Publications

Examining excess mortality data from all causes of death is helping determine the toll of COVID-19 in Brazil.

This first-of-its-kind study evaluated the impact of a mass media campaign on knowledge and attitudes related to sugary drinks and on public support for a proposed tax on sugary drinks in South Africa. The study demonstrated that in addition to improving knowledge and shifting attitudes about the harms of sugary drinks, media campaigns can effectively build public support for strong government action and therefore must be a component of a comprehensive obesity prevention approach.

The impact of the pandemic on clinical trials can be especially profound given their complexities and operational requirements.

This editorial emphasizes that, during an epidemic, rapid mortality surveillance provides essential information to formulate an evidence-based response. Establishing, scaling and improving upon rapid mortality surveillance would give countries real-time awareness of all direct and indirect impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as help them to prepare for future outbreaks.

Exposure to tobacco, alcohol and fast-food use in films is associated with initiation of these behaviors. This study investigated and described the extent of tobacco, alcohol and fast-food imagery in Bollywood films from 1994 to 2013, and discussed the trends in use of such imagery after that time period. It concludes by suggesting regulations and policies that could limit exposure of audiences to these images and their negative health impacts.

This letter to JAMA Pediatrics reports the findings of a study that sought to determine the number of children who experienced unexpected parental loss because of opioid overdoses in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, from 2002 to 2017. In that period, more than 1,000 children lost a parent because of an unintentional drug overdose and experienced elevated risks for mental disorders. Clinical approaches and policies are needed to address the effect of unexpected loss among children, which is an underrecognized dimension of the opioid epidemic in the United States.

Diabetes self-management education and training empowers patients to manage their diabetes and can improve health outcomes and reduce medical expenditures. This study investigated whether private insurers, Medicaid programs and Medicare are required to cover diabetes self-management education and training, and found substantial differences in coverage. The analysis in this study can help public health professionals and decision-makers to recognize patterns and gaps in coverage.

Minimum floor price laws are an emerging tobacco control policy that sets a minimum price below which a specific tobacco product cannot be sold. By using a microsimulation model to predict changes in smoking for different population groups in California under several floor price scenarios, this study demonstrated that minimum floor price laws have the potential to reduce adult smoking prevalence overall, and especially for lower-income tobacco users.