American journal of public health
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We investigated increases in diarrheal illness detected through syndromic surveillance after a power outage in New York City on August 14, 2003. ⋯ Diarrhea may have resulted from consumption of meat or seafood that spoiled after the power outage. Syndromic surveillance enabled prompt detection and systematic investigation of citywide illness that would otherwise have gone undetected.
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Product and marketing innovation is key to the tobacco industry's success. One recent innovation was the development and marketing of flavored cigarettes as line extensions of 3 popular brands (Camel, Salem, and Kool). ⋯ Several policy initiatives have aimed at banning or limiting these types of products on that basis. We describe examples of the products and their marketing and discuss their potential implications (including increased smoking experimentation, consumption, and "someday smoking"), as well as their potential impact on young adults.
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Health impact assessment (HIA) methods are used to evaluate the impact on health of policies and projects in community design, transportation planning, and other areas outside traditional public health concerns. At an October 2004 workshop, domestic and international experts explored issues associated with advancing the use of HIA methods by local health departments, planning commissions, and other decisionmakers in the United States. Workshop participants recommended conducting pilot tests of existing HIA tools, developing a database of health impacts of common projects and policies, developing resources for HIA use, building workforce capacity to conduct HIAs, and evaluating HIAs. HIA methods can influence decisionmakers to adjust policies and projects to maximize benefits and minimize harm to the public's health.
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Historical Article
Popular health education and propaganda in times of peace and war in Mexico city, 1890s-1920s.
Health education and propaganda acquired importance during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Mexico City, as physicians, hygienists, and schoolteachers attempted to teach the principles of public health to a culturally and socially heterogeneous urban population. I explore the organization of the Popular Hygiene Exhibition of 1910 and the importance of health education before and after the armed phase of the Mexican Revolution, and why children and the indigenous populations became the main recipients of health education programs.
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We compared differences in mental health needs and provision of mental health services among residents of Santiago, Chile, with private and public health insurance coverage. ⋯ The health reforms that have encouraged the growth of the private health sector in Chile also have increased risk segmentation within the health system, accentuating inequalities in health care provision.