The Tordesillas Doctoral School of Public Health and History of Science, along with the Faculty of Medicine’s Doctoral Program in Public Health, Medical and Surgical Sciences at the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH), is holding the ‘Covid-19: Reflections on History and Public Health’ cycle of international seminars. The aim of these meetings is to create an international collaborative space to analyze the varying experiences, activities, and public policies during the management of the Covid-19 pandemic and to reflect upon them.

The cycle begins on Wednesday, January 27, with the seminar entitled ‘Commercial and Political Determinants for Access to Covid-19 Vaccines.’ Participants in this introductory activity include professor Lígia Bahia, from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and professor Giulano Russo, from Queen Mary University of London. Soledad Márquez, representing the Junta de Andalucía, is moderating.

This seminar will be streamed live starting at 17:00 hours Central European Time, over Google Meet (https://meet.google.com/mwq-oxnf-wjz?authuser=0), as well as over the UMH YouTube channel, found at youtube.umh.es. Debates 20 minutes in length follow the presentations of both speakers, and those in attendance will be able to ask the speakers questions on Google Meet.

The cycle then resumes on February 24, with two presentations. The first, ‘The 1918 Flu and Covid-19 Representations and Spatial Distribution in the Brazilian Context,’ will be given by professor Claudio Bertolli, from São Paulo State University. The second presentation, ‘A Historical Conclusion to Pandemics: Death as Social Disease,’ will be given by professor Esteban Rodríguez, from the University of Granada. Moderating this activity will be professor Laurinda Abreu, from the University of Évora.

These international meetings conclude on March 30, with the cycle of ‘Governing in Times of Crisis (and without Crisis): Connections between Scientific Evidence and Decision Making,’ which features professor Henrique Barros, from the University of Porto, along with professor Ana M. Garcia, representing the University of Valencia. Both of these speakers have been advising their respective governments during the pandemic. Moderating this final meeting is professor Ildefonso Hernández Aguado, from the Miguel Hernández University of Elche.

For detailed information about these events, you may consult the website of the Tordesillas Doctoral School of Public Health and History of Science, at https://tordesillasdoctoral.umh.es/.