Like many — if not most — of her public health colleagues nationwide, Virginia St. Jean is strapped for time and funding. But when the San Francisco-based chemist saw a chance to inject new energy into a fundamental public health goal — keeping the places people work and live healthy and safe — she jumped at the opportunity. That opportunity was the burgeoning "green" movement, a growing national discussion about how individual, business and workplace practices impact environmental sustainability, a changing climate and community health.
With new federal findings bolstering concerns about shrinking ranks of primary care physicians, advocates are looking to critically underbudgeted programs that — if properly funded — could help prevent a widening of the health care gap.
The debate over how to fix the nation’s health care system is heating up as U.S. presidential candidates tout their health reform plans to an electorate that seems eager for change. But while Americans are asking for reform, there is little agreement on how to achieve it.
In a major victory for public health, a U.S. court of appeals in February ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency violated federal law by allowing power plants to sidestep stringent rules on mercury pollution.
Regional meetings are being held across the nation this spring to gather input for what will become the Healthy People 2020 objectives for health prevention and disease promotion.
Only 12 percent of U.S. children with hearing loss use hearing aids, and one out of five parents say they are unable to afford hearing assistance devices, according to a recent study released by the Better Hearing Institute.
Flu cases across the country climbed dramatically in recent months, and health officials say a mismatched flu vaccine formula is at least partly the reason.
The current state of U.S. Food and Drug Administration science programs is putting the nation’s public health at risk, according to a year-long review by a subcommittee of the agency’s own Science Board.
Faith–based and community organizations can play a role in preventing diabetes among black Americans through a new prevention program.
Federal officials are working to address the safety of mobile homes and trailers on the U.S. Gulf Coast after finding high formaldehyde levels in those used as emergency housing in the region.
Briefs on motorcycle helmet safety, obesity, patient safety and HIV/AIDS.