APHA at 150: Major exhibitions, trainings, screenings, and film festival premieres for Becoming Better Ancestors: 9 lessons from global health to change the world.
Becoming Better Ancestors HQ at APHA’s Annual Conference, The Paramount Theatre Lounge
At APHA’s 150th Celebration and Annual meeting, we screened segments from the virtual learning series available at 9Lessons.org, and discussed these important lessons with global health leaders leading change around the world as a final pilot among over 18,000 attendees at the largest gathering of public health professionals in the world.
Moderator and Host:
Dr. Mark Rosenberg, President and CEO Emeritus, The Task Force for Global Health
Panelists:
Dr. Rebecca Weintraub, Founding Faculty Director, Global Health Delivery Project, Harvard University
Dr. Judy Monroe, CEO, CDC Foundation
Dr. Ayman El-Mohandes, Dean of the City University of New York Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy; Chair, Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health
Dr. Georges Benjamin, Executive Director, American Public Health Association
Smallpox was a horrific disease that spread suffering and death for centuries across our planet, claiming millions upon millions of human lives. In ten short years, before computers or smartphones, from 1966-1976, a small group of united and determined people proposed a strategy to end this scourge.
We celebrate the achievement of smallpox eradication and give it a central place of honor in history, yet today we have new challenges to our health and well-being on multiple fronts to consider. And, we need to think strategically about the threats that will emerge in the future.
Becoming Better Ancestors™, created by Presidential Medal of Freedom winner Dr. Bill Foege and Dr. Mark Rosenberg, teaches 9 core lessons from the eradication of smallpox that anyone can use to change the world in small ways and in very, very big ways. There are important lessons from smallpox eradication that can help address COVID-19 and help set the stage to prepare for the pandemics, outbreaks, and global health threats we will be facing tomorrow. These 9, high-level lessons learned in smallpox eradication are:
This is a cause and effect world. If we understand the causes, we can change the effects.
Know the truth. Share the truth. Act on the truth.
Coalitions are essential.
Avoid certainty (the Achilles’ heel of science).
Build in consequential evaluation and continuous improvement.
Respect the culture. Culture matters.
The best decisions are based on the best science, but the best results also require strong leadership and management.
With political will, anything is possible; without it, nothing is.
The best solutions move us closer to global health equity.
