The Biden administration is considering reintroducing one of the most infamous anti-immigrant policies of the Trump administration – the practice of detaining migrant families, including young children, seeking protection in the US even though they are not charged with any criminal wrong doing. There was a reason why this policy, among the many egregious Trump measures targeting migrants at the Southern border – a border wall, the so-called “Remain in…
Forty-five years ago, the United Nations General Assembly deemed November 29 as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. The chosen date was no accident; it came thirty years to the day after the original plan to partition Palestine was adopted by the same United Nations body in 1947. The day is meant to allow time and energy for the international community to show solidarity with Palestinians, acknowledging…
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The François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University and the Institute of Community and Public Health at Birzeit University are launching the first annual Palestine Health and Human Rights Fellowship. The in-residence fellowship, housed at the FXB Center at Harvard University, will host an exceptional candidate whose work centers Palestinian health within a larger socio-political context. The fellowship will support a scholar working in the…
July 2022 offered Harvard graduate students interested in migration issues a unique experience. From simulations of rescue at sea to a meeting with the Greek Minister for Migration, from academic lectures by lawyers, environmentalists, journalists and emergency doctors to visits to refugee camps and centers for unaccompanied child refugees, students from five different Harvard graduate schools had the opportunity to spend three weeks in July 2022 immersed in an inaugural…
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June 24, 2022 — The U.S. Supreme Court officially reversed Roe v. Wade today, declaring that the constitutional right to abortion upheld for nearly a half century, no longer exists. The decision means that abortion rights – namely access to safe and essential reproductive health services – will likely be rolled back in nearly half of the states imminently, with more restrictions likely to follow. In response to the decision,…
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Working with 23 community groups in 10 states Project N95 and Harvard FXB Center will distribute 1m masks to communities in need. Watch our video here National not-for-profit 501 (c) (3) group Project N95, has partnered with the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University to distribute 1 million respirators in local communities at no cost. Working with 23 community groups in 10 states (see list below), the…
“In the past two weeks, 2 million Ukrainian citizens and residents have fled the relentless military violence unleashed on their country by Russian President Putin. Images of innocent civilians forced to flee life-threatening attacks on their homes and communities are all too familiar. In less than a decade we have already witnessed massive forced migration from Syria, Myanmar, South Sudan, Afghanistan and Tigray. Again and again, global publics have been…
Photo of Dr. Paul Farmer courtesy of Partners in Health The FXB Center is deeply saddened by the untimely death of Dr. Paul Farmer, a visionary global health leader, anthropologist, physician, and Harvard professor. Paul was a close colleague and dear friend to many in the FXB family and served as editor-in-chief of the FXB Center’s flagship publication, the Health and Human Rights Journal, since 2008. In the first issue…
FXB Health and Human Rights Research Fellow Dr. Margaret Sullivan recently submitted written testimony in support of Massachusetts Legislature bills S.1579 and H.2418. The bills are known as the Safe Communities Act and aim protect basic rights and ensure every resident can seek health care, protection and emergency assistance without fear of deportation or detention. Sullivan, an instructor and family nurse practitioner at a community health center, shared her immigrant…
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Today, the FXB Center issued a statement on the public health harms of prison and the carceral system. The statement examines the impact of incarceration on individuals and communities, and offers innovative solutions to break long-term cycles of family instability, homelessness, and underemployment, while fostering intergenerational health and wealth building resources. Read the full statement here. View and download the social media infographics:
The FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University, in collaboration with the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, and with the support of the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies in Greece and the United States, is launching a new program on migration and refugee studies in Greece. This partnership was announced today during a virtual event. This partnership begins with a new three-week intensive, interdisciplinary, summer…
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Today, FXB Health and Human Rights Fellow Dr. Jourdyn Lawrence submitted written testimony in support of Massachusetts Legislature bills H.1378/S.886 (An Act Enabling Local Options for Tenant Protections) and H.1440/S.889 (An Act Relative to the Stabilization of Rents and Evictions in Towns and Cities Facing Distress in the Housing Market). The bills aim to establish rent control and increase tenant protections. Lawrence, a social epidemiologist, shared recent research and her…
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In response to surging COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts, the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights joined national non-profit Project N95 and the Boston University School of Public Health to distribute 20,000 protective masks to high-need areas in the state. The community sites receiving the masks include: La Colaborativa of Chelsea, People Incorporated in Fall River, YWCA Southeastern MA – New Bedford, YMCA Southcoast Swansea – Fall River, SEIU509 and…
In a new article published in partnership with the University of Oxford, the FXB Center’s Director of Research Prof. Jaqueline Bhabha and FXB Health and Human Rights Fellow Dr. Vasileia Digidiki draw attention to global injustices against the best interests of migrant children. In their original post, the co-authors state: In today’s world, “migration” and “global justice” rarely go hand in hand. Though the COVID 19 pandemic temporarily equalized access…
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In a recently released study in JAMA Network Open, Dr. Mary T. Bassett and Dr. Justin Feldman examine “Variation in COVID-19 Mortality in the US by Race and Ethnicity and Educational Attainment.” In the cross-sectional study of 219.1 million adults aged 25 years or older, most racial and ethnic minority populations had higher age-adjusted mortality rates than non-Hispanic White populations, including when comparing within levels of educational attainment. If all…
Dr. Marie Plaisime is among 12 members of the newly-formed Coalition to End Racism in Clinical Algorithms. Read the original press release from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene: The Health Department today announced the formation of the Coalition to End Racism in Clinical Algorithms (CERCA). Flowing from the Board of Health’s landmark resolution declaring racism a public health crisis, CERCA was formed to end the inclusion of…
Today, FXB Center for Health and Human Rights doctoral cohort member Jasmine D. Graves submitted written testimony in support of Massachusetts Legislature bills S.1578 and H.2504, which would provide criminal justice reform protections to all prisoners in segregated confinement in Massachusetts. Graves, a public health researcher and social impact strategist, shared her expertise and research on harms of segregated and restrictive housing in correctional settings. Read her submitted testimony: Dear…
Today, as part of the new Public Health & Human Rights for Mass and Cass Coalition, the FXB Center called on Boston Mayor-Elect Michelle Wu to implement a health-centered approach to the intersecting crises at Melnea Cass Boulevard and Massachusetts Avenue. The area, more commonly known as “Mass. and Cass,” is home to unhoused individuals in need of public health supports and housing. The coalition recommends a six-point plan: Protect…
Today, FXB Health and Human Rights Fellow Dr. Jourdyn Lawrence submitted written testimony to the Boston City Council Committee on Civil Rights in support of Docket #0734: Order for a Hearing Regarding Reparations and Their Impact on the Civil Rights of Black Bostonians. In her testimony, Dr. Lawrence shared her expertise and research on reparations and racial inequities. Read her submitted testimony: Dear Members of the Boston City Council Committee…
Today, FXB Health and Human Rights Fellow Dr. Brittney Butler testified before the Massachusetts Legislature’s Racial Inequities in Maternal Health Commission. The hearing was a listening session on maternal health efforts and experiences in the Metro West and Central Massachusetts regions. In her testimony, Dr. Butler shared her expertise and research on maternal mortality and morbidity. Read her remarks as prepared for delivery: Dear Members of the Racial Inequities in Maternal…
Today, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul appointed FXB Center for Health and Human Rights Director Dr. Mary T. Bassett as Commissioner of the New York State Department of Health. Dr. Bassett joined the FXB Center in 2018, following four years of service as New York City’s health commissioner. During her time at the FXB Center, Dr. Bassett strengthened the Center’s focus on structural racism both domestically and abroad, including…
The FXB Center today announced a new fellowship program for racial justice in partnership with the JPB Foundation, featuring five new fellows with diverse backgrounds in health and human rights. The announcement came during the virtual symposium “Anti-Racism in Public Health Policies, Practice and Research,” hosted by the FXB Center to launch its new racial justice initiative, which includes research and a series of conversations on racism as a determinant…
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A new online video series from the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University highlights eight leading experts whose work and research focuses on a multitude of structural and societal factors that affect health outcomes. “The Intersection” series features interviews with these experts on how the COVID-19 pandemic has realigned health and human rights priorities and focuses on important policies to advance in the next year. “The…
The FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard is pleased to announce several new hires and promotions. Learn more about our new fellows and staff members: Dr. Brittney N. Butler (she/her) is a social epidemiologist whose primary research seeks document and combat anti-Black racism as a fundamental cause of racial disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality for Black women. Dr. Butler holds a dual academic appointment as an…
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In recognition of Juneteenth, FXB Center Research Associate Matlin Gilman and FXB Center Director Dr. Mary T. Bassett co-authored an opinion piece highlighting the need for the City of Boston to provide reparations to Black Boston residents. In a commentary published today in Cognoscenti, the authors write: “As we celebrate, we also commit ourselves to an ongoing racial reckoning, a reckoning that must include reparations for nearly 250 years of…
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Following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) recent announcement that it will take steps to ban menthol cigarettes, FXB Center Director Dr. Mary T. Bassett was interviewed for a Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health article. In the article, Bassett — a former smoker herself — describes how the tobacco industry intentionally marketed menthol cigarettes to the Black community, resulting in 45,000 deaths a year. Bassett shared her…
BOSTON, MA – In response to former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin being found guilty of murdering George Floyd, FXB Center Director Dr. Mary T. Bassett issued the following statement: “Today’s verdict is an important step for individual accountability and justice. But we are not going to end police violence in court rooms, case by case. The problem of police violence is systemic and radical change to our policies and…
BOSTON, MA – The François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University (FXB Center) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) today released “See Migration Like Water: An Analysis of IOM Flow Monitoring Survey Data on Migration Flows in West and Central Africa,” a detailed analysis of migration flows and migrant vulnerability on routes within and from West and Central Africa. The West and Central Africa region…
BOSTON, MA – On March 18, 2021, resolutions to celebrate the heritage of Romani Americans were introduced in the House and Senate. The Roma Program at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights welcomes this initiative, which represents a symbol of hope in the recognition of the history, realities, and rights of often marginalized Romani Americans and other Roma people across the world. We are grateful for the tremendous efforts of…
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Note: This blog first appeared on the ACLU website on January 6, 2021. The blog mentions From the War on Drugs to Harm Reduction: Imagining A Just Overdose Crisis Response, a new report from the FXB Center, Open Society Foundations and Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. By Udi Ofer, Director, Justice Division, ACLU An earlier version of this blog appeared in The Hill. This year marks 50 years since President Richard…
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The François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University today urged the Biden-Harris transition team to implement drug policy reforms to curb overdose deaths and address long-standing harms stemming from the multigenerational “War on Drugs” campaign. In collaboration with the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and Open Society Foundations, the FXB Center sent the Biden-Harris transition team a new report, titled From the War on Drugs to…
Human Rights Day is an opportunity to reaffirm the importance of human rights in re-building the world we want, the need for global solidarity as well as our interconnectedness and shared humanity. Commemorated annually by the United Nations, this year’s Human Rights Day theme relates to the COVID-19 pandemic and focuses on the need to build back better by ensuring human rights are central to recovery efforts, tackling entrenched, systematic…
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The François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University today released a new study that draws attention to the inequities the Roma diaspora faces in the United States. Published in collaboration with the advocacy nonprofit Voice of Roma, the study, titled Romani Realities in the United States: Breaking the Silence, Challenging the Stereotypes, includes insight from 363 questionnaires with Romani Americans, touching on socioeconomic conditions, stigma, discrimination,…
FXB Center for Health and Human Rights Senior Fellow and Harvard T.H. Chan Professor Jennifer Leaning recently compared approaches to prevention and early warning in public health to those for mass atrocity. Her essay, “Prevention in Public Health and Atrocity: A Comparative Approach to Early Warning for Early Action,” appears in the latest issue of Politorbis, an official publication of the Swiss Foreign Ministry. As Leaning posits, “An understanding of…
In a new article published in Current Environmental Health Reports this week, faculty and fellows from the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University examine the complexities at the intersection of human migration and climate change. As powerfully argued by Drs. Satchit Balsari, Caleb Dresser and Jennifer Leaning in “Climate Change, Migration and Civil Strife,” migration must be anticipated as a certainty, and thereby planned for and supported.…
Dr. Margareta Matache, director of the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights’ Roma Program, makes the case for justice, reparations and anti-racist policies following 500 years of enslavement and economic exploitation of the Romani people. Read her full op-ed in Al Jazeera.
A new article, published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine, examines how relying solely on death certificate data can result in an underestimate of COVID-19 mortality rates, making it difficult to assess the true toll of the pandemic. The article’s authors, FXB Center Fellow Mathew Kiang, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Professors Rafael Irizarry and Caroline Buckee, and FXB Center Fellow Dr. Satchit Balsari, propose ways to…
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A recent epidemiological study finds that the rate of COVID-19 for incarcerated individuals in Massachusetts is almost three times that of the state’s general population and five times that of the U.S. general population. As shown in Figure B (caption below), the study also finds that higher rates of decarceration are linked to lower rates of COVID-19. Dr. Monik C. Jiménez, Tori L. Cowger, Dr. Lisa E. Simon, Maya Behn,…
The FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University is sad to announce the passing of Elaine Wolfensohn, who represented her husband Jim Wolfensohn on the FXB Center’s Advisory Committee. For over forty years, Mrs. Wolfensohn was involved in the field of education and arts education while raising her family. Her work in Australia and the United States included teaching in private schools, creating teen tutoring programs in…
A new research letter in JAMA Network Open argues that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) underestimates the excess burden of COVID-19 deaths among Black, Latinx, and Asian communities by comparing the percentage of U.S. COVID-19 deaths by race/ethnicity with a weighted distribution of U.S. racial/ethnic populations rather than with corresponding U.S. Census data—a distortion that has the potential to affect resource allocation. FXB Center for Health…
The June issue of the Health and Human Rights Journal (HHRJ) is especially timely with a special section on mental health and human rights. It was published shortly after the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres urged the international community to do much more to protect all those facing mounting mental health pressures as a result of COVID-19, and the World Health Organization published guidelines for communities to support people experiencing mental distress.…
An article, authored by FXB Center Doctoral Student Cohort Members Gabriel L. Schwartz and Jaquelyn L. Jahn, reveals the stark inequities in fatal police violence between Black and White populations in U.S. metropolitan areas. The article, published in PLOS ONE, estimates rates of fatal police violence for every metropolitan area in the country, as well as racial inequities in those rates. The authors analyzed the most recent, complete data—from 2013…
The following statement was issued by the Poor People’s Campaign COVID-19 Health Justice Advisory Committee on June 19, 2020. FXB Center Director Dr. Mary T. Bassett, Executive Director Natalia Linos and Director of Communications Veronica Lewin serve on the committee. Learn more about the committee here. Watch committee members read the statement here. “The United States is facing an important moment in its history. We have entered the sixth month…
FXB Center for Health and Human Rights Director Dr. Mary T. Bassett is the lead author of a new working paper exploring racial/ethnic differences in age-specific Covid-19 mortality rates in the U.S. The Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies Working Paper Series published the paper this week. Dr. Bassett collaborated with Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Professor Nancy Krieger and Research Scientist Dr. Jarvis Chen in this…
The following is a joint statement from the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University, Hutchins Center for African & African American Research, the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School, the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice at Harvard Law School, and the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics. Note: please see below for a list of additional co-signers. “We…
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A new study published this week in the American Journal of Public Health explores the long-term impact of historical redlining on preterm births in New York City. The study, conducted by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Professor Nancy Krieger, Pamela D. Waterman and FXB Center for Health and Human Rights Director Mary T. Bassett, and NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene epidemiologists, found a higher proportion…
In solidarity with workers, FXB Center for Health and Human Rights Director Dr. Mary T. Bassett and Executive Director Natalia Linos co-signed an open letter urging McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski to adequately protect the safety of employees and consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the letter, the experts point to “a pattern of severe shortcomings by McDonald’s,” including failure to provide adequate PPE and to inform workers when they are…
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The following statement was issued by the Poor People’s Campaign Health Justice Advisory Committee on May 3, 2020. FXB Center Director Dr. Mary T. Bassett, Executive Director Natalia Linos and Director of Communications Veronica Lewin serve on the committee. Learn more about the committee here. Point 1: Social distancing measures are working to mitigate the spread of the virus despite the uncoordinated federal response that has led to the current…
By Drs. Aluízio de Azevedo Silva Júnior and Margareta (Magda) Matache Across the world, a violent and disturbing trend of anti-Romani racist acts by the police, policy makers, media, and others is putting Romani families and communities at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are also attacked when we speak out against this injustice. For example, an op-ed addressing anti-Romani racism published by Libertatea, a well-known Romanian newspaper, was swiftly…
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In a recent opinion piece, François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights’ Director of Research Professor Jacqueline Bhabha and Instructor Vasileia Digidiki discuss the current COVID-19 situation in Greece, the migrant hotspot Greek islands, and what the European Union should be doing to address the crisis. In it, the authors write: “Without effective and coordinated action, the pandemic will immobilize the Union’s most precarious and embattled member. This would…
