Swine Flu Controversies May 1, 2009
Posted by Katelyn Mack in Discrimination, Economics, Harvard School of Public Health.add a comment
As swine flu (H1N1) has spread throughout the United States we have increasingly heard conversations about closing the border with Mexico and other extreme measures for controlling the emerging epidemic. While government officials have assured the American public that closing the border is akin to “trying to close the door after the horse has left the barn,” there is still anxiety over where cases will emerge and how serious it will be.
This outbreak has brought out the best and the worst in American politics. On one hand, officials have done an outstanding job reassuring Americans and fighting “fear tactics” propagated by some journalists (ahem…Sunday’s Washington Post front-page article). Local, state, and federal officials seem to be cooperating and collaborating to make sure resources reach those who need them.
On the other hand, web sites and talk radio hosts have revealed xenophobic reactions to this threat (are Michael Savage’s remarks really that surprising?). Calls to unnecessarily close borders seem like attempts to capitalize on a political opportunity to prevent immigration, rather than a true concern for Americans’ health.
At this time we must join together with Mexicans and government officials to prevent the spread of the flu and contain the epidemic. Dr. Julio Frenk, Dean of the Harvard School of Public Health and former Minister of Health in Mexico, has been a great champion of US-Mexico relations in this uncertain time.
Another interesting reaction to the “SWINE flu” has been the decision to slaughter thousands of pigs in Egypt. The minster of health, Hatem el-Gabaly, backs this approach and suggests that it will prevent the transmission of the virus from swine to humans. Unfortunately, this is likely to do anything to stop swine flu from spreading!
CNN suggests that the slaughter may be motivated by other public health concerns, and not just the threat of H1N1 flu. What stood out to me was how poor Christians are being singled out because of this policy. In a mostly Muslim nation, Christians tend to raise, feed, and eat pigs. With the new policy, officials are taking away their livestock without considering the socioeconomic effects. The UK’s TimeOnline reported on the recent uprising of the large Coptic Christian minority in Egypt.
As the H1N1 (swine) flu epidemic develops we hope to examine closely some of these social and political factors that emerge.
What Do You Think?
What have you seen or heard about swine flu that has surprised or confused you? Do you think that an infectious disease like swine flu can intersect with social determinants of health?
Wait…smoking is bad?? April 24, 2009
Posted by Michelle Lugalia in Harvard School of Public Health.1 comment so far
Its been several years since Boston, Massachusetts banned public smoking anywhere indoors after which several states followed suit. Now, civilians no longer have to worry about smelling musty and smoky after a night of in-house clubbing or drinking at the local bar. Since then those who chose to continue this scientifically frowned upon habit were banished outdoors; in some instances they were banned several feet away from the entrances of those spaces. This effort has been the result of many years and dollars spent fighting the big bad tobacco industry and exposing them for the vultures that they are!
I pity the fool!
From a social determinants perspective, this is a laudable initiative that legally mandates public institutions to intervene on mass populations’ behaviors to prevent adverse health outcomes by limiting where they can inhale and exhale tobacco. Take that prevention paradox! At this point in our lives there is hardly any research out there that disputes the fact that smoking cigarettes/tobacco is indeed very bad for our bodies and our health.
So, why was I annoyed when I first noticed the colorful anti-smoking campaign shrouding the Harvard School of Public Health and the Medical School campus telling me to do it for my smile? Is it because I doubt that anyone in these two buildings does not know that smoking is bad for your health? Is it because its been hammered into our heads and in some of our dreams in different forms and detail since we first took our core classes? I haven’t done any barefoot epidemiology but I can take a wild guesstimate and conclude from personal witness that compared to other campuses, most of the folks who walk past the Kresge courtyard or the Countway Library probably don’t smoke and if they do, (and I saw one defiantly or absent mindedly smoking right by one of the signs…I chuckled) do so very aware of the physiological effect of their habit on their health. So why was I annoyed?
The other night I had to walk over several steps to Mass Art for I-night rehearsals and the answer wafted into my lungs in the form of second hand smoke. All of a sudden I looked around me and here student #1 sparking up, there #2 inhaling, yonder #3 squashing one before entering the building and here #4 waiting at the bus stop while …you guessed it! Mass Art’s got HSPH beat so far 4- 0! Oh the Irony! So who in this case needs the intervention?
Who will save the congregation if the pastor keeps preaching to the choir? Comments are most welcome!
**For the record, the goal of the campaign seems to be to make us a 100% smoke free campus. I have no idea whose responsible for the actual campaign, a google search on the school website churned no answers…so pierce my ignorance with some knowledge if you can…
