Improving health literacy is vital for addressing disparities in healthcare access and quality. Join Host Kyle B. Enfield, MD, FSHEA, FCCM, and Jerome Adams, MD, MPH, FASA, as they discuss the urgent need for health equity initiatives and innovative solutions to systemic healthcare challenges. Learn why providing accessible information and empowering individuals to advocate for their health is key. Dr. Adams was the 20th U.S. Surgeon General when the COVID-19 pandemic began and had a front-row seat to the government’s response to COVID-19. Dr. Adams provided his perspective on that response in his book Crisis and Chaos: Lessons from the Front Lines of the War Against COVID-19, which was published in October 2023. The book examines the past three years since the pandemic began, but Dr. Adams said that it also applies to America’s future unless changes are made. He presented his perspectives during the 2024 Critical Care Congress in a thought leader session and shares additional insights during this podcast episode. While Dr. Adams was U.S. Surgeon General, from 2017 to 2021, he led the 6000-person U.S. Public Health Service through responses to three category 5 hurricanes and an opioid epidemic in addition to the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously he was Indiana’s state health commissioner, where he addressed Ebola, Zika, and HIV crises. Today he is the executive director of health equity initiatives at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, USA, where he is also a distinguished professor of practice in the public health and pharmacy practice departments.