Public Health On Call

Russia has claimed that the US and Ukraine were working on bioweapons in labs across Ukraine, dangerous disinformation being used in part to justify the Russian invasion. Biosecurity expert Gigi Gronvall returns to the podcast to talk with Lindsay Smith Rogers about the dangers of this disinformation, the attempted cover-up of a 1979 bioweapons anthrax accident in Russia, why biosecure labs are so critical to public health, and the potential impacts of this disinformation campaign.

Emergency departments not only treat gunshot wounds, they can help prevent them. Trauma surgeon Dr. Chethan Sathya talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about treating gun violence as a public health issue in emergency departments, how to help people at risk of being shot, and the push to make conversations about gun safety standard practice.

Ending the US's COVID-19 state of emergency has far-reaching effects and may leave Americans vulnerable to the next pandemic. Reducing spending on COVID-19 now could mean fewer tests, reduced access to vaccines and a weakened understanding of how COVID-19 is behaving. Health policy expert Dr. Zeke Emmanuel of the University of Pennsylvania joins the podcast to talk with Stephanie Desmon about why ending the response too soon is so shortsighted and may have impacts on securing much-needed reforms to health care and insurance, protecting people from future variants, studying the effects of long COVID, and preparing for the next pandemic.

A persistent pandemic challenge has been making decisions when the evidence is limited. Should masks be required? Should bars and restaurants be closed? Should kids in school be spaced out by six feet -- or just three? Dr. Sherry Glied, dean of NYU's Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service, is studying ways to make these decisions better. She joins the podcast to talk with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the three dimensions of decision making amid uncertainty—and how we can do better.

Even as COVID-19 remains a critical public health issue, there are all sorts of emergencies that can occur due to diseases, disasters, and bioterrorism. Dr. Nadine Gracia, CEO of Trust for America's Health, joins Dr. Josh Sharfstein on the podcast to talk about the organization's report, Ready Or Not 2022. The report ranks states on their ability to respond to extreme weather and other crises. Learn more at tfah.org.

Will we see strain-specific vaccines in the future? Where are we on fourth doses/second boosters? What do we know about the effectiveness of international vaccines like Sinopharm and Sputnik? What still needs to be done to vaccinate the world? Dr. Anna Durbin and Dr. Bill Moss return to the podcast to talk with Stephanie Desmon about these and more vaccine updates.

On a special episode, Tradeoffs host Dan Gorenstein talks about 988, a nationwide mental health crisis line launching in July that connects people with emergency help without having to call 911. A content warning that this episode mentions suicide and other mental health emergencies. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK). Learn more here: https://tradeoffs.org/

The newly launched Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions brings together two powerhouses in gun policy: The Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Prevention and Policy and the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence. Guest host Keshia Pollack Porter, chair of the Bloomberg School's Department of Health Policy and Management, returns to the podcast to talk with Daniel Webster, director of the Center for Gun Violence Prevention and Policy, and Josh Horwitz, executive director of the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, about their goals to apply cutting-edge science and research to evidence-based, equity-informed advocacy to end the trauma of gun violence.

Dr. Judy Melinek, a forensic pathologist, was a guest on the podcast in the early days of the pandemic to talk about her work with autopsies and COVID-19 in San Francisco. Since then, Dr. Melinek and her family moved to ... New Zealand, a nation that kept COVID from entering for many months. Dr. Melinek talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the latest COVID news from New Zealand, which includes high vaccination rates and a surge in omicron infections. They also talk about the role of a medical examiner in a country with few deaths related to COVID.

In just a few weeks, Poland has welcomed more than 2 million Ukrainian refugees and 200,000 of them have come to the city of Kraków. Dr. Wojtek Szczelik, an anesthesiologist and intensive care physician, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about how his hospital and the city are triaging care for refugees, how the pandemic has prepared the health care system to expand its capacity, and how the city is readying to accommodate military casualties. it is possible to donate to Dr. Szczelik's efforts to help Ukrainian refugees here.