Mary Bassett
Public Health Commissioner | Advancing Health Equity
About
Dr. Mary Bassett is a leading public health expert focused on achieving health equity.
As former Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, she oversaw the city's response to the opioid epidemic and championed policies to address social determinants of health. Bassett previously held roles at the Rockefeller Foundation and the World Health Organization, where she worked to advance health and human rights globally.
Her research on the social conditions that drive health disparities has influenced policymaking from New York to Africa. Bassett's insightful keynotes empower audiences to view public health through the lens of social justice.
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Why your doctor should care about social justice
In Zimbabwe in the 1980s, Mary Bassett witnessed the AIDS epidemic firsthand, and she helped set up a clinic to treat and educate local people about the deadly virus. But looking back, she regrets not sounding the alarm for the real problem: the structural inequities embedded in the world's political and economic organizations, inequities that make marginalized people more vulnerable. These same structural problems exist in the United States today, and as New York City's Health Commissioner, Bassett is using every chance she has to rally support for health equity and speak out against racism. "We don't have to have all the answers to call for change," she says. "We just need courage."
| Event | Year | Location |
|---|---|---|
| TED | 2015 | 🇨🇦Vancouver, Canada |
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