Policing the Block: Pandemics, Systemic Racism, and the Blood of America

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 496-505
Author(s):  
Alyasah Ali Sewell

The Coronavirus Pandemic has altered the ways we use shared space fundamentally. Policymakers across the nation have enabled police to deploy the power of the state to limit unnecessary and dense usage of public spaces and private gatherings. Such social distancing policies are critical in flattening the pandemic curve of an effective and efficient airborne virus and lessening the public health burden of an already–strained health care system. Yet, the stickiness of systemic racism persists. Racial inequities underpin the facesgoverning the matrices of the pandemic, policing, and protests.

Health Policy ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 99 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Cleary ◽  
Sheetal Silal ◽  
Stephen Birch ◽  
Henri Carrara ◽  
Victoria Pillay-van Wyk ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 75 ◽  
Author(s):  
F.M. Patafio ◽  
S.C. Brooks ◽  
X. Wei ◽  
Y. Peng ◽  
J. Biagi ◽  
...  

Purpose The relative distribution of research output across cancer sites is not well described. Here, we evaluate whether the volume of published research is proportional to the public health burden of individual cancers. We also explore whether research output is proportional to research funding.Methods Statistics from the Canadian and American cancer societies were used to identify the top ten causes of cancer death in 2013. All journal articles and clinical trials published in 2013 by Canadian or U.S. authors for those cancers were identified. Total research funding in Canada by cancer site was obtained from the Canadian Cancer Research Alliance. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation coefficients were used to describe the relationship between research output, cancer mortality, and research funding.Results We identified 19,361 publications and 2661 clinical trials. The proportion of publications and clinical trials was substantially lower than the proportion of deaths for lung (41% deaths, 15% publications, 16% clinical trials), colorectal (14%, 7%, 6%), pancreatic (10%, 7%, 5%), and gastroesophageal (7%, 5%, 3%) cancers. Conversely, research output was substantially greater than the proportion of deaths for breast cancer (10% deaths, 29% publications, 30% clinical trials) and prostate cancer (8%, 15%, 17%). We observed a stronger correlation between research output and funding (publications r = 0.894, p < 0.001; clinical trials r = 0.923, p < 0.001) than between research output and cancer mortality (r = 0.363, p = 0.303; r = 0.340, p = 0.337).Conclusions Research output is not well correlated with the public health burden of individual cancers, but is correlated with the relative level of research funding.


2019 ◽  
Vol 188 (9) ◽  
pp. 1586-1594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Greenhalgh ◽  
Rebecca Schmidt ◽  
Troy Day

Abstract Highly active antiretroviral therapy has revolutionized the battle against human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS). From its current global rollout, HIV/AIDS morbidity and mortality has been greatly reduced, yet there exists substantial interest in the development of new therapies to further mitigate the HIV/AIDS health burden and to inhibit any fallout from the development of antiretroviral drug resistance. One potential intervention is the human pegivirus (HPgV). HPgV is not known to cause disease, and most remarkably it is shown to delay the progression of HIV to AIDS. However, the health benefit of increasing HPgV prevalence in the community of HIV-infected men remains unknown at the public health level. We evaluated the utility of HPgV biovaccination for mitigating the HIV/AIDS health burden using mathematical models. Importantly, our work considers the potential concern that HPgV will, itself, evolve to become disease-causing by permitting mutant disease-causing HPgV strains to potentially arise during treatment. Our findings show that HPgV biovaccination rates of 12.5%–50% annually could prevent 4.2–23.6 AIDS incidences and 3.3–18.8 AIDS deaths, and could save 2.9–18.6 disability-adjusted life years per 1,000 people. Together, these findings indicate that HPgV biovaccination could be an effective therapy for reducing HIV/AIDS morbidity and mortality, and thus warrants further exploration.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 505-520
Author(s):  
N�dia Kienen ◽  
Tha�s Dist�fano Wiltenburg ◽  
Lorna Bittencourt ◽  
Isabel C Scarinci

Abstract The purpose of this article is to describe the development of a theory-based, culturally and gender-relevant Community Health Worker (CWH)-led tobacco cessation intervention for low-income Brazilian women who augments the tobacco cessation program offered through the public health system using Intervention Mapping (IM). We began with the establishment of a network of representatives from different segments of society followed by comprehensive needs assessments. We then established a logical planning process that was guided by a theoretical framework (Social Cognitive Theory) and existing evidence-based tobacco cessation programs, taking into account socio-political context of a universal health care system. Given the gender-relevance of our intervention and the importance of social support in tobacco cessation among women, we chose an intervention that would be delivered within the public health system but augmented by CHWs that would be trained in behavior change by researchers. One of major advantages of utilizing IM was that decisions were made in a transparent and supportive manner with involvement of all stakeholders throughout the process. Despite the fact that this process is very taxing on researchers and the health care system as it takes time, resources and negotiation skills, it builds trust and promotes ownership which can assure sustainability.


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