The Takeaway: Using technology to track pandemics

The GroundTruth Project’s global health special report, The Next Outbreak, which we produced in partnership with NOVA Next and in association with WGBH, was featured on Tuesday’s episode of  The Takeaway with John Hockenberry.

Hockenberry spoke to Dr. John Brownstein and Maia Majumder about HealthMap, an online tool that communities and health professionals can use to map the spread of diseases – everything from Ebola to the common flu –  in real time.

“What we’re trying to do is really communicate and empower individuals to really understand what the risks are, what the true information is about a disease event, and what they can do to protect themselves and their families,” said Brownstein, Chief Innovation Officer at Boston Children’s Hospital and co-founder of HealthMap. “It’s all about trying to demystify outbreaks.”

Listen to the whole segment above, and don’t miss more reporting on The Next Outbreak, a multimedia collaboration from GroundTruth and  NOVA Next, in association with WGBH Boston.