Congressional Republicans have voted repeatedly to repeal the ACA, but now that they actually have a shot at doing that, journalists and commentators are focusing on how hard it will be to preserve the provisions voters like and politicians vow to keep – let alone the gains in insurance coverage and financial stability.
New data from CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics show that the US teen birth rate dropped substantially between 2007 and 2015, but it has declined most slowly in rural areas.
Polling data and early appointment decisions suggest we’re looking at worsening racism and xenophobia in the US.
Infectious Diseases & Vaccines
Haiti sees surge in cholera cases after Hurricane Matthew; UN admits moral responsibility
Months after a severe earthquake devastated Haiti in 2010, UN peacekeeping troops exacerbated Haitians’ suffering by introducing cholera to the island. After Hurricane Matthew, cholera cases are surging again, and the UN admits it has a moral responsibility to address the situation.
An injunction temporarily prohibits implementation of an executive order requiring companies bidding on large federal contracts to disclose whether they’d been cited for violating labor laws in the past three years. This demonstrates a need to give businesses with safe workplaces the same kind of deference we give small businesses.
Public Health Practice
Worth reading: Tuberculosis activism, “locker room talk,” and Clean Air Act enforcement
Recent pieces address activism to improve the fight against tuberculosis; speaking up against sexual harassment and assault; and more.
Just before the end of its September session, Congress finally did what public health officials had been begging it to do for more than seven months and approved substantial funding for Zika response efforts. That delay has entailed serious costs for public health.
Public Health Practice
Worth reading: Antibiotic resistance, invisible workforce, and detectives dismissing rape allegations
Recent pieces adress how the UN plans to address antibiotic resistance; New Jersey’s temp worker industry; Baltimore detectives’ dismissals of rape allegations with insufficient investigation; and more.
Last summer, Nigeria celebrated having gone a year without a case of polio. But then last month, two children in Nigeria were diagnosed with polio paralysis, in Borno state (in northeastern Nigeria) in areas liberated from Boko Haram militants.
New estimates from CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics show the uninsurance rate has continued to decline — but actions in some states threaten Medicaid expansion gains.