Vice President Kamala Harris outlined a proposal to allow Medicare to expand its coverage of home health care for older Americans. The Democratic presidential nominee announced this plan on the…
Tag: Public health
Health risks are rising in mountain areas flooded by Hurricane Helene and cut off from clean water, power and hospitals
Hurricane Helene’s flooding has subsided, but health risks are growing in hard-hit regions of the North Carolina mountains, where many people lost access to power and clean water. More than…
Companies keep selling harmful products – but history shows consumers can win in the end
In 2023, 42 state attorneys general sued Meta to remove Instagram features that Meta’s own studies had shown – and independent research had confirmed – are harmful to teenage girls.…
Airdropping vaccines to eliminate canine rabies in Texas – two scientists explain the decades of research behind its success
Rabies is a deadly disease. Without vaccination, a rabies infection is nearly 100% fatal once someone develops symptoms. Texas has experienced two rabies epidemics in animals since 1988: one involving…
Half of Black gay men will be diagnosed with HIV, despite highly effective preventive treatments − why?
At a pharmacy in Iowa, a 42-year-old Black gay man couldn’t find a medication he needed. The pharmacist, a white woman, told him they didn’t stock that medication. But while…
A public health historian sizes up their records
Health care is a defining issue in the 2024 election – Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Republican contender Donald Trump have starkly different records on the issue. Rather than…
How researchers measure wildfire smoke exposure doesn’t capture long-term health effects − and hides racial disparities
Kids born in 2020 worldwide will experience twice the number of wildfires during their lifetimes compared with those born in 1960. In California and other western states, frequent wildfires have…
How HIV/AIDS got its name − the words Americans used for the crisis were steeped in science, stigma and religious language
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention first used the term “AIDS” on Sept. 24, 1982, more than a year after the first cases appeared in medical records. Those early…
Vaccines tell a success story that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Trump forget – here are some key reminders
Vaccinations have provided significant protection for the public against infectious diseases. However, there was a modest decrease in support in 2023 nationwide for vaccine requirements for children to attend public…
Nutrition Facts labels have a complicated legacy – a historian explains the science and politics of translating food into information
The Nutrition Facts label, that black and white information box found on nearly every packaged food product in the U.S. since 1994, has recently become an icon for consumer transparency.…
