Welcome to a column for those who don’t have time or inclination for Twitter-scrolling.
This week, we feature questions and concerns about the World Health Organization’s decision to not declare the monkeypox outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), the importance of preventing transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the climate benefits of virtual conferences, and the housing-health crisis.
Scroll to the end to find out about upcoming events that look interesting, including a discussion at the Opera House featuring Croakey editor and medico Dr Amy Coopes.
Monkeypox
Read Dr Tedros’s statement and the WHO’s statement:
“While a few Members expressed differing views, the committee resolved by consensus to advise the WHO Director-General that at this stage the outbreak should be determined to not constitute a PHEIC.
“However, the Committee unanimously acknowledged the emergency nature of the event and that controlling the further spread of outbreak requires intense response efforts. The Committee advised that the event should be closely monitored and reviewed after a few weeks, once more information about the current unknowns becomes available, to determine if significant changes have occurred that may warrant a reconsideration of their advice.”
Read this Twitter thread by Science journalist Kai Kupferschmidt,
who raises questions and concerns about the decision,
and also read his article as per below. 
Read more about the CDC move here, and also see the StatNews article on United States vaccination plans.
Read the NYT article mentioned above.
COVID-19
Read the BMJ article here, urging public health interventions 
Watch this clip from Ireland encouraging mask wearing.
Read the article about hospital deaths.
Read the article on Long COVID in children and teenagers.
Read the article in The Lancet Regional Europe, which calls for:
- Build capacity for early identification and recognition of symptoms of Post-Covid-19 condition.
- Strengthen primary healthcare to manage Post-Covid-19 condition when medically indicated, and to be the point of referral for more severe cases.
- Acknowledge the need for individualised long-term rehabilitative care for persons with Post-Covid-19 condition
- Strengthen the health system to be able to provide an individualised multidisciplinary care pathway in which patient’s multi-system symptoms and rehabilitation needs are assessed and managed, informed by real world outcome data and patient experience.
Climate crisis
Read about the floods. 
Read about the study of heat deaths. 
Read the study from The New England Journal of Medicine. 
Read about Darwin Hospital’s initiatives.
Read about this letter to JAMA Oncology,
‘Environmental Outcomes Associated With Transition From In-Person to a Virtual Oncology Conference During the COVID-19 Pandemic’
Read the article by Bob Brown
Caring for Country
Read about the Ranger Program here. 
Read about the Burrup campaign here. 
Read about the impact of fracking here. 
Read the article here.
Housing stress
The release of some of the 2021 Census data provided more evidence about the horrific impacts of the housing insecurity crisis and associated inequalities.
Read the paper on housing and health here. 
Read the story on heat and homelessness.
Public health
The 4 Corners investigation of vaping is a must-watch.
See Professor Simon Chapman’s paper, Tobacco Industry Interference with Tobacco Control.
See NHMRC statement, dated 23 June, on electronic cigarettes. 
See Tobacco Control.
See the Deakin University research.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ health and wellbeing
Read the article at The Conversation. 
Access the palliative care recording. 
Access the toolkit.
Representation matters
Global health
Access the Commonwealth Fund report here.
Read the study published by the CDC 
Healthcare
Justice
Events
