Mechai Viravaidya - The “Condom King” Takes on Public Health

When most people think of condoms, they get a little embarrassed and uncomfortable, but not Mechai Viravaidya. Known in Thailand as the "Condom King" Viravaidya began nearly 40 years ago trying to demystify condoms and focus public attention on the public health aspects of contraceptives. Since then, he has become a leader in critical public health issues like poverty, family planning, and HIV/AIDS. In this interview with host Sheela Sethuraman, Viravaidya offers pragmatic answers to these problems.

Magda Iskander - Healthcare for the Homebound

Having an elderly parent with failing health and being unable to provide adequate care out of one's home poses a difficult enough challenge in the United States, let alone in Cairo, Egypt, where home services are scarce. In this audio interview with host Sheela Sethuraman, Magda Iskander describes how she founded Care With Love to fill the need in Cairo for short or long term home healthcare through well-trained and compassionate home health care providers.

Dr. Christopher Elias - Advancing Technology to Improve Health

PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology and Health) is a nonprofit organization designed to ensure that the benefits of innovation in science and technology are available to developing countries and remotely located, low-income groups. In this audio interview, host Sheela Sethuraman speaks with Dr. Christopher Elias, president and CEO of PATH, about the PATH's origins, accomplishments, and challenges.

Andrea Coleman - Keeping Healthcare Mobile Saves Lives

Many areas of rural Africa suffer from a lack of healthcare delivery. In this audio interview with host Sheela Sethuraman, Andrea Coleman explains how she and her husband founded Riders for Health to provide life-saving assistance to such regions. She outlines how the organization uses motorcycles, in particular, to transport healthcare providers and medical goods, and how it has created a sustainable approach.

Thulasiraj Ravilla - Aravind: Sustainable Healthcare

How did a free eye clinic that started in a house in south India in 1976 grow to become Asia's first international training facility for blindness prevention workers? In this audio interview, host Sheela Sethuraman speaks with Thulasiraj Ravilla from the Aravind Eye Care System. Ravilla concentrates on the innovative approaches that Aravind has developed to become a model for high-quality, low-cost health care.

Vera Cordeiro Rio - Breaking the Cycle of Poverty-Related Illness

When Dr. Vera Cordeiro Rio worked at Hospital da Lagoa in Rio de Janeiro, she witnessed a constant admission/re-admission cycle in childcare treatment. To break that cycle, she gathered medical community volunteers to form Renascer, addressing root causes that prevent families from providing adequate care. In this audio interview, join host Sheela Sethuraman as she learns how Cordeiro Rio translated her passion translated into a methodology that is quickly sweeping through Brazil and the world.

Marion Nestle - Making Good Eating Choices

The question of what to eat to be healthy has spawned a rash of often contradictory advice by "experts." In this audio lecture, sponsored by the Stanford Ethics and Society Program, NYU professor and author Marion Nestle offers simple advice that cuts through the confusion. She highlights the difference between "nutrients" and "food," and suggests how to bring "nutrition" back into the food realm. Her discussion forays into how agriculture and business interact to produce the foodstuffs on our shelves.

Feliciano Reyna - Tackling AIDS in Venezuela

Feliciano Reyna talks about his multipronged approach to tackling AIDS in Venezuela. In this audio interview with Design for Change host Sheela Sethuraman, he shares his successes in influencing his government's policies and his strategies for engaging the corporate sector in this effort.

Global Issues

Paul Farmer - Scaling Up Healthcare in Rwanda

AIDS, malaria, and maternal mortality are some of the chronic public health issues that plague Africa. Invited to Stanford, Paul Farmer talks about how his Boston-based organization, Partners In Health, is spending donor dollars to bring the lessons garnered from its work in Haiti to scale up healthcare services in war-torn Rwanda. As dicussed in this audio lecture, his organization seeks to fill the gap that exists between medical R&D and healthcare delivery so preventions and cures can be brought to more of the people who need them.