This talk discussed the inextricable links between human health, animal health, and the environment. It showed how we are at the greatest risk ever of more cataclysmic health events, including epidemics and pandemics. Dr. Gostin showed how a One Health approach, or what he calls "deep prevention," can mitigate the risk of future health emergencies. Dr. Gostin argued that we have a clear pathway to making the world safer and we should take it. This lecture also underscored the overriding value of equity in prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery from pandemics.
Learning objectives: At the end of this talk, participants were able to answer:
- Why the world faces grave risks of future pandemics and epidemics;
- Why animal health and human health are intertwined; and
- Why climate change poses major pandemic risks.
This was an event of the Office of Academic Clinical Affairs (OACA), hosted by the Center for Bioethics, and co-sponsored by the following UMN units: Center for Global Health & Social Responsibility, Office of Academic Clinical Affairs; Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy; College of Veterinary Medicine; Institute on the Environment; School of Nursing; and School of Public Health.
Speaker(s)
Lawrence O. Gostin is University Professor, Georgetown University’s highest academic rank conferred by the University President. Prof. Gostin is Faculty Director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law and is the Founding O’Neill Chair in Global Health Law. He served as Associate Dean for Research at Georgetown Law from 2004 to 2008. In 2021, Prof Gostin received the Steve Goldberg Memorial Award for Community Service at Georgetown. He is Professor of Medicine at Georgetown University and Professor of Public Health at the Johns Hopkins University. Prof. Gostin’s Georgetown Profile is available here.
Prof. Gostin is the Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law. WHO serves on the IHR Review Committee for revision of the International Health Regulations. The WHO Director-General has appointed Prof. Gostin to high-level positions, including the International Health Regulations (IHR) Roster of Experts and the Expert Advisory Panel on Mental Health. He served on the Director-General’s Advisory Committee on Reforming the World Health Organization, as well as numerous WHO expert advisory committees, including on the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework, smallpox, genomic sequencing data, migrant health, mental health, NCDs, and gender, equity and human rights. He served on the WHO/Global Fund Blue Ribbon Expert Panel: The Equitable Access Initiative to develop a global health equity framework. He chaired the WHO Health and Migration Consultation on Knowledge and Research in Migrant Health, including the WHO Triple Billion Goals.