Suicide is one of the very few causes of death that have remained stubbornly steady over nearly the past century. A recent CDC report showed that suicide rates have risen about 30% in the United States since 1999. This report revealed an increase among all sexes, racial/ethnic groups, and all ages; in 2016 there were nearly 45,000 suicides in the US. With the recent increase adding fuel to our concern, suicide is now the tenth leading cause of death in the country.
Health, Law, and the LGBT Community: An Unfinished Story | Dean's Note
On Monday, the US Supreme Court decided the case of Masterpiece Cakeshop vs. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. The origins of the case lay in a baker’s religion-based objection to serving a same-sex couple wishing to buy a cake for their wedding. The Court’s decision favored the baker, ruling on procedural grounds that he did not receive a fair hearing from the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, members of which had used language that Justice Kennedy, writing the Court’s majority opinion, said constituted evidence of “hostility to religion.” In this sense, the ruling was quite narrow, leaving unresolved the larger question of whether or not it is constitutional for businesses to deny services to LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) Americans. I refer the reader to the Viewpoint in SPH This Week by Professors Raifman and Ulrich, who discuss the legal basis of the court case in more detail.
The Public's Health: Violence is a Public Health Issue | Public Health Post
Nearly 20 people are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States every minute. One in three women and one in four men are victims of some form of physical violence by an intimate partner at some point in their lifetime. Nearly 18,000 people died from homicide in the US last year, with more than two-thirds of those due to firearms.
Mass Incarceration is Making Us Sick | Frank News
No MENA Category is a Mistake | Public Health Post
An estimated 3.7 million Arab Americans live in the United States. Most are U.S. citizens. Our understanding of this group’s health needs is limited. The limited research is partly due to the absence of an ethnic identifier for Arab Americans in official statistics. The research that does exist points to high levels of chronic disease (including hypertension), obesity, and depression in this population.
How the Trump Administration’s Immigration Policies Harm Health | Dean's Note
Throughout his political career, President Trump has defined himself in large part by his antipathy towards immigrants, from his disparaging remarks about Mexican immigrants at the start of his presidential campaign, to his administration’s ban on immigrants from several majority-Muslim countries, to his more recent obscene characterization of Haiti and African countries. Even in this context, however, his administration’s decision to separate from their parents the children of immigrants arriving at the country’s border stands out as an especially cruel, mean-spirited act. As Ali Noorani (SPH’99), executive director of the National Immigration Forum, has said, “Separating parents and children in an attempt to deter people who are fleeing violence from legally seeking asylum is cruel to families, harmful to children, and wholly contrary to American values.”
Hurricane Maria's Death Toll Was Decades In The Making | HuffPost
The New England Journal of Medicine released a study Tuesday estimating that at least 4,645 people died in Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria. This death toll is more than 70 times the official government estimate of 64 people and is likely still only a fraction of the storm’s full human cost.
The Public's Health: Healthy Homes | Public Health Post
Sixteen million American children live in poverty, putting them at risk for delayed development, disease, and poor educational outcomes. The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a pro-work, federal tool that has reduced or eliminated poverty for 13.2 million children. Cash transfer programs like EITC improve maternal and infant health.