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Our $80,000,000 Bet

2024-03-19 · announcement · John · 5:02 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Global development (also: Nerdfighteria) · mode: Announcements · tags: timely hook, civic or action cta, self promotion, heavy topic

John announces that his family is putting $1 million a year into a USAID-led project, matched by the Philippine government, that gives over $80 million over four years for comprehensive tuberculosis care in one region of the Philippines; he argues only public-private partnerships can end TB, invites Filipino nerdfighters to a mailing list and announces Crash Course Lectures.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Washington trip to lobby on TB, the family's announcement and 'biggest bet'

  • ★★ John says last week (week of 11 March 2024) he was in Washington, D.C. to ask senators and congresspeople to prioritize tuberculosis, the world's deadliest infectious disease. — 00:00:00 · United States Congress, tuberculosis
  • ★★★ John says he was also in Washington to announce his family's commitment to support comprehensive tuberculosis care. — 00:00:00 · tuberculosis
  • ★★★ John calls it in some ways the biggest bet of his life: a bet that we don't have to live in a world where over a million people a year die of a curable, preventable disease. — 00:00:00 · tuberculosis
  • ★★ John says over a million people die every year of tuberculosis, a curable and preventable disease. — 00:00:00 · tuberculosis

00:00:29 — Part one: how TB was driven down, why comprehensive care hasn't reached poor countries, why the work is hard

  • ★★ John says the US and many other countries drove down TB rates by over 99% in the 1950s and 60s by searching for cases, curing everyone with TB and giving close contacts preventive therapy. — 00:00:29 · tuberculosis, United States
  • ★★★ John says comprehensive care has long been seen as too expensive or complicated for poor countries, an insane situation where a TB cure exists but doesn't reach the places it is needed. — 00:00:58 · tuberculosis
  • ★★ John says the work is hard: TB is curable, but in practice it means planning van-based x-ray machines, paying community health workers to screen, and rural versus urban screening. — 00:00:58 · tuberculosis

00:01:27 — The USAID program in Ethiopia and the Philippines, the $80 million funding split, public-private partnership, no ask for money yet

  • ★★★ John reports that at a Thursday briefing USAID announced a program funding comprehensive TB care in regions of Ethiopia and the Philippines, meant as a blueprint and beacon for ending TB worldwide. — 00:01:27 · tuberculosis, United States
  • ★★★ John says that in the Philippines USAID will give $10 million a year, his family $1 million a year, and the Philippine government $11 million a year, matching both. — 00:01:27 · United States
  • ★★★ John says over the next four years the project can have over $80 million for comprehensive TB care, starting in one region of the Philippines, which has the world's fourth-highest TB prevalence. — 00:01:56 · tuberculosis
  • ★★ John says his family puts in only about four percent of the money, which he hopes is an important four percent, and it gives them a seat at the table to see the challenges and successes up close. (hedged) — 00:01:56 · tuberculosis
  • ★★★ John believes the only way to end TB is with public-private partnerships like this one; this one is relatively small and much bigger ones are needed. — 00:01:56 · tuberculosis
  • ★★ John says public-private partnerships are how we ended smallpox and have almost ended polio. — 00:02:26
  • ★★ John says government buy-in is essential because very few individuals have enough money to end TB, and those who do aren't interested right now (correcting himself from 'no individual'). — 00:02:26 · tuberculosis
  • ★★ John says many are involved, from USAID to the Philippine Department of Health, the Partners In Health community and Philippine NGOs, and seeing them plan together has been inspirational. — 00:02:26 · Partners In Health, United States
  • ★★ John says the project won't be easy and has real risks, but he is betting big because he believes it could transform what we think is possible against TB. — 00:02:55
  • ★★ John says this is not the end of their bet that TB can be defeated. — 00:02:55
  • ★★ John says they are not asking viewers for money yet: the project can be covered by Hank, John and a few exceptionally passionate TB fighters in Nerdfighteria. — 00:02:55 · Hank Green, Nerdfighteria

00:03:24 — Part two: an email list for Filipino nerdfighters to follow and give feedback on the project

00:03:53 — Part three: Crash Course Lectures and Monday's premiere; gratitude to Nerdfighteria

  • ★★★ John asks Filipino nerdfighters, or nerdfighters of Filipino descent, interested in the project to email nerdfightersphilippines at gmail.com to get updates and give ongoing feedback. — 00:03:53 · Nerdfighteria
  • ★★ John says citizens asking their government to prioritize TB is a big reason they reached this momentous occasion. — 00:03:53 · tuberculosis
  • ★★★ John announces Crash Course Lectures, a new Crash Course format of long deep dives into a single topic with very beautiful graphics. — 00:03:53 · Crash Course, Crash Course Lectures
  • ★★ John says the first lecture, written and hosted by him, comes out Monday at noon Eastern, teasing that viewers will never guess its topic. — 00:04:23 · Crash Course Lectures
  • ★★ John invites viewers to the premiere to watch live together and chat, Monday at noon Eastern on the Crash Course channel. — 00:04:23 · Crash Course
  • ★★★ John says that on maternal mortality in Sierra Leone or the global TB crisis, he is astonished by what Nerdfighteria has done by orienting attention and resources in the same direction, and is grateful. — 00:04:23 · Nerdfighteria, maternal death, Sierra Leone, tuberculosis

00:04:52 — Gratitude and sign-off

In the description and comments

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Philippines · tuberculosis · United States Agency for International Development

Also: Projects: Crash Course

Works: Crash Course Lectures

Organizations: Department of Health (Philippines) · Partners In Health · United States Congress

Concepts: community health worker · infectious disease · maternal death · polio · public-private partnership · smallpox · X-ray

Places: Ethiopia · Sierra Leone · United States · Washington, DC

Only in the description or credits: Atul Gawande · Cheri Vincent · Garrett Wilkinson · Salmaan Keshavjee

Also centred on Philippines: Elon Cancelled This...Let's Do it Anyway

Also centred on United States Agency for International Development: What Trump's Doing · We Will Eradicate Measles · Chatting with ... a U.S. Senator?

Replies to

  • continues · How We End TB — “So as I discussed in this video last week”

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