BY VIVIAN LIVESAY ’21
As of Feb. 7, there have been 101 confirmed cases of measles in the U.S. in 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Symptoms of measles include a fever, sore throat, runny nose and Koplik’s spots, which are small white spots on the inside of the cheek.
BY NADIA BABAR ’19
As of February 2019, an app allowing men to prohibit women under their guardianship from leaving the country of Saudi Arabia has been downloaded 4.2 million times. Absher is a smartphone app available to citizens and residents of Saudi Arabia, providing them access to a number of governmental services.
BY THEA BURKE ’20
In 1948, the World Health Organization declared healthcare a universal human right. 71 years later, healthcare is currently a polarizing issue within the U.S. government. Single-payer healthcare, otherwise known as Medicare for All, still has a ways to go before a final vote is passed in Massachusetts, let alone in the nation as a whole.
BY THEA BURKE ’20
The U.S. government shutdown had many clear implications for various federal departments, employees and policies. Even though the shutdown may have posed a potentially insignificant risk to public health, it is important to understand which agencies do not function at full capacity when the government is closed.
BY VIVIAN LIVESAY ’21
According to the Ohio Department of Health, Montgomery County, Ohio, had the highest rate of accidental opioid overdoses in the state, with 521 fatalities per 10,000 people in 2017. Within the Montgomery County, the city of Dayton was hit particularly hard by the opioid epidemic. However, according to an article published last week in the New York Times, despite the overall increase in drug-related deaths, the county has managed to cut down its overdose rate by more than half in the past year, hopefully setting an example for the rest of the country to follow.
