Thread by @ASCOA

And we are LIVE with former CDC head Dr. Julie Gerberding!

Don't miss this timely #HealthcareASCOA discussion with the Merck EVP and chief patent officer: twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…

Clarification: Dr. Gerberding is Merck's chief patient officer, not patent.

Besides being named of TIME’s 100 most influential people in the world, Dr. Gerberding combines strong science with social and behavioral knowledge, which she garnered during the HIV/AIDS crisis, says Merck's Jan Van Acker in his introduction.

#HealthcareASCOA @MSDLatAm

I’m confident as an infectious disease expert that this is probably not going to be the worst pandemic that we face. I believe it’s a harbinger of things to come, says Dr. Gerberding in #HealthcareASCOA.

But we have a choice to make.

Do we just work to get through this and then collapse back to “business as usual”?

Or we can do more than survive but strive to be better societies that are prepared?

#HealthcareASCOA

Health security is national security. If we don’t prioritize our investments, we have no national security, says Gerberding. It is just as important as the military spending when it comes to improving and protecting the lives of citizens on a day-to-day basis.

#HealthcareASCOA

The SARS outbreak of 2003 was "a wake-up call," says Dr. Gerberding. We had to think globally. We needed much better systems to be able to detect infectious disease when they emerge, and to collaborate ahead of the game. That evolved the doctrine.

#HealthcareASCOA @MSDLatAm

One sticky issue: once an epidemic dies down, the investment goes away, attention shifts, and we relax back to a state of “we dodged that bullet.”

We haven’t sustained a progressive engagement in preparedness we need to continuously improve, says Dr. Gerberding. #HealthcareASCOA

Among falling vaccination levels, my first fear is a measles outbreak because measles is so incredibly transmissible and a very high level of vaccination is required, says Dr. Gerberding.

When we see measles outbreaks, we know that we’ve failed. #HealthcareASCOA @MSDLatAm

One area that requires urgent attention, says Dr. Gerberding:

The relationship between mental health and violence against women and children. Families under stress congested together in unprecedented circumstances have no outlet for their tensions and stress.

#HealthcareASCOA

It worries me that there’s been a decline of child abuse reports, which indicates it’s not being detected because kids aren’t going to school, says Dr. Gerberding.

We should be alert to each other and those in our social circles who might be vulnerable.

#HealthcareASCOA

Politicians aren’t scientists and aren’t always the best people to deliver scientific messages. People need a consistent trustworthy voice who represents, not the best interests of politicians or the next election, but the public’s health.

— Dr. Julie Gerberding #HealthcareASCOA

And that wraps up today's #HealthcareASCOA discussion!

Many, many thanks to Dr. Julie Gerberding, as well as our series partners, and all our attendees and online viewers.

You can watch a video of Dr. Gerberding's remarks here: as-coa.org/events/buildin… @MSDLatAm