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Comprising 75% of human bodies and 100% necessary to sustain life, water is vital. Despite water's significance in the substance of human life and health, it is not accessible to all of Earth's population. Impacted by climate change, public policy, and international affairs, lack of water accessibility is an urgent issue.

1. OHCHR and the Rights to Water and Sanitation | OHCHR, www.ohchr.org/en/water-and-sanitation. Accessed 07 Nov. 2023.

Water is a fundamental human right. Given a human's necessity for water in contribution to their health, hygiene, and well-being, it is fundamental to sustaining human life. However, not all people have equal access to water: "globally, 2.1 billion people lack access to safe, readily available water at home." Access to water is a deeply political, social, and equity based issue. However, given the current global reaction to lack of access to water in particular regions, water is being treated as a luxury and not a right.

2. “Human Rights.” World Health Organization, www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/human-rights-and-health. Accessed 07 Nov. 2023.

Among many human rights is health. As human beings, we are entitled to living a life of health. Health is not entirely a personal choice - it has roots in public policy and government, so it is not completely within the realm of a person's own choices. Access to water is a leading issue in the barrier which exists in attaining health. "Disadvantage and marginalization serve to exclude certain populations in societies from enjoying good health." Access to health and water is dependent on a myriad of factors which are impacted by oppression, public policy, international relations, and geographical control.

3. Popkin, Barry M, et al. “Water, Hydration, and Health.” Nutrition Reviews, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Aug. 2010, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2908954/. Accessed 07 Nov. 2023.

Water is necessary for good health. From immune system health, mental clarity, to aesthetics, water is a versatile ingredient for human health. Lacking water impacts a person's ability to live fully and as humanly as possible. "Water, or its lack (dehydration), can influence cognition. Mild levels of dehydration can produce disruptions in mood and cognitive functioning." Hundreds of studies have consistently proven that having access to water is a necessity for maintaining human health. Unlike particular vitamins which can be found in a variety of food, water can not be replaced by other resources.

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The section of the AIDS Quilt that my grandmother, who's been an out lesbian since the '70s, worked on. She and several others met up and worked on this section in a church.

Altman, Lawrence K. “AIDS Is Now the Leading Killer of Americans from 25 to 44.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 31 Jan. 1995, www.nytimes.com/1995/01/31/science/aids-is-now-the-leading-killer-of-americans-from-25-to-44.html.

This article was published in 1995, fourteen years into the pandemic. It provides a brief overview of how the virus evolved over that time, and who it impacted the most.

Ketchum, David. “The AIDS Project Newsletter.” Mar. 1988.

https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/aids_newsletter/10/

This is a newspaper published in Portland, Maine, in 1988, which is near where my grandmother lived.

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“About Rural Health | CSELS | Rural Health | CDC.” Www.cdc.gov, 11 May 2023, www.cdc.gov/ruralhealth/about.html#:~:text=More%20than%2046%20million%20Americans.

A common scene that is often depicted in a movie would be lush green grass and trees turning on a lovely plot of land where animals graze from dusk till dawn. Many times, when you picture cows, you picture a ranch in the middle of nowhere, the crisp air engulfing everyone who lives there. And that essentially is the picture I had chosen —that is, if the words weren’t so insistently placed in the middle of the picture, just begging to be read. Approximately 15% of the 332 Americans who call the United States home reside in rural areas. Not only that, but they also have a much higher chance of dying due to the five primary medical conditions that cause death. One of the many reasons I chose this picture is the artistic choice to contrast the serene landscape filled with flourishing plants and animals with the unsettling truth, the medical care in rural areas is a lot further behind than urban areas, and that is why I chose this image. The contrast and simple yet powerful words hold so much meaning. However, I think if I were to continue down this path, I would want to look at the impacts of rural residency and healthcare in foreign countries.

When it comes to Rural Americans, the highest reason for death is due to “heart disease, cancer, unintentional injury, chronic lower respiratory disease, and stroke” when compared to more urban areas, where medical care is more accessible. In rural areas, there is more travel time, many times, exposure to harmful environmental factors, higher rates of smoking, high blood pressure poverty, and many other components. In the CDC article, they go into many different factors that influence these statistically high numbers and the overall poor healthcare.

Medline Plus. “Rural Health Concerns.” Medlineplus.gov, National Library of Medicine, 2017, medlineplus.gov/ruralhealthconcerns.html.

Like the previous source, this article quickly goes over all the different challenges that are present when living in rural areas and receiving good healthcare in comparison to urban areas. Has the same reasons as the previous website.

“Healthcare Access in Rural Communities Overview - Rural Health Information Hub.” Www.ruralhealthinfo.org, www.ruralhealthinfo.org/topics/healthcare-access#:~:text=Rural%20populations%20are%20more%20likely.

This website provides an interesting map that shows where there is and isn’t health professionals, and it corresponds to the ideas we had mentioned earlier. When it comes to good medical care, there is a high concentration on urban areas, often leaving the rural areas in more distress when it comes to medical assistance. Along with that it also provides various of different reasons as for death rates from those five medical diseases are often a reason for the higher death rates. For example, poor health literacy, social stigmas, and of course workforce shortage.

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Arden Ferro- Mental Health in the Military

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Arden Ferro- Mental Health in the Military

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The image I chose is an infographic of veteran mental health figures. I chose this because veterans that have PTSD, depression, or anxiety pose an elevated threat to themselves and others. They are also conditioned to be independent and strong and that contributes to a stigma that might prevent them from getting mental health help that others may seek out. Access to weapons and domestic abuse are examples of major problems that comes with the lack of mental healthcare for veterans.

Staff, GoodTherapy.org. “Military and Veteran Mental Health Infographic GoodTherapy.” GoodTherapy, 11 Nov. 2014, www.goodtherapy.org/blog/mental-health-stigma-contributes-to-high-veteran-suicide-rate/military-and-veteran-mental-health-infographic.

“Study: Mental Health Care For California’s Veterans Is Lacking.” California Healthline, 20, 9 May 2016, californiahealthline.org/multimedia/study-mental-health-care-for-californias-veterans-is-lacking/.

This article discusses certain statistics that show how many United States veterans lack mental health services. It also has suicide rates and poverty rates for veterans in California.

Sabella, Donna. “MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS: PTSD Among Our Returning Veterans: How to Recognize and Assist Veterans with This Increasingly Common Mental Health Disorder.” The American Journal of Nursing, vol. 112, no. 11, 2012, pp. 48–52. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23461175. Accessed 7 Nov. 2023.

This article discusses how veterans often do not get the timely help that they need and that PTSD is becoming an increasingly prominent issue. It also talks about how nurses are the first to come into contact with these veterans and should be trained to recognize the symptoms of PTSD.

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Mora, Francis Luis. “The Health of the Child Is the Power of the Nation Children’s Year, April 1918 - April 1919 /.” Www.loc.gov, 1918, www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002719770/. Accessed 7 Nov. 2023.

This image is a political ad from the early 1900s when the Children's Bureau was first established. This was a major governmental response to extremely high infant mortality rates, child labor concerns and other concerns with child welfare and maternal health.

It is captioned "The health of the child is the power of the nation." You can see in this image that all of the children have pale skin and are dressed in nice clothes. The Children's Bureau, like many institutions of its time, exhibited racial and gender biases, as well as a lack of cultural sensitivity in its early policies and practices.

SOURCE 1:

“Parenting Advice from Uncle Sam.” Colorado Public Radio, www.cpr.org/2018/05/27/parenting-advice-from-uncle-sam/. Accessed 7 Nov. 2023.

The first article discusses the historical role of the United States Children's Bureau in providing guidance and support to parents, particularly mothers, in the early 20th century. At that time, new parents often lacked access to authoritative advice, especially if they were isolated or impoverished.

SOURCE 2:

Fighting Institutional Racism at the Front End of Child Welfare Systems: A CALL to ACTION. https://www.childrensrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Childrens-Rights-2021-Call-to-Action-Report.pdf

The second article defines institutional racism as "the systematic oppression, subjugation, and control of one racial group by another dominant or more powerful racial group, perpetuated by the societal structure." In the context of the child welfare system, institutional racism results in the varying access to goods, services, and opportunities based on race.

The federal Children's Bureau was established in 1912, marking the transition from formal exclusion of Black families to less formal discrimination. While Black children were gradually included in the system, adequate services remained unavailable to them. As services became available, the child welfare system began subjecting Black families to unwarranted policing and intervention, perpetuating the historical practice of separating marginalized families.

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Eva Gennrich Arias - Preventing AIDS in Uganda

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Eva Gennrich Arias - Preventing AIDS in Uganda

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Photo: A woman and child caring for a man sick with AIDS in bed with further illustrations demonstrating how to protect from and prevent AIDS; an advertisement for AIDS education from the Ministry of Health AIDS Control Programme. Colour lithograph, ca. 1995.

Uganda., et al. A Woman and Child Caring for a Man Sick with AIDS in Bed with Further Illustrations Demonstrating How to Protect from and Prevent AIDS; an Advertisement for AIDS Education from the Ministry of Health AIDS Control Programme. Colour Lithograph, ca. 1995 (?). lithograph, printed in colours ;, [1995?]. Wellcome Collection, JSTOR, https://jstor.org/stable/community.24778635. Accessed 7 Nov. 2023.

Source 1:

This article discusses the reversal of the Ugandan HIV epidemic in the 1990's and the steps that were taken to achieve this reversal of the virus. It touches on the types of intervention and methods of prevention that were used to achieve this.

Slutkin, Gary et al. “How Uganda reversed its HIV epidemic.” AIDS and behavior vol. 10,4 (2006): 351-60. doi:10.1007/s10461-006-9118-2

Source 2:

Similar to the first source, this article also aims to analyze and explain the decline in AIDS and HIV infections in the 1990's, around the time when the above image was created. Specifically, this article discusses the gender-based policies that were integrated and their effects on reducing HIV infections.

Alsan, Marcella, et al. WHY DID HIV DECLINE in UGANDA? NBER WORKING PAPER SERIES, July 2010.

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Cindy Rodriguez- Access to Healthcare and Poverty

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Cindy Rodriguez- Access to Healthcare and Poverty

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Image: “Health Costs: What Limit? Soaring Bills Create a Political Issue and Prompt a Search for a Cure.” TIME Magazine, vol. 113, no. 22, May 1979, pp. 60–68. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,uid&db=tma&AN=53524703&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

This image is from this article which talks about the raising medical prices. I chose this image because it is a great visual example of the extreme prices that cause healthcare to be less and less accessible to families.

Source #1:his article talks about an organization in South Bronx called “Plenty” that provides free ambulance rides and EMT classes to the community. South Bronx is a very poor area occupied by many black and Hispanic people and it has the longest wait times in New York, which the article states is already slower than most major cities, averaging wait times of more than half an hour.

Delliquanti, Don. “A Hippie-Run Ambulance Corps Does Its Thing In The Bronx’s Poverty-Ravaged `Fort Apache’.” People, vol. 15, no. 19, May 1981, p. 132. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,uid&db=pmg&AN=54136954&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Source #2:

This article talks about the drastic increase in health problems that are caused by just being poor in America, which are preventable (obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, anemia). Dr. H. Jack Geiger with the access to a fund helped improve the health centers in 51 neighborhoods, and he also helped make a clinic in Mound Bayou. Article mentions how having a worse health and poverty and directly related.

Moore, Breshay. “Limited Access: Poverty and Barriers to Accessible Health Care.” National Health Council, 20 Jan. 2023, nationalhealthcouncil.org/blog/limited-access-poverty-and-barriers-to-accessible-health-care/.

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Genet Tewalt - Black women and Childbirth Mortality 

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Genet Tewalt - Black women and Childbirth Mortality 

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1: In the article that the image comes from, the author explains the positive impact Black dulas have had in lowering the mortality rates of Black women during childbirth. As they are not doctors or medical practitioners but women who are supportive and vocal for the mother giving birth.

“She Trains Black Doulas to Close the Maternal Mortality Gap.” The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, www.unc.edu/discover/she-trains-black-doulas-to-close-the-maternal-mortality-gap/. Accessed 7 Nov. 2023.

2: This article goes into the steps medical practices and state can take to lower mortality rates among black mothers. They suggest legislative steps and smaller scale steps.

Winny, Annalies. “Solving the Black Maternal Health Crisis | Johns Hopkins | Bloomberg School of Public Health.” Publichealth.jhu.edu, 12 May 2023, publichealth.jhu.edu/2023/solving-the-black-maternal-health-crisis.

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Photo:  Health care providers marched for abortion rights at a rally in Wisconsin. Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner.

I choose this image because it represents a health issue that affects women around the world. Most of the news heard in America about this topic is about the overturning of Roe v Wade and how each state has reacted and been affected by that decision. The US is not the only place affected by limitations on reproductive rights but it has an interesting dynamic towards it where we can see the true affects on the country by comparing data from before the laws changed. According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, there are 24 countries in the world where abortion is completely prohibited and More than 50 more countries that permit abortions only when the woman’s health is at risk. The ban on abortion is more than just a political debate, it is a health crisis, maternal death rates are up more than 24%-39% in the US. Countries like Loas who have a very strict abortion ban have a maternal death rate 9 times higher than England where abortion is legal. In 2016, Laos completed the first Maternal Death Review (MDR) which showed that 54% of maternal deaths were due to post-partum hemorrhage, of which the many cases the Ministry of Health attributed to unsafe abortion.

Ruth Conniff, Wisconsin Examiner January 24. “How Are Wisconsin Women Doing under the 1849 Abortion Ban?” How Are Wisconsin Women Doing under the 1849 Abortion Ban? Not so Well, Say Doctors, Wisconsin Examiner , 24 Jan. 2023, wisconsinexaminer.com/2023/01/24/how-are-wisconsin-women-doing-under-the-1849-abortion-ban/.

This article The national Women’s March in Wisconsin in late January of 2023. It highlights how women who are facing pregnancy complications, incomplete miscarriages, or unwanted pregnancies are encountering dire situations due to the abortion ban passed in Wisconsin that lasted a few months. The article presents cases of women who suffered complications and delays in receiving necessary medical care, such as one woman who bled for ten days after being denied care due to legal concerns. Another woman with a non-viable fetus had to travel out of state for an abortion, endangering her health. It touches on how the "pro-life" stance is criticized for its impact on maternal and infant health, with women in states with abortion bans being three times more likely to die during pregnancy, childbirth, or shortly after giving birth. Babies born in such states are also 30% more likely to die in their first month of life. Wisconsin is no longer a complete abortion ban state anymore but they are still with a complete ban.

Seervai, Shanoor, et al. “Limiting Abortion Access for American Women Impacts Health, Economic Security: An International Comparison.” Limiting Abortion Access Impacts Health, Economic Security | Commonwealth Fund, The Commonwealth Fund, 12 Jan. 2023, www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2023/limiting-abortion-access-american-women-impacts-health-economic-security#:~:text=These%20consequences%20may%20include%20denial,and%20infant%20and%20materna l%20mortality.

This article discusses the disadvantages of US health care around women's and women's reproductive health. It points out crucial differences in American health systems compared to other high-income countries and stresses the effect it holds over the country. “Research shows that restricted access to abortion is associated with negative social and health-related consequences for pregnant women and can result in adverse birth outcomes. These consequences may include denial of emergency care in life-threatening situations, increased rates of preterm births, and infant and maternal mortality.”

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Image is from the article from the New York Times

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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/01/world/romanias-underfunded-health-system-creaks-under-the-pressure-of-the-pandemic.html

I chose this image because it shows how underfunded the Romanian hospitals are and in what poorly conditions most patients are treated. It is an ongoing issue and the most affected people are the ones that are diagnosed with cancer and might need chemotherapy and other treatments, and there are not enough available places for them in the hospitals.

https://annalsofglobalhealth.org/articles/10.5334/aogh.2502

This article from Boston College was published in 2019 and talks about how Romania has had one of the highest rates of cervical cancer incidence and mortality in Europe for decades. One of the main reasons is that women are not well informed and aware of the HPV Testing for this type of cancer.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/01/world/romanias-underfunded-health-system-creaks-under-the-pressure-of-the-pandemic.html

This article from 2021 talks about how overwhelmed the health care system is in Romania and how as many people suffering from other health issues have been without care, or missing regular medical appointments, over the past years; that includes cancer patients and those with HIV.

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I chose this image because I think it perfectly works with the idea of how stigmatization of disease such as Cancer, and HIV, stems from stereotypes and misconceptions of the actual disease. These uninformed misconceptions can lead to fear of people who are sick, and lead to people avoiding sick people and dehumanizing them in the process.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/28/health/monkeypox-mpox-who.html

This article by the NYT talks about Monkeypox, and how the WHO renamed the illness to Mpox. The choice to rename the virus was fueled by the racial implications of calling a virus “monkeypox”, when the illness never actually came from monkeys, but is found mostly in rodents. Social scientists say that the racial comparisons of primates and African people were what led them to change the name, especially as it stigmatized an entire continent.

This stigma could also lead to people not getting tested or choose to remain blind about the disease, as they would only associate the disease with Africa, when most of the patients have been white gay and bisexual European and American men. This article relates to the image I’ve chosen, because it also talks about the stigmatization of diseases, and how uninformed ideas about diseases can be deadly.

https://www.pbs.org/outofthepast/past/p6/1981_1.html

This article provides a brief history of the AIDS epidemic, and how stigma played an important role in AIDS patients not being treated for their illnesses. Part of the stigma was because of the complete association of the disease with gay and bisexual men. The disease was even called by the scientific community the “gay cancer”, until years later when it was finally renamed. This association led to people thinking that AIDS was a punishment for being gay, and religious and political organizations capitalized on that idea and further stoked those flames of fear.

I found the ideas and history shared in this article to resonate with the image selected. As in the case of HIV and AIDS, people not interacting with ill people, let alone touch them, led to a complete ignorance of their illness and prevented a quicker medical response from the government and the scientific community, which led to more uneccessary deaths.

Jacobs, Andrew. “Monkeypox Has a New Name: Mpox.” The New York Times, 8 Nov. 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/28/health/monkeypox-mpox-who.html.

“Out Of The Past.” PBS, https://www.pbs.org/outofthepast/past/p6/1981_1.html. Accessed 6 Nov. 2023.

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Untold Journeys: Healthcare for Afghan Women and Children"

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Untold Journeys: Healthcare for Afghan Women and Children"

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I selected this image because it encapsulates the challenging healthcare issues prevalent in Afghanistan, particularly impacting women and children. In times of conflict, these vulnerable groups have shouldered significant burdens and sacrifices, underscoring the immense struggles they face in accessing proper healthcare.

When the Taliban first seized power in 1996, Afghanistan’s healthcare system had already suffered from decades of war and limited investment by past governments [1]. The country had some of the highest rates of maternal, infant and child mortality in the world. During Taliban rule, morbidity, and mortality for women, infant and children worsened [2, 3]. The regime’s prohibition on women working outside the home or attending school, including female health care professionals, severely affected women’s lives, and undermined the health of the nation’s women and families [2, 3]. After the Taliban regime fell in 2001, the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) inherited a healthcare system characterized by a shortage of human resources, particularly women, an infrastructure in ruins, and no sound data on the population’s health [1]. Health facilities often lack sufficient staffing and essential supplies and equipment.

This article talks about the situation of women’s healthcare now and in the past.

Human Rights Watch. "I Would Have Four Kids If We Stay Alive: Women's Access to Health Care in Afghanistan." Human Rights Watch, 6 May 2021, www.hrw.org/report/2021

Afghanistan has 4.6 medical doctors, nurses, and midwives per 10,000 people, far below the threshold for critical shortage of 23 healthcare professionals per 10,000 people as defined by the World Health Organization. Women often struggle to access care due to costs, including for transportation to a health facility, and for medications and supplies for which patients are obliged to pay. When they can obtain care, it is often of poor quality.

These two last articles talk about the main reasons of poor healthcare for women and children in Afghanistan.

Glass, N., Jalalzai, R., Spiegel, P. et al. The crisis of maternal and child health in Afghanistan. Confl Health 17, 28 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13031-023-00522-z

“Hopes that the end of the war would significantly reduce obstacles to accessing healthcare were dashed by new barriers and fears. The journey to hospitals may be less dangerous after the war, but it has certainly become more difficult to afford,” says Ribeiro.

Glass, N., Jalalzai, R., Spiegel, P. et al. The crisis of maternal and child health in Afghanistan. Confl Health 17, 28 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13031-023-00522-z

Médecins Sans Frontières. "Afghans deprived of healthcare by poverty, restrictions, and a dysfunctional system." Médecins Sans Frontières, Date of Publication (if available), www.msf.org/afghans-deprived-healthcare-poverty-restrictions-and-dysfunctional-system.

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Nuccitelli, Michael. Opioid Epidemic Image. 14 April, 2017, New York, USA.

https://openverse.org/image/fc655f9d-71df-4a55-a8b2-0da5c28d8bf4?q=fentanyl%20epidemic

Detman, Gary. Police save a fellow officer from fentanyl overdoes during traffic stop in Florida. WPEC, 14 December 2022, Tavares Florida.

https://wwmt.com/news/nation-world/police-save-fellow-officer-from-fentanyl-overdose-during-traffic-stop-in-florida-tavares-drugs-narcotics-paraphernalia-narcan-breathless-choking-body-camera-video-footage

This epidemic does not only affect those directly taking fentanyl but those even in any sort of contact with the drug. Even with proper safety equipment an officer in a car with drug paraphernalia became exposed and overdosed.

Green, Sara Jean. How fentanyl became Seattle's most urgent public health crisis. The Seattle Times, 17 April 2023, South King County, Seattle.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/how-fentanyl-became-seattles-most-urgent-public-health-crisis/

The fentanyl epidemic is becoming one of the largest current public health issues, “the powerful opioid was responsible for over 700 fatal overdoses last year, roughly triple the death toll of traffic crashes and gun violence combined”. This epidemic is not as known as many others in the current world but is one of the most deadly rising issues in the United States.