Health
Global Health
![10 Newsmaking Conversations from Aspen Ideas: Health 2024](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/58daefc2-333d-4d2e-b5b1-8ca0d98462be/240620_reception_001.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=83%2C0%2C2667%2C2667&w=290)
From the debate over reproductive rights to the epidemic of gun violence to the youth mental health crisis, this year's Aspen Ideas: Health sessions tackled many of today's most pressing health issues. Explore the timely conversations with top government officials, medical researchers, business leaders, public health experts, legal scholars, and journalists to hear the ide...
![Prudential Financial Presents: What Living to 100 Means for Work and Wealth](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/fceaec56-d6ae-43f2-9e24-6983a3cdfe40/workandhealth.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=872%2C0%2C3101%2C3101&w=290)
Across the globe, humans are living and working longer than ever — and today’s systems, governments and businesses aren’t prepared. Examine how we can reimagine work, wealth and retirement to live our lives both longer and better.
![Are We Ready For Pandemic X?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/05b0d43e-1ff9-4d23-9735-aee253157755/53814590409_91983fd81a_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C5504%2C5504&w=290)
Given what we learned from the global turbulence from COVID-19, are we any more prepared for the next pandemic? Author and journalist Michael Lewis and Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine maker, discuss strategies to protect the world against future outbreaks and explore how global collaboration can ensure equitable access to life-...
![Closing the Climate Gap for Girls and Women](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/7c58f9e1-944f-43e1-91a6-70ea591b4afe/53811270499_6a024c72b2_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=464%2C0%2C3374%2C3372&w=290)
Climate change is a threat multiplier with a disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations. Girls and women, who are denied equitable access to education and economic opportunity in many parts of the world, are most likely to experience the far-reaching effects of a warming planet. Advocates are trying to level the playing field with projects designed to empower the fe...
![Food as Medicine](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/96a3301d-ecd0-433e-b370-3fcb475e13a4/53807854062_4f324aa3cd_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=980%2C0%2C3918%2C3918&w=290)
The health benefits of a nutritious diet are well-established, but just telling people to eat more plant-based foods and less unhealthy fat isn’t enough to reduce the toll of chronic diseases. A growing body of research supports a much more systematic approach, woven into the fabric of healthcare, to leverage the medicinal power of food. Medically tailored meals designed t...
![Building Bonds Across Generations](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/3df70317-4595-4173-b1c1-9ac120044e2f/53810018186_30ab0e06f4_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1168%2C0%2C3101%2C3101&w=290)
Contemporary American society is deeply age segregated. Youth spend most of their time in school or with peers and older people head to senior centers and retirement communities. Yet a yearning for connections is palpable across the age spectrum and innovators are responding with models that bring the generations together in their homes, schools, workplaces, and communitie...
![Atul Gawande, Advocating for a Global Immune System](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/a58c1b54-2eed-452f-8b29-a6bd14484164/53809060518_cd635369af_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1052%2C0%2C3455%2C3454&w=290)
To secure equitable global health and security, the world needs its own immune system. That’s the message from surgeon and author Atul Gawande, who leads global health assistance for the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The current strategy is emergency-driven, rarely going beyond reactive responses to infectious diseases, natural disasters, and the violenc...
![Urban Health Challenges and Solutions: The Role of Nature](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/839ea645-e757-425f-89cd-6fc0685cd3b8/53809264886_380b2a3a78_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=605%2C0%2C4000%2C4000&w=290)
Nature does not limit its influence only to rural populations. In cities around the world, dense living conditions, lack of green spaces, substandard housing, and poor sanitation allow rats and insects to proliferate and pollution to degrade health. But if certain urban characteristics help spread disease, others can curb it, including strategically placed trees, adaptable...
![Lessons in Global Health Leadership](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/6bbaf215-9a0d-43fa-9f75-bd637464db30/53806489166_58d99383ff_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1000%2C0%2C4000%2C4000&w=290)
Despite great differences in demographics, available resources, disease threats, and the structure of their health systems, all countries need responsive, equitable, and innovative policies to meet population needs. Leaders of national health agencies across the globe come together for a wide-ranging conversation that spotlights their unique and shared challenges and pione...
![Climate Doctors: Frontline Medical Care for Climate Change](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/d5e38f35-e94e-4111-b7bc-96cbbf65e46d/53807763449_13fb8f0222_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=25%2C0%2C1067%2C1067&w=290)
Extreme heat waves, storms, and wildfires; disease outbreaks, water shortages, and crop loss; tick-borne illnesses and asthma—these are just some visible signs of a changing climate. Few physicians have been trained to recognize the potent health consequences—allergies that are no longer just seasonal, athletes suddenly finding it hard to breathe, patients who can’t get ne...
![Straight Talk with CDC Director Mandy Cohen](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/87cd8c5e-9c63-4c84-a71d-de37e905eb06/53807676408_16ab4dcaf4_o1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=252%2C0%2C3101%2C3101&w=290)
The science-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the linchpin of the nation’s public health system. With its state-of-the art laboratories, world-class data analytics, and diverse workforce, the agency monitors emerging infectious diseases, ensures emergency preparedness, galvanizes community-focused responses to vaccines, environmental threats, workpl...
![Health Fellow Spotlight: Maymunah Yusuf Kadiri](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/2ebe269c-7944-4789-b43c-cd2257ed4c93/SpotlightBlogHeroImage-2.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=637%2C0%2C901%2C900&w=290)
Meet Maymunah Yusuf Kadiri (aka Dr. May), a 2024 Aspen Ideas: Health Fellow and the Psychiatrist-In-Chief at Pinnacle Medical Services, Nigeria’s leading mental health center. Learn how she's using innovative technology to democratize access to mental healthcare for developing countries.
![Health Fellow Spotlight: Kasley Killam](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/d2085b4b-b91d-444d-9f74-c4fc2dc9a484/2.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=639%2C0%2C901%2C900&w=290)
Meet Kasley Killam, a 2024 Aspen Ideas: Health Fellow and Founder of Social Health Labs. Learn about her mission to elevate and democratize social health: the dimension of health and well-being that comes from human connection.
![12 Trailblazing Women in Health, Medicine, and Science](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/517cd35d-7fd2-425f-8ecf-fa2845050d9d/AIHGlassCeiling.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=2127%2C0%2C3241%2C3240&w=290)
Since 2014, Aspen Ideas: Health has welcomed over 700 inspiring women leaders to our stages to share their bold approaches to better health. In honor of Women's History Month, we're taking a look back at some of the many highlights. From medical researchers and clinicians to entrepreneurs and activists, meet 12 change makers who are breaking barriers to reimagine a healthi...
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![stock hero](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/bba3a4af-5d56-47f6-aa65-f5a1d7814f90/GettyImages-1607649951.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=1223%2C0%2C4783%2C4783&w=400)
After millennia of human existence, we’re still figuring out and talking constantly about one of our most fundamental behaviors – sex. Despite the sexual revolution of the 60s and 70s and the growth of sex positivity in recent decades, a lot of people still report having a lot of bad sex. The reasons for that are varied and multiple, but culture has a role to play, and we...
![Aif Stock Hero Images 7](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/7bb8ed4e-a78f-44a7-8740-2903ebdc4134/AIFStockHeroImages7.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=4b7780&q=80&rect=1940%2C0%2C3377%2C3375&w=400)
![Aif Stock Hero Images 7](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/7bb8ed4e-a78f-44a7-8740-2903ebdc4134/AIFStockHeroImages7.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=1940%2C0%2C3377%2C3375&w=400)
For adults, the pressure to drink at social engagements, work events, restaurants or almost anywhere outside the home can feel constant. Recent research has found that “no amount or kind of alcohol is good for your health,” and a wide variety of health problems can be linked to drinking. The growing “sober curious” movement offers people a way to think about cutting down o...
![L.A.'s Chief Heat Officer on the Public Health Threat of Extreme Heat](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/55979c82-694b-4575-a7ee-56aa897c72f6/Screenshot2023-07-31at12.32.51PM.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=646%2C0%2C861%2C862&w=290)
Worldwide, 10 cities have named Chief Heat Officers to address the growing threat of extreme heat. Marta Segura is leading the way in Los Angeles by connecting equity, health, and climate data to save lives and build more resilient communities. Learn how the city is making progress in the face of rising temperatures.
![Designing Global Health Systems for the Future](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/51cbbbf9-d779-49eb-8503-980d0e42bf1e/52997552042_0e633bdf0f_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1126%2C0%2C3515%2C3515&w=290)
Leadership, gender equity, youth engagement, strong communities, and actionable research to inform health services are among the core elements of building global health systems that work better for all populations. While it is impossible to ignore alarming trends in reproductive health, the impact of conflicts, and the rise of noncommunicable diseases, a look to the future...
![Pursuing Global Vaccine Equity](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/d08a37a9-c0d8-483a-9334-91e463b90d51/52994959615_12454b5a97_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1808%2C0%2C4640%2C4640&w=290)
An entire generation of children in some of the world’s poorest countries are now protected against deadly infectious diseases, thanks largely to Gavi: The Vaccine Alliance. Impact: more than 16 million lives saved, vast healthcare cost savings, and greater global health security. A leading force behind the push for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, Gavi has played a...
![Igniting the Power and Potential of Women and Girls](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/729a212d-fa0c-4e7c-86d8-b4bba4aaefc0/52995162554_a7a5e3de79_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=912%2C0%2C3648%2C3648&w=290)
A society that dedicates resources to women is certain to be a healthier society. Ensuring equitable access to education, healthcare, and entrepreneurial opportunities can nurture family well-being and support thriving communities. Yet the pandemic dealt a bitter blow to global progress, sending 47 more million women into extreme poverty, escalating sexual violence, and un...