American Journal of Public Health Podcast

Hello and welcome to AJPH February 2018 podcast. This month we will be discussing the very worrisome epidemic of hepatitis C occurring in the United States. I first review with Professor Kimberly Page from the University of New Mexico how likely it is that, in a foreseeable future, the epidemic of hepatitis C could be controlled by a vaccine. Then the CDC epidemiologist Alice Asher explains why the epidemic is exacerbated by another epidemic of injection drug use, in particular of opioids, and why it is affecting young, non Hispanic white populations in the Appalachian region. And with Dr John Wong, clinical decision maker from Tufts University, we discuss how the availability of effective treatments may have transformed the prognosis of newly infected persons.

Regional Editor of AJPH, Professor Stella Yu, reviews some articles recently published in AJPH, including: Evolution of Public Health Emergency Management From Preparedness to Response and Recovery, PH and despair in the American heartland, Legacies of the Bolshevik Revolution, The Changing Pattern of Nutrition Intake by Social Class in Contemporary China, 1991–2011 (including a summary by Dr Zhun Xu, Changes in Sugar-Sweetened Soda Consumption, Weight, and Waist Circumference: 2-Year Cohort of Mexican Women, Autism Spectrum Disorder Among US Children (2002–2010): Socioeconomic, Racial, and Ethnic Disparities, and Shade Sails and Passive Recreation in Public Parks of Melbourne and Denver: A Randomized Intervention.

Este mes hablamos con el Profesor Carlos Rodríguez-Díaz de la Escuela Graduada de Salud Pública de la Universidad de Puerto Rico en San Juan. Hablamos de la situación de la salud publica en Puerto Rico dos meses y medio después que los huracanes Irma y María devastaron las islas del archipiélago.

The hurricanes and wildfires are announcing a new normal in public health: a time in which natural disasters occur and recur regularly, most likely at an accelerating pace. With my guests I review what it is to be victim of a hurricane, what can be done to prevent some of the humanitarian and environmental consequences, and what can be done after the disaster to rebuild often poorly built communities the right way. Th last interview is about whether and how this new public health normal is linked to climate change. My interviewees are: Tara Zolnikov, Carlos Rodrigues-Díaz, Maureen Lichtveld, Reed Tuckson, and Alistair Woodward.

What is the role of public parks in the prevention of skin cancer and many chronic health conditions? How can we build parks that promote skin protection and physical activity? I discuss these questions with Dr Robert Zarr, from ParkRXAmerica, Dr Dave Buller, who publishes a randomized intervention study in AJPH, aimed at establishing whether building sails providing shade in parks increases the use of parks, and with Professor Carolyn Heckman, expert in skin cancer prevention.

Este mes hablamos con el Doctor Martin Lajous del Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica de México, en Cuernavaca. Dr Lajous es el Co-Investigador Principal del Estudio de la Salud de las Maestras en México Y publica con sus co-autores un análisis de la asociación entre consumo de refrescos azucarados y peso en mujeres mexicanas. Hablamos de cómo estos resultados pueden influenciar la decisión del gobierno mexicano de crear un impuesto sobre la bebidas azucaradas para reducir el consumo y luchar contra la obesidad.

With my guests, who conduct research in Russia, we review the evolution of access to abortion and contraception, the magnitude and treatment of drug addition, and the policy towards tobacco smoking in the USSR, created 100 years ago, and in Russia today. Interviewees are Michele Rivkin-Fish is a cultural anthropologist, Trish Starks, a historian, and historian Nikolai Krementsov who, with AJPH history Editor, Ted Brown, curated this special section.

Regional Editor of AJPH, Professor Stella Yu, reviews some articles recently published in AJPH, including: APIA Health Forum comments on national data collection on Asians. Paul-Ram comments on oversampling of Asians in NHANES. Doering – air mattress and infant suffocation. Chinese researchers paper to compare consumption of carbonated soft drinks among young adolescents in 53 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). CARDOSO –Violence Against Women and Household Ownership of Radios, Computers, and Phones in 20 Countries. June supplement is devoted to oral health inequities. Completely open access. Abrogation of Sexual Orientation Question to Older Americans: Misstep or Homophobia? And more.

La esperanza de vida de los blancos americanos que viven en el campo al contrario de otras comunidades en los Estados Unidos o muchas otras partes del mundo disminuyó durante los diez últimos años. Desesperación de la clase obrera blanca? Hablamos de esto con María Mora, de la Universidad de Wisconsin, y con Ana Diez-Roux, de la escuela de salud publica de Filadelfia.

This month we tackle the decline in life expectancy of Whites living in rural regions of the US because of suicide, addiction to opioids, and alcohol. Is it despair generated by the stifled future of American white working class? My interviewees are Professors Beth Stein, Ana Diez-Roux and Associate Editor Paul Erwin.