Taybah Alam – NYU GPH Journal of Public Health Disasters

August 23, 2023August 23, 2023

Humanitarian Crisis Worsens in Sudan as Health Conditions Deteriorate

Sudan is experiencing a major humanitarian crisis due to food insecurity, political instability, and economic conflict. There have been multiple cases of major disease outbreaks in Khartoum that have caused thousands to decompose on the capital’s streets. Water outages and poor sanitation services, combined with health worker shortages, have also put the country’s healthcare system in serious danger.

August 1, 2023August 1, 2023

Thousands Evacuate Canary Islands Due to Wildfires

Approximately 4,000 residents were forced to evacuate the Spanish Island of La Palma in the Canary Islands after a three-day long wildfire burned nearly 10,000 acres of land. Satellite shots taken by NASA showed towers of white smoke rising through the island’s mountains starting on July 15th, revealing the extent of the fire’s spread. Over 500 firefighters were dispatched to control the wildfire and helicopters regularly dumped loads of water to push back the flames.

July 25, 2023July 25, 2023

Nabila Salisu, Omary Perez, and Katie Parks’ Standard Operating Procedure on Waterborne Pathogens

Waterborne pathogens are a major public health threat that can cause disease outbreaks, hospitalizations, and even death. There are approximately 7.15 million waterborne-related cases reported annually, primarily affecting vulnerable solutions such as children, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems.

July 17, 2023July 18, 2023

Annette Mendez, Kyung-Hwa Ashcroft, Corrine Joseph Tendo, and Jahnavi Munagala’s Tornado Emergency Operations Plan for the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio

As climate change increases, so does the number and frequency of tornadoes. Over time, there has been a significant amount of damage done to both people and infrastructure, raising concerns about the quality of hospital preparedness in tornado-prone areas around the United States. Annette Mendez, Kyung-Hwa Ashcraft, Corrinne Joseph Tendo, and Jahnavi Munagala developed a Tornado Emergency Operations Plan for the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, a level-one pediatric acute teaching hospital ranked the 7th best overall Children’s Hospital in the United States.

July 17, 2023September 2, 2023

Whitney Peters, Nancy Daneau, and Afnan Alsufyani’s Active Shooter Preparedness and Response Plan for BMS Family Health and Community Wellness Center, Brownsville, Brooklyn

Brownsville, Brooklyn has one of the highest poverty and crime rates in all of New York City. In this neighborhood lies the BMS Family Health and Wellness Center, providing care for underserved populations through physical therapy, Ob/Gyn care, service during emergency situations, and more. Whitney Peters, Nancy Daneau, and Afnan Alsufyani collaborated with organizations to create a preventative plan for the family health center in the case of an active shooter event.

July 12, 2023July 25, 2023

Brutal Heat Hits the American South Revealing Public Health Costs of Extreme Temperature

As an ongoing heat wave swamps the American South, states from Texas to Missouri and Tennessee have recorded temperatures 20 degrees above normal in the high 90s and low 100s. With weeks of extreme heat and humidity, the public health impacts and healthcare costs of our warming world have been on full display.

June 26, 2023June 26, 2023

Rabat Declaration Creates International Action Plan to Improve Health for Refugees and Migrants

Lack of sanitation and appropriate health standards for refugees and migrants.

From the Third Global Consultation on the Health of Refugees and Migrants in June 2023 emerged the Rabat Declaration, a plan of action that strengthens cooperation between Arab states to improve health of refugees and migrants.

June 5, 2023June 12, 2023

The World Health Assembly Proposes New Solution to WHO’s Funding Challenge

The World Health Organization (WHO) has a large variety of tasks to fulfil, including fostering health security, strengthening health systems, or responding to health emergencies. For all these responsibilities, WHO faces the challenge of being cash-poor and having unpredictable funding. Only 14% of its funding (mostly fee from member countries) are fully flexible, whereas the rest are less-flexible, as they are voluntary donations purposed for specific programs.

May 30, 2023May 30, 2023

Hyacinth Burrowes’ Case Study on South Asia’s Air Pollution

In this case study, Burrowes examines the effect and management efforts of air pollution in South Asia. Air pollution from the burning of fossil fuels and windblown dust remains a major public health concern in South Asian regions inlcuding Lahore, Pakistan, Bhiwandi, India, and Bangladesh. Air pollution has significant negative health impacts and is linked to lower respiratory disease, heart disease. lung cancer, and stroke.

May 28, 2023September 14, 2023

Keasler Witt’s Case Study on The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Witt presents the public health concerns associated with the Great Specific Garbage Patch (GPGP), a collection of marine remains and plastic waste in the Pacific Ocean. Consisting of nearly 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic, the state of the GPGP poses a significant threat to marine life. Due to microplastics and discarded fishing nets, the GPGP has led to a ghost fishing epidemic (the trapping of marine life by abandoned fishing nets) that harms fish, crustaceans, marine mammals, sea turtles, and seabirds.