What was it like to lead a country's science advice committee as an unknown disease became a pandemic? Prof Salim Abdool Karim is one of the world's best known epidemiologists and, in the early stages of the pandemic, he was Chair of the South African Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19...
Show Notes
Featuring:
- Prof Salim Abdool Karim, CAPRISA Professor of Global Health at Columbia University
- Inès Hassan, Senior Projects Manager at the International Science Council
When dealing with a crisis, everybody wants certainty – citizens want reassurance, scientists want facts, policymakers want solutions. How can scientists and policymakers navigate a situation where there is no certainty, where scientific consensus can shift suddenly, and where the very foundations of understanding are in constant flux?
Salim S. Abdool Karim is a South African clinical infectious diseases epidemiologist widely recognised for his research contributions in HIV prevention and treatment. For a year, Prof Abdool Karim was the Chair of the South African Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19.
Leading the discussion is Dr Inès Hassan, coordinator of the International Science Council COVID-19 Scenarios Project (https://council.science/covid-19-scenarios/) which is looking at the mid- and long-term impacts of COVID-19 for which policymakers need to plan.
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Great conversations at the intersection between science, society and policy. Brought to you by the world's leading network for science advice and science diplomacy practitioners, INGSA Horizons is a podcast of challenging topics of interest to everyone. COVID pulled back the curtain on the importance of good science informing smart policy - join us as we explore this critical, but often invisible, space between.