Diseases are profitable. While that is a sad thing to think about, it’s true. Revenues are generated by illness because treating them requires resources. What’s even more upsetting is that the world seems to currently value the profits generated by disease more than seeing people freed from sickness. At 12, I was diagnosed with Type [...]

Shrimp farming, an industry that supplies the world with over 5 million metric tons of shrimp each year, is known throughout the environmental community as one of the world’s most destructive coastal industries. Aquaculture, the type of industry utilized by shrimp companies in areas like Southeast Asia, dramatically reduces biological diversity, degrades habitats, reduces genetic variability, [...]

A joint publication by Saba Michael and Erin Brodwin  It might not be a four-letter-word, but the term Famine, now used to describe the state of mass starvation in Somalia, is not thrown around casually.  Since its last bought with widespread hunger nearly 20 years ago, Somalia has been capable of doing little to prevent this [...]

Based on two recent studies, scientists now believe that taking antiretroviral drugs that are typically used to treat HIV may actually prevent HIV in those who are uninfected. The studies, conducted in Uganda and Kenya, used medications that have most prominently served as a treatment to HIV infections, saving millions of people over the past [...]

According to the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation, almost 80% of Americans currently live in a municipality that bans smoking in the workplace, local bars, restaurants, and other public and private spaces. The smoking ban campaign aims to address health concerns associated with cigarettes by achieving cleaner indoor air. Some cities, like Belmont, California, have even [...]

Few foresaw the direction that the Supreme Court would take the decision on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as PPACA or Obamacare. Immediately after the decision, public focus was still on the retention of the individual mandate. Though the Court’s change in the Medicaid expansion was unexpected, Health and Human Services [...]

By Paul Tae Yang In the past couple of weeks, I’ve been helping my friend on some search engine optimization (SEO) work for WiserEarth, a non-profit dedicated to fostering collaboration among individuals from other non-profits and government and civic organizations around the world. WiserEarth does this through its online social network platform at Wiser.org. After [...]

“It’s not every day we get to paint a roof in Midtown,” said Special Projects Manager for the New York City Service Wendy Dessy to a group of volunteers assembled in the basement of the David H. Koch Theater in Lincoln Center. As she distributed buckets filled with paintbrushes and gloves, an audible hum of [...]

A new study analyzing the impact of Medicaid shows that those who register with the program have better overall health and financial security. The first of its kind, the findings are based on a rigorously controlled assessment that uses a design similar to those used to test new drugs. While the findings may seem obvious [...]

“Treasure your life, love your family”, was the chant heard from 20,000 Foxconn employees  in Mammoth Industrial Park, Shenzhen, China on August 18, 2010. The anti-suicide rally was held to boost morale for employees and improve the company’s image after burgeoning suicide rates raised questions about the manufacturer’s working conditions. As the single largest private [...]