Nearly 700,000 Americans have died of AIDS since the beginning of the epidemic in the 1980s, and more than 1.1 million are living with HIV today.

Advances in medical science have provided people with access to highly effective treatments for HIV. But is it possible to eliminate the disease altogether?

Some cities are trying. On this episode of The Dose, Grant Colfax and Susan Buchbinder of San Francisco's public health department talk about how the city is trying to eliminate HIV.

Through a range of projects, from increasing the uptake of preventive medicine to running mobile clinics to serve hard-to-reach patients, the city is making progress toward its goal of getting to zero HIV infections, deaths, and stigma.

More than 800 women die each day from complications related to pregnancy across the globe. Some of them bleed to death. Some of them develop infections or severe life-long medical conditions because they are delivering their babies in unsafe environments.

Many of these deaths could be prevented if more young people had access to birth control and other reproductive health care. Pathfinder International is a non-profit working with communities in 20 countries to make this a reality.

On this episode of The Dose, Pathfinder's CEO, Lois Quam, recounts some of the stories she has heard, firsthand, from young people around the world. Lois tells host Shanoor Seervai about the challenges people face when they are unable to decide whether and when to have children – and how their lives change if they are able to make this choice.

Prescription medicines have become so expensive in the United States that we've reached a point where four in five Americans think drug prices are unreasonable. While political leaders have certainly taken notice, what are they doing to solve the problem?

On the latest episode of The Dose, host Shanoor Seervai sits down with the Commonwealth Fund's Lovisa Gustafsson to talk about how drugs could be made more affordable for those who bear the brunt of high prices – ordinary Americans.

Gustafsson believes some important issues are missing from the drug pricing debate, including a broken patent system, high launch prices, and the lack of cheaper medical treatments.

Primary care is the bedrock of a health care system that works. For most people, seeing a doctor regularly can help prevent small medical concerns from turning into full-blown emergencies.

On this episode of The Dose podcast, we hear from Los Angeles Times reporter Noam Levey, who recently wrote about the differences between the primary care systems in the United States and the Netherlands through the eyes of two doctors, one working in each country.

A cesarean section can be a life-saving procedure for a woman with a complicated pregnancy – but in some countries, too many women deliver by c-section, even when it isn’t necessary. In other countries, women can’t get a c-section when they need it.

Why does this huge difference persist?

On this episode of The Dose, Pierre Barker, who heads global partnerships at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, explains why some countries have a much higher c-section rate than others. Pierre and his colleagues use a method called quality improvement to change the approach taken by health care systems around the world when it comes to c-sections.

Health care was front and center for the American public in 2019 – and with good reason. It’s one of the top issues voters are worried about going into the 2020 election.

On this episode of The Dose, David Blumenthal, M.D. and Shanoor Seervai review some of the big health care developments of the year, including the Democratic presidential candidates’ health reform plans, legislative activity around drug costs and surprise bills, and Silicon Valley’s growing interest in care delivery.

The number of women who die in the U.S. because of complications related to pregnancy is shockingly high – nearly 30 deaths for every 100,000 births each year. But some women die at higher rates than others: the maternal mortality rate for black women is three to four times higher than it is for white women.

On this episode of The Dose, the Commonwealth Fund’s Laurie Zephyrin, M.D., and Akeiisa Coleman talk about one way to address this crisis: Medicaid, which pays for nearly half the 4 million births in the U.S. each year. States have a real opportunity, they say, to take innovative steps to improve the care pregnant women and new mothers receive through their Medicaid programs.

Bias in medicine –based on race and sex – is a well-documented problem. It’s a problem because the health care system has historically marginalized the medical concerns of people of color and women, which has led to worse health outcomes.

On the latest episode of The Dose, host Shanoor Seervai discusses ways to tackle bias in health care with Ann-Gel Palermo, who works on diversity and inclusion at New York’s Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Joia Crear-Perry, who founded the National Birth Equity Birth Collaborative to address racial disparities in health care.

They explain that bias is not just a concern at the individual provider level; it’s actually baked into the system, starting in medical school. While fundamental change will be an uphill battle, they say, the fight is critical to ensuring that all patients are treated fairly when they seek care.

Many Americans are worried about how they will afford care if they get really sick, and policymakers are responding to this concern with a whole range of complicated policies. Are you confused about what these policies mean for you, your family, and the health system in general?

You’re not alone, so on this episode of The Dose, host Shanoor Seervai sits down with the Commonwealth Fund’s Sara Collins to break down what she learned in her latest survey on American’s views about health care.

They discuss how Medicare for All, and other Democratic proposals, would change the health system; they also talk about open enrollment, an ongoing court case on the future of the Affordable Care Act, and much more.

What do you think is the best way to fix our health care system? Send us an email on [email protected].

African American women die of pregnancy-related causes at three times the rate for white women, even after accounting for income, education, and access to other resources.

What is it about being born black in America that leads to such outcomes?

To answer this question, Shanoor Seervai interviews Kennetha Gaines, clinical nurse manager for UCSF Health in San Francisco, for the latest episode of The Dose podcast. Gaines, a Pozen Commonwealth Fund Fellow in Minority Health at Yale University, speaks candidly about her personal experiences and her work to transform the way health care providers treat black women.

Does the health care system treat people differently based on race? Tell us what you think – send an email to [email protected].