For Ebola and SARS, community leadership was pivotal to solving these crises. Now, in the midst of COVID-19, it is once again important to engage community leaders—not only by spreading a message to wash hands and take other precautions but to tell why they’re important—and help ingrain healthy habits at the community level. James Chau, our host and WHO Goodwill Ambassador, offers his insights on The Point.

“We’ve seen absolutely unprecedented global solidarity,” says WHO Chief Scientist, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan. Our host James Chau gets the latest on COVID-19 with Dr. Soumya as the world pours its resources into tackling this global health crisis. From China sharing the new virus’ genetic sequences to the public, to publications taking down their paywalls to better spread research, to countless scientists and labs coming together to find out more about the disease, global cooperation is leading the way forward to combatting this new disease. Their conversation covers what the world has learned so far.

During the AIDS epidemic, the world saw just how pivotal clear leadership and community involvement were in stopping global health crises. While there has been a heavy focus on the health of the economy in the news, we should also be focused on supporting the health of our people and health workers. Have we learned from the lessons of the past to best meet this new health crisis? James Chau, our host and WHO Goodwill Ambassador, offers his insights on The Heat.