Home Is Where the Health Is: Unmasking U.S. and Global Health Inequalities

Where do you call home? Believe it or not, your answer could explain your health status.

Tune in to learn how, and discover:

• Why zip code is the biggest predictor of health in the U.S., and what this reveals about health disparities
• What advances have been made in the prevention and treatment of HIV over the past decade
• What is meant by the “power of the purse” and how it can be used to help combat health inequalities
• How much is decided at the local level, and how individuals can get their voices heard

Céline Gounder is CEO/President/Founder of Just Human Productions, a nonprofit media company aimed at addressing and educating on matters of health inequality in the U.S. and beyond. She's also a practicing HIV/infectious diseases specialist and internist, epidemiologist, and producer of two podcasts: one on health and social justice, and the other on COVID-19.  

It was her interest in the intersection of science and the service of others—especially marginalized people—that led her to the field of infectious diseases, which tend to disproportionately impact certain communities, like those of color, LGBTQ, the homeless, and users of injectable drugs.

“Like COVID, it’s a test for how socially and economically vulnerable you are, and what your access to health looks like,” says Dr. Gounder.  

She discusses the variability of environmental exposure to toxins and infectious diseases, the importance of jobs when it comes to health inequalities, risk factors for HIV, what people can do to have an impact on the health of communities, how the media landscape has changed in recent decades, why a vaccine for HIV has been so difficult to develop, how she sees the COVID-19 situation evolving over the next year or two, and more.

Press play for the full conversation, and learn more at https://www.justhumanproductions.org/.

Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C