Unburdened: The New Podcast from DAI’s Global Health Team

October 28, 2022

DAI has launched Unburdened, a podcast that gives DAI’s cut on global health issues that go beyond healthcare.

Kirsten Weeks, Vice President of Global Health at DAI, said, “So much of what we’ve experienced with COVID-19 is how global health affects our entire lives. This podcast is a way to explore how things such as equity, pollution, governance, and economics impact our wellbeing—and discover what we can do about it.”

Unburdened’s first, five-episode series asks the question: “Can gender equality make us healthier?” It uses the United Nations’ gender inequality index to frame discussions.

The five episodes include:

Episode 1: Can gender equality make us healthier? Most of us agree that equality is a good thing, but is there more than a moral argument for making our societies more equal?

Episode 2: Why aren’t men and women equal? If there’s a gap between men and women, how do we know that empirically?

Episode 3: Can female politicians make us healthier? Will more female politicians in positions of power make our societies healthier?

Episode 4: Can better reproductive health make us more equal? How society treats a woman during pregnancy and childbirth is a signal of women’s status in society. Do we value maternal health as integral to the health of our communities?

Episode 5: Where do we go from here? As development practitioners and public health professionals, how do we make our work more gender equal?

Episodes follow a narrative storyline and feature DAI’s own experts as well as academics and experts from outside the company. The show is hosted by Megan Howe, a communications advisor and specialist in DAI’s Global Health unit. Having worked in the humanitarian and development field for most of her career, Megan hopes the podcast will make discussions around global health accessible, jargon-free, and inspiring to health and non-health professionals alike.