Public Health On Call

Latest Episodes:

609 - The Surge in Anti-Trans Bills and Attacks on LGBTQ+ Health May 05, 2023

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In the last year, more anti-trans legislation has been passed in the U.S. than at any other time in history. Dr. Helene Hedian, director of clinical education at the Johns Hopkins Center for Transgender and Gender Expansive Health, talks with Stephanie Desmon about the dehumanizing aspects of these bills and how much they can impact her patients' daily lives and overall health. They also discuss what's going right, and how advocacy is helping to bring better and more protective health care coverage and human rights to trans- and gender-diverse people.

608 - What May Happen When the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Ends on May 11 May 03, 2023

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Jennifer Kates, senior vice president and director of global health and HIV policy at KFF, returns to the podcast to talk with Lindsay Smith Rogers about the looming expiration of the COVID-19 public health emergency and what that means for things like access to tests, treatments, vaccines, and eligibility for Medicaid. They also discuss the differences between this and the national health emergency that Biden ended in April, and why both are significant symbolic gestures at a time when a new variant is emerging.

607: How The FDA Can Help More People Stop Smoking May 01, 2023

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In a recent commentary in the New England Journal of Medicine, Johns Hopkins tobacco policy expert Joanna Cohen and colleagues call for the FDA to take steps to bring more smoking cessation therapies to the market. Cohen, director of the Institute for Global Tobacco Control, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about why new therapies are needed and where to find evidence to support their use. Read the full commentary here: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2301700. If you or someone you know needs help with quitting tobacco products, call 1-800-QUITNOW.

606 - What Happens Next with Mifepristone? Apr 28, 2023

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To understand what happens now that SCOTUS has stayed Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk's ruling on mifepristone, we first have to understand how the case got to the highest court in the land in the first place. Public health lawyer Joanne Rosen returns to the podcast to talk with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the unprecedented series of filings and rulings around mifepristone from Amarillo, Texas to Washington D.C., and what could happen next as litigation continues to play out.

605 - World Immunization Week: The Big Catch-Up and Preventing a Large-scale Global Outbreak of Measles Apr 26, 2023

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World Immunization Week is the last week in April and this year's theme is The Big Catch Up. Vaccine expert Dr. Bill Moss returns to the podcast to talk with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about how major setbacks in global vaccine coverage over the past few years are seeding the deadly threat of a measles resurgence. They discuss contributing factors and what needs to be done to get out in front of one of the world's most infectious viruses.

604 - Malaria Advocates Go to D.C.: Meet the Americans Passionate About Ending Malaria For Good Apr 24, 2023

Show notes

Malaria infects hundreds of millions of people around the globe each year and kills more than 600,000. But the disease has been eliminated in many of the countries providing significant support in the fight against malaria, like the U.S. For World Malaria Day, Thomas Locke, host of the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute's podcast, Malaria Minute, talks with some advocates in the U.S. who are passionate about rallying political support around the fight against malaria and raising the bar for the role young people play in global health advocacy.

603 - Adjusting for Reality: Rethinking Goals to Address Climate Change Apr 21, 2023

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In the 1980s and 90s, the world came together to successfully address a major environmental problem: a growing hole in the ozone layer. So why hasn't that success translated to global collaboration to make a dent in climate change? For Earth Day, David Victor, professor at UC San Diego, talks with Stephanie Desmon about the unique problem of climate change, and some optimistic and realistic signs of progress.

602 - How The Use—and Overuse—of Antibiotics is Making Us Sicker Apr 19, 2023

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Antibiotics are marvels of modern medicine but overuse has created deadly strains of bacteria that can't be treated. Where and how could prescriptions be curtailed to have the biggest effects? Dr. David Wallinga, a physician-scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the murky picture of unnecessary antibiotic use in animals in the US and the "dismal" near future where many more may die before efforts are made to get overuse under control.

601 - How Health Care Algorithms and AI Can Help and Harm Apr 17, 2023

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Algorithms—formulas that do everything from suggesting Netflix shows to streamlining Google results—are increasingly used in health care settings. But could these tools be introducing bias? Kadija Ferryman, a cultural anthropologist and faculty at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute for Bioethics, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about what algorithms are and the double-edged sword of their use in medicine.

Public Health in the Field: What is the Black Maternal Health Crisis and How Can It Be Solved? Apr 14, 2023

Show notes

Dire statistics about birth outcomes for Black people in the U.S. have become front-page news in recent years. But this problem isn't new—in fact, it has roots in the very fabric of American society and health care with structural and systemic racism at its core. Kicking off a series from Public Health in the Field, Rachel Bervell and Annalies Winny explore how and why the nation has come to recognize this crisis in Black maternal health, what it means for health care as a whole, and possible solutions that could benefit the entire field of reproductive health at a challenging time.

Listen to the full series and access the resources mentioned in it: https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2023/solving-the-black-maternal-health-crisis

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