Blogs

Tanya Calitz Finally, after a long year with the ever-present threat of the COVID-19 virus, there is a glimpse of light at the end of a very dark tunnel, presenting itself as a vaccine. The COVID-19 vaccine roll-out plan is well underway in…

Shivam Singh, Farhad R. Udwadia, and J. Wesley Boyd It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones. Nelson Mandela …

Caroline Voyles and Randall Sell Pete Buttigieg’s historic appointment as the first openly LGBTQ cabinet member in the United States and Dr. Rachel Levine’s potential to become the first openly transgender person to receive…

A. Kayum Ahmed As the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines gains momentum, a dystopian society of the “unvaccinated”—a class of people denied affordable and equitable access to effective COVID-19 vaccines—could likely emerge. This new class of people…

Ira Memaj and Robert Fullilove Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, public health researchers warned state officials about the pandemic’s impact on vulnerable populations, including those incarcerated. Prisons and jails across the United…

Hans Lindahl Forced genital surgeries on intersex children remain a commonly overlooked health and human rights struggle. Skirting individual consent, invasive procedures such as clitoral reduction and vaginoplasty can still be offered to parents—if…

Benjamin Mason Meier, Lenore Hango, Victoria Matus, and Caitlin R. Williams The Trump Administration has long threatened public health—prioritizing ideology over evidence to eviscerate the institutions underlying health. With populist leadership…

Tolu Oni, Estelle V. Lambert, and Kent Buse The COVID-19 pandemic has precipitated a global humanitarian crisis, the nature of which has brought health and economic disparities sharply into focus and opened a wide-ranging human rights dialogue. This…

Jonathan Cohen The global movement against anti-Black racism has coincided with a pandemic that has revealed and magnified racial inequality, creating a watershed moment for public health. We are witnessing not only the social, economic, and…

As the world bids farewell to this sad and traumatic year, in which we have witnessed the divisions created by inequality, racism, and poor leadership, is it possible to entertain a sense of hope? Hope that COVID-19 has shown us how connected we are,…