public health

Which Health Studies Are Reliable? ACSH Explains Epidemiology

Public health is a field that's widely misunderstood, even by science journalists. That's because epidemiology is an inexact science, complicated by a large variability in the quality of the data it produces. Also, by its reliance on advanced statistical methods.

We're excited to report that a new study in Health Affairs provides us with another metric that we have previously known and repeatedly been shown in the literature (and in medical practice): Life expectancy and well-being are positively linked.

As the anti-vaccine movement garnered Hollywood momentum, science stood largely silent. However, Dr. Paul Offit, inventor of the Rotavirus vaccine, took to the helm to fight for children's health and safety. Here's an informative conversation with a true expert in the field.

Our public health system has a very bad habit of fighting the last war. Instead, it's best to prepare for exotic diseases before they become uninvited guests. Will policymakers apply that lesson to another potential troublemaker: Chagas disease?

A team of international researchers, in collaboration with the World Health Organization, recently assessed the share of global disease burden that was directly attributable to environmental risks. Their findings were published in the Journal of Public Health.

100 Million Worldwide at Risk for Blindness from Trachoma

The Global Trachoma Mapping Project is the largest ever project undertaken to track the prevalence of trachoma, the most common infectious cause of blindness globally. The effort revealed that 100 million people around the world are at risk of going blind.