Public Health On Call

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BONUS - 988 is the New 911 For Mental Health Crises: A Special Episode from the Tradeoffs Podcast Mar 31, 2022

Show notes

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/

449- The Center for Gun Violence Solutions: Where Science and Advocacy Merge Mar 30, 2022

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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.

448 - New Zealand's World Class COVID Response Mar 28, 2022

Show notes

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.

447 - How Kraków is Caring for the Health of 200,000 Mar 25, 2022

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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.

446 - California's New COVID-19 Approach Mar 23, 2022

Show notes

California has had a reputation as one of the more vigorous in terms of COVID-19 mitigation tactics and now, two years later, the state is changing tack. Dr. Mark Ghaly, California's Secretary of Health and Human Services, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the state's new and more nimble S.M.A.R.T.E.R. approach which focuses on key metrics and broad surveillance to know what responses are needed where. They also talk about what it's been like to lead in this role during the pandemic.

BONUS: China's Zero-COVID Policy Mar 22, 2022

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China and Hong Kong are facing the worst COVID outbreaks since the start of the pandemic and a draconian zero-COVID policy is making things worse. Dr. Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council of Foreign Relations, talks with Stephanie Desmon about how the zero-COVID policy has left China and Hong Kong vulnerable to outbreaks, why vaccination of vulnerable groups is so low, and why outbreaks may continue to happen if the policy stays in place.

BONUS - Here We Go Again: The BA.2 Version of Omicron Mar 22, 2022

Show notes

Virologist Dr. Andrew Pekosz returns to the podcast to talk with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about BA.2, a "not unexpected but tiring" new sibling of the omicron variant. They discuss who should be most concerned about getting sick and what might happen in the coming weeks. They also discuss reports of "deltacron," a viral recombination of delta and omicron, and what we can learn from Hong Kong and China's COVID crises about the omicron variant.

445 - Disease X and Preparing for the Next Pandemic Mar 21, 2022

Show notes

What is Disease X? Dr. Amesh Adalja and Dr. Anita Cicero of the Center for Health Security return to the podcast to talk with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the unknown cause of the next pandemic, which is likely to come from a viral family already known but poorly studied. They talk about how investing now to develop medical countermeasures like diagnostic tests and treatments could buy valuable time and save many lives when the next threat emerges.

444 - An Update on A National Weather Service Model for Epidemics Mar 18, 2022

Show notes

Dr. Caitlin Rivers returns to the podcast to talk about her work with the CDC's new Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics. Funded through the American Rescue Plan, the Center works with academic and government partners to model potential health threats and monitor outbreaks. Rivers talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about standing up the new center, how omicron gave them an initial test run of analyzing data to brief government leaders on what was to come, and their hopes for eventually creating localized COVID forecasts to help prevent transmission during outbreaks.

443 - How Russia May Impose Deadly Public Health Policies on Ukraine Mar 16, 2022

Show notes

Based on past conflicts, if Russia takes over in Ukraine, it's likely that some of Ukraine's public health policies will be essentially rewritten or revoked overnight. Dr. Chris Beyrer returns to the podcast to talk with Stephanie Desmon about Russia's history of revoking life-saving public health policies and imposing its own "traditional" laws like targeting homosexuals for harrassment and assault, cruel detox practices for people who use drugs, decriminalizing domestic abuse, and more violations of human rights. A content warning that the podcast contains discussions of these and other examples of violence.

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