Public health reports
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Public health reports · Jul 2020
A Rapid Review of the Impact of Systems-Level Policies and Interventions on Population-Level Outcomes Related to the Opioid Epidemic, United States and Canada, 2014-2018.
In the United States, rising rates of overdose deaths and recent outbreaks of hepatitis C virus and HIV infection are associated with injection drug use. We updated a 2014 review of systems-level opioid policy interventions by focusing on evidence published during 2014-2018 and new and expanded opioid policies. ⋯ Although robust PDMPs and marijuana laws are promising, they do not target all outcomes, and multipronged interventions are needed. Future research should address marijuana laws, harm-reduction interventions, health insurer policies, patient/health care provider education, and the effects of simultaneous interventions on opioid-related outcomes.
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Public health reports · May 2018
Naming Institutionalized Racism in the Public Health Literature: A Systematic Literature Review.
Although a range of factors shapes health and well-being, institutionalized racism (societal allocation of privilege based on race) plays an important role in generating inequities by race. The goal of this analysis was to review the contemporary peer-reviewed public health literature from 2002-2015 to determine whether the concept of institutionalized racism was named (ie, explicitly mentioned) and whether it was a core concept in the article. ⋯ Although institutionalized racism is recognized as a fundamental cause of health inequities, it was not often explicitly named in the titles or abstracts of articles published in the public health literature during 2002-2015. Our results highlight the need to explicitly name institutionalized racism in articles in the public health literature and to make it a central concept in inequities research. More public health research on institutionalized racism could help efforts to overcome its substantial, longstanding effects on health and well-being.
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Public health reports · May 2012
Review Historical ArticleReturn of epidemic dengue in the United States: implications for the public health practitioner.
Conditions that facilitate sustained dengue transmission exist in the United States, and outbreaks have occurred during the past decade in Texas, Hawaii, and Florida. More outbreaks can also be expected in years to come. ⋯ Public health, medical, and vector-control communities must collaborate to prevent and control disease spread. Policy makers should understand the role of mosquito abatement and community engagement in the prevention and control of the disease.
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Public health reports · Sep 2005
ReviewThe first decade of the Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program.
This article provides a comprehensive overview of the first decade of the Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program (MTCP). Born after Massachusetts passed a 1992 ballot initiative raising cigarette excise taxes to fund the program, MTCP greatly reduced statewide cigarette consumption before being reduced to a skeletal state by funding cuts. The article describes the program's components and goals, details outcomes, presents a summary of policy accomplishments, and reviews the present status of MTCP in the current climate of national and state fiscal crises. The first decade of the MTCP offers many lessons learned for the future of tobacco control.
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Public health reports · Jul 2000
ReviewSoft drink "pouring rights": marketing empty calories to children.
Healthy People 2010 objectives call for meals and snacks served in schools to contribute to overall diets that meet federal dietary guidelines. Sales in schools of foods and drinks high in calories and low in nutrients undermine this health objective, as well as participation in the more nutritious, federally sponsored, school lunch programs. ⋯ Lucrative contracts between school districts and soft drink companies for exclusive rights to sell one brand are the latest development in the increasing commercialization of school food. These contracts, intended to elicit brand loyalty among young children who have a lifetime of purchases ahead of them, are especially questionable because they place schools in the position of "pushing" soft drink consumption. "Pouring rights" contracts deserve attention from public health professionals concerned about the nutritional quality of children's diets.