Courtney McNamara

Paul Krugman connects the dots between rising income inequality and Americans dying earlier.

While reactions to Bloomberg’s soda ban continue to effervesce, those truly concerned with the public’s health would be well advised to hold their praise.

<p>The notion that health is influenced by societal factors has been around for generations. Rudolf Vicherow, known for his advancement of public health, is quoted famously for his 1841 declaration that “medicine is a social science, and politics is nothing else but medicine on a large scale”. The c

<p>Taking root in Wisconsin, the union battles that are sweeping across the Midwest are about more than pay, benefits and collective bargaining. Attacks on the rights of workers are also an attack on America’s health.</p>

<p>Do public health professionals have certain political responsibilities?</p>

<p>Conventional wisdom has led the majority of us to believe that our health revolves around the choices we make as an individual. However, <a href="http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/">research from public health</a> demonstrates that it is the social, economic and cultural conditions we live in that really matter. While this is old news for many health researchers, most people outside public health are still unfamiliar with these ideas, especially in the US. Journalists concerned with promoting health must strive to move beyond reproducing such individualistic explanations for health.</p>