Civic Rx

Dr. Anthony Fauci is the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, where since 1984, he's overseen a vast portfolio of basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose, and treat infectious disease — everything from HIV/AIDS to malaria, Ebola, Zika, and now COVID-19. He was a chief architect of PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, and today serves as one of the seminal members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, where he advises the federal government on its response to the pandemic. Our space here cannot adequately capture Dr. Fauci's contributions, but suffice it to say that he is a giant in medicine and a profound personal hero, and it was a treasure to talk with him for this episode. We cover a lot of ground in limited time, from the state of our country's coronavirus response, to his approach to navigating the political tensions intrinsic to his job. We also reflect on his personal journey, from his childhood to choosing medicine through his four decades in government. I deeply enjoyed this conversation, and hope you do, too. For more, check out:

• the CDC's guidelines on how to protect yourself,
• this tracker by the NYTimes of the status of all 50 states' reopenings, and
• Dr. Fauci's remembrance of his dear friend and AIDS activist, Larry Kramer, who passed away in May

And for more on Civic Rx, visit www.civic-rx.org.

Peter Sands is the Executive Director of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, a multilateral organization that invests $4 billion a year to combat these three epidemics — and this year, too, COVID-19. To put that in perspective, the Global Fund serves as the single largest provider of external health financing for all the low- and middle-income countries in the world. A significant proportion of these resources go toward equipping health systems to respond to crises exactly like this one. And yet, as we discuss, much of the world has been found unprepared for COVID-19— while the political wrangling between the United States and other key leaders jeopardizes any type of coordinated response. Peter and I cover a lot of ground in this episode — from the uneven impact of COVID-19 around the world, to the complications it poses for existing global health campaigns like those against TB and malaria. We also discuss why the private sector should be incentivized to invest in pandemic preparedness, and how Peter's past as CEO of Standard Chartered Bank has informed his response to questions about the pandemic's economic costs. Links of interest:

• For more on the Global Fund, check out: https://www.theglobalfund.org/en/
• Peter's post, "When Finance Fails: Why Economists Didn't See a Coronavirus Collapse Coming":: https://www.theglobalfund.org/en/blog/2020-03-25-when-finance-fails-why-economists-didnt-see-a-coronavirus-collapse-coming/
• Peter's editorial on the necessary parallels between the 2008 financial crisis and today's public health crisis, and how we must invest robustly in global health security: https://www.ft.com/content/c8eae26c-6204-11ea-abcc-910c5b38d9ed

Want to learn more about the show? Check out civic-rx.org.

Hi, everyone, my name is Dr. Sejal Hathi, M.D., M.B.A., and this is Civic Rx: a podcast and a project to help all of us make sense of the million different ways our world has shifted in the wake of the novel coronavirus: Every episode, I bring you conversations with people whose work and ideas are challenging and transforming the way we live, work, and build community. Together, we reflect on how we can foster a healthier and more equitable society. Learn more at: www.civic-rx.org