Betsy McKay

And I think that's destigmatizing being open, realizing that you're not alone.

So there are side effects while taking benzodiazepines.

There are side effects while taking antidepressants, and some of them are similar.

And same with withdrawal.

It can be a very similar picture.

The biggest thing I've learned is that there are too few guardrails around these medications, which do help a lot of people.

And it's been sort of this under-recognized, un-talked-about problem for many years.

Yeah, John is absolutely right. We are at the tail end of a very bruising pandemic, very bruising to public health in the sense that there was a lot of anger and backlash, and that remains, and the view that government was not efficient. More broadly speaking, the administration says chronic diseases are worsening and changes need to be made. So there's two things here.

Yeah, John is absolutely right. We are at the tail end of a very bruising pandemic, very bruising to public health in the sense that there was a lot of anger and backlash, and that remains, and the view that government was not efficient. More broadly speaking, the administration says chronic diseases are worsening and changes need to be made. So there's two things here.

There are the philosophical changes. They view a smaller, more effective government and more focused on chronic diseases. then there is the immediate impact of the changes being made suddenly and the disruption that that causes.

There are the philosophical changes. They view a smaller, more effective government and more focused on chronic diseases. then there is the immediate impact of the changes being made suddenly and the disruption that that causes.

Yeah, absolutely. Because when you disrupt a public health program or any health program, you are going to have consequences, if not immediately, certainly down the line. You know, an important part of fighting HIV is not treating people already infected with HIV, but preventing people from getting it, giving them access to pre-exposure prophylaxis, education, many other programs.

Yeah, absolutely. Because when you disrupt a public health program or any health program, you are going to have consequences, if not immediately, certainly down the line. You know, an important part of fighting HIV is not treating people already infected with HIV, but preventing people from getting it, giving them access to pre-exposure prophylaxis, education, many other programs.

And most of them seem to be targeted for cuts.

And most of them seem to be targeted for cuts.

Yeah, it's another rethink. The State Department and the administration have said there's a lot of waste in our funding. We're funding a lot of things around the world. We need to rethink this and we need to reevaluate exactly what we want to fund. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that

Yeah, it's another rethink. The State Department and the administration have said there's a lot of waste in our funding. We're funding a lot of things around the world. We need to rethink this and we need to reevaluate exactly what we want to fund. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that

Some of the health programs that USAID funded will be continued, but they must qualify as serving American interests, which is a pretty broad definition.

Some of the health programs that USAID funded will be continued, but they must qualify as serving American interests, which is a pretty broad definition.

Well, it's difficult to understand what that model would be right now. Certainly every country that has lost money, I mean, some African countries are heavily, heavily dependent on donors abroad. They have two things they're looking at. One, how much money can they themselves put up?