The CommonHealth

With the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo rapidly escalating to dangerous levels, the global health community must consider how much progress has been made to prevent and efficiently respond to outbreaks since the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. In this episode of Take as Directed, we are joined by Gabrielle Fitzgerald, founder and CEO of Panorama, a Seattle based action tank dedicated to solving global problems. Gabrielle discusses the main points of a British Medical Journal piece she recently co-authored, Global epidemics: How well can we cope?, which addresses the gaps that remain in the global capacity to respond to outbreaks from various standpoints such as financing, research and development, and knowledge sharing.  Hosted by J. Stephen Morrison.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a long-standing, urgent threat to global public health, yet it has never been discussed at the highest level of the world stage. That changes this week, as heads of state gather in New York for the UN General Assembly, where they will convene the first-ever UNGA high-level meeting on tuberculosis. After three years of dialogue in advance of this historic event, the meeting will aim to accelerate efforts in ending TB, and it should result in a Political Declaration on TB endorsed by heads of state. On this episode of Take as Directedwe are joined by Dr. Eric Goosby, the current UN Special Envoy on Tuberculosis, to share his hopes and expectations for the meeting, and its potential as an important step towards realizing the WHO global end TB strategy.  Hosted by J. Stephen Morrison.

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic of the Congo poses unprecedented challenges to emergency responders as the first ever case in an active warzone. The response has had remarkable mobilization and promising achievements thus far, with successful vaccination campaigns, and a constant readjustment of strategies and resource allocation to best contain the virus. However, six weeks into the response, the outbreak sits on the edge of some of the most insecure and inaccessible areas of the country, where the virus could potentially wreak terrifying levels of devastation. In this episode of Take as Directed we are joined by Peter Salama, Deputy Director General of the World Health Organization and Director of the Emergency Programs, to provide an inside look at how the response team is navigating the complex dynamics of a highly dangerous outbreak.   Hosted by J. Stephen Morrison.

Tuberculosis (TB) is the number one infectious disease killer. Yet, pediatric TB is often overlooked as an urgent public health threat, especially in lower- and middle-income countries. In this episode of Take as Directed, we hear from Dr. Farhana Amanullah, a seasoned clinician and expert in pediatric tuberculosis who runs the largest, private-sector TB program for children in Pakistan at the Indus Hospital Karachi. Dr. Amanullah describes the challenges in diagnosing and treating TB in children and adolescents and shares her expectations for the UN High Level Meeting on Ending TB, which is to take place later this month.    Hosted by Sara Allinder.

Since committing to support polio eradication on its 100 anniversary, Rotary International has contributed $1.8 billion to the cause, along with thousands of volunteers, advocacy work, and political leadership. Serving as Rotary’s PolioPlus Committee Chair, Mike McGovern leverages the organization’s unique position as an expansive service network to complement the technical expertise of its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. McGovern joins us in this episode of Take as Directed to discuss lessons learned from Rotary’s long engagement with the initiative, strategies to sustain eventual eradication while strengthening global health capacity, and next steps for Rotary’s involvement in international public health. Hosted by Nellie Bristol.

Last month, top policymakers, scientists, and activists gathered in Amsterdam for the 22nd International AIDS Conference to examine the current state of global HIV/AIDS response, and how that response should be shaped by the global health community in the years to come. In this episode of Take as Directed, we are joined by Owen Ryan, Executive Director of the International AIDS Society (IAS), which organizes the International AIDS Conference every two years. Owen discusses the main science and policy takeaways from this year’s conference and addresses the concerns raised by activists about holding the conference in the United States in 2020, which is set to take place in San Francisco and Oakland.

In this episode, a former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff joins us to discuss the story of his son Jonathan, who died from a fentanyl overdose last year. Admiral James "Sandy" Winnefeld is a retired four-star Navy admiral, and has become a vocal advocate for opioid death prevention. He heads Stop the Addiction Fatality Epidemic, or S.A.F.E. Project U.S., a national nonprofit organization dedicated to ending the opioid epidemic in the United States. Admiral Winnefeld describes how difficult it was to find treatment for Jonathan and recounts the challenges of recognizing signs of recovery--and signs of relapse.

Professor Quarraisha Abdool Karim is one of the world’s leading AIDS researchers and has made pioneering contributions to understanding the HIV epidemic in young people, especially among young women. She joined us for a two-part series to explain her latest research into epidemic hot spots in KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, focusing on both the structural and biological risk factors that facilitate the spread of HIV in young women. In Part 2, she describes her recent findings about biological factors that can simultaneously increase a woman’s risk of HIV acquisition and decrease the efficacy of HIV prevention tools. Hosted by Janet Fleischman. Produced by Alex Bush. Edited by Ribka Gemilangsari.

Professor Quarraisha Abdool Karim is one of the world’s leading AIDS researchers and has made pioneering contributions to understanding the HIV epidemic in young people, especially among young women. She joined us for a two-part series to explain her latest research into epidemic hot spots in KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, focusing on both the structural and biological risk factors that facilitate the spread of HIV in young women. In Part 1, she discusses the social and economic factors that contribute to the dramatic differences in HIV rates in women and men at different ages. Hosted by Janet Fleischman. Produced by Alex Bush. Edited by Ribka Gemilangsari.

In this episode, Elhadj As Sy, Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), joins us to discuss the different roles that IFRC plays across the vast array of populations they serve, their current work on the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the lessons they learned from the previous outbreak. Mr. Sy has also been named co-chair of the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, and he describes to us the current state of the planning for this new independent monitoring body launched by the WHO and the World Bank on May 24th at the 71st World Health Assembly.   Hosted by Steve Morrison. Produced by Alex Bush. Edited by Ribka Gemilangsari.