public health

Naming Controversy Surrounding Parran Hall

By Mallory Perillo
May 28, 2018

In light of the developing national debate on whether or not we should celebrate historical figures with problematic pasts, Parran Hall, the main building for the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health, has recently come under scrutiny due to the legacy of the man it is named after. Thomas Parran Jr, the former U.S. Surgeon General and Founding Dean of the school, played an active role in drafting the Social Security Act and founding the World Health Organization and advocated for universal healthcare. However, he was also the U.S.

The Silent Massacre: Chronic Kidney Disease in Central America's Sugarcane Workers

By Rosa De Ferrari
November 14, 2017

Over 50,000 people have died worldwide due to kidney failure with unknown etiology, alerting healthcare professions and public health workers to an epidemic that may also be linked to the changing climate. The abnormally high number of deaths are concentrated in Central America. In the past two decades, public health workers and other officials have estimated that over 20,000 people have died in Central America and many of these people do not possess the usual risk factors of hypertension and diabetes for kidney failure.

Brazil: A Model for HIV/AIDS Prevention?

By Katherine Andrews
April 14, 2017

Brazil has accomplished a great deal when it comes to combating AIDS. It has developed a comprehensive, multi-level approach to fighting the disease that includes both prevention and treatment. The nation’s approach brings together the federal government, local government and NGOs to combat the epidemic from all angles. After decades of working to perfect the plan to combat AIDS, Brazil received international acclaim for its success. Just a decade later, the country is at risk of shifting their focus away from the disease and losing all of the progress they have already made.

A Silent Epidemic Making Noise in Puerto Rico

By Marisapr
October 27, 2016

     In August of this year, the CDC declared a health emergency alert for Puerto Rico regarding the spread of the Zika virus.  Shortly thereafter, our “Isla del Encanto” would come to know its first cases of infection-related births; the month of September, brought with it the first group of babies in Puerto Rico exposed to the zika virus during the first trimester of pregnancy.

Dengue Vaccine Arrives in Mexico

By Marisapr
October 24, 2016

     On September 10, 2016 the French pharmaceutical company that produces the dengue vaccine, the only one of its kind in the world at the moment, sold 1 million vaccines in Mexico alone. However, the vaccine is only present in the private sector.  That is, the vaccine is only available via doctors and clinics, and not yet available to public health institutions.

Fist Cuban Doctor to Leave Brazil Speaks Out

By Whitney Allen
October 20, 2016

“I’m afraid that something will happen to me…that they’ll kidnap me, I don’t know.” These are the fearful words of Ramona Rodríguez, the 51-year old Cuban primary care physician stationed in the northeastern Brazilian state of Pará. She has since left her position last week to seek asylum in the United States embassy in Brasilia and has sought refuge in Brazil in an attempt to establish her residency there while Washington looks over her request.

Global Links: Recycle, Redistribute and Revolutionize

Nestled in the hills just outside downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is a large, nondescript warehouse that is home to an organization that has been mending the world and quietly leaving its mark on health care providers all over the globe, one donation at a time. Global Links, like many organizations in today’s environmentally-conscious non-profit community, has a mission that includes an emphasis on environmental stewardship: recycling, repurposing, and sharing. But this is no ordinary recycling program.

Health and Safety Concerns Over Brazil's Uncontacted Tribes

By Sophia Winston
October 13, 2016

It is believed that this unnamed tribe was forced out of their land by illegal loggers and miners near the border of Peru and Brazil. Being forced out of their homes and hungry they were forced to make contact. Upon arrival at the Ashinanka village, they signaled that they were hungry and were given plantains. The next day they came back, not because they needed more food, but because one of the members had come down with cold or flu like symptoms.

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - public health