Dialogues: a conversation with Vidya Krishnan

Dialogues is a new series from the Global Health Matters podcast where we bring you interviews featuring fresh perspectives on global health issues. The goal of each Dialogue is to break through our echo chambers that exist in global health through in-depth, thoughtful conversations. In this episode of Dialogues, host Garry Aslanyan speaks with Vidya Krishnan, a health-focused Indian investigative author. Vidya’s book, “The phantom plague: how tuberculosis shaped history” (PublicAffairs Books, 2022), is about how history shaped tuberculosis, especially in India, and how tuberculosis transmission persists because of conditions such as poverty, crowding, a lack of political commitment and poor public policies. She notes in her book that “poverty is the disease, tuberculous is the symptom.” This conversation reminds us, as global health professionals, of many challenges on the long road ahead toward the ultimate goal of tuberculosis elimination and the importance of community engagement. Related episode documents, transcripts and other information can be found on our website.Subscribe to the Global Health Matters podcast newsletter.  Follow @TDRnews on Twitter, TDR on LinkedIn and @ghm_podcast on Instagram for updates.  Disclaimer: The views, information, or opinions expressed during the Global Health Matters podcast series are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of TDR or the World Health Organization.  All content © 2023 Global Health Matters.