Pandemic Planet

Latest Episodes:

Ken Staley on the “Best Job in Global Health” Jul 14, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, Katherine E. Bliss is joined by Ken Staley, Senior Associate with CSIS and the U.S. Global Malaria Coordinator under President Donald Trump. Ken shares his thoughts on his time in “the best job in global health,” reflecting on the promise of new innovations in malaria prevention and diagnosis, how Covid-19 has affected efforts to address malaria transmission in sub-Saharan Africa and the Greater Mekong region, and why he is hopeful that improved data collection and analysis, program management, and support for health workers at all levels can contribute to eliminating malaria as a public health threat by 2050. As the Covid-19 pandemic unfolded in 2020, Ken served as the executive director of USAID’s COVID-19 Task Force, as well. Drawing on his experience working on Ebola, MERS, and other infectious disease outbreaks, he reflects on the ways in which programs focused on single-diseases, such as malaria and HIV/AIDS, contribute to stronger health systems and prepare countries to respond to public health emergencies and pandemic threats.

Richard Hatchett on CEPI in the Covid-19 Era Jul 01, 2021

Show notes

Julie Gerberding, co-chair of the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security and Executive VP, Merck, Inc, joined me at CSIS for a lively conversation with Richard Hatchett, CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI.) Richard walked us through CEPI’s genesis in 2017, its mission to accelerate vaccines against dangerous pathogens, its sudden emergence during the pandemic as a foundational element of the Access to Covid-19 Tools (ACT-A), including its emerging role advancing innovative manufacturing, and its vision for how the world can use the lessons we’re learning to prepare for the next pandemic. Of special timeliness: why is it in the U.S. national interest to deepen the U.S. partnership with CEPI? And what hope does he have for a post-pandemic consensus on managing health security risks and strengthening the design of preparedness and response institutions? You can also watch the event here: https://www.csis.org/events/cepi-20-critical-inflection-point

Dame Sally Davies on the Silent Pandemic of Antimicrobial Resistance Jun 04, 2021

Show notes

This week, CSIS co-hosted the 9th annual Atlanta Global Health Summit with the World Affairs Council of Atlanta, CARE USA, and The Carter Center. J. Stephen Morrison spoke with Dame Sally Davies, the UK Special Envoy on Antimicrobial Resistance and Master of Trinity College at Cambridge University. She is also the single most impactful person in the last decade on advancing the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR). She provides an update on the Trinity Challenge she co-founded that brings together experts from around the world to improve public health data. She shares her thoughts on why Covid-19 has put action against antimicrobial resistance into “suspended animation”, why AMR needs to be seen not as a “silent pandemic” but a central element of global health security, and some recent political advancements that give her hope. She also shares some of her personal journey as a science communicator and a pioneering woman leader, and what keeps her so optimistic when confronting massive global health challenges.

Dame Sally Davies, the UK Special Envoy on Antimicrobial Resistance and Master of Trinity College at Cambridge University. Dame Sally previously served as the Chief Medical Officer for England, and the Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department of Health. You can catch up on all the conference sessions on the YouTube channel of the World Affairs Council of Atlanta.

Improving Health Equity in the Covid-19 Pandemic and Beyond Jun 02, 2021

Show notes

The Covid-19 pandemic has revealed significant health disparities in the U.S. In this episode, Julie Morita, Executive Vice President of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, shares the Foundation’s approach to a “culture of health” and discusses the challenge of promoting domestic demand for Covid-19 vaccines while ensuring their equitable distribution. She identifies steps that can be taken to restore people’s trust in vaccines, public health, and science; and describes how working with international partners to ensure an ample supply and effective distribution of vaccines around the world can help the United States protect the health of Americans, as well.

A Race Between Vaccines, Variants, and the Virus May 19, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, Ayoade Olatunbosun-Alakija, co-chair of the African Union’s Vaccine Delivery Alliance, joins us to discuss the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines in Africa. She shares her views on the potential for scaling up vaccine manufacturing in the region, her concerns that more transmissible viral variants may gain a foothold before enough vaccines are available, and her hope that global solidarity around the HIV epidemic in the early 2000s means that it is possible to galvanize collective action in the face of pandemic crises. Why is equitable distribution of tools like vaccines essential? What is the relationship between vaccine equity and vaccine confidence? What can be done to build trust and strengthen vaccine confidence, particularly in areas where there are political or social tensions?

Solidarity and Nationalism in Europe’s Covid-19 Experience Apr 30, 2021

Show notes

Shortly after the February meeting of G7 leaders and virtual Munich Security Conference, Heather Conley, senior vice president at CSIS and director of the CSIS Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program, joined us to discuss the impacts of Covid-19 on European political and social movements, the importance of European leadership during the Covid-19 crisis, and opportunities for strengthened transatlantic cooperation on Covid-19, Russia, and China. How has the pandemic influenced political outcomes in the European context? To what extent have debates over Brexit shaped Europe’s response to the pandemic? What will renewed U.S.-Europe collaboration on global health look like, and what are the most likely areas for cooperation in a post-pandemic world?

Bruce Gellin: Keeping a Focus on Routine Immunizations While Responding to Covid-19 Apr 21, 2021

Show notes

Looking ahead to World Immunization Week, 2021, Bruce Gellin, President of Global Immunizations at the Sabin Vaccine Institute, joins us to discuss the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on routine immunization programs and reflect on the challenges and opportunities presented by the rollout of new vaccines to prevent infection with Covid-19. How have lockdowns, social distancing, and the diversion of health workers to outbreak response affected families’ access to immunization services? Are the lower-and middle-income countries prepared to undertake the kind of immunization campaigns that getting Covid-19 vaccines equitably distributed will require? How can the United States strengthen its support for global immunization programs as the world emerges out of the Covid crisis?

Intersecting Pandemics: Adrian Thomas of J&J on Tuberculosis (TB) & Covid-19 Mar 24, 2021

Show notes

To mark World TB Day, Katherine E. Bliss and J. Stephen Morrison speak with Adrian Thomas, TB expert and leader of global strategy at Johnson & Johnson Global Health. Every year, TB kills an estimated 1.4 million people and infects another 10 million people, with about 400,000 of those cases resistant to two or more drugs. Covid-19 has disrupted health systems and displaced funding and frontline staff away from TB, which models estimate will cause an additional million cases per year over the next five years. In this episode, we talk to Adrian about the grave impact the pandemic is having on global TB efforts, how to build local health security capacities that control TB and respond to future outbreaks, how international scientific partnerships speed up R&D and create platforms with broad applications, and the recent emergency use authorization by the FDA of J&J’s Covid-19 vaccine.

Adrian Thomas is Vice President for Strategy and External Affairs at Johnson & Johnson Global Health. The views expressed in the podcast are personal and not those of his employer.

John Nkengasong of Africa CDC On Learning From the Pandemics of the Past Mar 18, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, Katherine E. Bliss and J. Stephen Morrison speak with Dr. John Nkengasong, Director of the Africa CDC. The African continent has not seen the high Covid-19 caseload many feared at the beginning of the pandemic. We hear some reasons for this, what the lessons from Africa’s experience with HIV tell us about the steps needed to enable African countries to effectively control the pandemic, and how leadership from the continent is working with COVAX, pharmaceutical companies, and global partners to obtain the vaccines they need.

Dr. John Nkengasong currently serves as the first Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). He is a leading virologist with nearly 30 years of work experience in public health. He joined our other podcast, Coronavirus Crisis Update, in May last year.

John-Arne Røttingen: On the Front Lines of Pandemic Diplomacy Feb 26, 2021

Show notes

This month we were joined by Norway’s Ambassador for global health John-Arne Rottingen on his ‘virtual visit’ to Washington D.C. As co-chair of the ACT Accelerator Facilitation Council, Norway plays a key role in advocating for the development and distribution of Covid-19 diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines. John-Arne shared his thoughts on the promise and difficulty of conducting R&D during health emergencies. He also discussed the roles of diplomacy, trust in international relations, and political leadership in building support for global health initiatives.

John-Arne Røttingen is Norway’s Ambassador for global health, based at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was previously Director-General of the Research Council of Norwayandfounding CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected