The National Weather Service has called Hurricane Harvey "unprecedented;" Texas Governor Greg Abbott has called it "one of the largest disasters America has ever faced." Yet for all that is shocking and unique about Harvey, there is also a familiarity to it.
After Harvey, what happens next? | Thrive Global
Harvey is no longer classified as a hurricane, but the destruction caused by the storm continues to unfold. In recent days, parts of Houston, Texas have been hit with as many as 30 inches of rain. Nearby cities and towns have been overwhelmed by floodwaters, as swollen lakes and rivers have spilled into surrounding communities. As many as six people have died because of Harvey — that figure is expected to rise — and officials say that over 30,000 people may need to be housed in temporary shelters. The National Weather Service has emphasized the unprecedented nature of the storm, tweeting that it is “beyond anything experienced.”
After Harvey, What Next? Mitigating The Public Health Effects Of A Natural Disaster | Cognoscenti
Harvey is no longer classified as a hurricane, but the destruction caused by the storm continues to unfold. In the last 72 hours, parts of Houston, Texas have been hit with as many as 30 inches of rain. Nearby cities and towns have been overwhelmed by floodwaters, as swollen lakes and rivers have spilled into surrounding communities. At least five people have died because of Harvey — that figure is expected to rise — and officials say that over 30,000 people may need to be housed in temporary shelters. The National Weather Service has emphasized the unprecedented nature of the storm, tweeting that it is “beyond anything experienced.”
How Hate Harms Us All | The Detroit News
The national turmoil we are witnessing is not just a crisis of institutions, or politics, or a society at a crossroads. It is also a crisis of health.
Hate, such as the kind we witnessed in Charlottesville, Virginia, is like a disease, spreading among populations, undermining health in a manner eerily similar to that of a pathogen. When a society is infected by hate, it is not hard to see how it can affect our bodies and minds.
Hate is ruining our nation’s health | The Boston Globe
The national turmoil we are witnessing is not just a crisis of institutions or politics or a society at a crossroads. It is also a crisis of health. Hate such as the kind we witnessed in Charlottesville is like a disease, spreading among populations and undermining health in a manner eerily similar to that of a pathogen. When a society is infected by hate, it is not hard to see how it can affect our bodies and minds. Being hated is stressful. It makes a person fear for her safety, resent her lack of respect, and worry about what the future holds for herself and her family. People who feel hated are more likely to experience major depression, and the fruits of hate — prejudice, discrimination, segregation, and interpersonal antagonism — sicken and kill Americans every day.
Can compassion successfully challenge the status quo on health? | Macleans
Over the past few weeks, Canadians have watched aghast at the froth generated by the ultimately failed efforts to reform the U.S. health care system. Building on eight years of opposition to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, and emboldened by then-candidate Donald Trump’s promise to deliver health care for all that was cheaper and better, Republicans—first in the House, and then in the Senate—launched several bills that floundered and then, each in turn and in different ways, flamed out.
Is the U.S. Ready for a Singler-Payer Health Care System? | Harvard Business Review
Ironically, as congressional Republicans have been trying to replace the Affordable Care Act, the ACA’s popularity is at an all-time high, and the majority of Americans now believe that it is the federal government’s responsibility to provide health care for all Americans. This shift in sentiment suggests that a single-payer system — a “Medicare for all” — may soon be a politically viable solution to America’s health care woes.
At the Heart of Health: Social Justice | Thrive Global
During the past 25 years, the life expectancy of the richest quintile of 50-year-old Americans has increased, a perhaps unsurprising development. However, this improvement has not been shared by all. The life expectancy of the middle 60 percent of Americans has seen little change, and the life expectancy of the poorest 20 percent of Americans has, during this time, actually decreased.