The Contagion Next Time

by Sandro Galea Narrated by Roman Howell

Overview

In a few short months, COVID-19 devastated the world and, in particular, the United States. It infected millions, killed hundreds of thousands, and effectively made the earth stand still. Yet America was already in poor health before COVID-19 appeared. Racism, marginalization, socioeconomic inequality-our failure to address these forces left us vulnerable to COVID-19 and the ensuing global health crisis it became. Had we tackled these challenges twenty years ago, after the outbreak of SARS, perhaps COVID-19 could have been quickly contained. Instead, we allowed our systems to deteriorate.



Following on the themes of his award-winning publication Well, Sandro Galea's The Contagion Next Time articulates the foundational forces shaping health in our society and how we can strengthen them to prevent the next outbreak from becoming a pandemic. Because while no one could have predicted that a pandemic would strike when it did, we did know that a pandemic would strike, sooner or later. We're still not ready for the next pandemic. But we can be-we must be.



In lyrical prose, The Contagion Next Time challenges all of us to tackle the deep-rooted obstacles preventing us from becoming a truly vibrant and equitable nation, reminding us of what we've seemed to have forgotten: that our health is a public good worth protecting.

Editorial Reviews

MAY 2022 - AudioFile

Sandro Galea’s analysis of the Covid-19 pandemic is a public health call to action, and narrator Roman Howell capably conveys this message. After each solemn chapter title announcement, Howell amps up the urgency as he describes the pandemic’s effects on geography, politics, economics, racism, and history itself. Howell’s narration reinforces Galea’s tenet: Medicine and healthcare should never be considered a panacea for contagion. Rather, the U.S. must recognize that systemic social inequities persist and will be kindling for the next pandemic. Howell’s delivery of Galea’s illuminating stories is particularly effective—when reading a description of the 1816 wreck of the French ship MÉDUSE, for instance, he emphasizes the poor seafaring choices made and creates a link from a past disaster to the present one. E.S.B. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

Publishers Weekly

08/30/2021

Galea (Well), dean of the Boston University School of Public Health, offers a revelatory new conception of public health and disease prevention in this trenchant study of systemic inequity. In the first two sections, Galea argues that maintaining health requires more than just medical care; people must also invest in their communities in ways that prevent sickness in the first place. Primarily, this involves lifting people out of poverty and repairing the social harms that remain a legacy of Jim Crow legislation. He examines failures in public health based on such metrics as life expectancy, addiction, mental health, and noncommunicable diseases, exploring how food deserts, low wages, and homelessness ensure that some communities are less healthy than others. The last two sections focus on solutions, including concrete actions (invest in housing and safe transportation, for example) and a realigning of values in America toward a more just society that will minimize the damage of future public health crises. Galea powerfully demonstrates how inequities are detrimental to public health on a grand scale, affecting everyone: “As long as any part of our world remains vulnerable to poor health, we live, collectively, beneath a sword of Damocles,” he writes. Policy makers, take note. (Nov.)

From the Publisher

"In this unforgettable book, Sandro Galea expertly demonstrates that our investing in the healthiest population possible is literally an act of national security against a future pandemic. The Contagion Next Time issues a clear warning, and a clear way forward. This book can save us if we are serious about saving ourselves" — Ibram X. Kendi, bestselling author of Stamped from the Beginning and How to Be an Antiracist

"Dr. Galea's book proves it is possible for us to build a healthier world after Covid-19—and the first step is to protect the most vulnerable, whether they're in our own neighborhoods or across the globe. The Contagion Next Time is truly a must read." — Katie Couric, award-winning journalist

"Sandro Galea lays out critical steps that we must take as individuals and as a nation to address lessons learned from the pandemic. A must read for policy makers and anyone who wants to shape a healthier future for our country and the world." — Hilary Godwin, Dean, University of Washington School of Public Health

"The Contagion Next Time seamlessly weaves personal narrative, historical accounts, and public health expertise to illuminate the importance of re-centering our everyday experiences to create a healthier society. Dr. Galea powerfully calls for greater investment in social systems to produce equitable outcomes in preparation for the inevitable next health crisis like Covid-19." — Thomas LaVeist, Dean, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine

"Covid-19 brings into sharp relief the social determinants of health. Sandro Galea, a gifted communicator, uses his considerable skills to tell the story of how our health is embedded in the nature of society, its history and values. Such understanding is vital not only to controlling pandemics but improving the health of the population." — Sir Michael Marmot, author of Build Back Fairer: The COVID-19 Marmot Review

"In the wake of a devastating pandemic, Sandro Galea's incisive narrative shows us why we cannot return to the status quo in a post-Covid world. The Contagion Next Time offers a searing commentary on the cracks in our country's foundations, shining a light on longstanding inequities and systemic racism. It also gives us reason to hope by reminding us of the opportunities and possibilities available as we reshape our nation and public health. Sandro Galea's optimism is a necessary tool for the road ahead." — Aletha Maybank, Chief Health Equity Officer, SVP, American Medical Association

"The Contagion Next Time offers a prescription for our health and well-being that is nothing less than the 'revolution of values' that Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called for in 1967. Dr. Galea's diagnosis rightly indicates that we must address poverty, inequality, and systemic racism to ensure good health. Deeply engaging and insightful, this book is required reading to ensure that we not only survive the next pandemic, but thrive for generations to come." — Shailly Gupta Barnes, Policy Director for the Kairos Center and the Poor People's Campaign

"Dr. Galea's compelling and compassionate new book shows us how we must create a strong foundation in order to avert further pandemics. He urges us to address our pervasive but neglected nonmedical issues, including the American tradition of proud individualism that prevents us from recognizing how our health is interconnected, and reminds us, vividly, that until we begin to invest in our communal physical and mental health, we will remain vulnerable to future threats." — Rosalynn Carter, former First Lady

"The Contagion Next Time brings into clear focus why we have never been able to realize an equitable response during pandemics and what change agents can do to create more healthy, equitable, and empowered communities. Dr. Galea's illuminating and pathbreaking work will shape the global conversation around the forces that shape health for generations to come." — Daniel E. Dawes, Executive Director of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine and author of The Political Determinants of Health

"Galea offers a revelatory new conception of public health and disease prevention in this trenchant study of systemic inequity." —Publishers Weekly

MAY 2022 - AudioFile

Sandro Galea’s analysis of the Covid-19 pandemic is a public health call to action, and narrator Roman Howell capably conveys this message. After each solemn chapter title announcement, Howell amps up the urgency as he describes the pandemic’s effects on geography, politics, economics, racism, and history itself. Howell’s narration reinforces Galea’s tenet: Medicine and healthcare should never be considered a panacea for contagion. Rather, the U.S. must recognize that systemic social inequities persist and will be kindling for the next pandemic. Howell’s delivery of Galea’s illuminating stories is particularly effective—when reading a description of the 1816 wreck of the French ship MÉDUSE, for instance, he emphasizes the poor seafaring choices made and creates a link from a past disaster to the present one. E.S.B. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2021-08-28
The Covid-19 pandemic is not a one-off catastrophe. An epidemiologist presents a cogent argument for a fundamental refocusing of resources on “the foundational forces that shape health.”

In this passionate and instructive book, Galea, dean of the Boston University School of Public Health, writes that Covid emerged because we have long neglected basic preventative measures. “We invest vast amounts of money in healthcare,” he writes, “but comparatively little in health.” Readers looking to learn how governments (mainly the U.S.) mishandled the pandemic have a flood of books to choose from, but Galea has bigger issues to raise. Better medical care will not stop the next epidemic, he warns. We must structure a world “that is resilient to contagions.” He begins by describing the current state of world health, where progress has been spectacular. Global life expectancy has more than doubled since 1900. Malnutrition, poverty, and child mortality have dropped. However, as the author stresses repeatedly, medical progress contributed far less to the current situation than better food, clean water, hygiene, education, and prosperity. That’s the good news. More problematic is that money is a powerful determinant of health; those who have it live longer. Galea begins the bad news by pointing out the misleading statistic that Covid-19 kills less than 1% of those infected; that applies to young people in good health. For those over 60, it kills 6%, for diabetics, over 7%, and those with heart disease, over 10%. It also kills more Blacks than Whites, more poor than middle-class people, and more people without health insurance. The author is clearly not just interested in Covid. He attacks racism, sexism, and poverty in equal measure, making a plea for compassion toward stigmatized conditions such as obesity and addiction. He consistently urges the U.S. government, which has spared no expense and effort to defeat the pandemic, to do the same for social injustice.

An oft-ignored but fully convincing argument that “we cannot prevent the next pandemic without creating a healthy world.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940176188639
Publisher:	HighBridge Company
Publication date:	12/28/2021
Edition description:	Unabridged

Videos