Public Health in the News – January 11, 2015

Posted on January 11, 2015 by NPHR Blog in News // 0 Comments

Global

Though it is the third highest killer worldwide, COPD has been scarcely understood in Africa save for this new study conducted in Uganda, which found rates at high as 16% in the population.
In an AIDS.gov blog post, CDC Global HIV/AIDS director Deborah Birx taps the recent “PEPFAR 3.0 — Controlling the Epidemic: Delivering on the Promise of an AIDS-free Generation” report as evidence of progress and a roadmap for the ultimate goal.
A new study in JAMA Psychiatry suggests that neurobiological differences may play an increasingly important role in individualizing treatment for depression.
Bangalore-based Achira Labs has figured out a way to hand weave diabetes test strips from silk in India, where weavers who can work a handloom are abundant and the material is readily available and inexpensive.

National

The pesticide chlorpyrifos—used on corn, soybeans, fruit and nut trees—may pose health risks to workers who mix and apply it, and may contaminate drinking water, according to a new EPA report.
Two major US cancer science and treatment groups call for more regulation of e-cigarettes and more research into vaping’s health effects.
Despite what Americans might think, the US actually ranks pretty badly on the Commitment to Development Index, a measure of global poverty eradication efforts, recently published by the Center for Global Development.

Illinois/Chicago

KCBX Terminals, a firm controlled by industrialists Charles and David Koch, announced Tuesday that it will build a $120 million structure to enclose towering mounds of the dusty harmful refinery byproduct petroleum coke, despite Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s vow and efforts to rid Chicago of it.
Illinois is now accepting petitions to expand the list of medical conditions that qualify for treatment with marijuana, though officials have yet to name the board that will decide the issue.
In these frosty temperatures, do you ever wonder those the CTA heat lamps actually help make you warmer? A Chicago Tribune article explores the issue.

Northwestern

Dr. June K. Robinson, a professor of dermatology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, is quoted in a New York Times article of the harmful effects of indoor tanning.

Cover Photo by Tookapic via Pexels: Creative Commons