The photo above is used with permission from vaping360.com/juul/juul-vapor-review.• • •The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has launched a campaign to discourage e-cigarette vaping. While it targeted all e-cigarette vaping, the campaign makes a powerful visual reference to Juul, a device that can be recharged in a computer USB drive and has been reported to be gaining popularity among youth, even though Juul Labs created it for adults who want to stop smoking. The HHS campaign depicts seemingly emotionless teenagers with USB ports where their mouths should be. The campaign is part of a long, successful history of fear-based campaigns that have effectively “denormalized” smoking. But, in the case of Juul, is it a new public health threat? Or is it a disruptive technology that threatens to make combustible tobacco products, which kill half of all smokers, obsolete? In short, could it help or hurt public health? HARM REDUCTION OR … [Read more...] about Juul: Why a trendy e-cig is causing a social – and public health – commotion
Graduate school of public health
Philadelphia’s health lags most big cities in America
A new resource available online is providing a look at the relative state of Philadelphia's health – and the diagnosis could be better. The City Health Dashboard, which is making available community-level health, social and economic data by zip code, allows comparison of individual cities to a 500-city average of the largest U.S. cities. For example, the dashboard for Philadelphia shows that:• Chronic absenteeism, defined as missing 15 or more days of class per school year, is much higher in Philadelphia public schools – 31.3 percent than the 500-city average 17.1 percent. • Nearly 37 percent of city children live in poverty, a figure 1.5 times greater than the 500-city average of 23.6 percent. • Violent crimes, including murder, aggravated assault, robbery and forcible rape, numbered 995.8 offenses per 100,000 population, while the national average was 511.2 offenses. • The number of deaths due to opioid overdose was 32.5 per 100,000 of population, … [Read more...] about Philadelphia’s health lags most big cities in America
2018 DC-area college graduation: Dates, times and locations
WASHINGTON — For college seniors and their loved ones, graduation marks the first page of an exciting new chapter. For the rest of the D.C. area, it can trigger migraine-level traffic headaches. Festivities are getting underway this weekend for several schools around the area — Howard, University, American University, Catholic University and the University of D.C. Graduates from Georgetown University, George Mason University, George Washington University and the University of Maryland walk the following weekend. Here’s a roundup of dates, times and locations for graduation events that may impact traffic. American University(Complete information is available on the American website.) Baccalaureate service (Kay Spiritual Life Center): Friday May 11, 4 p.m. School of Communication commencement ceremony (Bender Arena): Saturday May 12, 9 a.m. Kogod School of Business commencement ceremony (Bender Arena): Saturday May 12, 1:30 p.m. School of International Service … [Read more...] about 2018 DC-area college graduation: Dates, times and locations
The costs of child care around the world
Finding the right child care can be a frustrating -- and expensive -- process for parents around the world, from New York to Nairobi.Access to adequate child care for all has become a "global" need, said Shelley Clark, a demographer and professor of sociology at McGill University in Canada, who has studied child care and other family dynamics."We can think of iconic images like The Atlantic monthly cover of the mom carrying the kid in the briefcase to work and how absurd that's supposed to be to us, but then when we think of women in lower-income countries, you think of the mom selling goods at the market with a kid strapped to her back, and you think, 'Well, that's not a problem for her, because she can easily combine child care and work,' " Clark said."There's this perception out there that for the kinds of work that women do in lower-income countries, it's easier to combine child care and work," she said. "The fact is, it's quite challenging for these moms, also."Clark added that … [Read more...] about The costs of child care around the world
The Health 202: How a fringe idea to solve the opioid crisis turned mainstream
THE PROGNOSIS U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File) The idea that a someone who's not a medical professional could reverse deadly drug overdoses by injecting victims with an antidote was once fringe. Now it’s widely accepted – and got even stronger backing yesterday with a rare announcement from the U.S. surgeon general. Jerome Adams urged Americans to consider getting trained to administer naloxone, a drug used broadly by first responders that has proven highly effective in reversing opioid overdoses. The first advisory from a surgeon general in more than a decade – the last one, in 2005, was to warn pregnant women against imbibing – is the latest indication the Trump administration is trying to take on the opioid epidemic, which killed more than 42,000 people in 2016. “If you or someone you know is at risk for an overdose, carry and know how to use naloxone,” Adams said yesterday at the … [Read more...] about The Health 202: How a fringe idea to solve the opioid crisis turned mainstream