The Columbia University Journal of Global Health

Letter from the Editor

2025-10-06T00:04:54+00:00

Dear Reader,

We are honored to present The Columbia University Journal of Global Health Spring 2025 Issue. Political disruptions in the United States—stop-and-start suspensions of funding for health-disparities research and international health assistance—have exposed the precariousness of independent scientific governance and global health cooperation. These disruptions ripple outward, interrupting essential care in low- and middle-income countries—from antimalarial drug distribution to treatment of postpartum hemorrhage—and spurring renewed commitments to locally sovereign, regionally financed health-care infrastructure. Even as—and perhaps
especially because—state support for equity-centered research wanes, our journal remains steadfast in publishing high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship on health disparities.

This issue examines determinants of health across vulnerable communities: low adherence to malaria-preventive therapies among pregnant women in Uganda, lifestyle-related predictors of depression in midlife women, and the structural histories of chattel enslavement undergirding obstetric racism in the United States. Read together, the studies in our Spring 2025 issue explore alternatives to paternalistic models of care, pointing instead to community-led, history-aware interventions, chief among them Uganda’s Village Health Teams and Black midwifery.

With the same devotion to community-anchored programming, we have continued to convene expert-led educational events. Our journal hosted “City in Crisis: Housing Insecurity and Health Equity,” where Deborah Padgett, PhD, MPH, MA, introduced students across the Columbia University campus to Housing First—an evidence-based approach to improving health for
people experiencing homelessness. For our journal members, Juliana Bol, PhD, delivered “Humanitarianism: Principles and Law,” a teach-in tracing the evolution of humanitarian action and legal principles from the Geneva Conventions to current protections for climate-related displacement. We also partnered with Alice! Health Promotion on an “Alcohol Harm Reduction”
workshop for our student members, focused on safer-use planning to prevent alcohol poisoning.

Honoring our commitment to centering student voices, we broadened avenues for early-career scholars to share their perspectives on public health. We welcomed the inaugural cohort of our High School Scientific Journalism Fellowship: New York students—mentored by our editors—completed literature reviews and drafted, revised, and published blogs with our journal. Fellows produced more than eight blog posts on global health themes, from mental health supports in schools to social stigmas surrounding neurodegenerative diseases.

This Spring 2025 issue is a milestone we celebrate with our staff, whose care carried each manuscript from submission to publication. We likewise remain indebted to our faculty advisors—Ana Navas-Acien, MD, PhD, MPH, and Juliana Bol, PhD—for their steadying guidance throughout the editorial process. We express our sincere gratitude to Dr. Bol, our outgoing advisor, and congratulate her on her appointment as an assistant professor at the City University of New York Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy. To the authors who entrusted us with rigorous manuscripts, and to the peer reviewers whose thoughtful critiques strengthened them, we extend our sincere appreciation. And to our readers: you remain essential to The Columbia University Journal of Global Health community; we hope the pages ahead prove substantive, stimulating, and socially salient.

Sincerely,

Ann Thanh Phan & Jorge Hernandez-Perez

Co-Editors-in-Chief, The Columbia University Journal of Global Health

Racial Disparities in Maternal Health in the U.S.

2025-03-30T23:22:10+00:00

Black birth givers are 3 times more likely to die from pregnancy than their white counterparts (Center for Disease Control, 2022). While global maternal mortalities have been declining since the early 2000’s, U.S. deaths have increased drastically, more than doubling between 2000 and 2014. Black mothers are dying at the highest rates of maternal mortality than any other racial group in America (Patterson et al., 2022).

Amid the reversal of Roe vs. Wade this year, access to quality healthcare continues to be under attack, impacting the livelihoods of birthing people across the nation. Now more than ever, failures in the American health system require critical attention. The disparities in maternal health outcomes are a direct result of medical racism which was born out of chattel enslavement in the U.S. The repercussions of slavery have enacted and continue to enact violence against Black mothers. It is crucial to address the historical roots of maternal health inequities in order to find solutions. This paper will examine the legacies of enslavement in America and its role in shaping modern racial disparities in maternal mortality rates in the US today. Additionally, it will explore Black women led alternatives to healthcare in order to find methods for mitigation. The research will address public health specialists and policymakers in order to emphasize the gravity of this issue and the need for action to address these disparities.

Longitudinal Trends in Depression and Associated Lifestyle Behaviors: Insights from the SWAN Study

2025-03-30T23:29:41+00:00

This study investigates the association between depression and lifestyle behaviors, including smoking, alcohol consumption, and medication use, using longitudinal data from the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN). Data from visits 1 to 10 were analyzed to find out the relationship between depression and lifestyle factors in midlife women. The study revealed significant associations between depression and the use of nervous condition medication, smoking status, and alcohol consumption. These findings highlight the intricate interplay between mental health and lifestyle behaviors, suggesting that comprehensive interventions targeting these behaviors are essential for managing depression in midlife women.

Intermittent Preventive Therapy Adherence Amongst Women in the Luwero District of Uganda and Relevant Policy Recommendations

2025-03-10T00:31:43+00:00

Objectives: This study intends to provide an updated estimate on intermittent preventative therapy adherence in the Luwero district of Uganda.

Study Design: A cross-sectional study design was employed. In person interviews, using a structured questionnaire developed for this study, were used to collect data.

Methods: Data were collected from a convenience sample of women from four villages in the Luwero District of Uganda. Questions were asked a loud in English and the responses recorded electronically in Qualtrics or on paper. Data from paper forms were entered into Qualtrics. Data were exported to SPSS for analysis.

Results: The results indicate that 91% percent of women interviewed received at least one dose of IPTp during their last pregnancy. Fifty-eight percent of the respondents received three or more doses of IPTp. While 42% of respondents reported contracting malaria when last pregnant.

Conclusion: IPTp3+ adherence appears to have increased amongst women in Uganda since the last nationwide study.