VitalTalks: Future of Public Health Vital Strategies

We’ve known about the health harms of lead exposure for more than 1,000 years. But many people, including children, are still exposed to lead through various sources including paint, water and soil. In this episode, Dan Kass, Senior Vice President of Environmental, Climate and Urban Health at Vital Strategies joins us to discuss this pervasive public health problem, what governments can do to monitor lead exposure and what you can do to protect yourself from lead poisoning.

Improving diets by creating and maintaining healthier food systems and environments is paramount to addressing the $2 trillion global obesity epidemic. It’s a task that seems almost impossible under the deluge of ultra-processed products that make up most of our food intake. In this episode, Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health joins us to discuss her new report, “Food, nutrition and the right to health,” and how food security and nutrition are necessary elements for global progress toward all 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
 
Featuring:
 
- Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health
- Isabel Barbosa, Senior Associate, Health and Human Rights Initiative at the O’Neill Institute
- Luyanda Majija, Associate Director of Communication, Food Policy Program at Vital Strategies
 Access the report Food, nutrition and the right to health. 

The U.S. drug overdose crisis has created new urgency to shift from punitive measures to a public health perspective, focused on harm reduction. Opioid settlements, agreements between governments and pharmaceutical entities, offer an opportunity to allocate funds toward preventing future crises.

Christine Minhee, Founder, OpioidSettlementTracker.com and Kate Boulton, Senior Legal Technical Advisor at Vital Strategies, highlight the importance of transparency and public involvement in decision-making processes on how these resources will be used, while discussing how health advocates can access the funds for harm reduction initiatives. Discover how these resources empower individuals and communities to influence the impact of settlement funds on global health.

This episode features:

Christine Minhee, Founder, OpioidSettlementTracker.com Kate Boulton, Senior Legal Technical Advisor at Vital Strategies

This episode features highlights from our VitalTalks Live event, held in New York.

One in three women worldwide have been subjected to physical or sexual violence in their lifetimes—an alarming statistic that only scratches the surface of this global atrocity.

The event heard from experts who are using innovative data and advocacy to help bring gender-based violence out of the shadows and into the public eye.

You can watch the full video of the event at https://www.vitalstrategies.org/can-data-end-gender-based-violence/

Speakers include:

Ruxana Jina, Director, Data Impact Program, Vital Strategies Márcia Lima, National Secretary of Policies for Affirmative Action and Fighting and Overcoming Racism, Ministry of Racial Equality, Brazil Erin Leasure, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Specialist, International Center for Research on Women Leila Milani, Program Director, Global Policy & Advocacy, Futures without Violence With moderation by Shakuntala “Shaks” Santhiran an international broadcast journalist and professional moderator With remarks from Vital Strategies’ Fatima Marinho, Principal Technical Advisor, Women’s Health and Gender Equity, Brazil and Sharon Kim-Gibbons, Vice President, Public Health Programs and Acting Director, Data Driven Policy Initiative for Women’s Health

Our first interview on this episode is with Lili Farhang, co-director of Human Impact Partners (HIP), a national public health nonprofit. Lili discusses HIP's mission to leverage public health for policy and systems change by addressing power imbalances through equity and collective power that centers social justice movements.

Then we are joined by Hattie from ANSWER Detroit, a sex worker justice collective. Hattie discusses how their mutual aid network supports sex workers' health and well-being, and the significance of public health officials supporting mutual aid groups and including leaders from marginalized communities.
Speakers include:
 
Lili Farhang, Co-Director of Human Impact Partners Hattie, an organizer with ANSWER Detroit  
Links to resources mentioned in this episode:
Human Impact Partners: https://humanimpact.org
Health Equity Guide Toolkit: https://healthequityguide.org
ANSWER Detroit: https://answerdetroit.org 

Lack of investment in Civil Registration and Vital Statistics has been called one of the most important shortfalls in global development over the last 30 years, and the results are devastating.

Tens of millions without identity and rights. Governments flying blind.

For the first time in history, we have the technology, tools and know-how to make every person count. We’ve proven that in Bangladesh, where birth and death registration have been boosted fivefold since 2015.

This episode features a recording of our recent CRVS roundtable event, where you’ll hear from leading experts engaged in the life-changing work of making millions of invisible people visible.

The event was moderated by Femi Oke, international journalist and broadcaster, with speakers including:

• Irina Dincu, Senior Technical Advisor CRVS—United Nations Population Fund
• Janet Miki Ohno, Ph.D., Consultant, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute
• William Muhwava, Chief, Demographic and Social Statistics Section, African Center for
Statistics, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
• Philip Setel, Vice President, Civil Registration and Vital Statistics, Vital Strategies

With opening remarks by Jennifer Ellis, Data for Health Initiative, Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Read more about our CRVS work in this New York Times Magazine cover story by Jeneen Interlandi, The incredible challenge of counting every global birth and death:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/29/magazine/birth-death-tally.html