Viewpoints: Slow-Walking Flu Preparedness Isn’t Smart; Cancer Vaccine Needs Continued Research
Editorial writers examine these public health issues.
The Boston Globe:
Federal Health Officials Want To Hear From You About Vaccines. Give Them An Earful.
News that federal health officials canceled meetings required to prepare for next year’s influenza vaccine, and also nixed a public information campaign about the importance of getting the flu shot, grabbed my attention. (Kimberly Atkins Stohr, 3/5)
Bloomberg:
Cancer Vaccine Shows Hope. Make The Investment.
A study published last month in Nature underscores the potential for a new personalized pancreatic cancer vaccine to keep the disease from coming back. The trial was tiny, just 16 patients, but it’s eliciting a sentiment not normally associated with this brutal disease: hope. (Lisa Jarvis, 3/4)
The Washington Post:
RFK Jr. Is Risking A Classic Mistake With The Measles Outbreak
If Robert F. Kennedy Jr. doesn’t quickly show more leadership, a deadly measles epidemic could be the Trump administration’s first major domestic failure. (Donald G. McNeil Jr., 3/4)
The Boston Globe:
NIH Needs Reforms, But Use A Scalpel, Not A Hatchet
The National Institutes of Health is a beacon of scientific and medical progress, having nurtured nearly every US Nobel laureate in medicine and enabled critical breakthroughs, from basic science-driven therapies to the Framingham Heart Study that transformed cardiovascular care. NIH also built the biomedical workforce that underpins academic research and the nation’s world-leading biotech startups and pharmaceutical giants. (Jeffery S. Flier and Pierre Azoulay, 3/4)
The New York Times:
Trump Picked A Health Economist To Lead The N.I.H. It's Not A Bad Idea.
The National Institutes of Health is the United States’ primary medical research agency. It is renowned worldwide for funding and leading science that has transformed the understanding of disease and spurred lifesaving medical treatments. It has historically been overseen by medical scientists and clinicians. (Anupam B. Jena, 3/5)
The Baltimore Sun:
America Needs A New Strategy To Tackle Mental Health Crisis
The United States faces an urgent mental health crisis that includes many individuals living on our streets and filling up emergency rooms. Decades after the deinstitutionalization movement began, America continues to struggle with the consequences of dismantling a system that, while imperfect, provided structure and support for individuals with severe mental illness (SMI). (Alan M. Langlieb, 3/4)
