2002 Shows
A monthly radio
magazine devoted to covering major issues in public health.
Produced and hosted by Dr. Marvin Malek, with Dr. Andy Coates, Dr. Gerald Zahavi, and Elaine Hills.
To listen to our archived and most recent programs, simply
select the programming year below and go to the appropriate sub-page,
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Program
#23 (December 2002):
Women
& HIV: 20th Year of the Epidemic [MP3].
Interview: An archive interview from December, 2001
is presented: Dr. Mardge Cohen and Marta Santiago describe
life with HIV after 20 years of the HIV epidemic, highlighting
the advances in treatment which have changed the lives of
those who are infected. The interview focuses on the special
problems that HIV-infected women face. Dr. Mardge Cohen
is Director of Women's HIV/AIDS research at Cook County
Hospital in Chicago, and the recipient of several NIH grants
in the field. Marta Santiago is an HIV-infected patient
who attends the Women's HIV Clinic at Cook County Hospital.
Commentary: The
International Debt Burden: Implications for the HIV Epidemic
in the Global South. Marie Clarke, National Coordinator
of Jubilee USA provides an opinion piece addressing the
international debt burden facing many of the poor countries
of the Global South. She addresses the implications of the
debt on the health sector, and its impact on the ability
of those countries to respond to the HIV epidemic and other
threats to the public health. |
| Program
#22 (November 2002):
The
International Tobacco Trade and the Framework Convention
on Tobacco Control [MP3].
Interview: Judy Wilkenfeld and Joshua Sharfstein discuss
the international tobacco trade, focusing especially on
their marketing efforts, particularly to increase the prevalence
of tobacco smoking among inhabitants of the Global South.
We also discuss the treaty negotiation convened by the World
Health Organization which has been ongoing since 1999 to
restrict the efforts of tobacco companies to increase global
tobacco consumption. Particular focus is given to the US
position in the treaty conference, and how the US position
changed with the assumption of power by the Bush administration.
Commentary: Public Health Radio host Marvin Malek
discusses the dilemma his colleague faced in dealing with
the desire of her child to receive an off-road vehicle for
Christmas. The opinion piece goes on to discuss the benefits
of various types of Christmas gift choices on child development,
and the need to also consider safety. In this opinion piece,
special attention is given to the safety problems associated
with off-road motor vehicles. |
| Program
#21 (October 2002):
Access
to Mental Health Care in the US [MP3]:
Interview: Ken Libertoff discusses the effort to
implement "parity" laws in the US. These laws require insurance
companies to provide access to mental health care that is
equivalent to their insurees' access to care for "physical"
health problems. He also discusses the systems available
to treat individuals with no health insurance and those
insured through the public programs, particularly Medicaid.
The quality of public sector mental health services is quite
variable across the country, and is often adversely affected
by the state-level budget problems. Dr. Libertoff is a practicing
clinical psychologist and has been Executive Director of
the Vermont Association for Mental Health since 1981.
Commentary: WEIGHING THE CALL FOR WAR AGAINST IRAQ:
IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH Dr. Victor Sidel weighs the
various nuclear menaces that exist worldwide, and discusses
the public health implications of undertaking a military
venture into Iraq. Dr. Sidel is Distinguished University
Professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and a past
President of the American Public Health Association. He
was a founding member of the International Physicians for
the Prevention of Nuclear War, the organization that won
the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize. |
| Program
#20 (September 2002):
Breast
Cancer; National Health Care [MP3] .
Interview:
ENVIRONMENTAL CAUSES OF BREAST CANCER Only 25% of the cases
of breast cancer can be traced to genetics. Julia Brody
and Aaron Blair discuss environmental factors that may cause
breast cancer. They discuss the difficulties in undertaking
research in this field, and the translation of existing
research into public policy. Julia Brody, PhD is the Executive
Director of the Silent Spring Institute, a scientific institute
based in eastern Massachusetts, which explores the link
between environment and women's health, particularly breast
cancer. Aaron Blair, PhD, is the Director of Occupational
Epidemiology at the National Cancer Institute.
Commentary: HEALTH REFORM: CAN IT HAPPEN IN VERMONT?
Deb Richter discusses the case for state-based universal
health care, and the effort to implement a universal health
care system in the state of Vermont. Dr. Richter is a Family
Practitioner in Cambridge, Vermont. She is Past President
of Physicians for a National Health Program, and a leader
in Vermont Health Care for All, a citizens' movement for
universal health care in Vermont. |
| Program
#19 (August 2002):
Tuberculosis
& Prisons; Drug Companies and TB [MP3].
Interview: TUBERCULOSIS PART 2: TB
IN THE LESS DEVELOPED WORLD, MULTI-DRUG RESISTANT TB, AND
TUBERCULOSIS AND THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY Lee Reichman
returns for more discussion of his book, Timebomb. He discusses
the many factors promoting the spread of TB in the less
developed countries, in particular conditions in prisons.
He also documents the many reasons why the pharmaceutical
industry is not interested in developing drugs to treat
tuberculosis, and how the international public health community
has addressed this problem. Dr. Reichman is a pulmonologist
and Director of the National Tuberculosis Center at New
Jersey Medical College.
Commentary: CRISIS IN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT CARE IN
THE UNITED STATES Marvin Malek discusses the recent ten
day long closure of the only Level 1 Emergency Department
in Las Vegas, and the serious impact on the access of that
urban area to emergency care. The two primary causes of
the crisis in Emergency Care in the US as a whole are discussed:
The medical liability insurance crisis, and the epidemic
of uninsured and underinsured. |
| Program
#18 (July 2002):
Tuberculosis
& Public Health and Welfare Reform[MP3].
Interview:
TUBERCULOSIS PART 1: HISTORY, THE BATTLE AGAINST TUBERCULOSIS
IN THE US Lee Reichman, author of the recently book, Timebomb,
discusses the history of tuberculosis, with particular attention
to the United States. He discusses the period of compacency
of the 1970s and 1980s, and the price that was later paid
for this lapse in the fight against tuberculosis. Dr. Reichman
is a pulmonologist and Director of the National Tuberculosis
Center at New Jersey Medical College.
Commentary: THE 1996 WELFARE REFORM ACT: PUBLIC HEALTH
IMPACTS Wendy Chavkin discusses her research, published
in the September, 2002 issue of the American Journal of
Public Health, which documents the adverse health impacts
of the 1996 Welfare Reform Act. Special attention is paid
to chronically ill children, and children with special needs.
Dr. Chavkin is a Professor of Maternal and Child Health
at Columbia University School of Public Health and faculty
member and practitioner in the Dept of Obstetrics and Gynecology
at Columbia University School of Medicine.
|
| Program
#17 (June 2002):
Breast
Cancer Screening/Health Insurance for Health Workers[MP3]
Interviews:
1)
BREAST CANCER SCREENING. Peter Greenwald and Suzanne Fletcher
discuss the current recommendations for screening to detect
breast cancer in women. Peter Greenwald in the Director
of Cancer Prevention at the National Cancer Institute. Suzanne
Fletcher is Professor of Ambulatory Care and Prevention
at Harvard Medical School, and an expert in the field of
early detection of breast cancer.
2) UNINSURED HEALTH CARE WORKERS. Brady Case discusses his
recent article in the American Journal of Public Health
documenting the large number of US health care workers who
themselves lack medical insurance along with Regina Simmons
and Sheila Hicks. At the time of the interview, Brady Case
was a medical student at Harvard Medical School. Regina
Hagerman is a home health care worker in Chicago. Sheila
Hicks works at the Sachem Skilled Nursing and Rehab Center
in the Boston Metro area.
Commentary:
HEALTH CARE FOR ALL. Marvin Malek discusses the many distortions
and side effects of the market-based system of health insurance
in the US and the need for reform to a universal health
care system.
|
Program
#16 (May 2002):
Haitian
Health Care [MP3].
Interview:
INFECTIONS
AND INEQUALITIES: THE CASE OF HAITI
Paul Farmer discusses his book Infections and Inequalities:
The Modern Plagues, citing Haiti as a case study of social
inequalities serving as the fuel to foster the spread of HIV
in Haiti during the post 1975 period.Paul Farmer is an acclaimed
author, anthropologist, and medical doctor who founded Partners
in Progress, a medical aid agency. He is the Medical Director
of the Clinique Bon Sauveur in Haiti's Central Plateau.
Commentary: US POPULATION POLICY AND PUBLIC HEALTH
Werner Fornos evaluates the first year of Bush administration
policy toward international family planning and population
control, addressing impacts on poverty and the health of women
and children.Werner Fornos is the Executive Director of the
Population Institute, a non-partisan organization which analyzes
population policy.
|
Program
#15 (April 2002):
Cancer
Screening [MP3].
Interview:
SCREENING
FOR PROSTATE CANCER: IMPLEMENTATION OUTPACING SCIENCE. Michael
Wilkes and Gavin Yamey describe the technical obstacles and
biases affecting cancer screening in general, and describe
the lack of a scientific basis to justify screening for prostate
cancer. They also recount the controversy that developed when
they published an article on the issue in the San Francisco
Chronicle. Michael Wilkes is the Editor of the Western Journal
of Medicine, and Gavin Yamey is the Deputy Editor.
Commentary: ENERGY POLICY AND PUBLIC HEALTH REVISITED:
THE POST 9/11 ERA.Marvin Malek revisits energy policy, and
its impact on public health in the context of the concern
over the potential health and safety impacts of terrorism
on energy generation facilities.
|
Program
#14 (March 2002):
Vested Interests and Health Care Research, with Dr. Linda
Rosenstock / Bloodborne Pathogens and Health Care Worker Risk
in the Global South, with Dr. Janine Jagger [MP3],
Interview:
IMPACT OF VESTED INTERESTS ON PUBLIC HEALTH
SCIENCE & POLICY
Linda Rosenstock discusses her recent article from the American
Journal of Public Health discussing the impact of monied interests-and
other vested interests-on the freedom of investigators to
pursue and publish research in medicine and public health.
The translation of research into public policy is also affected
by monied interests.
Linda Rosenstock is the Dean of the UCLA School of Public
Health.
Commentary: BLOOD-BORNE
DISEASES IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH
Janine Jagger discusses her recent piece in the New England
Journal of Medicine documenting the causes and impacts of
needlestick injuries and the resulting diseases on health
care workers in the Global South.
Dr. Jagger is the Director of the International Health Care
Worker Safety Center at the University of Virginia School
of Medicine. She is an internationally recognized expert in
the prevention of needlestick injuries to health care workers.
|
Program
#13 (February 2002):
The
French Health Care System [MP3].
Interview:
THE FRENCH
HEALTH CARE SYSTEM. Dr. Paul Sorum discusses the health and
health care in France, which provides universal coverage at
far lower cost than the US. France was recently rated as having
the best health care system in the world by a committee of
the World Health Organization. Dr. Sorum provides several
contrasts between the French and US systems of health care
delivery.
Dr. Sorum is a Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at Albany
Medical College. He has traveled extensively in France, and
is widely published on the French health care system.
Commentary:
AGRICULTURAL
ANTIBIOTIC USE. Sherwood Gorbach comments on the utilization
of massive amounts of antibiotics in American agriculture,
highlighting the threat that already emerging multiply-antibiotic
resistant bacteria-- "Superbugs"-will pose to the
public health. Dr. Gorbach is a Professor at Tufts Medical
School in the Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases,
and has published extensively in the area of bacterial resistance
to antibiotics, and many other topics in the field of Infectious
Disease.
|
Program
#12 (January 31, 2002): Special Edition
War
and Health [MP3]
Interview:
WAR AND PUBLIC HEALTH
Drs. Victor
Sidel and Barry Levy discuss their groundbreaking book, War
and Public Health. The interview highlights the many direct
and "collateral" impacts of military conflict on
public health. Dr. Levy practices in the field of occupational
and environmental health, and is on the faculty of Tufts University
School of Medicine. Dr. Sidel is Distinguished University
Professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Both are
founding members of the IPPNW, the organization that won the
1985 Nobel Peace Prize, and both are past Presidents of the
American Public Health Association.
Commentary: FURTHER
THOUGHTS ON WAR AND PUBLIC HEALTH
Dr. Malek reviews the book that is the focus of the show,
and notes its special relevance to Americans.
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Program
#11 (January 2002):
(Not yet available)
Interview:
ARCHIVE
EDITION: HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE IN THE US
Archive edition: Dr. Himmelstein's interview from Show #4
is re-broadcast.
Commentary: TAX
POLICY/GOVERNMENT SPENDING IN THE POST-SEPTEMBER 11TH PERIOD.
Dr. Malek comments on unmet needs in public health and economic
stimulus proposals.
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