PIH in the News: Our Favorite Moments of 2020
A list of our 13 favorite press moments
Posted on Dec 23, 2020
There was no shortage of work for Partners In Health (PIH) in 2020 and headlines captured that well. From CNN to Forbes to STAT and beyond, leading U.S. news outlets featured PIH’s efforts to stop COVID-19 and deliver lifesaving care around the globe. And PIH’s work—rooted in partnership with the communities we serve—was captured on a local level, too. Notable outlets in the countries where we work, including the South African Broadcasting Corporation to Le Nouvelliste, and others, highlighted what PIH is doing to strengthen health systems across communities.
With nearly 400 mentions in the press in 2020, it was difficult to narrow the list down to our favorites. But in an effort to highlight some of our most-talked about moments, we selected our top 13. Below are those moments, listed by date of publication.
1. The Boston Globe: Paul Farmer: We know how to confront the coronavirus pandemic — expert mercy
In this op-ed published on March 19, Dr. Paul Farmer, PIH’s co-founder and chief strategist, discusses why we need to trace, test, and treat to reduce the threat of COVID-19.
2. WGBH: Dr. Joia Mukherjee Of Partners In Health Explains How Massachusetts Will Try To Track Every Case Of Coronavirus
On April 6, Dr. Joia Mukherjee, PIH’s Chief Medical Officer, joined Jim Braude of WGBH News’ Greater Boston to emphasize the importance of contract tracing and to discuss the Massachusetts Community Tracing Collaborative (CTC).
3. The New York Times: An Army of Virus Tracers Takes Shape in Massachusetts
PIH was featured on the front page of the print edition of The New York Times on April 16. The article discussed the joint effort of the state of Massachusetts and PIH to create the CTC.
4. The New Yorker: It’s Not Too Late to Go on Offense Against the Coronavirus
Jim Kim, PIH Co-founder and board member, authored an op-ed discussing the globally-coordinated effort in the fight against COVID-19 and the importance of social distancing, contact tracing, testing, isolation, and treatment. The article was published on April 20.
5. The Washington Post: Guides to the other side
In this guide published on May 7, Oscar Baez, formerly a PIH Care Resource Coordinator, was interviewed about his role in helping underserved communities in Haiti and now Boston where he assisted with contact tracing.
6. The New Yorker : Can Coronavirus Contact Tracing Survive Reopening?
Baez, Kim, Farmer, and others reflect on global health emergencies over the years and how that has positioned PIH to fight COVID-19. The article was published on June 12.
7. Naples Daily News: Opinion: 'Partners In Health' stands in partnership with Immokalee and Collier County
Matthew Hing, Immokalee Project Manager with PIH’s COVID-19 Technical Accompaniment Unit, and Dr. Dan Palazuelos, a physician and technical lead with PIH in Immokalee, wrote an op-ed about PIH’s work in Immokalee, one of the most vulnerable communities in Florida. The article was published on July 24.
8. The Atlantic: How the Pandemic Defeated America
Dr. Sheila Davis, PIH’s CEO, was quoted in an August 4 article about the history of planning for pandemics and why COVID-19 overtook seemingly strong health systems around the globe.
9. Mother Jones: The City of Newark’s Scrappy and Remarkable Fight Against COVID-19
In a partnership with the city of Newark and Rutgers School of Public Health, PIH helped implement a contract tracing program, several months after the launch of the Massachusetts program. In this article, published on September 9, Katie Bollbach, Director of PIH’s U.S. Public Health Accompaniment Unit, and Mukherjee discuss the work in New Jersey.
10. NPR: Anthropologist Paul Farmer's New Book Explores The Failures Of An Ebola Epidemic
In NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday, on November 15, Farmer discussed his new book, Fevers, Feuds, and Diamonds: Ebola and the Ravages of History, and shared insights on the COVID-19 pandemic.
11. USA Today: Why this Harvard doctor is optimistic about US overcoming COVID-19 despite 'epidemic of mistrust'
On December 1, Farmer detailed the link between contact tracing and social support, why recovered individuals and families spark hope, and how mistrust during the COVID-19 pandemic is similar to what he saw in West Africa during the Ebola outbreak.
12. TIME: Even the Pandemic Hasn’t Made Public-Health Icon Paul Farmer Lose Hope
Farmer reiterated his optimism in combatting COVID-19 in an article published on December 3.
13. The New York Times: Paul Farmer Is Awarded the $1 Million Berggruen Prize
As a chaotic year drew to a close, Farmer won the 2020 Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture on December 16—an award given each year, to an individual who has made “major achievements in advancing ideas that shape the world.”
