D.A.M.M.

Pondering Thoughts: During class, a debate arouse around the disclosure of someone's HIV status, specifically that of someone who is HIV +. Though there is not a correct answer, everyone has their own personal experience and comes from a different place, which influences their perspective on this situation--and any situation for that matter. On one side there was a person concerned with the public health and safety of everyone; the other person was concerned with the privacy of the person. Both sides stated their points, and each view was passionate about their side. However, the focus should be common ground, more collective, more abstract, and not so focused on individualistic views. Maybe built on those views, but not focused, otherwise there would never be a reach to an agreement. The one thing that was agreed on, was that the stigma needs to be changed. The development would help both sides. Stigma needs to change, not only for this scenario, but for many more. I think the stigma is one thing that is affecting the porn industry too (which is what this blog was supposed to address) lol. I think media campaigns and public health can definitely achieve that (given there were enough resources to do so). Hopefully, we, as a society, will progress and erase the stigma that will enable a healthier environment for many different people.

The article “ Monitoring Potential Drug Interactions and Reactions via Network Analysis of Instagram User Timelines” explored the impact that social listening on social media, specifically on Instagram, can make to identify Drug-Drug Interactions (DDI) and Adverse Drug Reactions (ADR). Essentially the gathering of this data helped them gather insight into under-reported data regarding those interactions and adverse events. The goal was to gauge the potential of public health monitoring and surveillance on social media.

They focused on 7 drugs. They used several key words:  fluoxetine, sertraline, paroxetine, citalopram, trazodone, escitalopram,  and fluvoxamine--plus any synonyms of those drugs. They ended up collecting 9,975 posts from 6,927 users between Oct 2010-June2015. 

Social Studio would be a great way to analyze this data. It would allow you to gather data that could help identify what drugs are most associated with certain symptoms or ADRs based on the recent posts/comments on those posts. It would be able to give the ranking of most popular drug (and probably the buzz around it as well).  They were able to identify some of those things in their analysis, but it was not done with Social Studio (and didn’t look as visually appealing). 

     Imagine this: disease outbreaks left and right, no vaccinations available, some people smoking their lungs out, and others indulging on sugar with no intentions to get off the couch anytime soon.

Yes, of course, that is an extreme case—but a possibility for our future, nonetheless.  

     Remember when everyone was freaking out about Ebola and it was on every news channel? Or what about the Zika cases that have emerged in the US recently? What about the measles outbreak in California back in 2015? The Prevention Fund played part in all of those situations; it provided funding where and when needed, and one can ultimately argue that it prevented any/all of those situations from getting worse.

     Tom Price has been appointed head of the Department of Health and Human Services, and repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is on the top of his list. The ACA established the Prevention and Public Health Fund (Prevention Fund) back in 2010. Most of the funding goes to the Center for Disease and Control and Prevention (CDC) to improve our health by controlling disease outbreaks, implementing vaccination programs, and running anti-smoking and anti-obesity campaigns, among other things. 

     If the ACA is repealed, it could create a $3 billion deficit in state and local public health funding in the next 5 years; the repeal would also cost the CDC $900 million.That would mean that funding would have to come from somewhere else.

Funding for public health is already at the bottom of the totem pole--only 3 percent of the health budget was allocated to public health back in 2012. This cut would decrease that even more. This would dramatically affect the states that are already struggling with their system. 

     Not only would the absence of this program affect our country financially, but also health-wise. Keeping the Prevention Fund would hopefully revert our recent nation’s life expectancy decline trajectory and lead us towards a healthier future. It provided funding for the Tips From Former Smokers campaign that helped over 100,000 kids stop smoking! Other campaigns also teach children the importance of healthy eating and exercise. These programs are essential; they can influence and help anyone live a healthier lifestyle. 

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