In this episode, Government Relations and Public Policy Advisor Greg Rodriguez talks with a student from the UC Riverside School of Public Policy about the similarities and differences between the HIV and COVID-19 public health crises.

About Greg Rodriguez:

Greg L. Rodriguez serves as Government Relations and Public Policy Advisor for Supervisor Perez in the fourth district in the County of Riverside. He has government experience having previously worked for the office of Congressman Ruiz.

Learn more about Greg Rodriguez via https://rivco4.org/About/About-Manuel-Team

Podcast Highlights:

“You had facilities that would not treat HIV and AIDS patients...so how do you get over and shine a light on that stigmatization? That's where you saw the shift is when activists made this not only a public health crisis but also a social crisis.”

-       Greg Rodriguez on the topic of stigma and discrimination and how it impacts public health. 

“I think it is human nature when we're faced with fear or crisis, we're looking to figure out where it came from, who caused it...however, I think it was escalated in the COVID case.”

-       Greg Rodriguez on the topic of discrimination and racism during COVID-19. 

“Social media has played a huge role...when it's spread over and over again, it, unfortunately, becomes a part of people's dialogue.”

-       Greg Rodriguez on the topic of misinformation and anti-science sentiment. 

Guest:

Greg Rodriguez (Government Relations and Public Policy Advisor)

Interviewer:

Kevin Karami (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Chief Ambassador)

Music by:

C Codaine

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Minimal_1625

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Phase

Commercial Links:

https://spp.ucr.edu/mpp

This is a production of the UCR School of Public Policy: https://spp.ucr.edu/

Subscribe to this podcast so you don’t miss an episode. Learn more about the series and other episodes via https://spp.ucr.edu/podcast.