researchers also found that genetics and biological factors can increase the risk of cognitive impairment. Among anticholinergic drug users, those with a higher genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease were 2.5 times more likely to experience cognitive impairments, while those with biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease were four times more likely to experience cognitive impairments.

Study authors noted that 57% of the participants were taking twice the recommended dosage of anticholinergics, while 18% were taking four times the amount.

In addition to the relatively small sample size, one of the limitations of the study was that participants were predominantly white and well-educated.

Safety recommendations for anticholinergic drug users

It’s important to talk to your health care professional about the risks and benefits of anticholinergic medications based on your personal medical situation and history, as well as to have them regularly review all your medications for potential interactions and overall safety.

As well, many pharmacists will review medication lists for free, offering their recommendations on dose adjustments or the need to discontinue medications if there are safety concerns.
Wearing A Mask
By: Ann Litts
Tags: Covid-19, Health, Nursing, Public Health, Masks

I know for a fact masks work to prevent the transmission of our germs from one being to another. That’s why we wear them in operating rooms. Everywhere. Globally. Because they work.

We wear masks to protect our patients. For many days before any symptoms emerge— we are all carriers. Of anything we might ‘catch’. From the flu to the common cold to TB to COVID. By the time symptoms appear — you have already been contagious for any number of days. Because your symptoms are your body’s response to the virus or bacteria that have taken up residence. The virus or bacteria, on the other hand, has been busy growing and spreading under your body’s radar. This is called an incubation period and is common for every germ — everywhere.

I was exposed to COVID this summer. A significant exposure. During that time while I was waiting to see if the virus would take hold of me, those long two weeks where I considered that they might be my last two weeks on Earth in decent health — I always, always wore a mask if I left my house. Even to walk the 400 steps to my mailbox. I wore it to protect anyone I might encounter.

We wear masks to protect each other. When you see me walking around my neighborhood in a mask — don’t assume I’m afraid of the danger. I might very well be recovering from COVID or another infection and I might be protecting YOU.
Top 5 GOP Fails of 2020
Tags: Coronavirus, Politics, Public Health, Elections, Republican Party

Just when you thought the Republican Party couldn’t possibly stoop any lower, 2020 happened. Instead of helping people, the GOP pushed dangerous conspiracy theories, flouted public health guidance, and doubled-down on voter suppression tactics. In fact, Republican state legislators engaged in such deplorable conduct, it’s hard to even remember everything that happened. Here are the top 5 worst failures by GOP legislators.

#5: Republicans make it harder for people to vote

The GOP’s refusal to ease voting during an unprecedented public health crisis brought the party’s long track record of voter suppression to a whole new level. They immediately set out to restrict mail-in and early voting, politicizing a global pandemic to keep themselves in power. Wisconsin Republicans recklessly pushed forward with their in-person spring election despite a lack of poll workers and many closed polling places, refusing to mail ballots in the hopes that it would lower turnout and help their conservative candidate. In Kentucky, Republicans tightened voter ID requirements even though state closures made it impossible for voters to obtain said identifications. Pennsylvania Republicans pushed legislation to ban ballot drop boxes and cut early voting by almost 3 weeks, leading to outrage among the Democratic caucus. Meanwhile, Texas Republicans fought tooth and nail to ensure that people afraid of catching COVID were barred from voting by mail, requiring folks to show up in person and risk exposure. Forcing people to choose between their lives and their vote is cruel, dangerous, and about as undemocratic as it gets.
White People still ignore the facts in spite of 9 months of hard evidence.
By: Courtney Allen-Gentry Rn Msn Phn Ahn-Bc Hwnc-Bc
Tags: White Privilege, Nursing, Public Health, Covid 19, Covid 19 Crisis

White People still ignore the facts in spite of 9 months of hard evidence. Debunked COVID-19 myths survive online, despite facts. Online claims that masks are not an effective form of protection spiked again in October after U.S. President Donald Trump and two U.S. senators contracted COVID-19 during a Rose Garden ceremony, according to media intelligence firm Zignal Labs. Social media users claimed that the coverings must not be effective because the senators wore masks at some points during the event.
Congress of Mobile Medical Professionals (CoMMP) Publishes COVID-19 Vaccinations Guidance for EMS, Fire, CP/MIH, and Public Health
By: Jonathon Feit
Tags: Emergency Medicine, Fire Fighters, Public Health, Covid 19, Education

CoMMP’s Response to the “EMS Education Agenda for the Future” offers feedback and advice occasioned by the National EMS Education Standards Project Development Team. We identified areas of emphasis — and even of omission — leveraging the expertise of our members, ranging from agency chiefs to field practitioners with decades of real-world experience, to renowned professors that specialize in education of healthcare providers.

According to Chief Anthony Correia, who spearheaded the Congress of Mobile Medical Professionals in March 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic was beginning to rage, as a model to transition wisely between urgent current events and our industry’s future: “The collaborative brain trust that is CoMMP provided recommendations on how to strengthen the EMS Education Agenda for the Future to provide a connection from the classroom to the streets.”

Jonathon Feit, Chief Executive of Beyond Lucid Technologies, who edited COVID-19 Immunization Questions & Concerns, said: “Over two-dozen contributors provided a range of insights, from a lawyer in Massachusetts, to educators from Utah and Wisconsin, to Community Paramedics in Texas and Colorado, to a doctor of pharmacy in Florida, and practitioners from Arizona to Vermont. I was honored to curate their input. Our commitment in this project is to keep our colleagues and communities safe. We are not telling anyone how to deliver a first-of-its-kind vaccine. We are leveraging well over a century of practical experience to say ‘Don’t forget to ask…’”

About the Congress of Mobile Medical Professionals

The Congress of Mobile Medical Professionals (CoMMP) aspires to incorporate the gamut of perspectives about what makes our industry great — and what it needs to do next. We invites all interested trade and regional associations, interest groups, and Mobile Medical Professionals from all service types and levels of practice — including affiliates from law, billing, health information technology, and government — to join our biweekly discussions. Learn more at www.CoMMP.org or find us on social media (Facebook, Linkedin).
Thérapie par surfactant
Tags: Therapie Par Surfactant, Public Health, Info Health

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Understanding the COVID Vaccine: As explained in Snapchatisms
By: Maggie Landes Md
Tags: Health, Public Health, Pandemic, Covid 19, Vaccines

If you’re not already impressed by the COVID19 vaccine, you should be.

Let me take one moment to clear something up before we start.

If you follow me regularly, you know that talking about food and eating, and attempting to systematically dismantle diet culture from my cozy home office is my usual zone of genius.

I much prefer chatting about hunger cueing, braising a pork shank, or intuitive eating to conversations about spike proteins and standard errors of the mean.

However, as a physician and a public health professional, I felt moved to have this conversation with you about the COVID19 vaccines that were rolled out this week because it very well may stand as one of the most extraordinary clinical science achievements that we witness in our lifetime.

A lifetime that hopefully will not be prematurely extinguished in the grips of this vicious disease like it has unfortunately now ended for 310,000 fellow Americans to date.

Photo by Mathew Schwartz on Unsplash

That doesn’t count the suffering of hundreds of millions who have lost a loved one, lost a job, lost their health, lost their home, their business, their security, lost their ever-loving mind home-schooling-working-zooming-sanitizing-mask-sewing-quarantining-bread-making-hair-cutting-hanging-on-by-their-last-stringing…

COVID19 has marked everyone without exception.

But as we gingerly step into 2021 with vaccines in hand, we finally have hope.

We can finally see the tiniest flicker of optimism, promise, protection, possibility, encouragement, enthusiasm for our future being doled out - 0.3mL at a time.

I watched so many of my frontline colleagues roll up their sleeves yesterday with tears in their eyes — not because they have a cure — but because for the first time in ten months — they have hope.

But as moved as professionals like me are by the vaccine roll-out, I realize that fantasies of survival curves and coffee break conversation about ribosomal translation may not be exactly normative to everyone.

I do not blame a single person for being confused, anxious, skeptical, concerned about all of this. Not one bit.

You are receiving arbitrary snippets of highly-technical information through an extremely distorted speaker system, which we call mainstream media.

And even more unfortunately, you are attempting to process this information, almost a year into a global pandemic, with your brain — which currently has the remaining bandwidth for about 3 more molecules of bull honkey.

Unless you are trained in these scientific disciplines and have kept up with the evolving literature for decades like us, this is a bunch of mumbo-jumbo stuff that you swore off 14 milliseconds after your 9th grade biology final.

I feel the same way adjusting my stock portfolio.

That’s why I listen to my broker.

I feel the same way when my check engine light goes off.

That’s why I listen to my mechanic.

You are under no obligation to specialize in everything, but for all that is good and holy — PLEASE listen to those of us who specialize in this.
【精選威脅情資 #2】針對健康醫療產業與公共衛生部門的勒索軟體行動
By: 奧義智慧 Cycraft Ai
Tags: Ransomware, Public Health, Cycraft, Healthcare, Threat Intelligence

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The Year in Review
By: Usaid Water Team
Tags: Sustainable Development, Water, International Development, Public Health, Covid 19

During a tumultuous 2020 that witnessed the emergence of the most deadly pandemic to sweep the globe in more than 100 years, USAID and partners have proven flexible and resilient in delivering safe water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) to the world’s most underserved and at-risk populations. Recognizing the importance of good handwashing hygiene and uninterrupted water service in containing the spread of COVID-19 and safely reopening economies, the Agency went above and beyond throughout the year to ensure that communities across the globe had the necessary information, strategic guidance, and WASH services they needed to protect themselves.

But the story of USAID’s WASH programming achievements cannot be viewed solely through the lens of COVID-19. This past year, the Agency expanded its evidence base to inform and strengthen current and future WASH programming. We released an expansive Water and Development Technical Brief Series and completed the research on a series of Ex-Post Evaluations that turned a critical eye toward long-closed WASH activities and examined the reasons why some interventions proved sustainable — and why some did not.

As we continue to learn, we also reflect on what has proven so impactful to date: USAID support since FY 2008 helped more than 53 million people gain access to sustainable water services, and 38 million people gain access to sustainable sanitation services. But our work is far from done. Between FY 2018 and 2019 alone, the Agency provided $835 million to support WASH activities in more than 50 countries. This year, USAID continued to make progress toward achieving its key development objectives under the U.S. Government Global Water Strategy. To accelerate our progress, we launched a private sector partnership with the global sanitation company LIXIL to help scale-up and speed access to affordable, sustainable WASH solutions around the world.

Don’t just take our word for it — let us show you the many ways USAID is helping transform lives. Scroll down to see how the Agency and its many partners have been busy harnessing the incredible power of WASH to enhance the quality of life, build more resilient and self-reliant communities, and create a healthier, more livable world for all, while protecting the environment.

Click here to view “Year in Review” in Adobe Spark.
A public health concern needs immediate attention.
By: Bilal Hamza
Tags: Essay, Public Health, Essay Writing

Negligence over public health is something that goes beyond the biggest sins. Public health is the result of efforts done by individuals, government, and private organizations that strive for the betterment of the quality of life for the general public. The world is facing health issues which need attention among the individual, national, and global level. However, Public health concerns are being tackled down. Additionally, if the government efforts are less convenient towards public health, can public health capabilities remain intact? of course not. Carelessness among the population and the governmental level cuts of the developments in public health. Thus, the coronavirus pandemic, obesity, and breast cancer are the major areas that need government efforts for immediate resolution.

The covid-19 pandemic resembles the gravest concern of public health. The global world is widely disturbed. Likewise, the pandemic has been suffocating the world order since 2019. The covid-19 has been declared a ‘health crisis’ by the WHO, emerges as the disrespecting agenda for public health development. Furthermore, public health reveals crucial attention in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic because such viral and dangerous diseases nip health development into the bud. Thus, the coronavirus issue reveals and need crystal clear attention from the elites.

Obesity is a huge hurdle all over the world. The unwanted fats stored in the body while consuming various unmaintained diets and lack of exercise. As the reports were given by Strasser, around 30% of the world population are obese. Obesity is as well as a public health dilemma which itself thrives various diseases. Ultimately, body fats deliver unavoidable health issues which dangerous. Thus, the obese population is to be maintained.

Breast Cancer is a major threat to females’ health. It can occur in both men and women, but majorly common in females. The breast tissues enlarge abnormally due to which the patient has to suffer from a huge diagnosis. Thus, the public health dimensions reveal the safety and comfort of both genders and such issues should be given a gigantic observation.

To conclude, the public health crisis requisites serious recognition. However, covid-19 pandemic has a vital issue for changing public health development. Same as obesity and breast cancer which are health hazards universally and are to be considered and tackled down seriously. Thus, public health is the major cause of a developed nation.
The battle for Covid-19 Vaccines in Nigeria
By: Sheriff Gbadamosi
Tags: Public Health, Nigeria, Covid 19, Healthcare, Vaccines

The battle for Covid-19 Vaccines in Nigeria

Nigeria already experiencing the second wave of Covid-19 and we must begin to feel concern, everyone of us because as it stands there's no vaccines to contain the virus yet in the country.

On the vaccines procurement, planning have been ongoing by NPHCDA and UNICEF with support from other partners because Nigeria accepted months ago to join the COVAX vaccine strategy coordinated by WHO to ensure equity distribution of vaccines world wide, as of two weeks ago Nigeria was suppose to submit her proposal for vaccines. I will be able to confirm after WHO briefing today if that has been submitted.

The country is expecting 2 billion doses of vaccines for only 40% of the entire population which includes the health care workers, people with underlying diseases, vulnerables and the older population.

The lack of funding is a major problem to accessing more vaccines for entire population, this means that we have to brace up the live with Covid-19 for a long time in Nigeria and focus on other health safety measures in ensuring the virus is contained and reduce the risk of community transmission because as it stands vaccines is not the ultimate solution.

Practice personal hygiene, wash your hands, use alcohol base sanitizer if you don't have access to water and maintain social distance.
American Elites Still Don’t Understand How COVID-19 Works published in The Atlantic on Medium.com,
By: Courtney Allen-Gentry Rn Msn Phn Ahn-Bc Hwnc-Bc
Tags: Politics, Nursing, Public Health, Covid 19, Covid 19 Crisis

American Elites Still Don’t Understand How COVID-19 Works published in The Atlantic on Medium.com, is one of the best public health nursing care plans and community based intervention strategies I have seen published anywhere in nine months.

If viral aerosols from talking are the most common vector of COVID-19 transmission … encourage universal mask wearing, social distancing among people from different households, and quiet in public spaces.

If these aerosolized particles spread easily in unventilated indoor spaces …need to shut down and bail out indoor businesses that naturally invite crowding and talking, such as bars.

If symptomatic individuals don’t just talk but also often cough and sneeze … create a national quarantine system to separate them from their families and a contract-tracing system to identify potentially infected individuals and ask them to isolate.

If a large number of infected people will be asymptomatic … invest early in a mass-testing apparatus to quickly identify silent carriers.

If, no matter how well we respond, this pandemic is going to last for a while … encourage people to reclaim normalcy by spending as much time outside as possible, while still stressing the importance of mask usage and social distancing when gathering with those outside of one’s household.

Read the entire article here:
Photos of grounded planes show how the travel industry is struggling
Tags: Aviation Industry, Photographer, Public Health, Covid 19, Travel

By Sophie-Claire Hoeller

Few industries have taken as much of a hit this year as the airline industry.

While the number of air travelers has increased slightly since the start of the pandemic, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recorded a 96% decrease in people passing through their checkpoints in April.

Tom Hegen, a German photographer, managed to find the beauty in this, using helicopters to take stunning aerial shots of the many planes that are currently grounded at airports in Germany.

His book, aptly titled “Airports,” was published in November. Keep scrolling to see his work.

Tom Hegen started taking photos of the many planes grounded at airports across Germany in April and May 2020.
Why I Wear A Mask
By: Mookie Spitz
Tags: Health, Coronavirus, Safety, Public Health, Covid 19

Let’s protect ourselves and each other, save the economy, and express empathy for those who suffer.

Selfie of the Author at a New York City grocery store

I’m not Batman — I’m just a guy who covers his face whenever he’s in public.

I wear a mask because a new and dangerous virus has already killed more than 300,000 of my fellow Americans, ruined much of our economy, and continues to spread across the country and throughout the world.

The virus mostly spreads through water droplets released from our mouths. By wearing a mask, I prevent my droplets from reaching other people; and when other people wear a mask, their droplets can’t reach me, either.

If I wear a mask and others wear masks, then our droplets can’t reach each other. If our droplets can’t reach, then the virus will spread less. And if it spreads less, then it will hurt fewer people. That’s it. That’s all I need to know.

Not only will less people get sick and die, but the economy will bounce back faster, too. Less virus means more business. And unlike restrictive measures such as lockdowns, mask wearing and distancing help keep things moving.

I also wear a mask to show solidarity with others around me who cherish life, respect public safety, and express empathy for the vulnerable, ailing, and the dead — more than a million and a half throughout the world, and counting.

Whenever I see others wearing a mask, I feel we are all part of a team working together to reduce suffering and death. I don’t feel like my rights are taken away; I actually feel the opposite, that I’m free to help make the world better.

Wearing a mask isn’t difficult — far easier than exposing myself or others to unnecessary risk. It’s awkward at first, but you get used to it. And before you know it, your mask becomes a badge of honor, a visible sign that you care.

I can’t force anyone else to wear a mask, but I can and do set a responsible and healthy example for my kids and others. Every day I do my small part to help slow the suffering, accelerate our recovery, and stop the spread. Join me!

The global pandemic is complex, but what we can each do is simple — wear a mask. Together, we can save tens of thousands of lives and trillions of dollars. The vaccines are on their way, but we have months to go. We can do this.
Get Real: What Difference Does It Make
By: Aikya Param
Tags: Coronavirus, Independence, Public Health, Trust, Community

Get Real: What Difference Does It Make

Ruben Mata, a fitness trainer, and motivational speaker did not believe COVID-19 much less the pandemic was real, until he fell ill, spent five days in a medically-induced coma with only a 40% chance to survive.

“Before I contracted it I thought, ‘It’s just made up, it’s all fabricated’,” Mata told NBC News “Global Hangout” this week, adding that he figured his six-day-a-week gym habit and healthy eating regimen would spare him even if it did exist. “That’s what prevented me from getting help sooner when it went really bad.”

For many years, I thought that Americans’ love for independence was mistaken. I can easily see my dependence on people from farmworkers in California’s Central Valley, my landlord, traffic laws and enforcement, and more. With COVID-19, our mistaken idea of and high value for independence is killing us.

I believe what Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institue of Allergy and Infectious Disease, tells us. I wear my mask and stay 6 feet or more from others, not in my household. For me, science is reliable. It can be trusted for our day-to-day lives. Many people do not trust science when it comes to coronavirus because it requires behavior change and they feel that conflicts with personal freedom.

We don’t have absolute freedom in our day-to-day lives. In most other areas, we had time to learn the limitations of our freedom. We learned how to drive, took a test, and earned a license to become clear about the rules of the road. Accepting our limits when driving took time.

The coronavirus pandemic impacted us quickly. At first, it was a distant bit of bad news. Nobody we knew was sick or had died. Also, it is invisible. It’s not like an out-of-control race car roaring down our street that we can see and hear. Suddenly, the virus is all around us.

Trusting other people is challenging. How do we figure out who is trustworthy? For many people, only those in their community, or only those who speak their language, qualify. For those who have endured centuries of oppression and injustice, it’s deeply challenging. In our divided nation, only those who agree with some people earn their trust. President Trump and his allies accentuated racial and cultural divisions but both preceded him and will remain after his term ends.

In this confusing patchwork, who is qualified to make reliable statements on issues like coronavirus? Do our neighbors, fellow church members, political party members, favorite authors or musicians have sufficient background to guide us?

Freedom requires humility. Humility means the ability, without individual feelings or preferences, to see a thing as it is. It has nothing to do with groveling nor does it diminish self-worth or confidence.

When you see what is, you recognize a situation that is beyond your life experience and training. You reach out and accept what others with more training and experience tell you such as your auto mechanic or Dr. Anthony Fauci.
The Covid Cult | Thomas E. Woods, Jr.
By: Clayton Craddock
Tags: Covid Cure, Tom Woods, Public Health, Public Health Crisis, Covid Cult

“This is the greatest public health fiasco in the history of the world, and the media has distorted it so badly, that much of the general public is celebrating villains and hissing at heroes. And, even — perversely enough — celebrating the destruction of their own lives and their children’s lives.”

Presented at the Mises Institute’s “Symposium with Ron Paul” on Saturday, November 7, 2020, in Angleton, Texas.

Clayton Craddock is an independent thinker, father of two beautiful children in New York City. He is the drummer of the hit broadway musical Ain’t Too Proud. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Howard University’s School of Business and is a 28 year veteran of the fast-paced New York City music scene. He has played drums in several hit broadway and off-broadway musicals, including “Tick, tick…BOOM!, Altar Boyz, Memphis The Musical, and Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar and Grill. Also, Clayton has worked on: Footloose, Motown, The Color Purple, Rent, Little Shop of Horrors, Spongebob Squarepants The Musical, Evita, Cats, and Avenue Q.

You can also follow me on Instagram and Twitter.
Reflecting on 6 Years with Wish for WASH
By: Wish For Wash
Tags: Women In Health, Public Health, Sdg 6, Board Of Directors, Wash

Tanvi and the 2018 Wish for WASH Design Thinking Leadership Team during our first long term WASH-course educational pilot with the Paideia school.

As we approach the end of the year, I wanted to reflect on my time in Wish for WASH and how I’ve seen this organization grow. Given that the Wish for WASH culture has always emphasized inclusion and diverse thinking, it does not surprise to see how the size of our team has grown and that our projects now range from various sanitation research projects to design thinking education all bringing in new voices to the world of sanitation. Our team has always sought to learn from our partners and build relationships that bring in fresh perspectives, and I really believe that this is why the organization has grown to include many different players all passionate about advocating for safe and accessible sanitation.

In my own journey, starting out as a team member to Project Lead to now a Board Member, it’s been a privilege to learn from so many people on how we can use our voices to shed light and advocate for proper sanitation. I would not be working within the Public Health sector and hoping to start my Master’s in Public Health next year, if I had not been a part of Wish for WASH. It has taught me how to take action towards grand goals of meeting the unmet health needs of our local and global communities. This organization has taught me how to empathize, ask tough questions, and look for connections, and I take those lessons wherever I go. Given all the challenges that this year had, I’m really proud that our team was able to foster close relationships with each other in this virtual world, which lead to the completion of 5 research projects and 9 organized events including virtual design thinking workshops. With all this great momentum, I’m so excited to see what we do next year as a team! — Tanvi Suresh, Member of the Board of Directors