February 10, 2021 9am PST – Conflicts between law and public trust in the name of public health: COVID experiences from around the world

The USC Law & Global Health Collaboration and the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health, in collaboration with USC Community Health Equity Solutions (CHES), are hosting a panel discussion with global and local experts to bring attention to the use and misuse of the law in the COVID era. With a focus on the impacts on key and marginalized populations, speakers will address grassroots, national and global level responses to the harms caused by governmental actions in the name of COVID with communities in Los Angeles, Kenya and around the world.

A Q&A will follow the presentations that will allow attendees to ask questions.

Speakers include:

Mandeep Dhaliwal is Director of the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) HIV, Health and Development Group. A physician and a lawyer, she has over 25 years of experience working on HIV, health, human rights, and evidence-based policy and programming in low- and middle-income countries. Her team has been cataloguing the legal response of over 190 countries across the world.

Gerson Sorto is a Supervising Attorney with Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County overseeing the program’s growing Medical Legal Community Partnership (MLCP) team.  He directs NLSLA’s efforts in implementing the MLCP–LA project with the LA County Department of Health Services.  MLCP-LA delivers legal services to every LA County DHS patient. He is grateful for opportunities to support new MLCP efforts throughout the country.

Allan Maleche is the Executive Director of Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV and AIDS (KELIN). He serves as a member of the Developing Country NGO Delegation to the Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria and the UNAIDS Global Reference Group on HIV and Human Rights. In Kenya, Allan uses legal frameworks and litigation to safeguard the rights of communities affected by HIV, TB and COVID-19.