Global Health Blogs with Professor Swahn

In December 2019 I turned in a short essay for my Environmental Health class. The prompt was “what do you think is the biggest threat to your health from the environment?” Now I knew everyone was going to write about air pollution, climate change (in general), the food crisis, or WASH because those had been […]

[Read more →]

The coronavirus pandemic has enormously changed the world. From social distancing norms, mandated mask norms, decreased in-person socializing, and increasing use of technology to stay in touch to the adoption of remote work, decline for small newly established businesses, and change in urbanization trends, Covid-19 has brought a vast change in our day to day […]

[Read more →]

At this time in the world, I think it is appropriate to assume that the majority of the population has heard something about the ongoing pandemic. COVID-19, coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 . The names all sound different, but they mean the same thing….but what exactly does it mean? COVID-19 is a severe acute respiratory disease that is […]

[Read more →]

By now, most every person around the world has heard the name coronavirus or COVID-19 or (one of my favorites) “the rona”. If someone has not heard of it, here is some decent information on the virus with some useful videos on what it is and how to stay safe.  The coronavirus has changed the […]

[Read more →]

     A number of countries had the COVID-19 outbreak before the United States giving us fair warning and plenty of time to prepare. Why have we failed so miserably? This is a conversation that’s been had several times at this point but it’s important in deciding how we move on at the occurrences of second waves […]

[Read more →]

COVID19 has effected every age group in our nation, throughout the different races, cultures, and populations of the United States. Sadly, one of COVID’s most impacted population groups have been children (UNICEF Data hub, 2020), but maybe not in the way that you think. Yes- children have gotten sick with, and have even died, from […]

[Read more →]

Now the Pandemic – Next What? I had just finished my certification exam to be able to work as a doctor in Albania, when I heard the news about a respiratory virus that was spreading across China. I remember most of the people back then did not seem to be worried about it, but I […]

[Read more →]

The COVID-19 pandemic and the effort to contain the reach of the coronavirus has highlighted the significance of social contact in our everyday lives. In response, compromises have been made in employment, travel, education, entertainment, transportation, and nearly every sector of our lives. Many people have had to grapple with unexpected losses of jobs, with […]

[Read more →]

                     Individual death rates in many African countries have  turned out to be much lower than initially feared.  As predicted by the South African experts ,” the number of infections dips sharply in South Africa.” “Experts are now exploring  and starting to shift their focus ; […]

[Read more →]