Public Health On Call

How effective have federal vaccine mandates for COVID-19 been? Will litigation impact other vaccine requirements, such as those for school attendance? What might happen during future pandemics? Michelle Mello, a professor of law and public policy at Stanford, talks with Stephanie Desmon about the mixed success of COVID vaccine mandates.

Tom Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security returns to the podcast to talk with Josh Sharfstein about the current state of COVID. They discuss the pandemic situation in the US and around the world, and how they are managing their own lives at a moment when it seems like most people are ready to move on.

Malaria, a mosquito-borne infection, affects some 228 million people globally each year, killing over 400,000 of them—primarily children under the age of 5. In part one of a miniseries, Thomas Locke, host of the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute podcast "Malaria Minute," breaks down the parasite's unique lifecycle which allows it to adapt rapidly to drugs and to our immune system's efforts to fight it off. You can learn more about groundbreaking malaria research.

Hearing loss affects two-thirds of people over age 70 and is the single largest modifiable risk factor for dementia and other health problems later in life. Frank Lin, director of the Cochlear Center for Hearing & Public Health at Johns Hopkins, talks with Stephanie Desmon about the links between hearing loss and dementia, why the new approval means hearing aids will be better, cheaper, and far more available, and how to find your own "hearing number."

Undocumented individuals often can't or are afraid to seek health care due to a lack of insurance or fears that services could interfere with their immigration status. Luvia Quiñones, senior director of health policy at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, and Mervin Dino, who runs a safety net health care program at Advocate Aurora Health in Chicago, talk with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about advocacy efforts to expand health care access to undocumented immigrants, how providers should consider making services more welcoming for this population, and how COVID-19 became a case study in the importance of extending care to all.

Dr. Mauda Monger is a lifelong resident of Jackson, Mississippi. She is also a community advocate and public health professional. She talks with Dr. Sharfstein about how the water crisis is the most visible sign of a profound decline in her hometown and perhaps could help bring about a brighter future. Dr. Monger runs an initiative for young women of color in Jackson called the S-H-E Project. Learn more

Unhealthy, fast, and cheap foods are often marketed to Black Americans who suffer from higher rates of obesity and other non-communicable health problems. Dr. Shiriki Kumanyika, a research professor at Drexel University and the founder of the Council of Black Health, talks with Lindsay Smith Rogers about Operation Good Food and Beverages, a project supported by the Bloomberg American Health Initiative, which advocates for better food policies and encourages youth to embrace healthy eating as a radical act. Learn more.

Former CMS Director Andy Slavitt has achieved major wins for health in the private and public sectors. Slavitt talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about lessons learned from the ACA and COVID-19 responses, whether or not our government is up to the major health challenges of today, and why public health "gets recognized in years and decades, not days and weeks." Also - we want to hear from you!

Historic rainfall in Jackson, Mississippi overwhelmed the already fragile water system leaving thousands of residents without water weeks later. Dr. Richard Mizelle, an environmental historian at the University of Houston, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the crisis that was decades in the making, who is most at risk without clean water, and how environmental racism poses deadly threats to communities across the US. Also - We want to hear from you!

Since the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade, many states have passed restrictive, confusing, and sometimes contradictory laws impacting health care. Dr. Jack Resneck, Jr, the new president of the American Medical Association talks with Stephanie Desmon about the challenges physicians are facing when making critical decisions with patients about often lifesaving health care, the threat of a "mass exodus" of practitioners from states with more restrictive laws, and who ultimately pays the highest price for the "egregious allowance of government in the exam room." We want to hear from you!