The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) declared a public health emergency in the Montana towns of Libby and Troy on June 17, 2009. An investigation into the alarming rate of asbestos-related illnesses in the town is what prompted the announcement. Libby is the site of the largest vermiculite deposit in the world and and produced around 80% of the world's vermiculite, the vermiculite was contaminated with tremolite asbestos, well known as a cause of Mesothelioma. Based on a rigorous re-evaluation of the situation on the ground, The EPA will move aggressively on the cleanup efforts and protect the health of the people. $130 million will be spent by the government on asbestos cleanup efforts and also to improve the community health care system for those with asbestos-related illnesses. Approximately $125 million will come from the EPA over the next five years to clean up both Libby and Troy. An extra $6 million will be spent by the Health and Human Services Department (HSS) on medical assistance.
Recently in epidemiology Category
The New York Times reports, "Contrary to the popular assumption that the new swine flu pandemic arose on factory farms in Mexico, federal agriculture officials now believe that it most likely emerged in pigs in Asia, but then traveled to North America in a human." However, "they emphasized that there was no way to prove their theory and only sketchy data underpinning it." Officials note the lack of evidence that the virus "has ever circulated in North American pigs, while there is tantalizing evidence that a closely related 'sister virus' has circulated in Asia." Dr. Amy L. Vincent, a swine flu specialist at the Department of Agriculture, said, "The most likely scenario is that it came over in the mammalian species that moves most freely around the world," people.
A new study by Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) researchers contradicts the conventional wisdom that living near a fast food outlet increases weight in children and that living near supermarkets, which sell fresh fruit and vegetables as well as so-called junk food, lowers weight. The IUPUI investigators in economics, pediatrics, geography and urban planning compared children's weights over time before and after one of these food purveyors moved near the childrens' residences. Living near a fast food outlet had little effect on weight and living near a supermarket did not lower it. Comment: One more study contradicting a long held belief by many behaviorists.
One more example of congress being bought out by commercial interests is the new Tobacco Bill passing oversight on tobacco use to the FDA. Meanwhile, yesterday, Fitch Ratings, a Chicago-based industry and market analysis firm issued a report in which it concluded that the FDA tobacco legislation will "revitalize" the tobacco industry and enable it to more successfully sell its products. In this report they focus on what is probably the most damaging part of the new FDA/Tobacco bill from a public health perspective -- the section that encourages cigarette manufacturers to manufacture and market "Potentially Reduced Exposure Cigarettes" with absolutely no scientific proof that the "reduced exposure" will reduce risk. This scientifically-unfounded gift to the cigarette makers, combined with the de-facto ban on all new truly reduced risk products should assure high levels of cigarette sales and continuation of high cigarette-related death rates for decades to come.. Comment: despite backing from the AMA and APHA this is not a bill that supports the Public's health. Both these organizations are politically naïve except when it comes to their bottom line.
WHO-GENEVA -- Malaria deaths reported from health facilities in Zambia have declined by 66%. This result along with other supporting data indicates that Zambia has reached the 2010 Roll Back Malaria target of a more than 50% reduction in malaria mortality compared to 2000. Rwanda, United Republic of Tanzania, and Sao Tome and Principe are the other African countries who have achieved major reductions in malaria mortality through accelerated malaria control activities. The decline in Zambia was especially steep after 3.6 million long-lasting insecticidal nets were distributed between 2006 and 2008. During this period malaria deaths declined 47% and nationwide surveys showed parasite prevalence declined 53% from 21.8% to 10.2% and the percentage of children with severe anemia declined 68% from 13.3% to 4.3%. Most moderate and severe anemia in children is caused by malaria. Also see today's editorial in the Lancet [Volume 373, Issue 9673, 25 April 2009-1 May 2009, Pages 1409-1411]
From SUNY-Buffalo Behavioral treatment works as well as drugs for children with ADHD and bypasses the risk of medication's side effects, a meta-analysis of 174 studies on ADHD treatment conducted at the University at Buffalo, has shown. The results, published in the March issue of Clinical Psychology Review, found that teaching parents and teachers how to respond when children do things the right way -- as well as when they display harmful or aggressive behavior -- is effective, and in some cases more effective, than medication for ADHD.
See this short video from the AMA.
For those of you interested in GIS applications for disease prevention take a look at this article in ScienceDaily today about the potential use of GIS in reducing malaria impact. This disease kills over a million people each year, mainly young children and pregnant women. The project shows that 2.4 billion people are at risk from the most deadly form of malaria, but highlights some promising news: three-quarters live in areas where risk is considered very low and the technical obstacles to malaria control are relatively small. However, the map shows that almost all of those living in areas of high transmission live in sub-Saharan Africa where the disease, death and disability burdens from P. falciparum malaria remain high.
The Center for a Livable Future (CLF) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has launched a web site to enable research on the critical links between agriculture and public health. The Agriculture & Public Health Gateway is a unique information resource for public health and agricultural professionals, advocacy and community organizations, policy makers, journalists, and educators. “Public health and agriculture are intricately linked, and there is a growing interest in the complicated connections between them,” said Dr. Robert Lawrence, director of the Center for a Livable Future. “The Gateway places important and reliable information about these connections in one central location and makes it easy to access. We hope all who are concerned about a sustainable food system and about improving the health of the public will benefit from this resource.” Comment: read the August 18 “ Loos for Livestock.”
Children living in the vicinity of powerful radio and television transmitters are not significantly more at risk of leukemia than others, according to a new German study. This is one of the main results of the Epidemiological study on childhood cancer and proximity to radio and television transmitters, conducted by the Institute for Medical Biometry, Epidemiology and Informatics (IMBEI) of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz on behalf of the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS).
The study included 1,959 children aged 0-14 years, diagnosed with primary leukemia between 1984 and 2003, living in the surrounding of 16 amplitude-modulated (AM) and 8 frequency-modulated (FM) transmitters (UKW-/TV-transmitters). The leukemia cases were registered at the German childhood cancer registry. Three age-, gender-, and transmitter area-matched controls per case were drawn from population registries. The study design was defined as case-control study without conducting interviews. Comment: This anxiety fueled by activists has been around for more than 30 years. 20+ years ago, when I was state health commissioner, the department of health had to report annually on the dangers of transmission towers to the General Assembly. Despite all the data we gathered from around the world showing this was a non-event, politicians still keep looking for a cause célèbre!
