U.S. sanctions have gutted Iran’s economy and health system. In a pandemic, that’s a global public health threat.
To Help Stem Coronavirus, Lift the Sanctions on Iran
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Public Health
Will the Coronavirus Kill Globalization?
The Spanish flu helped herald the collapse of the first wave of modern globalization. A century later, could the coronavirus do the same?
Bad Bugs: How the White House Is Stoking a World Public Health Crisis
Bad pathogens and bad policies go hand-in-hand.
Puerto Rico Confronts a New Hurricane Season — And Old Injustices
The disastrous impacts of Hurricane Maria were made by inequalities of race, income, and access to U.S. political power.
Peer-to-Peer Science: The Century-Long Challenge to Respond to Fukushima
More than two years after an earthquake and tsunami wreaked havoc on a Japanese power plant, the Fukushima nuclear disaster is one of the most serious threats to public health in the Asia-Pacific, and the worst case of nuclear contamination the world has ever seen....
War Is Not Good For You
Back in the 1960s, peace activists sported a bumper sticker that read: “War is not good for children and other living creatures.” In a way, that sums up Barry S. Levy and Victor W. Sidel’s War and Public Health, where 46 experts on everything from epidemiology to international law weigh in on the authors’ central premise: “War and militarism have catastrophic effects on human health and well being.”
The Case for an International Food Safety Agency
The recent swine flu scare provided the world with another example of the globalization of public health. The need for global institutions that can coordinate an international response to such emergencies has never been clearer. We also need to look more broadly at the weaknesses in the international public health system and how to solve them, as further epidemics are inevitable. While U.S. pork producers are hastening to get the word out — swine flu is not transmitted by eating pork! — food is also becoming increasingly globalized. And international food safety institutions aren’t currently up to the job of keeping the food supply safe.