Longer Looks: Interesting Reads You Might Have Missed
Each week, KFF Health News finds longer stories for you to enjoy. Today's selections are on Pope Leo XIV's health care stances, measles vaccination efforts, the WHO, ethics in AI, and loneliness.
The 19th:
Pope Leo XIV: Robert Prevost's Political Views On LGBTQ+, Abortion, Immigration
While Pope Francis made substantial strides in pushing the church toward including LGBTQ+ people, Pope Leo XIV is seen as less progressive on queer issues. The New York Times noted in a recent story that as a bishop in Peru, he opposed a plan to include gender teaching in school, noting that, “The promotion of gender ideology is confusing, because it seeks to create genders that don’t exist.” ... The new pope has not made clear his views on reproductive health concerns such as access to abortion, contraception, in vitro fertilization (IVF) or surrogacy. (Padilla, 5/8)
AP:
In Mexico's Measles Outbreak, Mennonites Face Vaccine Misinformation
In a rickety white Nissan, nurse Sandra Aguirre and her vaccination team drive past apple orchards and cornfields stretching to the desert horizon. Aguirre goes door to door with a cooler of measles vaccines. In one of Latin America’s biggest Mennonite communities, she knows many will decline to be vaccinated or even open their doors. But some will ask questions, and a handful might even agree to get shots on the spot. (Janetshy, 5/9)
Undark:
Health Experts Say: Don’t Abandon WHO, Reform It
Even critics of the global health organization say that the United States' withdrawal won’t solve pressing problems. (Skibba, 5/7)
The Wall Street Journal:
Meta’s ‘Digital Companions’ Will Talk Sex With Users—Even Children
Across Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, Meta Platforms is racing to popularize a new class of AI-powered digital companions that Mark Zuckerberg believes will be the future of social media. Inside Meta, however, staffers across multiple departments have raised concerns that the company’s rush to popularize these bots may have crossed ethical lines, including by quietly endowing AI personas with the capacity for fantasy sex, according to people who worked on them. The staffers also warned that the company wasn’t protecting underage users from such sexually explicit discussions. (Horwitz, 4/26)
NPR:
Fighting Loneliness In Rural Maine, One Casserole At A Time
What happens when people put their phones down and eat together? (Shetterly, 5/7)
