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Tampon Shortage Sheds Light on Period Poverty


looking at tampon

Amid the baby formula shortage, American women are now facing a tampon shortage. The shortage has resulted in a 10% price increase in the last year, with some retailers price gouging as high as $114 for one box of 18 tampons. The shortage stems from the economic challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, including a shortage of raw materials and labor. As some women frustratingly scour multiple stores to buy menstrual hygiene products, others fall deeper into period poverty. The High Cost of Menstruating While menstruating women nationwide are affected by this shortage, low-income women, such as Latinas, are hit particularly hard as they already face disproportionate health inequities, including a lack of access to healthy food, affordable housing, and childcare. Nearly 22 ...

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The Unsung Impact of Latinos on the U.S. Economy


Latino Impact on U.S. economy

Latinos are driving the U.S. economy thanks to a rise in population, workforce participation, entrepreneurship, and economic contributions. But progress is hampered by COVID-19, discrimination, and wage disparities. “There’s no doubt Latinos are slowly being more fully integrated into the US economy. Yet there’s also no doubt there’s a long way to go, especially for first-generation Latino immigrant,” according to Lucy Perez, Bernardo Sichel, Michael Chui, and Ana Paula Calvo of McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm. Let’s explore how Latinos are influencing the economy now and in the future. Latino Population Growth Latinos account for over 18.5% of the total U.S. population. As the Latino population has continued to grow rapidly, it has ...

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Achieving Cancer Treatment Equity Requires Diversity Among Oncologists


Latino oncologist

Oncologists who identify as Latino remain highly underrepresented in the workforce, according to a new report from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Although the percentage of Latino hematologists/oncologists has risen slightly over the past decade, from 4.1% in 2008 to 4.7% in 2018, Latino participation decreases at nearly every step in the path to becoming an oncologist, according to ASCO. “As a result, [Latino] patients are deprived the benefits of a representative workforce, such as improved access, enhanced culturally and linguistically competent care, and minimization of health disparities,” wrote Dr. Gladys Rodriguez of the START Center for Cancer Care in San Antonio, and her colleagues, in a recent study in JCO Oncology Practice. Why is this a ...

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Abigail Rubio: Changing the Medical School Oath to Address Racism


Abigail Rubio medical school oath 6

Abigail Rubio, like all medical students, started her journey to be a doctor with an oath. In the traditional Hippocratic Oath, future physicians pledge to do no harm, treat people not symptoms, and respect patient privacy. This sets the tone for medical students’ time in school, as well as their practice later. But Rubio knew something was missing from the oath. She and her peers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, with the guidance of their faculty advisers, wrote their own medical oath and recited it in August 2020 with new emphasis on COVID-19, health care inequities, and racism as a public health crisis. This is part of a rising trend of medical students writing their own oaths on their ever-evolving responsibilities as doctors to address systemic ...

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Study: Latinos, Asians Experience COVID-19-Related Discrimination


Study: Latinos, Asians Experience COVID-19-Related Discrimination

COVID-19 continues to have a large impact on Latinos and other communities of color, particularly when it comes to cases and deaths. However, the toll extends beyond the physical impacts of the virus. Racial and ethnic minority populations are more likely to experience COVID-19–related discrimination than their white counterparts, according to a new study from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD). Learn what the study found on COVID-19–related discrimination, the impact of discrimination on health, and what we do to improve the situation for Latinos and others of color. What Did the NIMHD Study Find on COVID-19-Related Racial/Ethnic Discrimination? This is the largest study to date on discrimination related to COVID-19. Dr. Paula D. ...

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