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HPV-Human Papillomavirus: Are you at Risk?

HPV-Human Papillomavirus: Are you at Risk?

by | Aug 18, 2019 | Blog

In the last 48 hours or so, it is possible that one of the public health topics you may have heard about in the media is HPV–the Human Papillomavirus. However, public knowledge of this dangerous vaccine remains very thin. So, in this article, I will try to answer the following questions: what is HPV; what are the U.S. statistics like; and how can you prevent getting HPV?

HPV is a common viral infection. More than 100 types of HPV exist and its mode of transmission is mostly sexually but not always. It can also be transmitted through a cut/tear in the skin.

Data from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that during 2011 to 2014, 7.3 percent of adults (18-69 years old) were diagnosed with oral HPV whereas a 4 percent had high risk HPV. During 2013 to 2014, 45.2 percent men (18-59 years old) had a strain of genital HPV and women had a rate of 39.9 percent. In the same years, high-risk genital HPV rate was 25.1 percent in men and 20.4 percent in women.

A person who encounters HPV may get any type of wart such as genital wart, plantar wart, flat wart and common wart. Some strains of HPV such as HPV 16 and 18 cause cancer.

Plantar warts can be prevented by wearing sandals in public pools, washrooms and locker rooms. It is very important for you to get vaccinated; to get screened; and to use proper contraception in order to protect you from cervical cancer. According to clinical guidelines, boys and girls should receive two doses of HPV vaccine between the age of 9 and 14. This vaccine should be ideally given before being sexually active.

There are catch-up vaccines for those who were not vaccinated when they were young. The catch-up vaccines are recommended for women through age 26 and for men up to the age of 21. The current guidelines for screening are the following:

For women between 21-29 years old: Pap smear is recommended every 3 years.
Women between 30-65 years old have 3 options:
1) Pap smear every 3 years;
2) Pap smear with HPV test every 5 years; or
3) HPV test alone every 5 years.

The treatment of HPV vaccine varies. Conservative treatments include salicylic acid, trichloroacetic acid, imiquimod and podofilox. Non-conservative methods of treatment include surgery, cryotherapy and electrocautery. So, it is essential to take precautions – get vaccinated and get screened at the right time. Also, use proper contraception when required.

You can learn more about your health and how you can protect and improve your health. For more information, take a look at what the Global Health and Education Projects (GHEP) and volunteers are doing at the Health, Environmental Education and Awareness (HEEA) program. At the HEEA day, we educate members of our community on the relationship between the environment and public health. Experts share nuggets of life-saving health and environment information in a joyful and entertaining atmosphere.

I can tell you that human health is truly complex. But there is hope. Obtaining and empowering ourselves with the latest information and research on different health conditions is important for protecting your health. There are a lot of valuable information published by health care providers, researchers and other experts from around the world. You can read free and updated information on health issues affecting mothers, women, children and families and other health issues such as HIV/AIDS at GHEP’s global health journal on maternal and child health and aids. You can also read other interesting articles on public health, medical research, and how research is changing our lives at the journal of translational medical research and public health known as IJTRansmed. Finally, you can also write and share your comments on any health issue that you’d like to share. You never know who might be saved by reading that little piece of information that you write.

By: Neha Shah Ramjuttun, MBBS, Adv. PG Dipl GMCH, MPH (C). Dr. Ramjuttun is a candidate in Master of Public Health at the University of Newcastle, Australia. She completed her medical degree from Xi’an Jiaotong University, China and is a registered MD in Mauritius. She holds an Advanced PG Diploma in Global Maternal and Child Health from James Lind Institute in New York. She is an Editorial Assistant with the Global Health and Education Projects Inc (GHEP) where she works closely with the Editors of the International Journal of MCH and AIDS (IJMA) and the International Journal of Translational Medical Research and Public Health (IJTMRPH) and writes blogs for GHEP and its affiliates. 

Community Mentoring for Young Boys and Girls

Community Mentoring for Young Boys and Girls

by | Feb 26, 2019 | Blog, Blog & News

If you’re one of those individuals trying your best to build the social capital of your community, empower the young boys and girls who live in your neighborhood by the way of mentoring, the above question often comes to mind. Am I making a difference? Are my efforts actually changing the lives of these kids that I work with every Saturday or Sunday morning? 

 

The answer is a resounding yes. New study out this week actually says that mentoring that occurs in the community does make a difference. And here is why.

 

In a new study out in the Journal of School Health, researchers crunched the numbers of about 65,000 kids from around United States. They analyzed the chances of repeating a grade in school, engaging actively in school activities, and bullying of other children among boys and girls who have mentors in their community, also known as “informal mentors.”

 

After taking into consideration the differences among all the children, they found that overall, 5.4% of US school‐aged children without a mentor perpetrated bullying against other children; 11.4% repeated more than one grade in school; and 23.0% had low school engagement.

 

They further found out that children without mentors had 2.1 and 1.3 times higher odds or chances, respectively, of bullying other children and low school engagement than those with mentors. Proportion of children who bullied others or repeated grades was higher among minority children.

 

So, when next you’re sitting down there with your bullhorn yelling out to the kids you love, in the soccer field, in the church, or at the community center, know that your efforts are not in vain. Your efforts do matter. And big time too.

 

“As individuals who are particularly interested in our communities, this study was very special to us,” says Dr. Romuladus Azuine, the Lead author of the study. “When we set out to investigate this study, we did not really know what we were going to find. And we were pleasantly surprised that we can support all the hard work going on in our communities using hard evidence and data,” he said.

 

Dr. Azuine who is the Editor-in-Chief of the open-access International Journal of Maternal and Child Health and AIDS in Washington, DC, USA, adds that “these exciting numbers are a toast to all those unsong heroes in our communities around the world making a difference in the lives of our little boys and girls.”

What are the Main Challenges Faced by Nursing Students?

What are the Main Challenges Faced by Nursing Students?

by | Oct 3, 2018 | Blog

Being a nurse is very different from how it is portrayed in pop culture. Today’s nurses are working in an environment that is much tougher than most people think, and the route to get there is extremely challenging. Here are some of the main challenges faced by nursing students:

Costs of education

Before anything else, just getting into nursing school can pose many challenges. Paying for tuition fees, books, school supplies, and the overall cost of living can discourage anyone who wants to enter the field. Finding a suitable program and creating a list of realistic options is key.

Challenging education

Nothing can really prepare students for the exams and lectures at nursing school. Nursing schools include a lot of practical exams alongside the written tests. It’s not all about memorizing facts; students have to develop a knack for critical thinking.

Hectic schedules and long shifts

A large part of studying to be a nurse is carried out in clinical environments. Although extremely challenging and physically taxing, practical training provides nursing students the vital opportunity to use the theoretical knowledge they’ve learned in lectures. This includes the various mental, psychological, and psychomotor skills necessary for patient care.

A research article from The Scientific World Journal discusses several challenges that a nursing student may encounter in a clinical learning environment. Some of which include ineffective communication and inadequate preparation. The article also talks about how theoretical training and practical training go hand in hand—one will not be effective when the other has been executed poorly.

Social life and work-life balance can suffer

If you have been assigned shift work, your social life almost always disappears. Cosmopolitan details the most common nursing student problems, and highlights how going out with friends becomes almost impossible because of hectic schedules. Apart from trying to keep up with an ever-changing schedule, nursing students also need to complete necessary homework and worksheets before the next day’s shift.

Unreasonable expectations and unrealistic demands

An article on Nurseslabs on the most common challenges nursing school students face, talks about how many people have unreasonable expectations, and often make unrealistic demands on student nurses. People often expect student nurses to immediately know what to do during emergency situations, and sometimes even expect them to give medical advice or offer treatment. But in reality, it takes more than the basic medical training to resolve most medical situations.

This is one of the reasons why most people interested in pursuing a nursing degree think twice about entering the profession. On Maryville University’s nursing degree page, they looked at the current employment figures. The university reports that with demand high, “job openings for nurses are expected to increase by 15% from 2016 to 2026.” They’ve also found out that the need for family nurse practitioners is expected to increase steadily by the year 2025—with the nation facing a predicted shortage of at least 100,000 family doctors. Encouraging more students is a huge challenge facing the health industry.

The many challenges of nursing school shouldn’t discourage anyone interested in entering the field. Here at the Global Health and Education Projects, we emphasize the importance of passion, and how it can turn adversity into an opportunity for innovation. Our virtual global health internships offer opportunities for you to try out what it looks like to work in the field of health and social care services. By putting in a few hours of volunteer or internship with an organization with a global reach individuals interested in nursing careers can get a leg into the world of nursing and allied health care services.

In summary, passion can turn even the most challenging task into an incredibly rewarding job. After all, the greatest employees are those who have the greatest passion for what they do.

Written by Naomi Benson

***Naomi is a guest writer for the GHEP Blog.

Happy Independence – U.S.

Happy Independence – U.S.

by | Jul 4, 2018 | Blog

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all my friends and compatriots in the USA a Happy Independence anniversary–July 4th. As a Nigerian-American, I do not take the celebration behind this day lightly. It means a lot for me. It is a clear reminder of the greatness of this country and its history and its future.

I know all of us Americans are good at critiquing the shortcomings of the system in US, things like socioeconomic inequalities, health inequities, educational disparities, and the ills of the social justice system. In spite of these ills, when you pause and examine the opportunities presented in this great country and juxtapose them against opportunities presented by other countries around the world, I argue that this country is still the best and the greatness. From Silicon valley, through Washington, DC, down to Vermont, the strength of this country is strewn all over its nooks and crannies.

America’s greatness lives in its whites, its Blacks, its Indians, its brown and different shades of the citizens of this country. It is a great country; we can make it even greater by extending our arms of welcome for future generations and continue the greatness of this country which is etched in its diversity. What a great country we live in? Happy independence friends and compatriots. We have greater days ahead of us. Enjoy with family and friends.

Science, Research and Societal Impact: any Connection?

Science, Research and Societal Impact: any Connection?

by | Jul 4, 2018 | Blog

After working in science and research for more than a decade, I have come to realize that one of the greatest mistakes that distinguished members of our research / scientific community make is to assume that the impact of their work stems from the number of scholarly publications that they produce. I argue otherwise. In our new and evolving technological age, one Facebook post, one Twitter tweet, one LinkedIn article, one Youtube video, may have more societal and life-changing impact than a handful of peer-reviewed papers. I further argue that scientists and researchers who are able to make this reality transition are those that I call the “scientists of the future.” I bet you, there aren’t many of them, but there should be.

The reality is that the world is changing. Those, including researchers and scientists who wish to get to the next of engagement with their populace must do so where those people are. The truth is that very few people read scholarly journals, but more and increasingly more people are reading social media. If you want to engage them, then go to them where they are and engage them there.

It would be fortuitous to expect scientists or researchers to be social media experts. Thus it is important to identify and hire experts in social media who can leverage their skills and reach to assist you to reach and sustain followers in the community via new and non-traditional media.

How Can You Move From Passion to Innovation?

How Can You Move From Passion to Innovation?

by | Apr 6, 2018 | Blog

Over two decades ago, I spent a substantial part of my early life in my little village in southeast Nigeria greening my father’s compound. Fueled with passion for plants and the environment and no formal training in horticulture, agriculture, or botany, I turned our compound into a miniature botanical garden that was the talk of the town at that time. I had over 100 species of plants. Tropical, temperate, annuals, perennials, you name it, I had it. It was a blast and the most fascinating period of my life.

Fast forward two decades later I am pleasantly surprised to see how my passion for plants and the environment has come full circle several miles away from my village. In the global capital of Washington, DC, I am a leading a community-based revolution for the environment. The Family Tree Adoption Program (FTAP) that I conceptualized a few years ago has become the foundation for a County-wide program in my Prince George’s County, Maryland.

FTAP is a grassroots program that provides free native trees and shrubs to private homeowners in Prince George’s (PG) County, Maryland. FTAP is greening communities by increasing tree canopy, which, in turn, improves air and water quality, community aesthetics, and provides benefits for years to come.

I believe that the best employees are those who exhibit the greatest passion for what they do. In the absence of passion, knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) pale. It is easy to grow the KSA but it is difficult to sow or even grow passion, because you come to the table with passion. The absence of this burning fire of passion is what you see in doctors, lawyers, or other top professionals who make so much money but you can tell when you see them that they are not happy. Sounds familiar?

So, when next you see me, ask me about free trees! FTAP is truly the fruit of passion that led to innovation. Rather than pursuing your KSA, I recommend that you pursue your passion. So, what is your passion? Do you know?