The first Gandhian turn – that we as individuals as well as a nation – must take, is to move away from just thinking about healthcare, without thinking about health. Prioritising health over healthcare means living healthier lifestyles as individuals and as a society and enabling its citizens to lead such lifestyles. It also means prioritising preventive care over curative care and primary healthcare over tertiary care. Not just Gandhi, but recently even the dean of the Boston University School of Public Health, Dr Sandro Galea, in a live online dialogue about Indian healthcare, in the wake of the pandemic, pointed out the need for India and Indians to emphasise health over healthcare.
Trump’s Positive Covid-19 Test Is a Public Health ‘Nightmare’ | Rolling Stone
The Friday morning that the Trumps both tested positive came not long after Hope Hicks, one of the president’s top aides, also tested positive. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times reported Friday that Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel had tested positive this week. And later on Friday, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) announced that he, too, had tested positive; Lee had attended an at least one in-person event at the White House in the past week.
Dr. Sandro Galea, the dean of Boston University’s School of Public Health, says it isn’t especially surprising to learn that Trump had tested positive. “He was at high risk for contracting the virus because he was in contact with a lot of people without observing physical distancing, without wearing a mask, without taking appropriate precautionary measures,” Galea tells Rolling Stone.
Trump’s diagnosis is an indictment of his COVID-19 response, experts say. Is it also a teachable moment? | Boston Globe
President Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis reveals just how far short the federal pandemic response has fallen, local public health leaders said Friday, showing that it has failed to protect even the commander-in-chief. But experts said that failure need not be the end of the story. In the president’s diagnosis, some saw an opportunity for him to course-correct after months of diminishing the virus’s threat, even as it killed more than 207,000 people in the United States and more than 1 million around the world. The question, they said, is whether Trump will see his illness as a way to change his own narrative.
“Because of the partisan nature around what should be about science and public health, no coherent message has evolved,” said Dr. Sandro Galea, a physician and dean of the Boston University School of Public Health. “Depending on what [President Trump] says, it will really make a difference on whether this is a teachable moment or not.”
Trump's Critics Offer Sympathy, But Hope His Infection Underscores COVID Risks | WGBH
Sandro Galea, a physician, epidemiologist and dean at Boston University's School of Public Health, said the diagnosis should be a wake-up call to a president who appears to have ignored basic public health precautions. Trump has often appeared without a mask at many public functions, including the recent announcement of federal appeals court judge Amy Coney Barrett as his nominee for the Supreme Court. The Rose Garden event drew about 150 guests to the White House, most of whom declined to wear masks or social distance.Trump has “a lot of interpersonal contact, shaking hands and things, which is presumably not being accompanied by suitable hand washing, disinfection,” Galea said, "all the very fundamental public health steps we know should be taken.”
White House says Trump has ‘mild symptoms.’ What do mild, moderate and severe mean for COVID-19? | WTIF
These are some of the adjectives being used to describe the symptoms displayed by patients with COVID-19. Vice President Pence used them in his remarks to the nation last week. “Some — some large percentage have mild flu symptoms; some have serious flu symptoms.” Clinical definitions of these terms can take years to be developed and finalized, says Sandro Galea, an epidemiologist and dean of the School of Public Health at Boston University. Steps are being taken. The World Health Organization updated guidance for doctors treating COVID-19 earlier this week and provided explanations to categorize most of the cases doctors will see.
Read the full piece here.
Trump administration has 'every right' to 'manage' information about his COVID: ex-Reagan lawyer | Yahoo
An analyst from TD securities expressed a similar possibility in a note stating, "While one could argue that the news is an unequivocal positive for Biden, we don't think it is so straightforward. Other world leaders such as [UK Prime Minister Boris] Johnson and [Brazilian President Jair] Bolsonaro got a significant boost in their approval ratings after they got COVID."
Boston University School of Public Health dean Sandro Galea has attributed the historically tight secrecy around a president’s health to a demand by the public that leaders achieve an impossible health standard. Galea told Bloomberg in 2018 the standard “doesn’t give them the latitude to disclose.” On Friday, Galea told Yahoo Finance, ”I think given his position that there is a real responsibility to disclose insofar as it affects his capacity to execute the duties of his office. But beyond that, I think, ultimately, it is an issue of health privacy which extends to the president as much as to anybody.
Debating an Extraordinary First Debate: BU Experts on the Performances of Trump, Biden | BU Today
“Sandro Galea: Fundamentally, this election is going to come down to whether people have confidence that Vice President Biden can bring around a turnaround, in a time when the country feels beset with problems. The debate centered around President Trump’s defense of the past year primarily, but Vice President Biden struggled to articulate an alternative vision, in no small part because President Trump left very little space for conversation.”
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Trump Facing Scrutiny Over Personal Finances | Bloomberg Businessweek
We get the Businessweek Agenda with Bloomberg Intelligence Chief Equity Strategist Gina Martin Adams. Dr. Sandro Galea, Dean of the Boston University School of Public Health, provides a coronavirus and vaccine update. Bloomberg Businessweek Editor Joel Weber and Bloomberg News Senior Projects & Investigations Reporter Neil Weinberg discuss the story “How to Succeed in Private Banking—or Get in a Lot of Trouble.” We get Businessweek Economics with Bloomberg New Economy Editorial Director Andy Browne. He breaks down why China has a big climate change paradox. Bloomberg News Congressional Tax Reporter Laura Davison walks through President Trump facing new scrutiny of personal finances weeks before the election. And we Drive to the Close with Deepak Puri, CIO Americas at Deutsche Bank Wealth Management.
Depression Rate in US Adults Tripled During Pandemic | Psychiatry & Behavioral Health Learning Network
The prevalence of depressive symptoms in US adults was more than 3-fold higher in the spring during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with before the pandemic, according to a study published online in JAMA Network Open.
“Depression in the general population after prior large scale traumatic events has been observed to, at most, double,” said study senior author Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, dean and professor at the Boston University School of Public Health, Massachusetts, referencing examples such as the September 11, 2001 attacks and the Ebola outbreak.
“We were surprised to see these results at first,” she added, “but other studies since conducted suggest similar-scale mental health.
Massachusetts Public Health Association says it had nothing to do with state guidance on return to in-person learning despite Gov. Baker crediting them | MassLive
“The Massachusetts Public Health Association has not formally taken a position on the reopening of any particular school,” said Pavlos on Wednesday night to MassLive, shocked after hearing the comment.
She told MassLive that after findings from the MPHA Task Force on Coronavirus and Equity found that in-person learning isn’t as simple it may seem.
The task force is co-chaired by Sandro Galea, dean of the Boston University School of Public Health and Cheryl Bartlett, CEO of the Greater New Bedford Community Health Center and a former Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
The group consists of 100 organizations from across the state that focus on policy issues that highlight inequities that have been laid bare by the coronavirus pandemic with the hope of developing the policy solutions, Pavlos said.
US cases of depression have tripled during the COVID-19 pandemic | Medical News Today
The number of adults experiencing depression in the U.S. has tripled, according to a major study. Researchers estimate that more than 1 in 4 U.S. adults now report experiencing symptoms of depression. Before the pandemic, 8.5% of U.S. adults reported being depressed. That number has risen to 27.8% as the country struggles with COVID-19. Prof. Sandro Galea, a dean at Boston University (BU) School of Public Health, MA, is senior author of the study. “Depression in the general population after prior large-scale traumatic events has been observed to, at most, double,” he notes. While reports of depression have increased in response to earlier crises, such as the 9/11 attack and the spread of Ebola in West Africa, the extent of this recent finding is something new. The study features in the journal JAMA Network Open. The Rockefeller Foundation–Boston University 3-D Commission and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) provided funding for the research.
50 Experts to Trust in a Pandemic | Elemental
Galea, an epidemiologist and public health leader, has long shared insights into the ways that the U.S. health care system should change to become more equitable and considerate of overall well-being. For decades, Galea has studied the impact of crises on mental health, including disasters like Hurricane Katrina, 9/11, and prior outbreaks — including a study on the psychological effects of the quarantine used to control the 2003 SARS outbreak. During the Covid-19 crisis, he’s continuing to share both insights and research on the mental health toll of the pandemic. “Covid-19 is really two pandemics,” he shared in an April thread on the mental health risks of the virus. “One is how the virus threatens physical health. The other is the threat to mental health. We have not much discussed the latter, but we should. The mental health burden of this pandemic is real and will likely be with us for years to come.”
Nations need to join forces to innovate in post-Covid-19 world, say experts at WHO forum | The Straits Times
Technological advancement, which is accelerating rapidly, will play a key role in "Society 5.0", he said, and policymakers will need a clear picture of what it will look like to prepare for it. Dr Sandro Galea, dean of Boston University's School of Public Health, noted that the world is growing increasingly urban, which opens up possibilities for health-focused innovation in various areas such as housing, education and public transport.
For instance, providing affordable public transport brings health benefits such as reducing pollution and increasing physical activity, he added.
World Suicide Prevention Day: How to Foster A Healthy Workforce With Suicide on the Rise | Forbes
In its survey of mental health in the U.S. in the second quarter of this year, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found that 40% of adults reported struggling with mental health or substance abuse. The prevalence of anxiety disorder symptoms was approximately three times that reported in the same period last year (25.5% versus 8.1%), while the prevalence of depressive disorder was four times higher (24.3% versus 6.5%).
A study published in the American Medical Association journal earlier this month reported similar results. Nearly a quarter of Americans are experiencing symptoms of depression—three times higher than before the pandemic began.
Even the study’s authors were surprised. "These rates were higher than what we've seen in the general population after other large-scale traumas like September 11, Hurricane Katrina and the Hong Kong unrest," said Catherine Ettman of Brown University.
"I think it reflects both the widespread nature of this particular trauma as well as the fact that there are multiple traumas," said the study’s co-author, Dr. Sandro Galea of Boston University. In contrast to other crises defined by a dramatic but single event, the pandemic has been a slowly unwinding series of events that seem to be never-ending. That has taken a real toll on our collective psyche.
Anxiety and Depression are Increasing Among Americans | Science Examiner
Calls to the U.S.-funded Disaster Distress Helpline, which provides advice and emotional support, rose 335 percent from March through July.
Hannah Collins, a Lively Mental Wellbeing spokeswoman said the Helpline counselors recorded callers voicing feelings of loneliness and interpersonal issues about physical distance, such as being cut off from social support.
In early April, the BU study included a survey of 1,440 U.S. adults questioned on symptoms of depression. Symptoms were most prevalent among young adults, low-income participants, and those who reported multiple outbreak-related disorders like financial difficulties, work losses, or COVID-19 deaths of relatives. Nearly 1,000 participants had witnessed at least three of those challenges.
Results of the study echo Chinese research early in the epidemic, and studies were done during the Ebola and SARS crises and after major hurricanes and 9/11, said lead author Dr. Sandro Galea, a public health specialist from the BU.
Depression rate has tripled among US adults | BU Today
The study, conducted by researchers at Boston University’s School of Public Health, found the prevalence of depression symptoms in the United States more than tripled during the pandemic. Where 8.5 percent of adults were experiencing depression symptoms before the pandemic, the rate climbed to 27.8 percent of adults by mid-April. The findings are published in the journal JAMA Network Open.
“Depression in the general population after prior large-scale traumatic events has been observed to, at most, double,” says study senior author Sandro Galea, School of Public Health dean and Robert A. Knox Professor. He cites examples such as September 11, the West Africa Ebola outbreak, and recent civil unrest in Hong Kong.
Galea’s study is the first national study in the United States to assess the change in depression prevalence before and during COVID-19 using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the leading self-administered depression screening tool used by mental healthcare professionals.
COVID-19 has likely tripled depression rate, study finds | Science Daily
Published in the journal JAMA Network Open, the study also found that income and savings are the most dramatic predictors of depression symptoms in the time of COVID"Depression in the general population after prior large scale traumatic events has been observed to, at most, double," says study senior author Dr. Sandro Galea, Dean and Robert A. Knox Professor at BUSPH, citing examples such as September 11, the Ebola outbreak, and civil unrest in Hong Kong.
"We were surprised to see these results at first, but other studies since conducted suggest similar-scale mental health consequences," Galea says. These studies have mainly been conducted in Asia and focused on specific populations such as healthcare workers and college students (one such study found depression symptoms among half of Chinese healthcare workers who had treated COVID patients).
Depression, anxiety spike amid outbreak and turbulent times | Associated Press
“While not all calls are COVID-19-related, many people have sought help for anxiety and fear about getting the virus, distress over being diagnosed, or anguish over the illness or death of a loved one, she The BU study involved a survey of 1,440 U.S. adults questioned about depression symptoms in early April. Symptoms were most common in young adults, low-income participants and in those who reported several outbreak-related troubles, including financial problems, lost jobs or COVID-19 deaths of relatives. Almost 1,000 participants had experienced at least of three such struggles.
The study results echo research from China early in the outbreak, and studies done during the Ebola and SARS crises and after major hurricanes and 9/11, said lead author Dr. Sandro Galea, a BU public health expert.”
CDC drops 14- day quarantine recommendation for international and out of state travelers | Washington Post
Doctors say that quarantines can still be a good idea after traveling to a coronavirus-impacted area, and that quarantines are especially useful in the absence of testing. Plus, if you’re from a state that requires a two-week quarantine, you’ll likely still need to complete one.
“Broadly speaking, if someone travels to an area with an active outbreak, it’s reasonable upon return for them to be required to either get tested or to quarantine, a measure that many states now have in place,” Boston University epidemiologist Sandro Galea told The Washington Post. “We’re all trying to adapt to shifting realities and shifting facts all the time,” he says, but the advice to distance, frequently sanitize and wear a mask in public “are guidelines we should all be following all the time, regardless of whether we’ve traveled or not.”
Gun violence spike and pandemic gun-buying boom may be linked: Research | ABC News
"We find that short-term surges in firearm purchasing associated with the coronavirus pandemic are associated with significant increases in interpersonal firearm violence," the researchers note. "Our findings are consistent with an extensive literature that documents a link between firearm access and greater risk of firearm violence."
A correlation between gun buying and gun violence is not the same as causation, explained Dr. Sandro Galea, an epidemiologist and dean at the Boston University School of Public Health, who was not involved in the research. Galea, who has published numerous studies on gun violence, called the findings "reasonable and plausible."
"I think it's a fair analysis and good to communicate," he added.