This is Part 1 of a two-part episode exploring the entanglement of the COVID-19 pandemic and the War in Ukraine. On February 24th, 2022, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted that Putin had “launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.” Russian attacks began that Thursday after Russian President Vladimir Putin approved in a televised address “a special military operation” in Ukraine. Russian missiles began to attack cities and civilians all across Ukraine. Three weeks later the war in Ukraine rages on. 2 to 3 million Ukrainians have fled the country, and millions more displaced internally within the country, creating a tremendous humanitarian crisis, and what is undoubtedly the largest European military conflict since WWII. Casualty statistics have been difficult to come by- the UN reported yesterday more than 500 civilian Ukrainian deaths, and US military estimates are between 2,000 and 4,000 deaths in the Ukrainian armed forces, and 5,000 to 6,000 deaths of Russian soldiers.
My guests today are experts here to help us make sense of the War and the Pandemic
Pavlo Kovtoniuk (Kov-to-Nyuk) is a co-founder of the Ukrainian Healthcare Center - UHC, a think tank located in Kyiv, Ukraine. His background is in health financing and management. In 2016-2019 he served as a vice-minister of health of Ukraine and led a large-scale health system reform in the country. In 2019-2020 he was a consultant at the WHO office for health systems strengthening in Barcelona. During the COVID-19 Pavlo’s team at the UHC monitored the pandemic in Ukraine and supported the government in pandemic response.
Dora Vargha is Professor of History and Medical Humanities based jointly at Humboldt University in Berlin and the University of Exeter. She is currently leading two research projects on the history of socialism and global health. Previously, she had been co-editor of the journal Social History of Medicine and has worked as an expert for WHO Western Pacific on informing epidemic preparedness with historical perspectives.
EP #461 - 3.10.2022 - Disasters and COVID in Latin America w/Mark Healey
EP #460 - 3.9.2022 - The Pandemic Imaginary w/Christos Lynteris
EP #459 - 3.9.2022 - War, Refugees, and the Pandemic w/Deborah Amos
EP #458 - 3.9.2022 - Ukraine and Disaster: Past & Present
EP #457 - 3.8.2022 - Science and the Pandemic: Followup w/Laura Helmuth
EP #456 - 3.8.2022 - COVID and Mental Health w/Jessi Gold
EP #455 - 3.8.2022 - Public Health in a Historical Perspective w/Michael Yudell
EP #454 - 3.8.2022 - The Pandemic’s True Death Toll
EP #453 - 3.7.2022 - Promise House: Heather’s Story w/Krista Rowe
EP #452 - 3.7.2022 - American Pandemic Culture w/James McWilliams
EP #451 - 3.5.2022 - COVID in Chile Update
EP #450 - 3.4.2022 - Research and Policy Action for Children in the Pandemic
EP #449 - 3.4.2022 - The Government of Emergency
EP #448 - 3.3.2022 - Pandemic Culture Update w/Virginia Heffernan
EP #447 - 3.3.2022 - Physicians and Patients in the Pandemic
EP #446 - 3.3.2022 - Hospital Systems in American History w/Guian McKee
EP #445 - Comedy in the Pandemic Era Update w/Kurt Braunohler
EP #444 - 3.2.2022 - COVID and the Law Update w/Kathleen Bergin
EP #443 - 3.2.2022 - COVID in Texas: A Discussion Between Friends
EP #442 - 3.2.2022 - Discussing ’Building Back Better’ is Neoliberal Post-Disaster Reconstruction
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