American journal of public health
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Twenty-five years after the eradication of smallpox, the ongoing effort to eradicate poliomyelitis has grown into the largest international health initiative ever undertaken. By 2004, however, the polio eradication effort was threatened by a challenge regularly faced by public health policymakers everywhere-misperception about the benefits and risks of vaccines. The propagation of false rumors about oral poliovirus vaccine safety led to the reinfection of 13 previously polio-free countries and the largest polio epidemic in Africa in recent years. With deft management of such challenges by local, national, and international health authorities, poliomyelitis, a disease that threatened children everywhere just 2 generations ago, could soon be relegated to history like smallpox before it.
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We evaluated the spatial accessibility of large "chain" supermarkets in relation to neighborhood racial composition and poverty. ⋯ Racial residential segregation disproportionately places African Americans in more-impoverished neighborhoods in Detroit and consequently reduces access to supermarkets. However, supermarkets have opened or remained open close to middle-income neighborhoods that have transitioned from White to African American. Development of economically disadvantaged African American neighborhoods is critical to effectively prevent diet-related diseases among this population.
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Review
A model designed to enhance informed consent: experiences from the HIV prevention trials network.
HIV prevention research in developing countries has resulted in increased attention to and discussion of ethical issues, particularly the issue of the quality of informed consent. We present a conceptual framework for an enhanced informed consent process, drawing on experiences garnered from domestic and international studies conducted by the HIV Prevention Trials Network, funded by the National Institutes of Health. This framework guides the development of an informed consent process designed to help ensure initial and continued comprehension of research participation, with an emphasis on HIV prevention research. Attention is focused at the individual and community levels and on 3 study phases: preenrollment, enrollment, and postenrollment.
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We examined the prevalence of work-related pain and injury and explored barriers to and experiences of reporting among workers. ⋯ The reasons for underreporting and the extent of claim denial warrant further investigation. Implications for worker health and the precise quantification of shifting costs to workers also should be addressed.
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We directly observed the prevalence of walking and bicycling (active commuting) to 8 randomly selected urban and suburban elementary schools. When school was used as the unit of analysis, only 5.0% of the students actively commuted to or from school across all observed trips. Active commuting was not affected (P >/=; 18) by school urbanization level, school socioeconomic status, time of day, day of week, weather conditions, or temperature. These results indicate a need for school- and community-based interventions.