Public Health in the News – August 10, 2014

Global

• The Ugandan Supreme Court declared null and void the country’s anti-homosexuality law. Though stigma continues, this decision is a win for LGBT activists and civil society groups to access anti-HIV treatment without fear of prosecution.
• As the Ebola virus continues to spread throughout West Africa, Sierra Leone and Liberia have introduced blockades on areas hit the hardest, preventing people in those areas from entering the countries capitals.
• The New York Times reports that the “patient zero” in this recent Ebola outbreak has been traced to a 2 year old boy from Guéckédou, Guinea.

National

• Twenty-nine state attorneys general on Friday urged the Food and Drug Administration to strengthen its proposed regulations on electronic cigarettes, a business that has exploded into a $2.5 billion industry with virtually no regulatory oversight.
• Researchers trying to conduct research to determine the effectiveness of medical marijuana on treating various ailments find it extremely difficult to conduct research due to federal restrictions.

Illinois/Chicago

• New requirements for school vaccinations have been introduced by the Illinois Department of Public Health, due in part to the recent mumps outbreak in the state.
• Illinois will receive $1.3 million as part of a $35 million settlement with a Pfizer Inc. over the illegal marketing of Rapamune, an organ-transplant drug to Illinois doctors.

Northwestern

• Women in the United States who have cesarean sections are less likely to continue childbearing than those who deliver vaginally, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study. Notably, this relationship weakens for women living below the poverty line.

Cover Photo by TookAPic via Pexels: Creative Commons