The Contagion Next Time

By: Sandro Galea

Narrated by: Roman Howell

In a few short months, COVID-19 devastated the world and, in particular, the United States. It infected millions, killed hundreds of thousands, and effectively made the earth stand still. Yet America was already in poor health before COVID-19 appeared. Racism, marginalization, socioeconomic inequality - our failure to address these forces left us vulnerable to COVID-19 and the ensuing global health crisis it became. Had we tackled these challenges 20 years ago, after the outbreak of SARS, perhaps COVID-19 could have been quickly contained. Instead, we allowed our systems to deteriorate.

Following on the themes of his award-winning publication Well, Sandro Galea's The Contagion Next Time articulates the foundational forces shaping health in our society and how we can strengthen them to prevent the next outbreak from becoming a pandemic. Because while no one could have predicted that a pandemic would strike when it did, we did know that a pandemic would strike, sooner or later. We're still not ready for the next pandemic. But we can be - we must be.

In lyrical prose, The Contagion Next Time challenges all of us to tackle the deep-rooted obstacles preventing us from becoming a truly vibrant and equitable nation, reminding us of what we've seemed to have forgotten: that our health is a public good worth protecting.

©2022 Oxford University Press (P)2021 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Amazing book about public health everyone should read

Really incredible book I can’t say enough about. It completely reshapes the way to think about health. If you are interested or pursuing public health I think this is a perfect book, but also I think everyone can benefit from this book. I left off one star for performance because sometimes the reader would do odd voices when he read quotes. A little goofy. But not too bad. Enjoyed.