3 ways to prepare society for the next pandemic | Jennifer B. Nuzzo

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4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 13 December 2021

⏱️ 15 minutes

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Summary

What if we treated the risk of pandemics the same way we treat the risk of fires? In this eye-opening talk, infectious disease epidemiologist Jennifer B. Nuzzo unpacks how the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904 sparked a cultural shift in how we defend against fires -- and explains why pandemics demand the same sort of reaction. She breaks down the data we need to gather when facing possible danger, the drills we need to ready ourselves and the defenses that could keep future threats at bay -- so next time, we're prepared.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to TED Talks Daily. I'm Elise Hume.
0:07.0	By no means is the coronavirus pandemic over.
0:10.2	But infectious disease epidemiologist Jennifer B. Nuzzo has seen enough of how it's played out
0:15.3	to offer actionable ideas for the future.
0:18.6	In her talk from the TED Women 2021 stage,
0:21.6	Nuzo shows us what fire safety and public health have in common to point a way toward
0:26.6	a systemic response that could save lives, not just if, but when another crisis hits.
0:35.6	So I'm an infectious disease epidemiologist, and it used to be the case that when I would tell people that they would ask me if it had something to do with the skin.
0:48.9	But thanks to COVID-19, most people have now heard of epidemiologists. So these days, when I tell people what I do,
0:57.0	the questions I get asked most frequently are more like,
1:01.0	when does this end?
1:03.1	When do things go back to how they were?
1:07.0	I get it.
1:08.4	I am very eager to stop worrying about COVID-19.
1:15.1	But these questions seem to be imbued with a hope
1:18.4	that when we get to the other side of all this,
1:21.9	our pre-pandemic lives are just going to be waiting for us.
1:26.2	Now, this pandemic will end.
1:29.1	But it won't be possible just to go back to how it was in 2019.
1:35.0	Now, that may sound bleak, but I assure you it doesn't have to be.
1:39.7	Let me tell you a story that's been giving me some hope, feeling better about this.
1:44.9	Baltimore, 1904, a lit cigarette was left in the basement of the six-story Hearst Building.
	...

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