Blogs - This Week In Public Health

Epi

SVI vs. ADI: What Public Health Practitioners Need to Know Since the CDC Removed SVI

TLDR; SVI and ADI overlap but measure different concepts: vulnerability vs deprivation Public health professionals often rely on composite indices to identify disadvantaged communities and guide interventions. Two prominent tools in this space are the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) and the Area Deprivation Index (ADI). Both indices measure socioeconomic and demographic disadvantage, but they were […]

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Communication

Beyond “Trust the Science”: How Public Health Must Relearn How to Engage Communities

Public health is facing a paradox. On the one hand, never before has scientific evidence played such a visible role in public life. During COVID-19, epidemiological models shaped national policy. Scientists became household names. Research moved at historic speed. On the other hand, trust fractured. Scientists were harassed. Communities disengaged. Evidence was reframed as ideology. […]

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Funding

NIH’s Unified Funding Strategy: Transparency Reform or Quiet Power Shift?

On February 23, 2026, leaders from across the National Institutes of Health (NIH) published a coordinated blog post in support of the agency’s new Unified Funding Strategy (UFS). The reform promises consistency, flexibility, and clearer decision-making across Institutes and Centers. It also eliminates one longstanding feature of NIH funding: paylines. For public health researchers, implementation […]

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Research

How Patient Activism is Transforming Medical Knowledge

Health worker Sandra Martinez is attending her first meeting with a newly formed patient advocacy group in her city. The discussion centers on the challenges patients face in getting their voices heard in medical research and on how they can contribute to reshaping health policies for chronic illnesses, such as long COVID. This setting underscores […]

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Commentary

How Health Systems Can Maintain a Commitment to Health Equity in 2026

In 2025, political and social shifts created real uncertainty for health systems committed to advancing health equity. Federal actions targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, funding rollbacks, and language changes have left many hospitals asking: Can we still do this work—and how? A new Innovation Report from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), “Maintaining […]

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Global

The Promising Role of Obesity Treatments in Public Health

Obesity remains one of the most pressing public health challenges globally, with far-reaching implications for both individual health and healthcare systems. Recent advances highlight the emerging role of innovative treatments in more effectively managing obesity. According to recent reports by the World Health Organization (WHO), there is a significant push for the broader use of […]

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Mental health

Towards Balanced Opioid Access: Navigating Pain Relief and Addiction

Imagine a bustling healthcare facility in a low-income country where clinicians tirelessly work to alleviate the suffering of patients experiencing severe pain. Their efforts are constrained by a severe shortage of opioids, crucial for palliative care. Contrast this with parts of North America, where healthcare providers grapple with an opioid addiction crisis fueled by oversupply. […]

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Climate

Cities’ Parks Ignoring The Noise Threat

On a sunny afternoon in Central Park, joggers glide along pathways, families enjoy picnics, and children chase after wayward soccer balls. A place of escape from the city’s din, but unnoticed by many, the sounds of nature get subtly masked by the cacophony of distant car horns and overhead planes. This scene begs the question: […]

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Policy

Navigating the Global Measles Outbreak: Challenges and Strategies in Public Health

The recent surge in measles cases globally highlights ongoing public health challenges and underscores the critical importance of vaccination campaigns. In 2026, various regions have reported significant outbreaks, reminiscent of prior epidemic trends, but with unique contemporary challenges and insights. Current Measles Outbreaks: A Global Perspective As of early 2026, countries such as the United […]

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Society

Children of Men: A a dark allegory for Public Health and Immigration

The playground stood in silence. Once, children filled this place with laughter and motion. Now, rust covered the slide, and the swings hung still in tall weeds. The sky above was dull and gray, as if even the weather had stopped expecting anything new. This is how collapse really looks. Not explosions. Just quiet abandonment. In Children of Men, this emptiness appears everywhere—schools without students, streets without futures. Public health is not just about preventing disease. It is about protecting continuity. When that continuity breaks, the world reflects it. Rust replaces renewal. Silence replaces hope.

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Funding

Insights on the Cost of Child Health Programs

Imagine a bustling community center where concerned parents gather to listen to a local health administrator discuss new approaches to child health. She talks passionately about the myriad of interventions being trialed across the country, aimed at boosting the well-being of school-aged children. But as she finishes, one parent raises an important question, ‘How do […]

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