Category: APHA IH Section

Global Health Photography Feature Opportunity

by ihsection, posted in APHA IH Section, Section Announcements

We are inviting International Health section members to submit their global health photos to share their global health experiences with other section members. Accepted submissions will be featured on the APHA IH blog or the Section Connection newsletter and may be used in APHA IH materials. This opportunity is ongoing and submissions are accepted at anytime, subject to the approval of the APHA IH Communications Committee.

Who can participate?

American Public Health Association International Health section members are encouraged to participate. All photographs submitted must be taken by the person submitting them.

What photos are you looking for?

We encourage members to send different types of global health photos whether that highlights their global health work or brings awareness to an important global health issue. As such, subject matter can vary between landscapes, photos of healthcare facilities, people, global health events, etc.

How do I submit my photo for consideration?

Each section member can submit up to two high-resolution photographs in a JPG file format. Please use the following naming convention for each photograph file: lastname_firstname_number (e.g. Smith_Jane_1).

In your submission, please include the following information in a MS Word Document:

  • Your Name:
  • For each photograph:
    • Title:
    • Brief description of photo as it relates to your global health work or bringing awareness on an important global health issue (250 word maximum):
    • Location of Photograph:
    • For photos with faces, confirmation that you received, at the minimum, verbal consent: Yes/No

Submissions should be sent to ihsection.communications@gmail.com.

Ethical Considerations

If you are submitting photographs of people, please make sure you have taken into consideration the following:

  • Did you obtain verbal consent from the person or people you photographed?
  • If the photos are of children, did you obtain verbal consent from their parents or guardians?
  • For photos of people from vulnerable populations (e.g. persons living with HIV, refugees, etc), ensure the utmost respect for their privacy and that you have followed any applicable rules or customs (e.g. hospital or clinic photography rules).

For more information on ethical considerations in global health photography, please visit the Unite for Sight website.

Conditions of Submission

Submissions are reviewed by the APHA IH Communications Committee and will be accepted on a rolling basis. If accepted, a participant’s photo and story may be shared via the APHA IH Section Connection newsletter or the APHA IH blog. Additionally, participants agree to the unlimited, royalty-free license to use their photos for APHA IH section materials including but not limited to IH section informational flyers and brochures, social media, the APHA IH Connect website, and the APHA IH Section Connection newsletter. This agreement will remain in place until canceled in writing by the submitter or the IH Communications Committee.

For more information, please contact Jean Armas at ihsection.communications@gmail.com.

Global News Round Up

by abbhirami, posted in APHA IH Section, News

Politics & Policies

William “Bill” Steiger, a global health official under former President George W. Bush who crossed swords with many scientists, is now advising President Donald Trump.

After the Trump’s administration submitted a budget to cut foreign aid, the world’s wealthiest man and co-founder of Microsoft Bill Gates met with President Donald Trump to discuss progress in programs for global health and development as well as domestic education.

In President Trump’s proposed budget, there’s a $54 billion bump in military spending. U.S. foreign aid would be cut by 28 percent. Global health spending beyond AIDS, malaria and vaccines will suffer.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) today issued a clinical practice guideline on human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination for the prevention of cervical cancer. This is the first guideline in primary prevention of cervical cancer that is tailored to multiple regions of the world with different levels of socio-economic and structural resource settings, offering evidence-based guidance to healthcare providers worldwide.

Programs, Grants & Awards

March 21 was World Down Syndrome Day.  The need to receive proper education, to get a job, to live with independence, to catch up with friends, to play sport, to fully exercise our rights as equal citizens are important aspects of life for each of us and needs that no one would dream of defining as “special”. Yet for people with Down syndrome, the label of “special needs” is often used to describe them and their needs.

The Golisano Foundation and Special Olympics, the largest public health organization for people with intellectual disabilities (ID), honored the Beijing Tongren Eye Hospital, Capital Medical University in Beijing, China for coordinating medical professionals throughout China and ensuring sustainable eye health and treatment access are available to Special Olympics athletes.

Research

Assess the prevalance of metabolic syndrome (MetS) among patients in rural Lesotho who are taking first-line anti-retroviral therapy (ART) containing either zidovudine or tenofovir disoproxil.

In this analysis, we examine the effect of wages on obesity by constructing pseudo-panels to conduct a dynamic estimation of Grossman’s human capital model. The results indicate that wages have an increasing effect on obesity status.

To examine county-level geographic variation in treatment admissions among opioid treatment programs (OTPs) that accept Medicaid in the continental United States.

We analyze the evolution of mortality-based health indicators in 27 European countries before and after the start of the Great Recession. We find that in the countries where the crisis has been particularly severe, mortality reductions in 2007–2010 were considerably bigger than in 2004–2007.

Over the next 20 years, there will be 49 million new cases of HIV, a mathematical model has indicated.  This number, however, could be drastically reduced if current interventions are acted upon and a vaccine is introduced in the next four years.

Diseases & Disasters

A small but growing number of pain doctors and addiction specialists are overseeing the use of marijuana as a substitute for more potent and dangerous drugs. Dr. Mark Wallace, chairman of the division of pain medicine in the department of anesthesia at the University of California, San Diego, said over the last five years he has used marijuana to help several hundred patients transition off opiates.

People who wake at night with an urge to go to the bathroom may need to cut back on salt in their diets, doctors from Japan are suggesting.

Technology

The National University of Singapore (NUS) and Holmusk, a digital health and data analytics company, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) recently to explore collaborations for improving healthcare delivery in the region.

A new diagnostic tool to test for up to 7 micronutrients using a single serum sample has been developed by Quansys in collaboration with PATH. This multiplex tool can help gather national data on micronutrient status and use these data to implement appropriate interventions.

Environmental Health

Hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as fracking, has the potential to affect drinking water resources in the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency announced in December.

Equity & Disparities

Health and health care disparities, which are differences between groups in their health status and their ability to obtain care, remain a persistent issue in the United States. This brief describes health and healthcare disparities today, highlights recent advancements in reducing disparities under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and discusses how the American Health Care Act (AHCA) and proposed reductions in discretionary funding may affect ongoing efforts to address disparities.

Niger’s population is set to double in about 17 years and high birth rates have contributed to this population growth. Already 80% of Nigeriens live in poverty and there is growing concern that such population expansions could lead to famines, political instability and violence in this landlocked nation.

The UN has warned that due to climate change about one in four children will be living in areas with extremely limited water resources by 2040.

Hundreds of thousands of people in India could be left without essential government services and benefits – including free school meals and uniforms, food subsidies and pensions – under new rules that make access to more than three dozen state-funded schemes conditional on showing identification.

Maternal, Neonatal & Children’s Health

China has achieved a substantial reduction in maternal mortality over the past three decades, from 88.8 deaths per 100 000 live births in 1990 to 21.7 deaths per 100 000 live births in 2014, down by 75.6%. The Article by Yanqiu Gao and colleagues in The Lancet Global Health is a valuable and welcome opportunity to present progress and discuss how maternal health can be improved in developing countries.

An UNFPA representative has urged Nigeria to invest more in maternal health since it has the potential to save Nigeria nearly $1.5 billion annually.

What happens when both mothers and newborns weigh significantly more than they did just several decades ago? The question occupies one of the most active areas of obesity research.

Future of Conflict Minerals murky under Trump administration

by Kendall Penndorf, posted in APHA IH Section, Human Rights, Policy and Advocacy, Trade and Health

You’ve likely heard the term “blood diamonds.”  Also known as “conflict diamonds,” these precious stones have helped fund civil wars and contributed to some 3.7 million deaths in Angola, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) according to an Amnesty International report.

The term “conflict minerals” doesn’t have quite the same ring, nor a titular film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, but they are at the center of a recently leaked memo from the White House.  The memo seeks to dismantle the Conflict Minerals Rule in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Protection Act.  Under Dodd-Frank, companies had to disclose whether or not their products contain minerals mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo or a neighboring country.  The reason to withdraw this clause that valued human life over electronics?  Perceived job loss and costs to American companies, estimated at $3-4 billion in upfront compliance costs and $200 million annually thereafter.

What is life like for the miners of conflict minerals – tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold ore – in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring countries?  The Guardian reports a systematic web of sexual violence, kidnapping, child labor, and modern-day slavery.

An overwhelming abundance of human suffering all so we can play Bejeweled on an almost dizzying array of devices.  Tech giants, Apple and Intel, have spoken out against the repeal of the Conflict Minerals Rule, but fear that enforcement will be difficult without written law.  Human rights groups representing some 100 organizations in and around DRC have also spoken out against repeal of the Rule:

Thanks to the Dodd-Frank Act, Eastern DRC has to date more than 220 certified green mining sites, more than 300 mining police officers trained and deployed to secure mining sites,an independent audit mechanism, and a regional certification system. These advances undoubtedly contribute to reducing the rate of crime and human rights violations, including rape of women and exploitation of children in mining areas. All these efforts and progress will be destroyed if the US Government decides to contradict itself by repealing the Dodd-Frank Act.

It isn’t just Big Business that has taken a hit under the Conflict Minerals Rule.  A healthy dose of criticism cites that the Rule has actually made miners and their families in DRC poorer.  In many ways, the implementation of the Rule slowed down, or stopped, mining due to implementation issues of the government and business variety.  Millions, out of work, were left between the proverbial rock and the hard place: either face starvation or join the militias that the very Rule were designed to protect them against.  Closing of mines is felt throughout communities:

With less money flowing in, shops in Luntukulu have closed. Many people struggle to feed their families through farming. “If Obama’s law wasn’t signed, the ban would not have existed,” said Waso Mutiki, 41, president of the miners’ co-operative in Luntukulu. “It destroyed everything.”

Others who contest the Rule say that the it does not acknowledge or alleviate deeply systemic issues afflicting the region, such as in this open letter signed by academics, politicians, and civil society professionals:

First, while the minerals help perpetuate the conflict, they are not its cause. National and regional political struggles over power and influence as well as issues such as access to land and questions of citizenship and identity are just some of the more structural drivers of conflict. The ability to exploit and profit from minerals is often a means to finance military operations to address these issues, rather than an end in itself.

The authors of the open letter above offer some alternative strategies which seek to buoy the economy by incentivising better practice and fair competition for international and Congolese businesses. Dollar for dollar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the richest countries in the world when it comes to untapped mineral resources.  The people who seek to own that wealth and exploit its potential are many, and unfortunately, Congolese citizens and their communities are not among those to first reap those benefits.

So, what is the bottom line?   Some might say the Conflict Minerals Rule sees the forest but not the trees, doing significant damage to local economies and livelihoods despite the progress made by eliminating a driver of local conflict.  It serves as yet another example of the need for policies to be developed and refined with community feedback. A globally engaged U.S. administration might attempt to build on the successes of the Rule with foreign and trade policy that takes such feedback into account. But the current administration seems to have different priorities. Rather than approaching policymaking in a way that benefits the communities most heavily impacted, or even that takes into account the expectations of American consumers, President Trump fights for the common man…the average, American CEO:

Government and community collaboration are key in achieving meaningful reform. Whether or not the U.S. Administration will take part in that exchange remains to be seen.

Call for Papers: AJPH Special Edition on Climate Change and Health

by ihsection, posted in APHA IH Section, Section Announcements

This announcement is posted on behalf of Rose Schneider, the IH Section’s Climate Change and Health Working Group Chair.

The American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) intends to publish a supplement issue on the topic of Climate Change and Health: Research, Translation, Policy, and Practice. Climate change is widely considered the greatest challenge to the public’s health. This issue will showcase scientific research that evaluates the degree to which climate change is a present-day and future threat to population health and health equity and highlight emerging and innovative evidence, strategies, solutions, and policies to address the health and equity consequences of climate change. Original research articles, briefs, systematic reviews, commentaries, editorials, as well as analytic, photographic, and historic essays on the health and equity impacts of climate change are invited. Papers that highlight translational practices as well as evaluation or policies that demonstrate advancement of health and equity are encouraged. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, best-practice models, co-impacts of climate change and other policies, economic evaluation, climate literacy and communication, and gaps in research, policy, and practice implications related to climate change adaptation, community resilience, and mitigation.

Potential authors should visit the AJPH website (www.ajph.org) to review the Instructions for Authors and specific guidelines for the various types of manuscripts. All manuscripts will undergo standard peer review by the AJPH editors and peer referees as defined by AJPH policy. Manuscripts must be submitted April 1, 2017, via the online submission system at http://editorialmanager.com/ajph.

Global News Round Up

by abbhirami, posted in APHA IH Section, News

Politics & Policies

UN estimates that five months after Hurricane Matthew made landfall, nearly 280,000 Haitians are highly food insecure. This is largely due to failed policies and failure to provide much-needed support.

The word health resonates across borders and cultures.  That lesson was made clear during a recent trip by Military Health System leaders to three African nations, underscoring the enduring commitment of the MHS to help partners build enhanced capabilities to respond to infectious disease and other public health threats around the world.

Major associations representing physicians, hospitals, insurers and seniors all leveled sharp attacks against the House GOP’s plan to rewrite the Affordable Care Act on Wednesday, as some Republicans publicly questioned whether the measure can clear the House of Representatives.

Republicans in the House of Representatives unveiled their long-awaited draft healthcare bill on Monday night, amid hopes this was the first step on a road to keeping a key election promise.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has issued the first official guidance for implementation of the Mexico City Policy, also known as the “global gag rule.”

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has agreed in principle to a White House proposal to slash foreign aid and diplomatic spending by 37 percent, but wants to spread it out over three years rather than in one dramatic cut.

China is facing the biggest and deadliest outbreak of H7N9 bird flu in human history.  The virus causes pneumonia and death in most of its victims, which is why it tops the list of global flu pandemic threats.

Programs, Grants & Awards

Thirty percent of all freshwater is ground water.  National Ground Water Awareness Week, an annual observance sponsored by the National Ground Water Association (NGWA), is March 5–11, 2017. This observance highlights how important ground water is to people’s health and the environment.

Research

She was only 21 at the time, but the event helped to inspire the fledgling scientist to crack how the brain is repaired.  The discovery reported today could potentially help millions of people with multiple sclerosis who have the opposite problem, a rogue immune system attacking part of the brain.

A 2016 study found the overall rate for stroke was 8% higher in the two days after daylight saving time. Losing an hour of sleep has also been associated with a higher risk of heart attacks and injuries.

A study published in The Lancet Global Health shows that community resource center model for women and children’s health incurred low-cost in informal settlements and is feasible and potentially replicable. This study was conducted in informal settings in Mumbai, India.

Diseases & Disasters

For the first time, doctors have tied infection with the Zika virus to possible new heart problems in adults. The evidence so far is only in eight people in Venezuela, and is not enough to prove a link. It’s also too soon to know how often this might be happening.

Arthritis costs at least $81 billion in direct medical costs annually.  The most common types are osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, lupus, and fibromyalgia. It is a leading cause of disability, and causes pain, aching, stiffness and swelling and is not a normal part of aging.

Top infectious disease experts are warning about a rapidly spreading outbreak of deadly yellow fever in Brazil that could hit parts of the United States. The danger would be most acute if the virus starts spreading by the same mosquito that transmits Zika.

A Save the Children study charts an increase in self-harm and suicides among children as young as 12 and reports that Syrian children are suffering from toxic stress that has the potential to cause long-term damage.

Technology

The pharmaceutical companies GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi sell the most vaccines and earn the most money doing so, while the Serum Institute of India sells the most vaccines at a discount, according to the first Access to Vaccines Index, which was released last week.

Environmental Health

According to two new WHO reports, nearly 1.7 million children under the age of 5 die due to environmental hazards every year.

According to a new study making small changes to our diets can mitigate effects of climate change in addition to impacting the health care system.

Equity & Disparities

Supreme Court of India has called for policies to prevent the epidemic of suicides among Indian farmers rather than providing compensation after the fact.

Maternal, Neonatal & Children’s Health

The pharmaceutical company Cipla cited non-payment of dues by the government and has therefore, stopped manufacturing Lopinavir syrup, life saving drug for children living with HIV/AIDS.

Given the risks posed by shifting global environment to women’s and children’s health, research on why some global health campaigns succeed can help turn this crisis into an opportunity.