Research Library

Though health education cost-effectively reduces the incidence, morbidity and mortality of chronic conditions such as obesity, currently there is no consistent, systematic method by which Americans are educated about their health. This paper discusses proven approaches to positively change poor behaviors such as overeating and a sedentary lifestyle — key factors that lead to obesity. Health problems related to obesity are thereby reduced, cutting health care costs.

Increasing evidence links the major neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) to a significant adverse impact on both human and economic development, especially for the major helminth infections, i.e., hookworm and the intestinal helminth infections, schistosomiasis and lymphatic filariasis. Helminth Elimination in the Pursuit of Sustainable Development Goals: A "Worm Index" for Human Development

Jennifer Herricks, postdoctoral fellow in disease and poverty, testified before the Texas House Committee on Public Health about a bill establishing a sentinel surveillance program for emerging and neglected tropical diseases.

Over the past 40 years, we have seen a consistent pattern of war and conflict leading to the collapse of public health systems and the subsequent reemergence of deadly tropical infections. "Outbreaks have undermined the health and livelihoods of individuals, the economic growth of communities, security and ultimately the development potential of nations," writes Peter Hotez, fellow in disease and poverty. "We may now be witnessing the beginnings of a similar pattern in the Middle East and North Africa region."

The 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) constitute an economic powerhouse, yet these countries also harbor a mostly hidden burden of poverty and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Almost 200 million people live in extreme poverty in ASEAN countries, and many of them are affected by at least one NTD. However, NTDs are prevalent even among upper middle-income ASEAN countries such as Malaysia and Thailand, especially among the indigenous populations.

Peter Hotez, fellow in disease and poverty, testified about the continuing threat of neglected tropical diseases before the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations.

The Gulf of Mexico area — including both U.S. and Mexican states — is emerging as a hot spot for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), including dengue, Chikungunya and West Nile virus infection. This article highlights the important opportunities for international cooperation between the governments of the U.S. and Mexico and both public sector and private scientific institutions located in the Gulf of Mexico region in order to control or eliminate selected NTDs.

In addition to their therapeutic potential, cord blood banks raise ethical and regulatory questions, especially in emerging markets in the Arab world. In this article, the authors review cord blood banking in five countries in the region (Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates) that were selected for their different CB banking policies and initiatives.

The international Human Microbiome Project trumpeted the coming of age of the field of metagenomics, the study of entire communities of microbes and their contributions to health and disease. In parallel, the field of metabolomics emerged as the systematic, nonbiased analysis of all low-molecular-weight small molecules, or metabolites, produced by a system in response to an environmental stimulus. These fields have enabled discoveries pertinent to a number of human conditions — namely, acute gastroenteritis, antibiotic-associated diarrhea, inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, liver disease, undernutrition and obesity — and have begun to shed new light on multiple aspects of the neglected tropical diseases.

In 1972, a National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse, comprising establishment figures chosen mostly by President Richard Nixon himself, issued a report that declared that “neither the marihuana user nor the drug itself can be said to constitute a danger to public safety” and recommended that Congress and state legislatures decriminalize the use and casual distribution of marijuana and seek means other than prohibition to discourage use. President Nixon ignored the report and Congress declined to consider its recommendations, but during the 40-plus years since its publication, at least 37 states have acted to refashion a crazy-quilt collection of prohibitions, nearly always in the direction favored by the commission. The specifics vary by state, but most reform legislation has followed one of three formulas: decriminalization of marijuana possession, legalization of marijuana for medical use, or legalization of marijuana for adult recreational use. In this issue brief, authors Katharine Neill and William Martin examine the facts and fears surrounding each of these options.