Here is an ad campaign that used a facebook application to spread the word about chlamydia. The application allows you to make a love child between you and one of your friends and will show you what the child would look like. When you go to check it, a message will pop up saying that you have Chlamydia and then a link to a American Social Health Association website appears. This ad campaign is clearly targeting the under 25 age group that is in college, who frequents facebook. It is an effective way to reach the target audience because the majority of college students use facebook and are curious about the notifications that pop up resulting in the visiting of the American Social Health Association's website. This will raise the awareness of the Chlamydia among the audience and also raise the awareness about other STIs. This awareness should promote a more conscious effort to prevent the transmission of STIs.

Tuskegee 25 Years Later

It has been 25 years since the Tuskegee syphilis study ended. In this study, 399 African American men that had syphilis were used without knowledge of what was being done. They were told that they had "bad blood." The men were chosen because of their lack of education and poor socioeconomic status. The researchers used African American physicians and nurses, as well as community leaders to encourage cooperation. The study went on almost 40 years, even after a cure was discovered.

Twenty-five years after the end of the study, President Clinton held a public apology for those men involved in the study and their family members. In the speech, he condemned what had happened. He stressed the impact that it has had on African Americans and their distrust of Public Health. He correlated this mistrust to the low number of African Americans in medical studies and who are organ donors. He outlined different programs to increase trust in Public Health as well as to continue the advancement in bioethics.

With the rapid changes in health care brought about through technology, we will encounter new ethical dilemmas. Now more then ever, bioethics is needed so that we don't repeat the mistakes of yesterday.

Is Smallpox really gone?

With the last known case of naturally transmitted smallpox occurring over 30 years ago, it is safe to say that the majority of us have never considered the possibility of contracting the disease. The disease is spread through direct contact with one who has it or through the use of contaminated objects. This aspect of the disease allowed it to be used as a weapon during war. However, since a vaccine was created the disease had become an obsolete weapon.

With the eradication of smallpox, vaccinations against the disease were stopped. Could this have been a mistake? Many labs throughout the world still possess the virus. At one point, after the eradication, the Soviets were producing large amounts of the virus. Who knows how much there is of the virus out there? If the virus were to be released on a large population, the results would be devastating.

As we continue to go forward with the possibility of a bio terrorist attack of smallpox, we must develop a public health policy that coincides with our homeland security. This policy should not only try to prevent an outbreak, but should also be capable of containing one if an attack were to occur.