“Health is political,” stated Sofia Gruskin, Director of the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health and Distinguished Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences and Law at USC, at ‘The Global Healthcare Crisis’ session held on May 9, 2024, at the Human Rights and Humanitarian Forum in Los Angeles, California. Speakers also included Aloe Blacc, Co-Founder of Major Inc., recording artist, and biotech entrepreneur; Mary Beth Powers, CEO of CMMB; Tlaleng Mofokeng, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health; and Sheila Davis, CEO of Partners in Health. The discussion was moderated by Alice Park, Senior Health Correspondent at TIME.
The event began with a keynote address by Tlaleng Mofokeng, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, who reflected on past healthcare challenges revealing both humanity’s strengths and weaknesses and teaching us invaluable lessons about resilience and the need for continuous improvement in our systems. “We look back at the COVID-19 pandemic with much to answer for. Though brutal and unexpected, there were many opportunities to do things the right way and truly put the human beings first. The extraordinary speed of the production of safe and effective vaccines for the COVID-19 showed that, in fact, there is capacity to respond timely in the face of some of the greatest challenges to humanity,” emphasized Dr. Mofokeng.
Mary Beth Powers, CEO of CMMB, agreed with her conclusions and pointed out even the best intentions would never be fruitful without an efficient implementation plan in place. “If we’re thinking about the future – how prepared are we for the next pandemic? Because there will be one. I think we’ve heard some good advice, but even having supplies in place, etc., there really needs to be a plan. And systematic underinvestment in health systems and in public health systems in particular is probably the biggest problem and the greatest learning for us through the COVID epidemic,” noted Ms. Powers.
The pandemic was also fresh in the mind of the next panelist, Sheila Davis, CEO of Partners in Health. She recalled the struggles her organization faced due to a shortage of both supplies and human resources. “Our whole premise is partnering with the public sector to build a sustainable health system and that includes training healthcare providers, but critical care is one of those things that is taking a long time to catch up. That fact is that, even if we had oxygen supplies, had a ventilator, it was rare that there was a provider able to actually provide the highest level of care,” explained Ms. Davis.
Sofia Gruskin, Director of the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health and Distinguished Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences and Law at USC, then talked about the Pandemic Preparedness Treaty proposed by WHO and its potential impact on the future of humanity. “We just have to admit that who has access to health is political. And the way that politics plays into this is something that is critical in terms of what happens on the ground, but it’s also critical in terms of thinking about what’s happening with the Treaty. <…> Ultimately, no matter how technically sound what language we out into the Treaty is, the fact of what language actually gets agreed to to be in the Treaty is based on politics,” said Professor Gruskin.
Society as a whole, as long as separate individuals, should be more engaged in solving this problem, noted Aloe Blacc, Co-Founder of Major Inc., recording artist, and biotech entrepreneur, “I think adding my voice as an influencer and bringing awareness to people who can make donations, bringing awareness to people who can help with supplies has been helpful, but what I am recognizing is that, as the conversation has elucidated, a lot of politics gets into position, and it becomes difficult to really move the needle now,” remarked Aloe Blacc.
After the short Q&A with the audience, Alice Park, Senior Health Correspondent at TIME and the event’s moderator, concluded the session by expressing what everybody in the audience felt: “It's clear that we have a long way to go, but we saw some reasons to hope,” before thanking the panelists and the attendees of the discussion.