Sandra Smiley (she/her)
@sandrasmiley.bsky.social
Smiley by name, smiley by nature | Resident physician @ubcpublichealth.bsky.social | Board @msf.ca | Co-host/producer @justmedicinepod.bsky.social | Posts about public health & social medicine | Opinions mine
Dental-therapy programs hope to bring better care to remote areas of Canada. Health Canada is funding a new program allowing Northern students to ‘learn where you live,’ by @taviagrant.bsky.social www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic... via @theglobeandmail.com
Dental-therapy programs hope to bring better care to remote areas of Canada
Health Canada is funding a new program allowing Northern students to ‘learn where you live’
theglobeandmail.com
As a paramedic, I responded to countless overdoses. Then my best friend died from one. I was overtaken by compassion fatigue, an all too common reality for first responders, by @camfenton.bsky.social www.cbc.ca/news/canada/... via @cbcnews.ca
FIRST PERSON | As a paramedic, I responded to countless overdoses. Then my best friend died from one | CBC News
When Cam Fenton's best friend died, it made him question how someone who was a support worker at a supervised injection site ended up as one of thousands of people who die of opioid overdoses every ye...
cbc.ca
So much of public health programming around the world still reflects the agendas and ambitions of the Global North institutions financing them. Inequity characterizes the past and present of global health. But what about its future? A great listen here 👇
Just Medicine Podcast@justmedicinepod.bsky.social · last wk.Episode 40 is out now! Join Drs. @madhupai.bsky.social & @sandrasmiley.bsky.social as they discuss what #globalhealth is, where the idea originated, & why the field urgently needs a reimagining. Link below 👇 🌍 #publichealth #healthequity #medicaleducation open.spotify.com/episode/3rA0...
The Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak in the #DRC is intensifying, with sustained transmission, rising cases and deaths, and expanding geographic spread. This is now the largest #Ebola outbreak ever reported in the country. Full report, read here: bit.ly/4g6lLeH
Extreme heat is not just a weather event. It‘s where climate change driven by corporate greed and political failure collides with people’s rights, lives and livelihoods. https://bit.ly/4wzWfo4
Global: Extreme Heat Exposes Deadly Collision of Climate Change, Corporate Greed and Political Failure as Rights Burn
Governments must protect people through climate-resilient public services, while confronting the root cause of this escalating crisis.
amnestyusa.org
Canada’s gender-based violence laws are improving. Frontline worker conditions are not
Canada’s gender-based violence laws are improving. Frontline worker conditions are not
Canada has a promising gender-based violence legal and policy framework, but none of it accounts for the people actually delivering frontline services.
theconversation.com
Conflicts can spread infectious diseases while making outbreaks harder to detect #publichealth #humanitarianhealth theconversation.com/conflicts-ca...
Conflicts can spread infectious diseases while making outbreaks harder to detect
The world’s pandemic early-warning system is weakest in places affected by armed conflict, where the risk of outbreaks is often greatest.
theconversation.com
We are grateful to co-host this upcoming webinar on Thursday August 13th, 2026, at 12pm PST with @hrna.bsky.social and Caitlin Shane, staff lawyer at @pivotlegalsociety.bsky.social. REGISTER HERE: tinyurl.com/3da7j4p2 #bcpoli #harmreduction
From Ukraine and Sudan to Gaza: why have hospitals become a target of war? by @lizcookman.bsky.social #notatarget www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
From Ukraine and Sudan to Gaza: why have hospitals become a target of war?
International law states only military sites can be targeted during conflicts, but this is routinely being ignored
theguardian.com
Giving birth in the shadow of Haiti’s gang violence – photo essay
Giving birth in the shadow of Haiti’s gang violence – photo essay
As fighting intensifies in Port-au-Prince, only a fraction of its maternity services remain, and they are under constant threat
theguardian.com
Episode 40 is out now! Join Drs. @madhupai.bsky.social & @sandrasmiley.bsky.social as they discuss what #globalhealth is, where the idea originated, & why the field urgently needs a reimagining. Link below 👇 🌍 #publichealth #healthequity #medicaleducation open.spotify.com/episode/3rA0...
40. Reconciling the practice and promise of global health
Just Medicine · Episode
open.spotify.com
Ebola: The number of confirmed cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo has increased to 2,536, including 1,033 deaths, government data showed late on Wednesday.
BRITISH COLUMBIA: “People who are seniors, live alone or have pre-existing health conditions such as diabetes, heart or respiratory disease and mental illness such as schizophrenia are the most at risk, the weather warnings say.” www.cbc.ca/news/canada/... - CBC News BC #BCHeat #BCWildfire
Extreme heat, wildfire smoke prompt weather warnings across B.C. | CBC News
Environment Canada warns temperatures set to hit mid 30s, even higher in some regions Wednesday. It adds wildfire smoke is deteriorating air quality throughout much of the province.
cbc.ca
Dental hygiene students in Vancouver provide care to unhoused people: www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic... Find out more at canadahealthwatch.ca
Dental hygiene students in Vancouver provide care to unhoused people
Outreach program delivers free oral health services to an underserved population and hands-on training for future hygienists
theglobeandmail.com
Sadly, confirmed Ebola deaths in DR Congo climbed beyond 1,000 on Tuesday. # fatal cases has doubled in just over 2 weeks, with the INSP reporting 2,536 cases and 1,033 deaths today. The toll has climbed from 506 on July 4, with the epidemic spreading into Haut-Uele and Tshopo.
Groups across Canada call on premiers to protect public health care reddeeradvocate.com/2026/07/22/g...
Groups across Canada call on premiers to protect public health care - Red Deer Advocate
Health care advocates from across Canada stood shoulder to shoulder in Prince Edward Island, where premiers met on Wednesday, to demand that premiers stop the spread of American-style health care […]
reddeeradvocate.com
The VPD has gutted its Sex Work Enforcement Guidelines, erasing the input of community organizations that shaped the original policy. Instead of prioritizing sex workers’ health, safety, and rights, the revised guidelines emphasize exploitation and trafficking. wish-vancouver.net/news-media/v...
STATEMENT - Vancouver Police Department guts Sex Work Enforcement Guidelines, erasing community input | WISH Drop-In Centre Society
We are calling for the VPD to prioritize safety, health and rights over enforcement.
wish-vancouver.net
#Ebola outbreak still expanding in eastern #DRC; @who.int sees signs of stabilization news.un.org/en/story/202...
DR Congo: Ebola outbreak still expanding, WHO sees signs of stabilization
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UN health teams and partners are still racing to contain the rapidly expanding Ebola outbreak, despite ongoing insecurity in eastern areas where the viru...
news.un.org
Trump’s HIV funding cuts having ‘severe and devastating’ impact around the world. PEPFAR has saved 26 million lives globally, but slashing of funds and dismantling of USAID have forced clinics to shut in dozens of countries, by @katlay.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/global-devel... @theguardian.com
Trump’s HIV funding cuts having ‘severe and devastating’ impact around the world
The President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief has saved 26m lives globally, but slashing of funds and dismantling of USAID have forced clinics to shut in dozens of countries
theguardian.com
For months I kept hearing about new health issues in Kitimat. Bouts of pneumonia. Newly diagnosed respiratory illnesses. Next door is LNG Canada, the second-highest flaring LNG facility worldwide in 2025. For @thetyee.ca I investigated what we do and don't know about Kitimat's air. 🧵 1/6
‘What Are We Breathing?’ Kitimat Residents Ask | The Tyee
A Tyee investigation has uncovered major gaps in the monitoring of dangerous, potentially carcinogenic pollutants.
thetyee.ca
“If we don’t have the preparedness capacity within #Canada to ensure all communities have climate adaption plans in place… we’re definitely not well placed to have resilience within our communities going forward" - @drnicoleredvers.bsky.social #climatechange www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
We received no alert, say leaders of First Nations communities razed by Canadian wildfires
Chiefs in Ontario say they were left to self-evacuate before homes burned to ground, after being told there was no imminent threat
theguardian.com
In an opinion piece for @aljazeera.com , @intlpresident.msf.org says that Israel’s actions in Palestine “have eroded the ability for Palestinians to live a dignified, healthy life.”
The number one health issue in Palestine is the Israeli occupation
In both Gaza and the West Bank, Israeli policies are devastating Palestinian health with deadly consequences.
aljazeera.com
Did you know that disparities in access to health care are mirrored in access to death investigation in #Canada? Learn more in Episode 39: 🔈 open.spotify.com/episode/4k8a... #forensicpathology #pathology #TruthandReconciliation #MMIWG2S #MMIWG #meded #medicaleducation #communicationskills
Chances are, if you were bothered by the smoke last week, you went indoors. What if you have no indoors to go to? What if your indoors are unsafe? www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
Municipalities, shelters grapple with protecting homeless population from smoky air
Extreme weather events highlight greater need for social housing as core health infrastructure, doctor says
theglobeandmail.com
#Ebola: “There are people that survive and that’s the reason we do everything we do,” shares John Johnson, our Vaccination and Epidemics Response Advisor. Our teams continue to support survivors after recovery, providing follow-up care and psychosocial support.
“The ban contravenes advice from the World Health Organization, which advises against travel or trade restrictions” #Canada to temporarily bar entry by foreign nationals recently in #Congo due to #Ebola risk www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Canada to temporarily bar entry by foreign nationals recently in Congo due to Ebola risk | CBC News
As part of new, temporary border measures to combat the spread of Ebola, the Canadian government on Sunday said it would deny entry to foreign nationals who had been to the Democratic Republic of...
cbc.ca
UNLOCKED | Human Rights Commission will hear complaint about sweltering heat in Canadian prisons By @marlogee #cdnpoli www.hilltimes.com?p=512256
hilltimes.com
The Ebola disease outbreak confirmed as Bundibugyo virus is declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by #WHO www.who.int/news/item/17...
Epidemic of Ebola Disease caused by Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda determined a public health emergency of international concern
Pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article 12 - Determination of a public health emergency of international concern, including a pandemic emergency of the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR), the Di...
who.int
