Nature: Coronavirus Collection

This case describes the global and Sub-Saharan country coalition to eradicate guinea worm. Led by the Carter Center, international organizations provided technical and financial assistance. Ministries of Health implemented the primary interventions of providing safe water (through deep well digging, applying larvicide, and purifying water through cloth filters); health education; containing cases, managing programs, and disease surveying. Guinea worm prevalence declined dramatically so that in 2005 only 11,000 cases were reported instead of the 3.5…

This online book is the fourth annual collection of 14 cases written by students in the MPH program of the Schulich Interfaculty Program in Public Health at Western University, Canada. The cases touch on diverse topics in public health, including health equity for indigenous peoples, elder abuse in Toronto’s Arab community, supporting students with learning disabilities, combatting the opioid crisis, and more. The introductory chapter was written by Dr. Michel Deilgat who has acted as…

This case introduces the public health practice of causal critical appraisal through using, as an example, the claim that orchestra conductors live longer than members of other occupational groups because they are conductors. Evaluating causal claims about exposures that keep us healthy, make us sick, and help us get better again, is central to public health practice but often complex, and requires one to “think like an epidemiologist.” This case is a suitable introductory case…