HIV and AIDS have long had a disproportionate impact on the Black community. In recognition of that stark reality, the U.S. government marked February 7 as National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.
Cheddar News anchor Shannon LaNier spoke with Jessica Shepherd, the chief medical officer at Verywell, a health information website, about the disease's continued impact on Black people, who she said are eight times more likely to be diagnosed than white people.
The challenge in addressing this inequality is stigma, which has historically discouraged people from seeking care.
Shepherd explained that better health care options have helped lift some of that stigma, but it remains an issue for certain disadvantaged groups.
Overcoming the disease's connection with sexual intercourse is another way to help people become more open about the disease and seek the proper care, she added.
"When you think of something that's sexually transmitted, even though you do have [intravenous drug] transmission, you think of something that is bad," she said. "So the person gets a bad label no matter how they acquire the disease."
Better health care in general has helped combat this perception, as HIV/AIDS is no longer a death sentence but rather something people can live with. "You see people well into their sixth or seventh decade having HIV and living very healthy lives," she said.
A new study by Pfizer-BioNTech found that a third dose of their COVID-19 vaccine is effective against the emerging omicron variant. The pharmaceutical giants also look to manufacture a vaccine specific to the omicron variant by March 2022.
Heila Technologies, a startup that develops hardware and software to integrate renewables and batteries on a microgrid, is helping to power the first clean energy microgrid for Auto Mercado, a top supermarket chain in Costa Rica. The plant will reduce 20 tons of CO2 emissions per year. Heila Technologies CEO Francisco Morocz joins Cheddar Climate to discuss.
The U.S. has a million-ton problem: each year, hundreds of pounds of plastic waste are produced per person, and that leads to close to 2 million tons of that waste leaking into the environment. Eight million tons end up in the ocean, where it hinders marine life, damages ecosystems, and impacts industry. But in recent years, Congress has introduced measures including the Save our Seas act to try to mitigate the issue and turn our plastic problem around. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) joins Cheddar Climate to discuss why the U.S. is the top global polluter of plastic, what Congress is doing to try to fix the issue, and more.
Daniel Huppmann, researcher at International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, joins Cheddar Climate, where he explains how the global economy could be 2% bigger by 2100 if the world can hold global warming below 1.5°C.
While the World Health Organization strongly advises against a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, national and local governments are moving to make inoculations compulsory. Cheddar News speaks with Dr. Joel Zinberg of the Competitive Enterprise Institute on the issue.
Cheddar breaks down the challenges of plastic recycling and what one company is doing to help offset the negative environmental impact of single-use plastics.
Earlier this year, JetBlue flew its inaugural flight into the United Kingdom. It was a game changer — not only did the airline enter the transatlantic market, but the plane that completed the flight was a single-aisle jet. For decades, flying the distance was synonymous with jumbo jets, but today narrow-body aircraft are now proving they are up for the task — and maybe even the best option. In this episode, Cheddar examines why airlines are betting on narrow-body aircraft.
