MMS Health for All Podcast Carine Weiss, Medicus Mundi Switzerland

Around 38 million people worldwide are living with HIV, which can cause AIDS. Since the start of the pandemic in 1981, 36.3 million have died as a result of AIDS. Division, disparity and disregard for human rights are among the failures that allowed HIV to become and remain a global health crisis.
This World AIDS Day, UNAIDS is highlighting the urgent need to end the inequalities that drive AIDS and other pandemics around the world. Now, COVID-19 is exacerbating inequities and disruptions to services, making the lives of many people living with HIV more challenging. Without bold action against inequalities, the world risks missing the targets to end AIDS by 2030.
In this episode, Carine Weiss talks to Carolyn Gomes about the theme of today’s World Aids Day “END INEQUALITIES. END AIDS. END PANDEMICS.” We talk about what inequalities are and how they drive the HIV pandemic and about essential role that communities have played and continue to play in the AIDS response at the international, national and local levels.
www.medicusmundi.ch

Telehealth is the delivery of health care services, where patients and providers are separated by distance. Telehealth platforms provide both opportunities and barriers for persons with disabilities. If designed with accessibility standards in mind, telehealth can have an incredibly positive impact on the lives of persons with disabilities by improving access to quality and cost-effective health services for all regardless of where they live. However, if the barriers to accessing these platforms are not removed, telehealth can further the digital divide and exclusion of persons with disabilities.

In this episode, Carine Weiss talks to Andrea Pregel about how the area of digital health, or ‘telehealth’ has been evolving in recent years, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic and what this has meant for persons with disabilities. We talk about the barriers and benefits for persons with disabilities to access telehealth and the steps that need to be taken to make digital health accessible and barrier free for all users.

www.medicusmundi.ch
https://www.cbmswiss.ch/de/startseite.html

Persons with disabilities and persons with psychosocial disabilities more specifically, are already a vulnerable group before any disaster or crisis happens. During a humanitarian crisis, they are more likely to experience direct physical impact, but also increased distress, violence, exploitation and discrimination. Persons with disabilities are disproportionately affected by humanitarian situations, but often overlooked in emergency response programmes and services across sectors. Disability inclusive humanitarian action is needed to ensure that the barriers faced by persons with disabilities are identified and removed, and that their participation and inclusion is ensured.

In this episode, Carine Weiss talks to Ben Adams about his passion for mental health and about what we mean by disability inclusive humanitarian action. We talk about the risks that persons with disabilities face in humanitarian emergencies and the impact of crises like COVID-19 on persons with disabilities, including on mental health.

Ben Adams is a Senior Mental Health Advisor with CBM Global Disability Inclusion. He has experience as a mental health clinician in Ireland, and globally as a mental health advisor and researcher. Ben currently leads on CBM Global MHPSS (The Mental Health & Psychosocial Support Network) work and is the Senior Advisor of their Community Mental Health Team where he focusses on both Asia and Africa regions. He has a passion for human rights, equity, and inclusion.