Social Science Question

Overview

The "Current Events in Public Health" assignments are designed to help integrate the concepts in each module and then relate them to public health current events. This week the topic is: Global and Environmental Health

This week, choose one of the articles below that interests you. You will read and summarize it with a personal viewpoint. Then you will practice looking for a confirming source and citing facts to support important global and environmental public health issues.

Reading

Article 1: Common pesticides in food reducing sperm count worldwide, study says. (CNN)Links to an external site.

Article 2: The Domestic Consequences of Defunding Global HealthLinks to an external site.

Summarize it then find another source for a new fact on an environmental agent that causes issues in human health.

Assignment Steps.

1. Read one of the articles and write a 3-5 sentence summary.
2. Find one other source on the topic and add a fact or statistic about this global/environmental problem.
3. For paragraph 2 add a personal viewpoint. A personal viewpoint is an opinion, not someone else's words or obvious suggestions.
4. For the bibliography, cite the article you read (pretty easy since I have it right there!) and then you must have at least one and not more than two more sources.
5. Provide a screen shot of your source. (hint: save it as a jpg, not png)

Example

I read an article about policy failures concerning the importation of fentanyl from China. The story describes how companies in China are opening selling fentanyl or compounds similar to it on the internet, right in the open. This is happening despite US imposed sanctions on these Chinese companies. The companies in China sell it largely to companies in Mexico, which then gets into the hand of dealers and smugglers into the US. (1)

In China, the penalty for drug trafficking can be the death penalty (2). I certainly do not advocate the death penalty for this problem, but it is interesting that the Chinese government imposes the death penalty in its own country but seems to turn a blind eye to companies selling dangerous drugs for exportation. From a public health marketing perspective, it would be interesting to see a campaign that talked about drug use being "un-American" since it could be seen as being taken advantage of by foreign countries. A campaign of that nature may resonate with the more conservative and middle American population that has taken a distrust to the US government health system as well as foreign influence.

[Image unavailable: environmental source]

1. The US sanctioned Chinese companies to fight illicit fentanyl. But the drug’s ingredients keep comingLinks to an external site.
2. Capital punishment in China - WikipediaLinks to an external site.

Grading Rubric