Public Health in the News – October 19, 2014

Global

• An ambitious UNAIDS initiative aims to block the spread of HIV by 2020, banking on growing evidence that antiretroviral therapy (ART) equals prevention.
• As the Ebola outbreak rages on, read a powerful, touching, and most importantly, useful piece by Paul Farmer, founder of Partners in Health.
• A refreshing new website, Ebola Deeply, has emerged to try to put an end to all of the misinformation out there. The site focuses on facts and science and is a great resource for pretty much anyone.
• The Guardian clears up 10 myths about hunger, presented in honor of World Food Day.

National

• Mark Bittman,  author of “How to Cook Everything Fast” wrote a great op-ed in the New York Times addressing a question he hears a lot these days:  “How do we change the food system?” That’s a too-big, unwieldy and often disheartening topic, he writes, suggesting we reframe it as, “How do I change my relationship to food?”
• What if food labels made clear the link between calories and physical activity? A new Atlantic article explores this potentially groundbreaking idea.
• The US ranks worst among developed countries in infant mortality, with a high rate of deaths among low-income children aged 1-12 months, according to the CDC.

Illinois/Chicago

• Illinois has declared itself ready for Ebola, should a case be found here. They’ve developed a new hotline and are conducting trainings with health workers.
• Following the launch of the City’s “Check the Stamps” campaign, the City of Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP) issued 620 tickets to 165 businesses in a 60-day investigation on unstamped and loose cigarettes in businesses throughout Chicago.

Northwestern

• Dr. Robert Murphy, director of the Center for Global Health, was quoted by USA Today on America’s Ebola response efforts.
• David Cella, Chair of Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, has received a prestigious international award for his contributions as a pioneer in the field of patient-reported outcome measures and his mission to put the patient’s voice in the center of health care.