American Journal of Public Health

75 Years of Cancer Research in Sub-Saharan Africa

Fraser J, Cochrane T, Reubi D et al. · 2026 Oct 22
Study Type: Historical review combining bibliometric literature analysis, archival research and expert input (not a clinical or epidemiological study).
Key Question: How have cancer research priorities, authorship and institutional contexts in sub-Saharan Africa changed between 1945 and 2019?
Key Findings:
  • Cancer research in the region is long-standing, not new: activity surged mid-20th century under colonial scientific interests, declined in international visibility after decolonisation, then re-emerged as African-led work aligned to regional clinical priorities.
  • Sub-Saharan Africa has been a significant site of global oncological discovery, yet colonial hierarchies of knowledge and value have persistently constrained cancer care and research capacity.
  • Abstract reports no quantitative data (publication counts, trends, effect sizes).
Clinical Relevance: For UK public health clinicians involved in global health partnerships or NHS-linked international programmes, this offers historical context for equitable, locally led research collaboration and challenges "emerging burden" framings of cancer in Africa.
Limitations: The abstract does not detail the search strategy or inclusion criteria, and journal selection may bias the findings towards published, English-language literature.
American Journal of Public Health

Disparities in Children's Coverage Loss During the Medicaid Unwinding by Race, Ethnicity, and Income: United States, 2021-2023

Eliason EL, Nelson DB, Wood J et al. · 2026 Oct 22
Study Type: Retrospective analysis of national survey data (US Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 2021–2023) using linear probability models; pre/post design around the April 2023 unwinding.
Key Question: How did ending the US Medicaid continuous coverage requirement affect children's public coverage continuity, and did effects differ by race, ethnicity and income?
Key Findings:
  • Continuous public coverage fell by 5.1 percentage points; transitions to uninsurance rose 2.6 points and to private/alternative coverage 2.5 points.
  • Coverage continuity declined among non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic and non-Hispanic White children, with no statistically significant differences between groups.
  • Children at 200–299% of the federal poverty level showed the largest increases in moves to private/alternative coverage.
Clinical Relevance: Provides a real-world example of how removing administrative protections destabilises children's health coverage, relevant to UK debates on health access, entitlement checks and inequalities, although the NHS is universal.
Limitations: The abstract does not report confidence intervals or sample size, and the pre/post design without a comparison group limits causal attribution to the unwinding itself.
American Journal of Public Health

Trends and Correlates of Maternal Bacterial Sexually Transmitted Infections in the United States, 2016-2024

Yuan H, Zucker J, Chen Q et al. · 2026 Oct 22
Study Type: Retrospective national population-based analysis (US vital statistics birth data, 2016–2024; n = 32,382,428 singleton live births), with joinpoint trend analysis and multivariable logistic regression.
Key Question: How have maternal chlamydia, gonorrhoea, and syphilis prevalence changed in the US, and which maternal characteristics are associated with infection?
Key Findings:
  • Chlamydia and gonorrhoea prevalence peaked in 2021; maternal syphilis rose roughly fourfold, from 0.09% (2016) to 0.37% (2024).
  • Chlamydia prevalence was highest in adolescents; chlamydia and syphilis were highest among non-Hispanic Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander women.
  • All three infections were associated with smoking in pregnancy, late initiation of prenatal care, Medicaid coverage, and WIC receipt (effect sizes not reported in abstract).
Clinical Relevance: The sustained rise in maternal syphilis mirrors concerns about congenital syphilis risk and reinforces the importance of early antenatal screening and partner services in UK settings with similar inequalities.
Limitations: Birth certificate data capture only infections recorded among live births, with likely under-ascertainment, and US insurance and benefit markers limit direct transferability to the NHS.
American Journal of Public Health

Mapping US State Preemption of Local Tobacco Taxes in 2025: A Legal Epidemiology Analysis and Policy Implications

Azagba S, Ebling T, Jensen JK et al. · 2026 Oct 22
Study Type: Legal epidemiology study (cross-sectional policy mapping and coding of US state laws, constitutions and court decisions, 2025).
Key Question: To what extent and by what mechanisms do US states preempt local governments from levying cigarette excise taxes?
Key Findings:
  • 41 states preempt local cigarette taxation: 22 through explicit statutory preemption and 19 through structural or judicial mechanisms.
  • 9 states permit local taxes, but only 3 (Alaska, Colorado, Virginia) do so statewide; the other 6 restrict this to grandfathered jurisdictions (3) or population-threshold carve-outs (3).
  • Preemption status was mapped against 2025 state cigarette tax rates; the abstract reports no quantitative association between the two.
Clinical Relevance: For UK public health clinicians, this illustrates how central-government constraints on local fiscal and regulatory powers can limit local tobacco control, a point relevant to debates on devolved levers, although UK tobacco duty is wholly set nationally.
Limitations: A descriptive legal mapping with no outcome data, so any health impact of preemption or its removal is inferred rather than demonstrated.
American Journal of Public Health

Pregnancy and Influenza Vaccination Behavior in the United States

Liu X, Romley JA, Cloughesy JN et al. · 2026 Oct 22
Study Type: Retrospective cohort study with difference-in-differences analysis (US commercial insurance claims data, Optum Clinformatics, 2017-18 to 2021-22 seasons).
Key Question: How does pregnancy influence influenza vaccination uptake before, during and after pregnancy, and did this change with COVID-19?
Key Findings:
  • Uptake was highest during pregnancy (44.6%) versus before (27.6%) and after (30.1%).
  • Odds of vaccination were more than doubled during pregnancy compared with before (AOR 2.3; 95% CI 2.26-2.33); the postpregnancy effect was modest (AOR 1.17; 95% CI 1.15-1.19).
  • Both effects declined after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Clinical Relevance: Antenatal contact is a high-yield vaccination opportunity, but the fall in uptake after delivery suggests missed postnatal opportunities, which is relevant to NHS maternity and postnatal immunisation pathways.
Limitations: Findings derive from US commercially insured individuals, limiting generalisability to NHS populations, and coverage below 50% even in pregnancy leaves substantial unmet need that the abstract does not explain.
American Journal of Public Health

Familial Bereavement During the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the United States

Pojman EM, Verdery AM · 2026 Oct 29
Study Type: Demographic modelling study (kinship modelling combined with national cause-of-death data, US, 1979–2023).
Key Question: How widespread has familial bereavement from HIV/AIDS been across the US population over the course of the epidemic?
Key Findings:
  • Millions of Americans lost one or more relatives to HIV/AIDS, with bereavement becoming widespread early in the epidemic and concentrated among losses of male relatives.
  • Lifetime exposure peaked in cohorts born 1940–1960; exposure has declined in more recent cohorts but remains high. Estimates are provided by relationship type (children, siblings, grandchildren, cousins, nieces/nephews, aunts/uncles).
  • Likely misclassification of HIV-related deaths means bereavement is probably underestimated. The abstract gives no specific prevalence figures or confidence intervals.
Clinical Relevance: For UK public health teams, this supports including bereavement and wider family impact in assessments of epidemic burden, and highlights how stigma can obscure mortality data and marginalise affected families, with relevance to HIV and other stigmatised conditions.
Limitations: Estimates rely on modelled kinship structures and cause-of-death coding that is acknowledged to be incomplete, and the findings are US-specific and not directly generalisable to UK populations.
American Journal of Public Health

"No More Willow Islands": Revisiting Coalition Building Around Reproductive Freedom

Bergen S, Henderson MM, Reverby SM · 2026 Oct 29
Study Type: Historical analysis (archival and oral history methods); not a clinical or epidemiological study.
Key Question: What can the history of CRROW, a 1970s US coalition formed after women were sterilised to keep their chemical plant jobs under a "fetal protection" policy, teach present-day health advocates about coalition building?
Key Findings:
  • CRROW brought together organised labour, feminist and reproductive rights groups, and environmentalists, bridging political divides that usually separated them.
  • It struggled to translate its aims into practice, as 1970s occupational health regulation was weakened by the shifting political climate of the 1980s.
  • The abstract reports no quantitative data; the authors draw qualitative lessons from both the coalition's successes and its limitations.
Clinical Relevance: The case offers a historical lens on reproductive autonomy and workplace hazard exposure, which is relevant to UK occupational health, equality law, and cross-sector advocacy on health inequalities, though it is US-specific and not directly translatable to NHS practice.
Limitations: The abstract does not state how sources were selected or triangulated, and findings from a single US case may not generalise to other settings.
American Journal of Public Health

Supporting Abortion Access Through a Patient Navigator Program in a Large Public Health Care System: Bridging the Gap

Mallow M, Ward P, Gingerella A et al. · 2026 Oct 29
Study Type: Descriptive programme report (single health system, no comparison group; likely retrospective service data).
Key Question: Can a patient navigator reduce nonmedical barriers to abortion care within a large US public health system?
Key Findings:
  • Of 722 referrals (June 2022–December 2024), the navigator coordinated care for 195 patients across 11 facilities.
  • Among these patients, 56% were beyond 14 weeks' gestation and 36% travelled from out of state (mainly Florida, Georgia, Texas).
  • The navigator coordinated $195,848 in funding for medical costs.
Clinical Relevance: Offers a model for coordinating access for later-gestation and travelling patients, relevant to UK debates on equity of abortion access, including for those travelling from Northern Ireland, and to NHS commissioning of navigation or support roles.
Limitations: There was no comparator or patient-level outcome data (e.g., time to care, completion rates), so the abstract's conclusion that navigation "effectively" addresses barriers is not supported by the reported descriptive data.

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