VitalTalks: Future of Public Health Vital Strategies

We explore the impact of laws and regulations on public health, particularly in relation to tobacco control and food systems.
Our discussion looks at the importance of litigation in driving social change and provides examples of impactful legal action in Brazil and South Africa. The conversation also touches on the hurdles faced in enacting public health policies, such as resource constraints and the influence of powerful corporations.
Our guests on this episode are:
Isabel Barbosa, Associate Director of O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law Sasha Stevenson, Executive Director of SECTION27

Whistleblower papers from inside cigarette giant Philip Morris International reveal the true intentions and strategies behind the company's IQOS non-combustible nicotine product.
The papers show that Philip Morris secretly funded research on harm reduction and cessation, created a comprehensive marketing plan to build support for the product, and targeted dentists and the Olympics for promotion.
The science of IQOS is still uncertain, but evidence suggests that it does not reduce the risk of tobacco-related disease and death, and it may increase exposure to harmful chemicals.
In this episode, we’re joined by Sophie Braznell, Research Coordinator at the Tobacco Control Research Group at the University of Bath and Jorge Alday, Director at STOP, a global tobacco industry watchdog.
They discuss why public health professionals, policymakers, and consumers should be skeptical of the company's claims and take action to counter their marketing push.

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