Exposure to Organophosphate Ester Flame Retardants and Plasticizers during Pregnancy and Autism-Related Outcomes in the ECHO Cohort.
Authors: Ames JL, Ferrara A, Feng J, Alexeeff S, Avalos LA, Barrett ES, Bastain TM, Bennett DH, Buckley JP, Carignan CC, Cintora P, Ghassabian A, Hedderson MM, Hernandez-Castro I, Kannan K, Karagas MR, Karr CJ, Kuiper JR, Liang D, Lyall K, McEvoy CT, Morello-Frosch R, O'Connor TG, Oh J, Peterson AK, Quiros-Alcala L, Sathyanarayana S, Schantz S, Schmidt RJ, Starling AP, Woodruff TJ, Volk HE, Zhu Y, Croen LA, ECHO Cohort Consortium
Journal: Environmental health perspectives
mental health
psychology
open access
Abstract
Despite being preventable and curable, tuberculosis (TB) still causes over 10 million new cases and 1.3 million deaths each year. Its burden is strongly shaped by poverty and social inequities, underscoring that biomedical interventions alone are insufficient without complementary socio-economic and health system–strengthening measures , . Ethiopia remains one of the 30 high TB-burden countries identified by WHO. Although national incidence has gradually declined, TB continues to pose major challenges, with an estimated incidence of 182 per 100,000 population and 8% TB/HIV co-infection in 2023 . Through its Health Sector Transformation Plan, Ethiopia has prioritized TB, TB/HIV, and MDR-TB control, yet marked geographic disparities persist, particularly in rural “hotspot” districts where poverty, stigma, and limited infrastructure converge , . To improve healthcare access in remote areas, the country launched the Health Extension Program in 2003, deploying salaried female Health Extension Workers (HEWs) who deliver community-based services and support TB case detection at the household level in collaboration with community health promoters .