IN THIS EPISODE
In celebration of our first 100 podcasts and in light of the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, we are re-visiting a podcast that is just as relevant today as it was last year: What human behaviors lead to pandemics like COVID-19? Why should we expect to face more pandemics in the future? And how can we best prepare for them? Join host Brenda Gazzar and Dr. Tony Iton, senior vice president for healthy communities at The California Endowment, as they discuss the critical role public health policies play in our response to infectious diseases. Why does it matter how we incentivize our healthcare system? And how could Medicare for All help us respond to future crises?
SHOW NOTES
WE DISCUSS
What’s the link between climate change and pandemics?
“Climate change is forcing a lot of those kinds of interactions, both from people consuming wood and deforesting wild environments as well as temperature change, which is driving wild animals in search of food or in search of water into closer contact with human beings. And of course you have vectors like mosquitoes and rodents and the like which can also facilitate the transmission of these viruses from animals to humans.” – Dr. Tony Iton
How does the U.S. response to COVID-19 compare to our response to H1N1 in 2009?
“The failures that we had in this outbreak in testing supplies was not the first time we’ve seen that. We saw these very same failures in 2009. They didn’t have the same consequences but the delays in CDC and the federal government authorizing tests and facilitating testing standards to get to public health labs and the private labs happened exactly the same way in 2009. It’s like deja vu.” – Dr. Tony Iton
What are the economic incentives that influence the corporate healthcare marketplace and how do they affect our readiness for future pandemics?
“For the not-for-profit [corporations], it’s basically survival in a competitive market. For the for-profit ones, it’s shareholder value. If that’s the goal of your system, your system is not going to want to make the kinds of investments in redundant capacity that’s necessary for something like a pandemic. It’s not going to want to make the kind of investments that are necessary for public health surveillance.” – Dr. Tony Iton
Helpful Links
Cal-Care, AB 1400, Guaranteed Health Care for All Act
Just-In-Time Versus Just-In-Case Pandemic Preparedness, Health Affairs
Employment-Based, For-Profit Health Care in a Pandemic, The Hastings Center Report
Analysis: How For-Profit Health Care Worsened the Pandemic, Public Citizen
Hospitals Serving the Poor Struggled During COVID. Wealthy Hospitals Made Millions, All Things Considered, NPR
Episode Transcript
Read the full episode transcript.
Guest Biography
Senior Vice President, The California Endowment
Formerly Director and Health Officer, Alameda County Public Health Department
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Find more Code WACK! episodes on ProgressiveVoices.com, on the PV App and on NurseTalk Media. You can also subscribe to Code WACK! wherever you find your podcasts. This podcast is powered by HEAL California, uplifting the voices of those fighting for health care reform around the country. I’m Brenda Gazzar.
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