Health Wanted: National Public Health Week
HEALTH WANTED, a weekly radio show and podcast produced in partnership with WABE, brings need-to-know public health headlines and breaks down the science behind trending topics.
The Episode
The topic: The Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) is a uniformed governmental service that protects public health in the U.S. This week on Health Wanted, host Laurel Bristow marks the 30th anniversary of National Public Health Week by highlighting the Corps’ vital role in protecting the nation's health.
The takeaway: USPHS is an important, yet often overlooked, force dedicated to protecting the nation's health through service, science, and rapid emergency response.
- The American Public Health Association was founded in 1872 to advance health science and improve public hygiene through advocacy and education. It has since played a crucial role in major public health milestones, from establishing vital statistics systems to supporting the Environmental Protection Agency and advocating for safer environments.
- In the 1870s, John Maynard Woodworth restructured what was then the Marine Hospital Service with military-style organization and standardized physician hiring, laying the groundwork for the modern Commissioned Corps. His leadership professionalized public health response, making it more effective in combating disease and protecting national health.
- USPHS is one of the nation’s eight uniformed services and the largest public health service in the world. The USPHS is made up of trained health professionals ready to respond to health crises, from pandemics to natural disasters. Officers serve across agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, providing critical public health support.
- The U.S. Surgeon General is the head of USPHS, serving as the leading spokesperson on matters of public health. From warning the public about the dangers of smoking to educating Americans about HIV/AIDS, Surgeon Generals have helped shape the country’s understanding and response to major health issues for over 100 years.
The Listener Questions
Is the combined COVID/flu vaccine coming this fall?
Probably not. Most recently, Moderna reported positive results for the combined mRNA vaccine in people over 50 when it came to immune response in a phase three trial. The paper for those results has still not been published, so that data is hidden, but they said they were planning to submit an application to the FDA.
There is a possibility that, because that press release came out in June of 2024, there could be an application approved by the FDA before the next flu season. As mRNA vaccines are, of course, famous for their ability to be easily updated, they might not need to be produced on the same timeline as traditional flu vaccines that need to be grown in eggs.
However, this was all before the new administration took office.
Now, the NIH has been warning researchers to remove any mention of mRNA technology from their applications, indicating there’s some federal-level hostility towards the vaccine technology.
Even if Moderna was able to submit an application to the FDA, it is not guaranteed that it would be reviewed objectively.
But back to the question: Novavax, which is not an mRNA vaccine, is also working on a joint COVID-flu vaccine, but they announced at the end of last year they had dosed the first participants in their phase three clinical trial.
That vaccine is still just for people over 65 and is still a ways off. And by the time the study reaches its end, who knows how the FDA will feel about vaccines in general.
Is there a risk of cisgender girls getting hurt by transgender girls in sports because of differences in body sizes?
To start, the ban on trans athletes is on all sports, not just contact sports. It’s swimming, track, chess, and so on. So if the concern was safety due to differences in body sizes, it would be a little more focused.
Additionally, some cis women are much bigger than others and therefore have a physical advantage. Think of exceptionally tall girls having an advantage playing basketball, and girls who are solidly built having an advantage in rugby. Bans could potentially be used to limit these women’s participation if they do not fit the body type that others have decided a woman or girl should have.
Similarly, some people who are born male are very small in stature, and some trans women don’t go through male puberty; they stay on puberty blockers and then start hormones and never develop the way they would as a male. There’s just such a huge variety of what body type people possess across trans and cis populations.
It’s also important to note that before these bans were put in place, sports organizations already had structures to address trans athletes' participation. It wasn’t open season, anyone couldn’t just claim they were a trans woman and join the women’s soccer team.
For example, World Aquatics has a rule that women who transitioned after going through male puberty can’t compete. NCAA had previously allowed competition based on the national policy of whatever sport it was. And the Olympics allow trans women to compete once they’d been on estrogen for a certain amount of time and their testosterone levels were below a certain level.
The messages being given to the public over and over again about the risk trans athletes pose to cis athletes are very intentional in their use of phrases like, “It could be dangerous to let them play, they could hurt cis girls.” The goal is to get people to think of trans women as a threat. When, If you've ever watched female contact sports at a collegiate or professional level, you know cis girls will hurt each other.
Because you can’t make this generalization that “transwomen are bigger and stronger and will hurt cis women,” the rules about trans athletes' participation should still be decided by the bodies that know these women and see their physicality and if there’s someone who is massively bigger or stronger it can be a discussion those groups have with the athlete herself.
Catch all the listener questions and Laurel’s answers on the full episode of Health Wanted by:
- Streaming at wabe.org or the WABE app
- Subscribing on Apple or Spotify
- Watching on WABE's YouTube channel
