Tagged: CDC

  • Standing up for science

    Now, more than ever, is a time to stand up for science. The U.S. administration’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2018 calls for severe cuts to several key science-generating institutions, including the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. These cuts would result in a deterioration of the science that has allowed the United States to be the global leader in medicine, public health and environmental science. They would also stall progress in global development, an area which has benefited greatly from the many lifesaving solutions produced through science.

    Given the administration’s apparent disregard for science, we should take a step back and ask ourselves what may seem like a simple question: What is science and why does it matter? Of the many definitions, the most basic is the standard dictionary definition: a systematically organized body of knowledge on a particular matter. More importantly though, science is a process or way of thinking that seeks to reveal the “truth.” Not knowing the truth about something is like driving through a heavy fog. Science can cut through this fog and reveal the truth.

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  • And the award goes to …

    They’re not as well known as the Academy Awards, but in the public health realm, the Web Health Awards pack a punch.

    That’s why FHI 360’s Social Marketing and Communication (SMC) video team is pleased to announce that three of the “Making the Business Case for Prevention” videos we produced on behalf of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Division of Community Health recently won a Web Health Awards Recognition-of-Merit Award. It is the 16th year of this prestigious competition that receives thousands of submissions and selects the best in digital health resources for consumers and health professionals.

    Our winning, documentary-style vignettes feature real-life, business-success stories that demonstrate how good health is good business. The vignettes were created to build support for community health within the business sector and to encourage similar public health initiatives nationwide.

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  • Getting to zero: National Youth HIV and AIDS Awareness Day

    More than half of the world’s population is under the age of 30 and has never lived in a time without AIDS. Despite the steady progress of our collective scientific and community efforts to end the HIV epidemic, the lives of young people continue to be especially vulnerable. To bring attention to this ongoing crisis and to commit ourselves to achieving an AIDS-free generation, today marks the first National Youth HIV and AIDS Awareness Day.

    According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 50,000 people in the United States are infected with HIV each year. Of those, one in four is between 13 and 24 years old. Further, CDC reports that nearly 60 percent of new infections in youth occur in African Americans, 20 percent in Latinos and about 20 percent in whites. In 2010, CDC estimates that 87 percent of the 12,000 annual infections in youth occurred among gay and bisexual young men. Nearly half of all new infections among American youth occur in African American males.

    In a CDC Vital Signs report released for World AIDS Day 2012, the agency noted that “about 60 percent of youth do not know they are infected and so don’t receive treatment, putting them at risk for sickness and early death. These youth can also unknowingly pass HIV to others.”

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  • Kids in the United States spend a shocking amount of time in front of a screen each day. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, kids ages 8–18 spend an average of 7.5 hours of time in front of a screen for entertainment — be it a television, computer, videogame, tablet or smart phone. And to be clear, this isn’t time spent on the computer for school work, but rather time spent relaxing and having fun. And it really adds up — over a year, 7.5 hours per day comes to 114 days of total entertainment screen time!

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that kids get at least 60 minutes of physical activity each day, and time in front of a screen is time not spent being physically active. In an era when about one in six kids is obese, more than triple the number from 30 years ago, families and communities are getting engaged to make a change.

    Working with the CDC, FHI 360 has developed an interactive and animated infographic called Screen Time vs. Lean Time, which addresses just some of the ways kids can be physically active instead of staring at a screen. It also provides tips for parents on ways to limit their own child’s screen time.

    Click the image below to view the interactive infographic!

    Scree time vs. Lean time

    For more information about the work that we do in social marketing and communication, visit smcc.fhi360.org.

  • STDs are no party. Click on the image above to view an interactive video about them.

    Talking about sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) is no easy matter, especially when speaking to youth. That’s why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) enlisted FHI 360 to assist with a new project to educate young audiences about STDs (also called sexually transmitted infections or STIs).

    The mission is to convince youth to get tested and treated. The challenge was to convey the message without sounding parental, preachy or patronizing. FHI 360 met that challenge by helping CDC and its partners MTV, Planned Parenthood of America and the Kaiser Family Foundation develop an interactive video for their joint Get Yourself Tested, or GYT, campaign.

    The video lets you scroll, click and listen in on different conversations between people at a house party. After each conversation, icons pop up to link to key information ranging from where to get tested to STD basics and tips on talking about STDs. Check out the video this Valentine’s Day, and beyond.