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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Canada: Obesity, Marissa Olson Jan 2018

Canada: Obesity, Marissa Olson

Global Public Health

Canada is a country with a relatively healthy population of approximately 37 million people. Canada has few major public health problems; however, Canada has experienced a rise of obesity in its population with a higher rise in the adult population than childhood. The male population is at a greater risk of becoming obese than the female population, and people 35 years old and over than below 35 years old. This brief discusses the effects of obesity, Canada’s interventions to obesity such as surgery, drugs, and healthier school lunches, and a possible new method of health counseling or more convenient healthier …


Cuba: Coronary Heart Disease, Michaela Loizzi Jan 2018

Cuba: Coronary Heart Disease, Michaela Loizzi

Global Public Health

Cuba has a strong health care system with universal health care for their citizens over 40 years old. Despite the strong health care system Cuba lacks the resources necessary to treat coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in the country. The country’s whole population is affected by coronary heart disease however the most affected is the lower class due unaffordable treatment. The primary causes of coronary heart disease includes their daily lifestyle such as, physical inactivity, diet, and excessive smoking. It is important to note that the major factors in Cuba leading to coronary heart disease are all …


Central African Republic: Malaria, Molly Buck Jan 2018

Central African Republic: Malaria, Molly Buck

Global Public Health

The Central African Republic faces many social, economic, and wellness issues. The malaria endemic faced by the country is a leading cause of death and impacts a high percentage of the population. Social and political unrest, stemming from government corruption unveiled in 2012, have contributed to current issues, though the country has been unstable since gaining independence from France in the 1960s. Anarchy and rebellion in the region have heightened issues of violence and lack of much needed resources such as food and medicine. Food shortages are seen in this already malnourished area, and violent outbreaks have overturned some medical …


Bulgaria: Brucellosis, Austin Wheeler Jan 2018

Bulgaria: Brucellosis, Austin Wheeler

Global Public Health

In this brief we will discuss how a disease called Brucellosis has affected the country of Bulgaria. Bulgaria is a European country located towards the South Eastern part of Europe. A few points mentioned in the brief are what the disease can do to your body, through education of the disease we can show what a serious problem it is. The brief will also cover how you can contract the disease through animals, and how you can prevent contraction from occurring. The brief also includes a lot about the religious background of the country. This should hopefully be used to …


Bahrain: Cardiovascular Disease, Sandra Morales Jan 2018

Bahrain: Cardiovascular Disease, Sandra Morales

Global Public Health

A beautiful island in the Arabian Gulf (Persian Gulf), east of Saudi Arabia, north of Qatar, Bahrain is home to over 1.5 million people. The diverse population consists of Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Asians, Africans, and so much more. Bahrain is a constitutional monarchy. The current commander of the Bahrain defense force is Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa. For the most part, Bahrainis have political freedoms. However, one major problem Bahrainis face, in particular men, is cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular disease accounted for 34% of deaths in 2002. It is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Bahrain. Obesity and inactivity …


The South Sudan: Tuberculosis, Blake Schwarz Jan 2018

The South Sudan: Tuberculosis, Blake Schwarz

Global Public Health

The South Sudan is a country that recently gained independence from the Sudan after a bloody twenty year civil war. They lost nearly two million lives during the war, and are now ravaged by Tuberculosis, or TB. After gaining their independence in 2011, the South Sudan has an average of 18,000 cases of TB at any time. This would consider TB in the South Sudan an endemic, as it always has a base level of TB cases that does not vary. There is medication for TB that is available to the citizens on the South Sudan, but the prescription is …


Tonga: Chronic Diseases, Muhammad Taimoor Jan 2018

Tonga: Chronic Diseases, Muhammad Taimoor

Global Public Health

Tonga is an Archipelago in the south Pacific Ocean, south of Samoa. The public health brief project is on chronic diseases in Tonga. The total population of Tonga was 107,122 in 2010. The Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga is the established religion in Tonga. Tongan’s make up the majority of the population but there are other ethnicities such as Euromericans and Europeans too. The major challenges faced by Tonga are decaying infrastructure, low economy, and political corruption. The widespread of non-communicable diseases such as cancer is a major health issue in Tonga. 74% of all adults in Tonga are the …


Rwanda: Hiv/Aids, Alissa Anderson Jan 2018

Rwanda: Hiv/Aids, Alissa Anderson

Global Public Health

Rwanda is a small country in Africa. Rwanda has had many conflicts within its borders with wars, genocide, and disease. One of Rwanda’s current threats is HIV/AIDS. This disease is spreading through its population, and making it easier for other diseases; such as hepatitis and tuberculosis, to spread as well. Rwanda is a country that is putting into effect many efforts to decrease its HIV/AIDS population by means of education, campaigns, and treatments regarding the disease. In this article, I use peer reviewed and reliable articles to show the past and current issues that Rwanda has to face with the …


Virgin Islands: Heart Disease, Dylan Hayden Jan 2018

Virgin Islands: Heart Disease, Dylan Hayden

Global Public Health

The Virgin Islands are located in the Caribbean. The arc of Caribbean islands begins off the coast of Florida and extends all the way to South America. When the Revised Organic Act of 1954 was established, the United States Congress declared the U.S. Virgin Islands to be an unincorporated territory of the United States. The Virgin Islands government consist of three branches that are known as Judicial, Executive , and Legislative branch. There are some major challenges in Virgin Islands. Some of them are: several hurricanes in recent years, frequent and severe droughts and floods, and occasional earthquakes. With that …


South Africa: Hiv/Aids, Ninna Therese P. Mendoza Jan 2018

South Africa: Hiv/Aids, Ninna Therese P. Mendoza

Global Public Health

South Africa is found in the southernmost part of the African continent. Over half of its 54.8 million people live in urban areas such as Johannesburg and Cape Town, which are the largest urban centers in the country. Some major challenges this country currently faces include the growing drug trade, border disputes, and racial tensions attributed to their history with the apartheid. When it comes to public health, one of their biggest challenges is the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which is currently the largest in the world. Although no cure exists yet, antiretroviral treatments (ARTs) have been highly successful for reducing transmission. …


Palau: Obesity, Tavia Weis Jan 2018

Palau: Obesity, Tavia Weis

Global Public Health

Located in the heart of the Western Pacific Ocean is a large group of small islands that make up the country of Palau. Known for its growing tourism, beautiful landscapes, and cultural beliefs. Although the country is developing, the current health issue of obesity is a growing concern. With almost half of the population obese and the other half in jeopardy, the rising concerns of the obesity epidemic have taken global news and brought the attention of major countries to try and fix these rising issues. This public health brief will discuss the problems of obesity in Palau and the …


Singapore : Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars), Dexter Lipps Jan 2017

Singapore : Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars), Dexter Lipps

Global Public Health

Singapore ranks as one of the healthiest countries in the world and its healthcare system has been regarded as one of the most efficient. While a minority of the population experience any chronic diseases such as diabetes or asthma, one illness, severe acute respiratory syndrome or SARS has been prevalent in the country since the global outbreak in 2003. SARS is a virus causing disease that is easily transmitted through the air. In 2003, Singapore, along with much of the world, saw a high rate of infection for the disease. An in depth look revealed that three women traveling home …


Madagascar : Plague In Madagascar, Matthew Donald Hesch Jan 2017

Madagascar : Plague In Madagascar, Matthew Donald Hesch

Global Public Health

This public health brief calls attention to a disease issue in the country Madagascar. We show reasons as to why Madagascar has such a problem with the plague and what they should do to solve the issue. Madagascar has many areas that are high poverty because of a political crisis and this results in the easy spread of the plague. We show that Madagascar needs an increase in funds so that they can get out of the political crisis and begin fixing the plague issue. I offer ideas on how Madagascar could use the extra funds to overcome the plague …


New Zealand : Mumps Outbreak, Kathryn Evans Jan 2017

New Zealand : Mumps Outbreak, Kathryn Evans

Global Public Health

The purpose of this Health Brief is to discuss the outbreak of mumps in New Zealand during the summer of 2017. The year saw more cases than the past sixteen years combined. The reason that New Zealand, a high-income country that generally does not struggle with communicable diseases, may be experiencing this outbreak is low vaccination rates in the 1990’s. It appears that there was a decline in coverage for the MMR immunization at this time due to several factors. These include a transition in the timing of the second dose of MMR, a change from four years to eleven …


Afghanistan : Tuberculosis, Emily Fulk Jan 2017

Afghanistan : Tuberculosis, Emily Fulk

Global Public Health

Afghanistan, a country in the Middle East, faces the epidemic of an infectious bacterial lung disease called Tuberculosis, or TB. Tuberculosis is fairly easy to spread, as the bacteria that causes it are spread from one person to another through tiny droplets released into the air via coughs and sneezes. Despite the widespread amounts of individuals affected with TB, it is known to be easily curable using a six month treatment. And so public health officials have implemented a program called DOTS, or Directly Observed Treatment Short Course in Kabul City to test the effectiveness of this treatment. The DOTS …


Puerto Rico : Zika Virus, Rachel Cybulski Jan 2017

Puerto Rico : Zika Virus, Rachel Cybulski

Global Public Health

Puerto Rico has had an epidemic of Zika virus within the past few years. Considering the close distance to America, the U.S. has been up-to-date in stopping the spread of Zika from Puerto Rico to the states. In 2016 particularly, the United States declared Puerto Rico to be in a state of emergency due to the heavy presence of the virus. Although this specific outbreak has been terminated, the likelihood of another such occurrence is high, so it is important to learn about the effects of Zika and ways to prevent the spread. The major result of having the virus …


Chad : Hepatitis E, Hanna Pegarsch Jan 2017

Chad : Hepatitis E, Hanna Pegarsch

Global Public Health

Contaminated drinking water in Chad is the main source for a Hepatitis E outbreak, leading Chad citizens to develop severe illness including jaundice, liver-failure, miscarriage, and death. There are 0.4 physicians for every 10,000 people living in Chad needing healthcare. Of the citizens in Chad, only 42% have access to uncontaminated drinking water. With such a long incubation period for Hepatitis E, the citizens don’t know they are spreading the illness to the rest of their community. Even with the symptoms, the citizens don’t have the access or the capacity for treatment, making Hepatitis E an epidemic in Chad.


Ecuador : The Epidemics, Anna Thoma Jan 2017

Ecuador : The Epidemics, Anna Thoma

Global Public Health

Ecuador currently has many epidemic diseases. This research focuses in on the zika virus and how it has been impacting the population. It also covers the greater impact zika has on pregnant women.


Liberia : Maternal Health & Ebola, Chelsey Hernandez Jan 2017

Liberia : Maternal Health & Ebola, Chelsey Hernandez

Global Public Health

Throughout the world, many low-income countries suffer from poor nutrition, lack of health resources, and little to no access to other valuable resources. Previous research has demonstrated the poor state of health in Liberia as a result of these various socioeconomic factors. Although Liberia faces many public health issues, the 2014 Ebola epidemic reversed whatever progress was made. Maternal and child health in particular has severely decreased, especially in recent years. This brief focuses on the impact of the 2014 Ebola epidemic had on maternal health.


Ukraine : Papillary Thyroid Cancer, Elizabeth Paris Jan 2017

Ukraine : Papillary Thyroid Cancer, Elizabeth Paris

Global Public Health

Ukraine is a middle- to low- income country run by a semi-presidential republic, after the banning of the Communist party in the early 1990's. While the nation faces various internal and external challenges, including unemployment rates and war with Russia, Ukraine also continues to face a major public health issue that originated in the 1980's. In 1986, an explosion was triggered at the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine. The explosion released radioactive iodine into the ground, water, and air, and it was discovered soon after that this had a long-lasting effect on health. It has been observed that rates …


Gabon : Hiv/Aids, Amanda Lindau Jan 2017

Gabon : Hiv/Aids, Amanda Lindau

Global Public Health

Gabon is a country in West Africa that has a population of 1.8 million and is a relatively poor nation. It has had quite a few public health and political problems in the last couple of years. These problems include water and electricity shortages along with HIV/AIDS. HIV seems to be one of the biggest public health problems in Gabon at this moment. There is quite a bit of the population that is living with this virus. However, there are many people that are living with this virus but either do not understand the severity of it or just do …


Vietnam : Dengue Fever, Brittany Hatlestad Jan 2017

Vietnam : Dengue Fever, Brittany Hatlestad

Global Public Health

This brief covers political structure, internal challenges, and external challenges in Vietnam, as well as epidemiology, identification, intervention, challenges, and suggestions regarding dengue fever throughout Vietnam. Dengue fever, a mosquito-borne viral disease, is a leading cause of illness and death in tropical and subtropical countries. Climate variability and change has significantly increased the vector population in Vietnam, and the effects are most significant in peri-urban/rural urban areas. Dengue-related signs include flu-symptoms, leading to undiagnosed dengue fever. The citizens of Vietnam encounter challenges including lack of quality public health insurance and care, extremely high cost of treatment, prime environment for vectors, …