Richard H. Hughes, IV, Member of the Firm in the Health Care & Life Sciences practice, in the firm’s Washington, DC, office, was interviewed on the Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF) Healthcare Matters podcast in “Immunization at a Crossroads: Experts Weigh In from the World Vaccine Congress.”
The segment is hosted by Dr. Robert Popovian, Chief Science Policy Officer at GHLF, and Ben Blanc, Associate Director, Digital Production and Engagement at GHLF.
Related: Global Healthy Living Foundation, “Vaccines Still Matter – Global Healthy Living Foundation Sees Strong Patient Engagement Despite Current Negative Rhetoric,” May 7, 2025.
Following is an excerpt:
At a medical conference for vaccine professionals, Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF) social media posts, podcasts and YouTube videos had surprising uptake among chronically ill patients, despite continuing anti-vaccine rhetoric from many media, individuals and government sources.
GHLF’s coverage of the World Vaccine Congress, held in Washington, D.C. last week, reached more than 23,000 non-attendees and generated more than 800 engagements across platforms including LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube. A special video podcast episode of Healthcare Matters recorded at the conference and published on April 25 has so far garnered more than 4,900 views/listens and continues to climb.
“These aren’t big numbers for consumer-oriented social media posts or podcasts,” said Robert Popovian, PharmD, MS, GHLF’s Chief Science Policy Officer.
“But GHLF’s digital output is organic, high-credibility and tailored to niche audiences of professionals, as well as individuals and caregivers with specific chronic diseases. It isn’t necessarily relevant unless you have, or care for someone, with a very specific disease, so these are significant numbers in a short time frame,” he said.
“It signals to us that maintaining and protecting health in the face of a chronic illness is important to this audience. They want information about vaccines, and they understand the value of vaccinations in reaching their health goals,” Dr. Popovian added.
“Before the current drop in vaccination rates among the general public in some areas of the U.S., people with ongoing illnesses who were often immunocompromised, could rely on the overall community immunity to add an extra measure of protection against disease. This extra protection, afforded by healthy vaccinated individuals who felt a responsibility to their neighbors, isn’t as prevalent today so we lose community immunity and diseases that were eradicated in the U.S. many years ago are returning,” Popovian added.
“What really struck me at the World Vaccine Congress was how aligned people were — from pharma leaders to advocates to policy folks — about the urgency of fighting misinformation and navigating funding shortfalls. Even with different perspectives, there was a real sense of unity and shared purpose, which left me hopeful about the road ahead, especially with new applications for mRNA vaccines,” Ben Blanc, MS, GHLF’s Director of Digital Production and Engagement said.
The Healthcare Matters podcast, which proved immediately popular among patients, was recorded live at the Congress and hosted by Dr. Popovian and Mr. Blanc. The episode featured vaccine experts, including:
- Richard Hughes, Partner at Epstein Becker & Green and Lecturer in Law at George Washington University
- Tommy Acciani, Director, U.S. Vaccine Policy, GSK
- Abby Bownas, Co-lead, Adult Vaccine Access Coalition
- Rekha Lakshmanan, Chief Strategic Officer, The Immunization Partnership
The podcast explored the current landscape of adult immunization policy, funding threats to vaccine infrastructure, misinformation challenges, and what’s next for vaccine innovation.
