"The very first canon of nursing … is this: to keep the air [the patient] breathes as pure as the external air, without chilling him.” —Florence Nightingale, c. 1850
Our #PublicHealth systems have learned nothing in 175 years
"A bold project to adopt a pandemic 'treaty' at this week’s World Health Assembly was shelved on Friday as 2 1/2 years of work ran into disagreements over sharing information about pathogens that cause pandemics and the technology used to fight them.
Experts say the best chance now to address pandemics at the assembly will be proposed changes to the WHO’s International Health Regulations, which were set up in 2004."
The CDC’s reported COVID wastewater levels by state show that viral activity is currently “Very High” in Hawaii and “High” in Utah, Wyoming, and Maine. Wastewater levels are “Low” or “Minimal” across all other reporting states and territories as of May 23
"The country's ambulance service is funded by Te Whatu Ora - Heath New Zealand and ACC, which fund about 82 percent of the service, at a cost of about $380 million a year.
The rest is made up through donations, and a part charge of $98 for patients transported by ambulance."
«"I had lots of people say, 'Who cares about the mammary glands? Why do you care about what happens if an influenza virus infects a breast?'" recalled the virologist [Dr. Alyson Kelvin].
"Well, I have a long list of reasons. But it was really hard to get more funding to understand the answers to those questions."»
"Amid ever-stricter regulation targeting cigarettes, big tobacco companies and new entrants have begun offering smoking alternatives such as vapes, which they say are aimed at adult smokers.
But the WHO and industry watchdog STOP said in a joint report these products are often marketed to youth, their design and fruity flavours appeal to children and young people are more likely to use them than adults in many countries."
"For years, oil refineries across the country have pumped out dangerous levels of benzene, a toxic chemical that can cause leukemia and other blood cancers.
But in a rare example of environmental progress, benzene emissions from nearly all of those refineries have recently plummeted due to strong federal regulations and oversight, according to a new analysis by a watchdog group."
"After The Markup first reported on how Ohlala regularly translated misleading far-right websites like The Gateway Pundit and Newsmax into Vietnamese, more than a dozen Vietnamese community members asked The Markup to dig further. They wanted to know why she was broadcasting in Vietnamese and why her videos were so heavily pro-Trump. Several community members also shared suspicions that she was a Russian agent..."
⭐ Last year's theme for our games was #criticalthinking because it's clear bad actors will continue to use mis/disinformation to influence and harm young people.
We'll do what we can to prevent this through the use of intentionally designed prosocial video games.
Here are some tips from our free game 'MushWhom?' for students
💡 Be Curious
💡 Be Questioning
💡 Be Open
The narrator (Critical Thinking Cat) shares these tips and how they apply both to the game & to real-life.
"Private equity firms owned more than 20% of the health-care companies that went bankrupt last year. The nonprofit Private Equity Stakeholder Project, which investigates multiple industries, said it spotted at least 17 such bankruptcies in 2023, compared with eight in 2019 and even fewer during the previous three years, marking a 112.5% increase over the last five years."
With private equity firms failing to find success in healthcare, and with rural hospitals unable to keep their doors open, now is perfect time for the US government to take the healthcare industry public.
Profit and healthcare don't mix. Scoop up the hospitals and clinics for pennies on the dollar and restore healthcare access to rural areas.
#IDMastodon#publichealth A longer flight duration is associated with a greater risk of #SARSCoV2 transmission (> 6 hours markedly increased risk (25X) . 😷 & sanitation based on travel duration may become important for air travel safety in future epidemics or pandemics
A reminder: epidemics and pandemics are expected to increase in frequency as the climate crisis advances [1] and as humans build deeper into wildlands [2].
So what do we do?
Address the climate crisis!
Embrace urbanism, controlled growth, and leave wildlands alone.
Push for infrastructure improvements for indoor air quality.
Push for better healthcare and sick leave policies.
Advocate for better funding for scientific research.
"When her doctor recommended that she not lift more than 25 pounds, her employer wouldn’t let her move temporarily to a role where she didn’t need to lift furniture, even though those roles were available, she said. She was forced to go on leave and then lost her job. Her marriage unraveled and she spent time after the birth in emergency housing."
It hurts to see the last few generalist FOSS conferences that had mask requirements cede that ground.
It's one thing to drop a requirement based on evidence, such as data showing that indoor air quality meets high standards. But, as far as I'm aware, that's not what's happening here.
I guess I just need to run more events of my own :blobcatlolsob:
(And, clearly, spend more time at Python events. There are so many with great Health and Safety policies!)