Council of Councils
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Introduction
Over the last several decades, governments have collectively pledged to slow global warming. But despite intensified diplomacy, the world is already facing the consequences of climate…
Health
Health Policy and Initiatives
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A Conversation With Alice AlbrightCEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Alice Albright discusses the role MCC plays in the U.S. foreign policy toolkit and how foreign assistance can address long-term global trends while simultaneously managing humanitarian crises.
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Measuring What Matters: How to Monitor Effective Primary Health Care ProvisionIn the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, countries are working to improve access to and quality of primary health care. How do we measure and monitor the progress? Please join our speakers, Dan Schwarz, director of primary health care at Ariadne Labs, and Frederico Guanais, deputy head of the health division of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, to discuss metrics and evaluation in primary care.
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A Conversation With Secretary Xavier BecerraSecretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra discusses the agency’s global footprint, including how COVID-19 exposed systemic disparities in healthcare at home and abroad, plans to prepare for future pandemics, and efforts to restore global partnerships.
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Virtual Roundtable: The Role of Trust in Pandemic PreparednessNumerous research studies point to the outsized role that trust has played in the COVID-19 pandemic. Public compliance with expert recommendations for social distancing, mask wearing, school closures, and vaccinations have been linked to the perceived trustworthiness of government, its agencies, and other citizens. In this Council on Foreign Relations roundtable, Dr. Margaret Levi and Dr. Michael Bang Petersen discuss the role of trust in current and future COVID-19 crisis response and what governments can do to build trust before the next health emergency emerges—as it inevitably will.
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Virtual Roundtable: School Closures and COVID-19Pandemic-related school closures have affected more than 50 million K-12 students in the United States. These disruptions created substantial challenges for parents and impacted children’s learning and social wellbeing. It has been said that pandemic-related closures may have resulted in significant learning loss that could deepen existing educational and income inequalities. The COVID-19 School Data Hub, the brainchild of Brown Professor of Economics Emily Oster, attempts to assess these impacts. Speakers discuss the data and how the United States can address the tremendous learning loss and education inequality exacerbated by COVID-19.
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Growing Up and Moving Out: The Critical Link Between Health and MigrationMigration is seen as the product of desperate circumstances, but increasingly it is the byproduct of success—improved child survival followed by a booming young-adult population.
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Where Has COVID-19 Contact Tracing Worked?As part of global efforts to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, health officials have tried a variety of contact-tracing strategies in countries around the world. Some have been success stories; others have been flops, as governments struggled to get buy-in from the public or shore up the resources needed for comprehensive tracing. Here are five countries’ experiences with contact tracing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Renewing America Series: Public Health as a Public Good—What's at Stake?The COVID-19 pandemic amplified health disparities and renewed conversations about the limitations of current public health systems after decades of disinvestment. Panelists explore the idea of reframing public health as a public good to drive investment, modernization, and encourage better coordination across health systems. With its Renewing America initiative, CFR is evaluating nine critical domestic issues that shape the ability of the United States to navigate a demanding, competitive, and dangerous world.
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Data's Role in Preventing the Next PandemicOver the past fifteen years, global health has been threatened by Ebola epidemics in West Africa, the emergence of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), the spread of Zika through the Americas,and the 2009 influenza pandemic. The tolls of each event have been exacerbated by inadequate data systems. Ongoing struggles to track the global spread of COVID-19 demonstrate the need to fix problems in existing surveillance for infectious diseases.
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Year Three: The Pandemic ContinuesAs we enter year three of the COVID-19 pandemic, three leading global health experts examine how the United States and the world have dealt with the evolving situation, the lessons learned, and the way forward.
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The World Still Hasn’t Agreed on a Pandemic PlaybookFor two years, the world has been battling COVID-19 with masks, vaccines, and lockdowns. There have been impressive results and serious missteps, but countries have failed to channel their shared experiences into a blueprint for action.
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The COVID-19 Pandemic and China's Global Health Leadership
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China's ambitions for global health leadership are faltering as the COVID-19 pandemic persists. The country's mixed record of addressing the virus offers opportunities for U.S. global health leadership, writes Yanzhong Huang. -
Malcolm and Carolyn Wiener Annual Lecture on Science and Technology With Henry Kissinger and Eric SchmidtHenry Kissinger and Eric Schmidt discuss the transformational power of artificial intelligence. The Malcolm and Carolyn Wiener Annual Lecture on Science and Technology addresses issues at the intersection of science, technology, and foreign policy. It has been endowed in perpetuity through a gift from CFR members Malcolm and Carolyn Wiener.
