Public Health Institute

Lead is linked to a wide range of neurological and development problems, and exposure is especially dangerous for children. And while we’re all at risk from lead, it's not an equal risk: Children in low- and middle-income countries have average blood lead levels roughly three times higher than those in high-income countries, based on the available national data. While one in three children worldwide have dangerously high amounts of lead in their blood, the share is closer to one in every two children in the developing world. #KidsHealth #LeadPoisoning #EnviroHealth #EnvironmentalHealth #PublicHealth #GlobalHealth #HealthEquity

A new analysis of health inequities in the United States shows that every state has deep racial and ethnic disparities in the performance of their health care systems -- with dramatic disparities for Black, Hispanic and Indigenous Americans. It also found that health disparities experienced by different racial and ethnic groups were not universal, but differed by state. The “findings shine light through the many holes in the U.S. health care system, especially for those who have brown or Black skin,” said Siobhan Wescott, an Alaska Native physician and professor of American Indian health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, who was not involved in the new report. “It’s time to reconsider our priorities or reports like this will be commonplace.” #HealthEquity #PublicHealth #HealthDisparities

According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, an annual average of 21.5 million people have been forcibly displaced, on average, each year since 2008 by weather-related events such as floods, storms, wildfires, and extreme temperatures. “Each of these statistics is a man, woman, or child whose life has been destroyed, who has lost home, family, and friends. Said goodbye — perhaps forever — to relatives who are too old or sick to make an arduous journey to safer locations,” said UN commissioner Filippo Grandi. #ClimateChange #Displacement #PublicHealth #HealthEquity #ClimateChangesHealth

Of all the factors that affect health, how does the infrastructure of our environments -- from the food we eat to the technology we use every day -- have an impact, and how can it be reimagined with health and well-being as explicit design goals? #ICYMI -- Steve Downs joined The Other 80 podcast earlier this year to discuss how PHI's Building H is helping companies and designers re-engineer products and “product environments” so they improve rather than harm health--https://lnkd.in/gyEjNAci #ProductEnvironments #HealthImpact #HumanDesign

Gun violence, including homicides, suicides and unintentional injuries, is the leading cause of death among American children and teens, ages 1-19, according to the CDC. Last year, 1,682 children and teens were shot and killed and 4,512 were injured — excluding the number of gun related suicides. "It's a devastating thing to do, to lose a child for something that has been caused by guns," said Dr. Mikael Petrosyan, a pediatric surgeon at the Children's National Hospital. "It's not an accident. It was totally preventable in many ways." #GunViolence #PublicHealth #KidsHealth

While children with sickle cell anemia—the most common form of sickle cell disease—are vulnerable to serious infections and stroke, many don’t receive the antibiotics or annual ultrasounds that national guidelines suggest could keep them healthier. That's according to a new study that uses data from California and Georgia’s Sickle Cell Data Collection programs. Only about 1 in 5 children took the recommended twice-daily doses of antibiotics to prevent infections, and about half got annual ultrasounds to flag any risk for stroke, according to a comparison of the states' Medicaid claims data from 2010 to 2019. PHI's Susan Paulukonis, project investigator for the California Sickle Cell Data Collection Program, an initiative of PHI’s Tracking California, is one of the study's authors. #SickleCell #ChildrenAndYouth #Research #TrackingCA

PHI’s Together Toward Equity (TTE) Fellowship strengthens community leadership and organizational impact by investing in an effective, sustainable and equity-focused public health infrastructure for the future. TTE Fellow Arturo Rodriguez, a community leader with Central Valley Empowerment Alliance, shares how the TTE Fellowship presents an opportunity to amplify his impact of bringing about positive change in his communities by better understanding his own leadership style—helping him to champion community building, self-sufficiency, youth leadership and improved health outcomes for farmworkers and rural communities. "I was drawn to the prospect of acquiring new tools and knowledge that could be harnessed to bring about positive change in my communities. This experience is not just about personal growth; it’s about enriching my ability to contribute meaningfully to the well-being of those I serve." #HealthEquity #CommunityLeaders #LeadershipDevelopment

In the U.S., one in six African American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, compared to one in eight White men. African American men are also twice as likely to die from the disease when compared to White men—but the underlying causes remain unclear. The RESPOND Study, a large scale partnership from PHI's Cancer Registry of Greater California and other cancer registries across the country, examines the impacts of systemic racism, genetic predisposition, access to healthcare, tumor characteristics and other factors. "If the funding [for the Cancer Registry] went away then we would not have the opportunity to share and have the RESPOND study follow the men the way that they do to eventually come up with a resolve," said Freddie Muse, Jr., a two-time prostate cancer survivor and advocate who helps recruit study participants. Read the full impact story -- https://lnkd.in/gpy-szKJ #Cancer #CancerResearch #HealthEquity

For decades, Black families and reproductive justice advocates have been sounding the alarm on maternal deaths and inequities in pre- and post-natal care. In the U.S., Black women experience maternal mortality two to three times higher than that of white women. As of 2021, the estimated national maternal mortality rate is about 32.9 per 100,000 live births––but it is about 69.9 per 100,000 live births for Black women. Across the country, community advocates, researchers, midwives, doulas and doctors are studying interventions that can protect Black families through pregnancy, birth and beyond. One solution: Diversify the medical workforce so that patients have increased access to more Black doctors and nurses. #BlackMaternalCare #MaternalMortality #Doulas #Medicine #PublicHealth #HealthEquity