A Conversation with Kaveh Khoshnood: Paths Through a Career in Global Health
BY CASSIE LIGNELLI Kaveh Khoshnood knows global health. He has been at the Yale School of Public Health since completing his MPH, working almost exclusively on HIV/AIDS and health among the most vulnerable populations in the US and worldwide. Even more remarkably, he has devoted his career to training the next generation of public health…
America’s Forgotten Cities: Public Health Crises in the Texas Colonias
BY ELI RAMI Texas is the second most populous state in the US. An economic powerhouse of the United States, if Texas were a sovereign nation it would rank as the fourteenth largest economy in the world.1 With a gross state product of over 1.6 trillion dollars in 2014, Texas has the second largest state…
Food Insecurity: In the “Salad Bowl of America”
BY CLAIRE CHANG Nicknamed the “salad bowl of America,” the Salinas Valley of Monterey County, California, reigns as one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. As a whole, Monterey County contributes significantly to America’s total annual vegetable production. For example, the county produces 61% of leaf lettuce, 57% of celery, 56% of…
The Unseen Consequences of War: Responding to Sri Lanka’s Mental Health Burden
BY OHVIA MURALEETHARAN Although many refer to Sri Lanka as a success story in achieving high health outcomes despite its low income, a crucial side of its past often remains unaddressed. An island country of only 25,300 square miles, Sri Lanka has a bloody history, full of war and ethnic conflict.1 After a brutal 50-year…
A Cultural Approach to Domestic Violence
BY MARISA LONDON In March 2016, the New York Times released an article titled “To Maintain Supply of Sex Slaves, ISIS Pushes Birth Control.” The article discussed the ways in which a corrupt interpretation of Islamic law, coupled with the various contraceptives supplied by modern medicine, allows for the group known as the Islamic State…
Dengue Fever: Endemic to Epidemic
BY SARAH SPAULDING Today, a bite from the wrong mosquito can cause severe fever, organ failure, and even death. No, this mosquito is not carrying malaria as you may have thought, it is carrying dengue. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), dengue fever is a viral infection carried by female mosquitoes of the species…
Republic of Korea: An Increased Response to a Decreased Fertility Rate
BY SUKRITI MOHAN In a world where we often worry about overpopulation, there are certain nations struggling to stimulate higher numbers of births. Concern about declining fertility and birth rates has risen drastically during the last few decades, and many worry that the decreased number of young residents will weaken the future labor force and…
North Dakota: The Decline of Rural Healthcare
BY MYLES ODERMANN In the past several decades, the population of rural America – particularly the Midwest – has seen a drastic decrease. This plummet in rural citizens has led to schools closing and local businesses failing due to lack of students, employees, and customers. Despite this steady decline of rural Midwest residents, the average…
Ireland: Restrictions on Abortion
BY ARIELA ZEBEDE Ireland has some of the strictest abortion laws in the world, only allowing abortion in order to save the life of the mother. The laws are unclear in some situations, however, sometimes leaving pregnant women trapped in situations that may damage their mental or physical health. Moreover, victims of rape and incest…
At The Helm: United States Foreign Policy and Reproductive Rights
BY AVIVA RABIN-COURT In January 1973, the United States Supreme Court passed Roe v. Wade. That case, a watershed decision, acknowledged a constitutional right to abortions and rejected a theory of personhood based on religious convictions, creating a more secular national policy.1 Roe v. Wade shifted the national understanding of abortion from a largely criminal…
Low-Cost Diagnostics: Advancements in Global Health
BY WEN YI LOW Imagine you are in a rural clinic in a Zimbabwe village. A child walks in with a fever. Such a fever could be a symptom of any one of a number of life-threatening infectious diseases. There is limited health infrastructure available. There is a lack of storage equipment, access to sophisticated…
Pakistan & Brazil: The Current Narrative of Healthcare Reform
BY MAHRUKH SHAHID Earlier this year, the Prime Minister (PM) of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, launched a state-run health insurance program called the Prime Minister’s Health Program (PMHP). The scheme initially targeted 15 districts, but PM Sharif quickly announced plans to expand PMHP to 23 districts and expressed hope that the program would soon become available…
Russia: The Sickness of a Nation
BY CHANEY KALINICH The probability that a 15-year-old boy in Russia will die before he reaches the age of 60 is greater than 40%.1 The ongoing health crisis in Russia presents a frightening picture of a nation’s leaders undermining its own citizens’ lives through neglect, corruption, and a quest for power. Russia is a wealthy…