Sewage sleuths helped an Arizona town beat back Covid-19 - STAT An evangelist for the emerging field of wastewater-based epidemiology believes it has the potential to transform public health in the U.S. Megan Molteni STAT

GUADALUPE, Ariz. 

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Houston seethes over being frozen out of federal flood funds HOUSTON (AP) — Residents of the East Aldine neighborhood of Houston are tired of their homes flooding during hurricanes and of worrying every time it rains because their streets and waterways don't drain well. AP NEWS

HOUSTON (AP) — Residents of the East Aldine neighborhood of Houston are tired of their homes flooding during hurricanes and of worrying every time it rains because their streets and waterways don’t drain well.

A new tool puts health disparity data in the public’s hands A new tool called the Health Equity Tracker collects, analyzes, and makes visible data on health disparities entrenched in U.S. medicine. Katie Palmer STAT

Over and over, the pandemic has reinforced the reality of racial disparities in the U.S. health system. But that story remains difficult to see in the data, which is still inconsistently collected and reported across the country.

NIH to invest $29 million to address COVID-19 disparities

To bolster research to help communities disproportionately affected by COVID-19, the National Institutes of Health is funding $29 million in additional grants for the NIH Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) Against COVID-19 Disparities. This funding was supported by the American Rescue Plan. The awards will provide $15 million to 11 teams already conducting research and outreach to help strengthen COVID-19 vaccine confidence and access, as well as testing and treatment, in communities of color. An additional $14 million will fund 10 new research teams to extend the reach of COVID-19 community-engaged research and outreach.

“The goal of this effort is to foster community-engagement research in communities which have been hit hardest by the pandemic,” said Gary H. Gibbons, M.D., director, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). “The alliance is designed to meet people where they are with the help of trusted messengers, including family doctors, pastors, and community health workers, and to forge lasting partnerships to address health disparities.”