Healthy streets, healthy life

The ideas and innovators shaping health care

Apr 14, 2023 View in browser   By Ben Leonard, Ruth Reader and Erin Schumaker WEEKEND READ Beach Drive in Washington, D.C., remains a walker's paradise. | Getty Images American cities that closed streets during the pandemic to give residents additional outdoor space for recreation have returned most of them to drivers. Those reopenings are a missed opportunity to improve health if the prognosis from an ongoing experiment in urban redesign in Barcelona, Spain, is any indication. POLITICO’s Helen Collis reports that Barcelona has seen promising results from a decade-old project to close large sections of three neighborhoods to traffic. A survey of people living in the repurposed areas found they reported better rest, increased socialization and less perceived noise and air pollution. Residents also indicated the areas are quieter, more comfortable and safer, making it easier for them to interact with their neighbors. Meanwhile, a study by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health published in Environment International found that if Barcelona extends the project to additional areas, as it intends, it would spark major improvements in mental health. The institute expects it would reduce by more than 10 percent visits to mental health specialists and antidepressant use. Those findings add to growing scientific evidence that access to nature helps prevent mental health disorders. Noise pollution from traffic has been linked to stress, sleeplessness, anxiety and depression, while poor air quality is linked to mental health impacts, such as dementia and strokes. Back in America: Stephan Schmidt, an associate professor at Cornell University’s City and Regional Planning Department, researched the Covid-era street closures and found 35 states took part. But nearly all the closures — 94 percent — lasted less than six months. There were some significant exceptions: — San Francisco voters last fall decided to keep the portion of JFK Drive that runs through Golden Gate Park car-free. — Seattle continues to maintain some of the “Healthy Streets” it designated, including a picturesque stretch of Alki Ave. facing Elliott Bay. — The National Park Service has agreed to keep Beach Drive in Washington, D.C.’s Rock Creek Park — once a major commuting thoroughfare — closed to through traffic after residents protested a plan to reopen it.   STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.     WELCOME TO FUTURE PULSE Durham, N.C. | Ben Leonard This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care. For $2,499, California-based Prenuvo will give you a full-body MRI and use artificial intelligence to evaluate what it finds, promising to detect cancer, brain aneurysms, fatty liver disease, pre-kidney stones and other ailments. A doctor’s order is required, and the company says it’s diagnosed thousands of serious health issues, but some are skeptical. Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Ben Leonard at bleonard@politico.com, Ruth Reader at rreader@politico.com, Carmen Paun at cpaun@politico.com or Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@politico.com. Send tips securely through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp. Today on our Pulse Check podcast, your host Ruth talks with Megan R. Wilson about the tensions at one of the nation’s leading trade organizations for generic drugmakers, which could threaten its lobbying clout at a crucial time for the industry. Listen to today’s Pulse Check podcast   LISTEN TO POLITICO'S ENERGY PODCAST: Check out our daily five-minute brief on the latest energy and environmental politics and policy news. Don't miss out on the must-know stories, candid insights, and analysis from POLITICO's energy team. Listen today.     WORLD VIEW Countries in the World Health Organization are grappling over intellectual property. | Sean Gallup/Getty Images The U.S. is pushing back against developing countries that want the rich world to waive intellectual property protections for vaccines and medicines to distribute them more quickly during the next pandemic. The debate is playing out in negotiations over the pandemic treaty among World Health Organization countries. In draft text obtained by POLITICO’s Ashleigh Furlong, the U.S. asks for the deletion of a paragraph that would see countries take measures to “support time-bound waivers of intellectual property rights” to speed up the manufacturing of pandemic products. The U.S. has also asked to edit language requiring manufacturers of pandemic-related products to transfer technology and know-how to other manufacturers. In the U.S. version, countries would only need to “intend to coordinate, collaborate, facilitate and incentivize manufacturers” to expand their geographic diversity through methods such as licensing agreements. This would all be on “voluntary and mutually agreed terms.” What’s next: Countries hope to finalize the treaty by May 2024.   Follow us on Twitter Ben Leonard @_BenLeonard_ Ruth Reader @RuthReader Carmen Paun @carmenpaun Erin Schumaker @erinlschumaker   Follow us

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