public health

Health & Safety

Guilford County taking residents' opinions on public health through a new online survey

2:20pm July 15, 2024

The Guilford County Division of Public Health is employing an online survey for residents to share their thoughts on the state of public health in the area.

The surgeon general declared gun violence a public health crisis. What does that do?

12:21pm June 25, 2024

by Rachel Treisman

The nation's top doctor issued an advisory on Tuesday declaring gun violence a public health crisis and prescribing policy changes to treat it as such. It's both unprecedented and unenforceable.

Forsyth County Commissioner Malishai Woodbury

Politics & Government

Forsyth County Board of Commissioners passes new budget 4-3

3:11pm June 14, 2024

by David Ford

The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners passed a new budget in a 4-3 vote. There were three similar budget proposals with one main sticking point being special appropriations for education.

E-bike use is increasing quickly, but many people do not wear helmets. And head injuries from e-bike accidents are rising fast too, a study in JAMA Surgery shows.

Health & Safety

E-bike head trauma soars as helmet use falls, study finds

1:14pm February 21, 2024

by Ronnie Cohen

A new study shows that nearly 8,000 e-bike riders sought hospital care for head injuries in 2022. It's a huge increase and the majority of the injured riders were not wearing helmets.

Maribel Martinez shops the produce section at King Sooper's in Boulder, Colo., the day after picking up her Fruit & Veg coupons.

Health & Safety

To get fresh vegetables to people who need them, one city puts its soda tax to work

1:31pm January 15, 2024

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

In Boulder, Colorado, officials realized there were many people who needed access to fruits and vegetables but didn't qualify for federal food assistance.

Queue Listen Now

Palestinian children, having fled the Israeli bombing of the northern Gaza Strip in response to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, are living in temporary shelters at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. Global health groups say they are doing what they can to keep a lid on infectious diseases amid crowded, unsanitary conditions and a devastated health-care system.

Health workers struggle to prevent an infectious disease 'disaster in waiting' in Gaza

6:00pm December 26, 2023

Public health experts say conditions in war-torn Gaza are ripe for the spread of infectious disease. Health workers are struggling to spot and contain outbreaks, even as the health system teeters.

A digital drawing, made with black pencil and red and neon-blue gouache, shows a teenager standing in the center. The figure's human head has been replaced with a red rose, which is losing its petals.

Health & Safety

'All we want is revenge': How social media fuels gun violence among teens

11:06am August 25, 2023

by Liz Szabo

Teens share photos or videos of themselves with guns and cash, sometimes calling out rivals, on social media. When posts go viral, fueled by "likes" and comments, the danger is hard to contain.

Amy Treglia shows scarring on her arms caused by xylazine, a veterinary tranquilizer that is being used as a cutting agent for heroin and fentanyl.

A deadly new street drug caught the U.S. off guard. Experts say it'll happen again

7:00am June 17, 2023

by Brian Mann

A dangerous chemical called xylazine is being mixed into fentanyl across the U.S., but who's doing it and why is a mystery. The government still doesn't identify and track new drug threats.

Queue Listen Now

Farming in a 20-year drought is "hard for us," says John Mestas, at his cattle ranch in Colorado's San Luis Valley. Rising levels of arsenic in the water supply are linked to the drought.

Health & Safety

Once 'paradise,' parched Colorado valley grapples with arsenic in water

5:01am May 22, 2023

by Melissa Bailey

As the West endures a megadrought, rising levels of arsenic — a known carcinogen — in the water supply of Colorado's San Luis Valley offer clues to what the future may hold.

Law enforcement officials in the Cleveland, Texas, neighborhood where a man allegedly shot five of his neighbors after they asked him to stop firing off rounds in his yard.

One way to prevent gun violence? Treat it as a public health issue

5:12am May 12, 2023

by Rachel Treisman

Dr. Deborah Prothrow-Stith has spent decades framing violence as a public health issue. She spoke to Morning Edition about how guns fit into that picture and what prevention would look like.