bicmay

bicmay, 5 months ago to environment

"Has your washing machine broken down, or is your electric kettle, laptop or mobile phone refusing to work?

Well if you live in Austria, the government will pay up to €200 ($219; £173) towards getting it repaired.

The Repair Bonus voucher scheme is aimed at trying to get people to move away from throwing away old electrical appliances - and focusing on getting things mended."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67777814

#environment #climate #electronics #repair #mend #reuse #austria

bicmay, 4 months ago to random

"A historic new study out of Scotland shows the real-world impact of vaccines against the human papillomavirus: The country has detected no cases of cervical cancer in women born between 1988-1996 who were fully vaccinated against HPV between the ages of 12 and 13."

Vaccines work!

https://www.statnews.com/2024/01/25/hpv-vaccine-prevent-cervical-cancer-cervarix-gardasil-study/

#cancer #cervicalcancer #primarycare #prevention #vaccine #immunizations #vaccineswork

bicmay, 6 months ago to workersrights

"At Bumble, the women-centered dating app that calls Austin home, executives say that about one third of their 150 Texas employees have left the state entirely, opting for remote work...The reason: It’s not just hard to keep talented employees in Austin in a post-Roe world, where doctors might not perform even medically necessary abortions for fear of reprisal, it’s also hard to attract them to Texas in the first place."

https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/bumble-abortion-lawsuit-texas/

#reproductivejustice #labor #healthcare #texas

bicmay, 3 months ago to science

"Duke University has decided to close its herbarium, a collection of 825,000 specimens of plants, fungi and algae that was established more than a century ago. The collection, one of the largest and most diverse in the country, has helped scientists map the diversity of plant life and chronicle the impact of humans on the environment.

The university’s decision has left researchers reeling."

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/21/science/duke-herbarium.html?_hsmi=295219570&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--49-1nkXMbh-xwvpU36ZVfMCLhO7_9YXbh3TiDO_u8FYKsy-xSY1mFj2WTFp20g_wfTIS-YGXpABnnLm2siwYodUXVFw

#science #research #academia #plants #botany #biology

bicmay, 4 months ago to random

"RIP's model turns debt collection on its head: Normally, debt collectors buy unpaid bills to then try to collect the owed funds. RIP identifies unpaid hospital bills owed by people making up to four times the federal poverty level, then buys that debt on secondary markets or directly from hospitals at a small fraction of the original value. Instead of trying to collect, RIP forgives it — so it simply disappears for the patients who owe."

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/01/23/1225014618/nyc-joins-a-growing-wave-of-local-governments-erasing-residents-medical-debt

#healthcare #hospitals #debt

bicmay, 4 months ago to science

"Growing vaccine hesitancy is just a small part of a broader rejection of scientific expertise that could have consequences ranging from disease outbreaks to reduced funding for research that leads to new treatments. 'The term "infodemic" implies random junk, but that’s wrong...This is an organized political movement, and the health and science sectors don’t know what to do.'"

https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/anti-science-vaccines-politics-polarization-partisanship-2024-elections/

#science #antiscience #misinformation #disinformation #publichealth #USpol #elections

bicmay, 23 days ago to northcarolina

“As a physician I am deeply concerned about North Carolina’s potential total ban on mask-wearing. It’s disturbing to think immunocompromised and cancer patients could be deemed criminals for following medical advice aimed at safeguarding their health,” [Jerome] Adams said in one post.

https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2024/05/20/doctors-call-public-mask-ban-unconscionable-political-point-making/

#PublicHealth #covid #masks #NorthCarolina #Gaza

bicmay, 7 months ago to Insurance

"Some rich countries have all public insurance, some use private coverage, but they have a few things in common: They insure pretty much everybody, their systems cost less money, and whether you have health care has nothing to do with whether you’re employed...In the United States, however, 57 percent of Americans under 65 get insurance through their jobs, and attempts to reform that system have all failed."

https://www.vox.com/23890764/healthcare-insurance-marketplace-open-enrollment-employer-sponsored-united-blue-cross-shield-aetna

#healthpolicy #healthcare #insurance #UShistory

bicmay, 6 months ago to ukteachers

"A Texas woman is accusing her sons’ school district of failing to condemn racism after she says they were subjected to anti-Asian American taunts on the bus, and her older boy had a swastika drawn on his shirt last year.

Hai Au Huynh, 45, told NBC News that she feels she has no choice but to speak out publicly after the incidents at Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District, just outside Houston."

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/asian-american-mom-says-district-failed-protect-sons-swastika-racism-i-rcna126903

#aapi #aanhpi #racism #education #schools #texas #houston

bicmay, 5 months ago to Cambodia

"The Metropolitan Museum of Art says it will return 16 ancient artifacts back to Cambodia and Thailand. The works, mostly sculptures, had been looted from those countries years ago during decades of civil war and unrest.

Among the works are a large head of Buddha made of stone in the seventh century, and a tenth century sandstone goddess statue from the Koh Ker archaeological site."

https://www.npr.org/2023/12/15/1219671492/met-museum-returns-looted-art-cambodia-thailand

#aapi #aanhpi #cambodia #thailand #art #history #antiquities #repatriation

bicmay, 3 months ago to random

"The most stolen books from San Francisco public libraries’ shelves are not the hottest new novels or juicy memoirs, they are books about recovering from addiction. Now, city officials want to provide universal access to free drug recovery books, including Alcoholics Anonymous’ 12-step recovery book."

https://apnews.com/article/san-francisco-drug-recovery-free-books-262deb6a177e40fde403bd177d33e4d3

#publichealth #libraries #addiction #substanceuse #opioids #alcoholuse #recovery

bicmay, 27 days ago to random

"Police were pushing into the camp after an hours-long standoff. Chan, 31, a medical tent volunteer, said protesters limped in with severe puncture wounds, but there was little hope of getting them to a hospital through the chaos outside. Chan suspects the injuries were caused by rubber bullets or other 'less lethal' projectiles, which police have confirmed were fired at protesters."

https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/ucla-protest-gaza-israel-rubber-bullets-injuries-volunteer-medics/

#healthcare #protests #PublicHealth #LawEnforcement #police

bicmay, 8 months ago to random

"The end of Roe v. Wade in June 2022 has had a profound effect on maternal healthcare and abortion access across the country...New data reveals an unexpected consequence of these developments: Young women, even those in states where abortion remains legal, say they are foregoing having children because they are afraid to get pregnant because of changes that followed the Dobbs decision that ended Roe."

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/09/13/dobbs-pregnancy-maternal-health-00115561

#healthcare #reproductivejustice #pregnancy #publichealth

bicmay, 14 days ago to climate

"Latin America is experiencing its worst dengue fever outbreak on record. Case numbers in the first 4 ½ months of 2024 are already 238% higher than they were by this time last year, which itself ended with a record 4.1 million cases, according to the Pan American Health Organization. Cases are more than 400% higher than the five-year average."

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/dengue-fever-climate-change-mosquitos-tropical-disease-rcna149366

#PublicHealth #climate #environment #dengue #DengueFever #mosquitoes

bicmay, 7 months ago to food

"Powdered drink mixes that are widely promoted as “toddler milks” for older babies and children up to age 3 are unregulated, unnecessary and “nutritionally incomplete,” the American Academy of Pediatrics warned Friday.

The drinks...often contain added sugar and salt. The manufacturers make unproven claims that the drinks boost kids’ brains or immune systems..."

https://apnews.com/article/toddler-milks-infant-formula-573be17c75a6ba6b89beceef7b4f9912

#milk #pediatrics #primarycare #nutrition #diet #publichealth

bicmay, 2 months ago to food

"Consumer Reports (CR), a consumer advocacy group, said it tested 12 store-bought versions of Lunchables — which are made by Kraft Heinz — along with similar lunch and snack kits and found “relatively high levels of lead and cadmium” in the Lunchables kits...There is not a safe level of lead for children, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes."

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4584070-lunchables-found-to-contain-relatively-high-lead-levels/

#PublicHealth #lead #food #nutrition #pediatrics #PrimaryCare

bicmay, 6 months ago to random

“I didn’t think I was going to be a YouTube newscaster at the age of 67. But these days you will often see me at my daughter’s house, holding my grandchild while translating articles from Politico or The Atlantic into Vietnamese that I then broadcast on a news channel on YouTube...This is not how I imagined spending my retirement.”

https://themarkup.org/languages-of-misinformation/2023/11/16/meet-the-vietnamese-grandmother-fighting-misinformation-one-youtube-video-at-a-time

#misinformation #disinformation #publichealth #aapi #aanhpi #vietnamese

bicmay, 2 months ago to Economics

"Women live almost six years longer than men, on average, to age 79 versus 73½ years old, respectively...This means women must spread their income over a longer time in retirement, raising the odds they’ll run out of money...Women also often put aside less savings relative to men, both because their average earnings at work are lower and they may have taken time off to care for kids or an aging parent..."

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/15/why-longevity-makes-social-security-so-important-for-women.html

#economics #personalfinance #women

bicmay, 2 months ago to random

"Critics fear that if the final guidelines don’t clearly state a need for N95 masks, hospitals won’t adequately stockpile them, paving the way for shortages in a future health emergency. And if the document isn’t revised to emphasize ventilation and air filtration, health facilities won’t invest in upgrades."

https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/health-workers-cdc-guidance-infection-control-airborne-transmission/

#publichealth #air #masks #hospitals #labor

bicmay, 1 month ago to food

"Nestlé adds more sugar to baby food sold in lower- and middle-income countries, while more affluent markets get healthier versions, according to a recent report released by a nonprofit group.

The Swiss food giant’s products in lower-income countries contained up to 7.3 grams of added sugar per serving, while the same food sold in Europe often contained none..."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/04/23/nestle-sugar-baby-food-childhood-obesity/

#PublicHealth #food #nutrition #sugar #BabyFood #GlobalHealth #pediatrics

bicmay, 4 months ago to random

"A scientific paper that raised concerns about the safety of the abortion pill mifepristone was retracted by its publisher this week. The study was cited three times by a federal judge who ruled against mifepristone last spring. That case, which could limit access to mifepristone throughout the country, will soon be heard in the Supreme Court."

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/02/09/1230175305/abortion-pill-mifepristone-retraction-supreme-court

#healthcare #reproductivejustice #pregnancy #prescriptiondrugs #fda #mifepristone #abortion

bicmay, 1 month ago to random

"The Biden administration has sued Idaho, saying that state’s abortion ban violates EMTALA because its exceptions are too narrow to allow doctors to perform abortions if needed to stabilize a patient. Texas, meanwhile, has sued the Biden administration, saying it's using EMTALA as an end-run around state abortion bans to 'mandate that every hospital and emergency-room physician perform abortions.'"

https://www.texastribune.org/2024/04/17/texas-idaho-supreme-court-abortion-emergency-care/

#healthcare #EMTALA #ReproductiveJustice #pregnancy #EmergencyMed

bicmay, 1 month ago to Insurance

"Even if you have health insurance, you might expect to be charged a copayment for some routine care, like office-based exams and consultations. But you probably don’t expect to receive a bill a few weeks later charging you an extra $100 or more...In most states, a 'hospital facility fee' can legally appear on your bill if your doctor is affiliated with a large hospital system — even if you never set foot on the hospital’s campus."

https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/05/08/youve-covered-your-copayment-now-brace-yourself-for-the-facility-fee/

#healthcare #insurance #FacilityFee

bicmay, 6 months ago to random

“From facility closures to compromised care, it’s now a familiar story: private equity buys out a hospital, saddles it with debt, and then reduces operating costs by cutting services and staff — all while investors pocket millions. Before the dust settles, the private equity firm sells and leaves town, leaving communities to pick up the pieces.” via @brittanytrang for @STAT

https://www.statnews.com/2023/12/07/private-equity-hospitals-senate-investigation/

#healthcare #hospitals #privateequity

bicmay, 4 months ago to random

"Many seniors at high risk aren’t getting antiviral therapies for covid, and most older adults in nursing homes aren’t getting updated vaccines. Efforts to strengthen care quality in nursing homes and assisted living centers have stalled amid debate over costs and the availability of staff. And only a small percentage of people are masking or taking other precautions in public despite a new wave of covid, flu, and rsv infections..."

https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/old-people-does-society-care-ageism-pandemic/

#healthcare #aging #seniors