"After eight years of fighting, and multiple rounds of chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation, my mothe..." — Leana S. Wen

For covid-19, we can think of risk through three key variables: proximity, activity and time. The highest-risk scenario is if you are in close proximity with someone who is infected, in an indoor space, for an extended period of time.

If children cannot see, they cannot learn; if they have untreated medical conditions, they cannot focus in school.

Without access to quality, affordable reproductive health services - which are standard medical care - women will die because they are forced to forego the necessary prevention and treatment for cervical cancer.

It is imperative that we address the barriers to access and the systemic racism that we know is contributing to our astronomically high maternal mortality rates. The onus must be on the health care system to make necessary changes.