With Covid-19 still raging around the world, why do people continue to die of preventable diseases? This is the question I explore with Dr. Eugene T. Richardson in today’s Podcast. He says the solution isn’t easy.

Black individuals are dying two to three times more than white people in the U.S. from COVID, because of exposure risk from precarious housing, overcrowded housing and frontline work. The pandemic was completely underestimated, and solutions didn’t include anything about reducing disparities.

Dr. Richardson received his MD from Cornell University Medical College and his PhD in Anthropology from Stanford University. He completed residency in Internal Medicine and a fellowship in Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine at Stanford University Medical Center. He served as the clinical lead for Partners in Health’s Ebola response in Sierra Leon, where he continues to research on the Ebola virus disease.

His book, Epidemic Illusions addresses dismantling  institutional racism by repairing the colonial legacy that lead the way to unfair trade agreements in places like India, South Africa and Brazil and how to make amends.