Posted by CSIS Staff on Feb 26, 2010 at 07:47 pm
Katherine Bliss, Senior Fellow with the CSIS Global Health Policy Center, interviews Dr. Ronald Waldman upon his recent return from Haiti as Coordinator of the United States Medical and Emergency Response team. He discusses the short-term and long-term health challenges Haiti faces as it works to rebuild in the months to come.
Excerpt: "We like to say that things should get back to normal as quickly as possible. That’s part of the alleviation of the stress, the psychological stress that’s put on people. What does getting back to normal mean? It means having children go back to school as quickly as possible, but there are no schools. It means people are able to have spiritual outlets in which they can grieve, but there are no churches; they’ve been destroyed by the earthquake. Clinics, not there; banks, not there. So, this is really the kind of tragedy that will take years and years to overcome."
Listen to this interview series podcast.
Source: United Nations Development Programme (Creative Commons 2.0)
Dr. Ronald Waldman serves as the Senior International Health Advisor and Pandemic Preparedness/Humanitarian Response Team Leader in the Bureau of Global Health’s Avian and Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response Unit. In this capacity, Ron is responsible for providing program and management support to the USAID’s Avian and Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response Unit in support of its technical and program activities related to avian influenza. He is a key contributor to activities that support USAID’s objective to ensure that in the event of a human influenza pandemic adequate attention is given to the needs of the most vulnerable population, including those displaced by war and civil disorder. Prior to his fellowship, Ron served as Deputy Director, Center for Global Health and Economic Development, Mailman School of Public Health of Columbia University where he also founded and directed the Program on Forced Migration and Health. Before that, he was at the CDC for over 20 years. Ron received his M.D. from the University of Geneva in Switzerland and his MPH from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. He has written extensively on the effect of complex and humanitarian emergencies on public health and serves as the Associate Editor of the Journal for Global Public Health.
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