Public Health

Racism As A Public Health Crisis

June 7, 2019 By Jessicah Pierre, Otherwords.org Strategize! Public Health, Racism

Racism is often viewed as an action performed by individuals. But even if we got rid of all America’s prejudiced individuals, racism would still exist in the systems they built. Systemic racism, writer Jenee Desmond-Harris explains, refers to how racial disparities operate “in major parts of U.S. society: the economy, politics, education, and more.” Racism, in other words, isn’t just someone using a racial slur. It’s also the poor schooling in predominantly black and brown neighborhoods, the racial wealth gap, housing discrimination, mass incarceration, police killings of unarmed black and brown people...

Kids Face Rising Health Risks From Climate Change, Doctors Warn As Juliana Case Returns To Court

June 6, 2019 By Nina Pullano, Insideclimatenews.org Resist! Climate Change, Courts, Public Health

The 21 children and young adults suing the federal government over climate change argue that they and their generation are already suffering the consequences of climate change, from worsening allergies and asthma to the health risks and stress that come with hurricanes, wildfires and sea level rise threatening their homes. With the case back in court on Tuesday, some of the heaviest hitters in the public health arena—including 15 major health organization and two former U.S. surgeons general—have been publicly backing them up.

How Police Are A Public Health Issue + Extinction Rebellion’s Move To Save Humanity

December 6, 2018 Eleanor Goldfield, Occupy.com Resistance Report Police, Public Health

Policing is a public health issue. Some recent victories combined with ongoing grassroots organizing outline the importance of addressing state-sponsored violence as a health hazard that has distinct causes and therefore, distinct solutions. Next, Extinction Rebellion wants to save humanity. Here's how they're going about it. You in?

Why Hurricane Florence Could Become A Public Health Crisis

September 18, 2018 By Jessica A. Knoblauch, Earthjustice.org Educate! Crisis, Hurricane Florence, Hurricanes, Public Health

In the path of the storm are giant pits filled with coal ash, lagoons swirling with hog manure, Superfund sites and industrial facilities stocked with toxic chemicals. People in the southeastern U.S. are facing life threatening winds and rains from Hurricane Florence. Less obvious, but also of great concern, is the public health threat posed by a variety of contaminated sites located around the region. These include giant pits filled with coal ash, a byproduct of burning coal that contains toxic chemicals like arsenic and lead; lagoons swirling with hog manure from factory farms; hazardous waste dumps known as Superfund sites; and industrial facilities stocked with thousands of pounds of toxic chemicals. Many pollution-filled pits in the region are not as hardened against the potential for storms and other emergencies as the public would expect. Coal ash is a case in point.

Boycott Factory Farm Foods: But Don’t Forget The Fish

April 9, 2018 Ronnie Cummins, Organicconsumers.org Resist! Animals, boycott, Factory Farming, Fishing, Public Health

Factory farming and fish production are now a multi-trillion-dollar monster with a growing and devastating impact on public health, animal welfare, small farmers and farmworkers, rural and fishing communities, ocean marine life, water quality, air pollution, soil health, biodiversity and last but not least, global warming. Worldwide, two-thirds of all farm animals are now inhumanely imprisoned on highly-polluting factory farms, fed pesticide- and chemical-contaminated grains and GMOs, often supplemented with contaminated fish meal and oils, and routinely dosed with antibiotics and hormones. In the U.S., 90-95 percent of all dairy, meat and poultry come from industrial-scale factory farms, while more than half of all fish consumed comes from factory-scale fish farms.

Beyond GMOs And Fast Food Nation: Regenerating Public Health

April 2, 2018 Ronnie Cummins, Organicconsumers.org Create! Fast Food, GMOs, Public Health

After decades of chemical-intensive agriculture, factory farms and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in our food, and an ongoing war against natural systems and traditional knowledge, America's rural communities, environment and public health are rapidly deteriorating. The fatal harvest of Big Food Inc. includes rural economic decline and depopulation throughout the Americas, forced migration from Mexico and Central America, water and air pollution, aquifer depletion, pollinator and biodiversity destruction, soil erosion and fertility loss, climate destabilization, food contamination and nutrient degradation, and deteriorating public health. Unfortunately, the U.S. Congress and the White House, aided and abetted by collaborators north and south of the border, are still dishing out their standard culinary message: Shut up and eat your GMOs.

Standing Rock Sioux People Sue Opioid Industry

February 18, 2018 Staff, TelesurTV Resist! Big Pharma, Opioids, Public Health, Standing Rock

The Standing Rock Sioux people of the United States have filed a federal lawsuit against the opioid industry, alleging they created a public health crisis in their reservation by concealing the addiction risks of drugs through misleading advertising and deceptive trade practices. The Indigenous nation, located in North and South Dakota, joins other Indigenous peoples of Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Dakotas that have filed similar lawsuits accusing the opioid industry of violating federal racketeering laws, deceptive trade practices and fraudulent and negligent conduct.

Toxic Firefighting Chemicals ‘Most Seminal Public Health Challenge’

October 19, 2017 Christopher Knaus, www.theguardian.com Educate! Contamination, Public Health, Toxic Chemicals

By Christopher Knaus for The Guardian - A top United States environmental official has described the contamination of drinking water by toxic firefighting chemicals as the most seminal public health challenge of coming decades. The US, like Australia, is still grappling with how to respond to widespread contamination caused by past use of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (Pfas) in firefighting foam. The manmade chemicals share a probable link with cancer, do not break down in the environment and have contaminated groundwater, drinking water, soil and waterways. The Australian government has continued to maintain there is no concrete evidence of a link between the chemicals and adverse health impacts, but has been criticised for the inadequacy of its response. The government’s stated position sits in stark contrast with a view expressed this week by a senior official in the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a government agency and the country’s leading public health institution. Patrick Breysse, director of the CDC’s National Centre for Environmental Health, described the chemicals as “one of the most seminal public health challenge for the next decades”, according to the Bloomberg news agency.

Rapid Burnout, Dissatisfaction Of U.S. Doctors Threatens Public Health Crisis

September 30, 2016 Alexander Reed Kelly, www.truthdig.com Educate! Capitalism, Healthcare, Medicine, Privatization, Public Health

By Alexander Reed Kelly for Truth Dig - Half of U.S. physicians are “disengaged, burned out, and demoralized and plan to either retire, cut back on work hours, or seek non-clinical roles,” reports MedPage Today, citing a new nationwide survey commissioned by The Physicians Foundation. “Many physicians are dissatisfied with the current state of the medical practice environment and they are opting out of traditional patient care roles,” said Walker Ray, MD, president of The Physicians Foundation, in remarks that appeared with the survey.

War On Drugs Harmed Public Health: Report

March 31, 2016 Vik Adhopia, www.cbc.ca Create! Public Health, War On Drugs

By Vik Adhopia for CBC News - The war on drugs has failed, fuelling higher rates of infection and harming public health and human rights to such a degree that it's time to decriminalize non-violent minor drug offences, according to a new global report. The authors of the Johns Hopkins-Lancet Commission on Public Health and International Drug Policy call for minor use, possession and petty use to be decriminalized following measurably worsened human health.

Harm Reduction Drug Policies Gaining Momentum

February 28, 2016 Sharda Sekaran, www.drugpolicy.org Create! Criminal Justice, Drug War, health, Public Health

By Sharda Sekaran for Drug Policy Alliance. United States - It’s been a groundbreaking month in the national dialogue about opiate dependency and addiction. From halls of government to family living rooms, the country is positioning for a dramatic shift in attitudes about drug policy that might finally mean an end to the drug war in favor of a public health and human rights approach. In early February, a series of bills were introduced in the Maryland state legislature that would decriminalize small amounts of drugs for personal use, expand access to treatment in emergency rooms and hospitals, and allow for consumption rooms where people would be able to use safely under medical supervision.

Maryland Considers Public Health Approach To All Drugs

February 6, 2016 Staff, www.drugpolicy.org Create! Maryland, Public Health

By Staff of Drug Policy Alliance - As deaths from drug overdoses increase nationwide, Maryland Delegate Dan Morhaim, M.D. - also a practicing physician who has been treating patients in emergency and internal medicine for more than 30 years - will introduce four bills to transform drug policy in the state. This groundbreaking legislative package aims to reduce the harms associated with substance abuse disorders, including rates of addiction, deadly overdose, the spread of infectious disease, crime, costs to the general public, and incarceration rates.

People With Disabilities Rally For Utah To Improve At-Home Services

September 29, 2015 Michael McFall, www.sltrib.com Resist! Health Care, People with Disabilities, Public Health, Utah

By Michael McFall in The St. Louis Tribune - Cathy Garber still gets emotional when she remembers how badly she wanted to leave her nursing home. Garber had just finished her master's degree in social work at the University of Utah in 2011 when she needed major surgery. When the procedure was over, her physicians decided she wasn't healing fast enough and put her in a nursing home. But she didn't want to be there. She wanted to be in her own home. "I had to be there for six months. I missed Christmas, New Year's, Valentine's Day," Garber said to a crowd of about 150 at the Utah State Capitol, protesting Sunday what they said is Utah's lack of home and community-based services for people with disabilities. That deficiency forces people to move into nursing homes and other institutions, according to the Americans Disabled for Attendant Programs Today (ADAPT) organization, which organized Sunday's rally.

Future Doctors Rising Up For ‘Medicare For All’

September 26, 2015 Vanessa Van Doren, www.commondreams.org Resist! Medicare, Medicine, Public Health

By Vanessa Van Doren in Common Dreams - For most of us in medicine, helping people live healthy, happy lives is at the heart of why we chose this career. We expound upon this in application essays, talk about it during interviews, and start medical school with this “calling” fresh in our minds. Very early in our medical careers – on the wards and in the classroom – we learn that inequality, preventable illness, and death are an inherent part of our current private, for-profit-oriented health insurance system. We see patients receive preventable amputations due to untreated diabetes. We see people permanently disabled by stroke because they were unable to afford their medications. College funds emptied out to pay for $100,000-a-year cancer treatments. Families bankrupted and lives destroyed. We learn that, although the United States is one of the wealthiest countries on earth, we are also the only developed nation that does not provide health care to all of its citizens.

Million-Liter Cyanide Spill In Argentina Highlights Mining Crimes

September 26, 2015 Deirdre Fulton, www.commondreams.org Educate! Argnetina, Canada, Chemical Spill, Environment, Public Health

By Deirdre Fulton in Common Dreams - Highlighting how corporate extractivism and lack of accountability is driving the destruction of Latin American communities, a Canadian mining company has now confirmed that more than one million liters of cyanide solution spilled from the Barrick Gold Veladero mine in San Juan, Argentina this month—making the spill more than four times larger than originally estimated. The Toronto-headquartered mining company initially said it had spilled just 224,000 liters of the toxic liquid, used to leach gold from processed rocks, into the Potrerillos River. On Wednesday, the corporation amended its statement (pdf) and said that in fact 1.072 million liters of a cyanide and water solution were spilled due to a failure in one of the valves in the mine's pipes.

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