By Susan J. Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.A., Raaj Mehta, and Stephanie Safdi*

Today, on National HIV Testing Day, we are reminded of the fact that one quarter of the million Americans who are living with HIV/AIDS are unaware of their status. Over the last five years, the United States has made...

In 2008, thanks to the triumph of public health and medical interventions, Americans will live 30 years longer, on average, than they did a century ago. These advances have resulted in a shift in the threats to Americans' health. In the early 1900s, the leading killers were infectious diseases like...

By Susan Blumenthal, M.D., Yi-An Ko, Stephanie Safdi, Beth Hoffman and Julie Chen*

As thousands of people pour into emergency rooms and millions line up to be vaccinated, Brazil's public health officials and recently even its military are fighting to control vector-borne diseases. Mosquitoes are carrying illnesses like dengue and...

By Susan J. Blumenthal, M.D., Elisha Dunn-Georgiou, and Melissa Shive*

Despite 25 years of progress in diagnosing and treating HIV/AIDS in the United States, at least one major impact of the illness has not changed -- the stigma surrounding the disease. Motivated by the changing face...

By Susan J. Blumenthal, M.D., Yi-An Ko, Beth Louise Hoffman, and Melissa Shive

With health care being a top concern of Americans this primary season and a major focus of the debates, it's time to compare the presidential candidates' proposed plans and initiatives to improve the health of Americans and...

By Susan J. Blumenthal, M.D., Stephanie Safdi, and Yi-An Ko*

There is a killer at large that claims 7.6 million lives each year worldwide. This is a death toll equal to five times the population of Manhattan and higher than the number of deaths from AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria...

By Susan J. Blumenthal, M.D., Yi-An Ko, Beth Louise Hoffman, and Melissa Shive*

Since publishing the article, U.S. Presidential Candidates' Prescriptions for a Healthier Future: A Side-by-Side Comparison in July of 2007, several of the 2008 presidential candidates have released more details about their health care proposals....

By Susan J. Blumenthal, M.D., and Beth Louise Hoffman

After spending the final days of the semester frantically finishing term papers and cramming for exams, college students all over the country will return home to celebrate the holiday season with their families, and the majority of these students will be...

By Susan Blumenthal, M.D., Melissa Shive, Beth Louise Hoffman, and Yi-an Ko*

With its official theme of "leadership," the commemoration of World AIDS Day this year on December 1st coupled with recent attention to some of the presidential candidates' positions on this public health issue has shone a spotlight on...

U.S. Presidential Candidates' Health Care Plans -A Call for Leadership

By Susan Blumenthal, M.D. and Melissa Shive*

It's fitting that the official theme of World AIDS Day this year is "leadership," given that the 2008 Presidential primaries begin next month. This convergence of the elections with today's spotlight...

by Susan J. Blumenthal and Elise Schlissel

A recent poll by the Pew Foundation indicates a new trend in how Americans view the merits of military engagement. That survey of Americans' political and social values reveals that belief in the effectiveness of military power as a foreign policy tool has...

By: Susan J. Blumenthal, M.D., Jessica B. Rubin, Michelle Treseler, Elise Schlissel, Jefferson Lin and David Mattos *

In the year 1900, you had beaten the odds if you saw your 49th birthday, as the average life expectancy for Americans was 48 years. The leading killers then...

By: Susan J. Blumenthal, M.D. and Elise Schlissel*

Two weeks ago, the President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors issued its report to address the glaring inadequacies of the military medical and benefit system first revealed five months ago. The document details dozens of important recommendations and...

By Susan J. Blumenthal, M.D., Jessica B. Rubin, Michelle E. Treseler*

As evidenced by the unique format of Monday night's Democratic Presidential debate, in which Americans submitted video questions to the candidates via the Web, technology has revolutionized all aspects of our lives. Supermarkets, businesses and banks utilize it,...

By Susan J. Blumenthal, M.D., Jessica B. Rubin, Michelle E. Treseler, Jefferson Lin, and David Mattos*

The next president of the United States will confront major health policy decisions that will affect the lives of all Americans. With the first of the presidential caucuses and primaries only six months...

In a nation where French fries are the number one vegetable consumed by America's children, tipping the scales on childhood obesity requires more than adding a few extra veggies to school lunches. Based on the latest scientific evidence, it takes the commitment of the entire community.

A recent study...

Medicare Part D, Health Savings Accounts (HSA's), Universal Coverage, Medicaid Categorical Eligibility, Consumer-Driven Health Care, PPO's, MediGap Insurance, Network-Model HMO.

Confused? If so, you are not alone. Confusion about health care is not limited to the complex terminology involved, but extends to the strategies needed to achieve access to...

This Valentine's Day, while you are concerned with matters of the heart, take some time to consider the health of your heart. Nearly all women are at risk for heart disease and should be more aggressive about lowering their risk. Yet, in a recent survey on health concerns, when asked...

By Susan Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.A. and Jennifer X. Cai*

This June marked the 25th anniversary of the discovery of HIV/AIDS, although for all intents and purposes, the brief mention of five cases of rare pneumonia in young homosexual men in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Morbidity...

by Susan Blumenthal, M.D, M.P.A. and Emily Gaukler*

In a leadership move this month, Marriott International declared that all of its hotels worldwide would be smoke-free by September 2006. This important policy change heralds an increasing trend in the spread of smoke-free establishments. Why now? Because there's a killer at...