Spring 2012 Issue

Hallie Abelman believes that the FDA is acting appropriately and with good intentions, while David Gennert argues that new regulations on cigarette labels violate rights to free speech.

Sharon Y. Eubanks was the attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice who was the lead attorney that prosecuted the U.S. government’s massive 1999 case against the tobacco industry. Yet, after 22 years with the department, she withdrew from the case in December 2005, stating that her supervisor failed to support her work on the tobacco case, which ultimately influenced her decision to retire from the department. Tuftscope has had the opportunity to interview Sharon Eubanks about her involvement in and the implications of this groundbreaking legal case.

In the decade of 2000-2010, the Chilean ministry of health implemented a massive reform of the health care system that provided every citizen access to a primary health center. However, the country’s sex work population appears to avoid these centers and exclusively attend secondary sexual health centers, UNACESS centers, which specialize in sexual health testing, but lack the holistic services of a primary center. Thus, this study was designed to analyze the extent to which UNACESS centers are equipped to respond holistically to the occupational health needs of female sex workers in Chile’s fifth region. The study was carried out at the Consultorio Del Adulto of Valparaíso, the region’s main UNACESS center, which serves the sex work population of the entire V Region. The study consisted of mixed-method (qualitative and quantitative), one-on-one, in-depth interviews with both medical providers and female sex workers. The study confirmed six health risk factors among this population, including limited sexual health knowledge, lack of empowerment in the workplace, physical abuse, drug/alcohol use, lack of legal regulation, and elevated occupational stress. As predicted, the sex work population had an overall low rate of utilization of the health care system, particularly of more complementary services like social services and mental health. However, the study also noted that UNACESS centers have minimized several barriers that reportedly prevent this population from regularly utilizing primary attention, including universal access to gratuitous care and a high level of reported confidentiality and respect on the part of providers. Overall, the study established the continued need for medical attention in this community, but also acknowledges the UNACESS’ success in incorporating this often marginalized population into the country’s healthcare system and ensuring their right to comprehensive and equitable healthcare.

Gastrointestinal disorders appear to be part of an increasing epidemic, especially in developed countries,^1^ particularly in Northern Europe and North America.2 Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of chronic, recurrent inflammatory conditions of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of unknown etiology. ^2^ Malnutrition is frequently seen in patients with IBD, particularly with CD, ^2^ and malnutrition can often lead to other complications and diseases. This article will review IBD and its associated nutrient deficiencies, as well as the resulting diseases and the importance of nutritional therapy for IBD patients.

HIV, the causative virus of AIDS, knows no boundaries. Over the years, the HIV/AIDS pandemic has ravaged populations, leaving around 20 million dead and 40 million infected worldwide. While HIV can infect almost anyone, this virus takes a particular toll on poor populations all over the world. Individuals living in Sub-Saharan Africa have specifically been affected. Poverty itself is a dynamic, complex, multidimensional process of socio-cultural, political, and economic deprivation. ^1^ Poverty tends to further marginalize a population and can make its people more susceptible to acquiring infections diseases such as HIV/AIDS. One country that has been substantially affected by poverty and HIV/AIDS is Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe experienced a rise in adult mortality in the mid-1980s through the 1990s, which can be directly related to increases in both poverty and HIV/AIDS prevalence. ^2^ Even today, HIV/AIDS is a disease that still ravages the health of Zimbabweans. By examining Zimbabwe’s history, it becomes clear how political and economic factors helped to further marginalize the poor in a country and make them vulnerable to the spread the HIV/AIDS. The following is an analysis of how particular events throughout Zimbabwe’s history have combined to exacerbate the effect of HIV/AIDS throughout the Zimbabwean peasant population. Circumstances, such as drought, economic collapse, land repatriation processes, forced migration through Operation Murambatsvina, and brain drain in the social sector will be examined. By looking at these in detail, it is possible to more clearly illustrate how specific circumstances and decisions made by leaders in a country can increase the number of individuals below the poverty line, as well as the spread of an infectious disease such as HIV.