Earlier this month, the United States hit a terrifying milestone with over 100,000 annual opioid related deaths. According to an analysis by the Ohio Alliance for Population Health, Ohio’s overdose trends have reflected national data, with recent increases in mortality tied to fentanyl and an acceleration in those overdoses driven by access limitations induced by COVID. This trend, however, only...
November 29, 2021
Northeast Ohio Black Health Coalition aims to eliminate menthol cigarettes in local communities
Local initiatives during Lung Cancer Awareness Month November is National Lung Cancer Awareness Month when many organizations and individuals are encouraging the public to learn about this disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for both women and men throughout the United...
September 7, 2021
Dear Mayor, Public Health Matters. What Will You Do to Support It?
September 7, 2021
Dear Mayor, How Will You Support the Health and Safety of Residents?
By: Kimberly Foreman Dear Mayor: As we enter a season of transition for the Cleveland community, Environmental Health Watch (EHW) would first like to acknowledge the investment of our outgoing official, Mayor Frank G. Jackson. His tenor has produced for our city a focus on raising various public and environmental health needs such as First...
August 23, 2021
Why Are Some Ohioans Still Resisting Vaccination?
In recent press briefings, Governor Mike DeWine referred to “two Ohios”: one that is vaccinated and largely safe from the harms of COVID-19 and one that is unvaccinated and for whom coronavirus remains a serious threat. As the Delta variant surges through Ohio communities and hospitalizations rise, we are also seeing increases in the number...
July 12, 2021
Call the Midwife!
“They didn’t have access to doctors or nurses,” that was one of the startling things my mother shared when I asked how my grandmother, born in 1927 in the rural county of Montgomery, Alabama, came into the world — with the help of a midwife. Midwives in 1927 looked a lot different than they do...
June 7, 2021
How the Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition is making an impact in the community
The Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition (LSCC) conducted its bimonthly convening meeting on May 7 to present the coalition’s progress now that the Lead Safe Ordinance is taking hold. The coalition is comprised of many community stakeholders such as landlords, contractors, pediatricians, parents and teachers. The coalition is moving away from initiating action after children are...
May 17, 2021
Mixed results for health and human service levies across the state
Seven of the nine countywide levies supporting health and human services on the ballot in the May 4 election passed. According to unofficial election results from County Boards of Election, most passed with wide margins during primary and special elections. The only two that failed were additional levies seeking new funding. Results are listed below....
May 10, 2021
How midwives help outcomes for women and babies
The United States experiences unprecedentedly high rates of maternal deaths. In a study that compares the United States to 10 other developed countries, women in the United States had the highest ratio of maternal deaths. For example, there were 17.7 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in the United States compared to 1.7 maternal deaths...
May 10, 2021
Inability to miss work contributes to vaccine hesitancy and likely, lower vaccination rates
By: Kate Warren, kwarren@communitysolutions.com Taneisha Fair, tfair@communitysolutions.com Loren Anthes, lanthes@communitysolutions.com With about 41 percent of Ohioans having started the COVID-19 vaccine as of May 7, and weekly vaccinations slowing, it remains important to understand what barriers exist for people to get vaccinated. Attitudes and behaviors around the vaccine are complex, and it would be impossible to pinpoint one...