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Think Global Health

U.S. Pandemic Performance and Contraceptive Needs for Women Living With HIV

May 12, 2023

 

Editor's Note

The U.S. COVID-19 national emergency expired on Thursday. After 1.1 million reported deaths and 6 million hospitalizations, the emergency's end creates a moment to consider how the United States could have done better. We do that with a new data interactive examining one U.S. state that consistently did well in the pandemic—New Hampshire—and the factors that could explain its strong performance.   

Next, we turn to one of the biggest blind spots in public health, and interview Richard Yoast, former director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, on why so few philanthropies are seeking to curb excess drinking globally.  

Our next group of authors discusses the role community health workers play in promoting choice in reproductive health care for women. They highlight the story of one woman who received a health worker's support after she was diagnosed with HIV and how that support gave her the courage to inform her husband of her HIV status and start her family-planning journey.  

Looking to the future of waste management on U.S. military bases, our final author considers how waste-to-energy technology could replace burn pits, which contribute to high rates of pollution and have adverse health effects for humans and the environment.  

As always, thank you for reading. —Thomas J. Bollyky, Editor 

 

This Week's Highlights

GOVERNANCE

Image

Not All U.S. States Struggled Equally Against COVID-19 

by Thomas J. Bollyky, Emma Castro, Joseph L. Dieleman, and Isabella Turilli 

What the U.S. death toll would have looked like if every state had performed as well as New Hampshire   

Read this story

GOVERNANCE

Image

Alcohol: A Public Health Blind Spot      

by Ted Alcorn

Richard Yoast on alcohol consumption and how philanthropies could help curb excess drinking       

Read this story

GENDER

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Addressing Contraceptive Needs for Women Living With HIV    

by Preetika Banerjee, Ipsita Bhattacharjee, and Shalini Singh

How community health workers can help promote choice in reproductive health care 

Read this story

 

Stat of the Week

40 Percent

If every U.S. state had performed as well as New Hampshire, the United States would have had 505,624 fewer COVID-19 deaths between January 1, 2020, and July 31, 2022—a difference of more than 40 percent

Read this story

 

Recommended Feature

GOVERNANCE

Image

Waste-to-Energy for U.S. Military Bases 

by Ada Baser

A new technology that could replace burn pits in U.S. overseas military bases  

Read this story

 

What We're Reading

These Seven Radical Changes Would Fortify the United States Against the Next Pandemic (Washington Post)

A Tough COVID Challenge: Reinforcing Our Wall of Immunity (Medium)

Do Overdose Prevention Centers Work? First U.S. Study Seeks Answers. (Washington Post)

Degrowth In Japan (Noema)

 

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