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Dr.
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Dr. Judy Kuriansky:
World
Health Assembly - Sepsis Alarm
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Dr. Judy Kuriansky
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Black Tie
International Magazine - JUNE 2026 sepsis
NASCAR legend’s death and the World Health Assembly sound
the alarm about silent Sepsis killer |
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When legendary
NASCAR driver champion Kyle Busch died suddenly on May 21,
the cause of death raised public consciousness
about the silent killer disease of sepsis. |
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Coincidentally the
sports superstar’s demise occurred on the same day as a
meeting I attended at the Palais des Nations during the
World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, Switzerland, to sound
the alarm and round up partnerships to combat the disease. |
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The meeting
title, “Saving 26 Million Women and 20 Million Children
from Sepsis: A Global Health Imperative” was appropriate
given shocking statistics that Sepsis accounts for one in
five deaths worldwide. While an equal-opportunity” killer –
that knows no boundaries of age, sex, race, ethnicity,
social status, or health - those more at risk are pregnant
women, children, and people with immune-compromising
conditions, post-surgery, or living in low-resource and
lower-income settings and those challenged by
climate-related emergencies and pandemics. |
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The disease all too
often goes ignored or undiagnosed. Initial symptoms are
fever, loss of breath, confusion, pain (often in the
stomach), or a suspected heart attack or even food
poisoning. Charlie’s Angels TV show actress Tanya Roberts’
sepsis started with a common UTI (urinary tract infection).
But freak accidents can be the trigger as when a golfer was
bitten by a spider, and Lisa Rinna’s daughter’s breast got
punctured after being pushed into a bush at a rock concert
party.
An infection—usually bacterial but sometimes viral or
fungal—escalates into pneumonia, an out-of-control
inflammatory bodily reaction, organ failure, and then shock
and possible death.
Denial can lead to death; quick detection and treatment with
IV fluids and antibiotics within 1-3 hours is essential.
When rehearsing for her 2023 Celebration tour, Queen of Pop
Madonna ignored her fever and exhaustion at first since she
considered herself a “superwoman” but “had to
embrace…radical acceptance.” She was hospitalized and in a
coma for four days.
Celebrity cases raise public awareness. That happened for me
when the notoriously flamboyant Billy Porter abruptly exited
his dream role as the Emcee in the Broadway musical Cabaret
at the Kit Kat Club in September 2025 and was rushed to the
hospital, suffering from sepsis (I heard the news asap since
I invested in the show). Thankfully, he recovered.
So did Whoopi Goldberg. Battling pneumonia and sepsis, she
said in a message on The View in February 2019, “I came
very, very close to leaving the Earth. Good news: I didn’t.”
No such luck for other celebs who died, including famous CNN
talk show host Larry King, genius Muppets-creator Jim
Henson, and “Miracle Worker” actress Patty Duke. |
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The WHA meeting was chaired by my friend Dr. Mariam Jashi, a
physician and CEO of the Global Sepsis Alliance. The session
brought together high-level representatives of Member States
governments, international organizations, professional
associations, youth, and Sepsis advocates to address the
growing global burden of Sepsis and advance coordinated
international action and commitment toward a 2030 Global
Agenda for Sepsis — because “no one should die from a
condition we know how to prevent and treat”.
The panel started with a tear-jerking testimony by Jennifer
Epifanio, the mother of 14-year-old Elia Epifanio, who was
mistakenly discharged too early from a hospital and
ultimately died from septic shock in March 2023, on the day
he was scheduled for his dream to come true - to compete in
a car racing event. The family has set up a charity race in
his honor. |
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Presentations
included from representatives of the co-organizers
– the Medical Women's International Association, Women in
Global Health, the Government of Georgia, and the Government
of Egypt’s National Council for Women. |
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Slides shown at
the WHA meeting on sepsis |
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Keynote remarks and
high-level interventions were made by global policymakers
and health leaders, live or via video, by H.E. Dorothee Bär,
Federal Minister of Science, Technology and Space of
Germany; H.E. Dr. Irakli Sasania, First Deputy Minister of
Health of Georgia; and H.E. Dr. Abla El-Alfy, Deputy
Minister of Health for Population and Family Development of
Egypt. |
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Dr.
Judy Kuriansky with H.E. Dr. Abla El-Alfy, Deputy Minister
of Health for Population and Family Development of Egypt
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A distinguished
speaker was Tore Laerdal, Executive Director of the
Laerdal Foundation which is supporting an historic collaboration between
WHO (the World Health Organization), the Global Sepsis
Alliance and the Society of Critical Care Medicine. Such
partnerships are essential for the success of such a
campaign.
Other notable speakers included:
Dr. Amany Asfour,
President of the Medical Women’s International Association (MWIA)
and Co-chair of Health Committee, National Council of Women
of Egypt; Dr. Eleanor Nwadinobi of MWIA Nigeria; Hannah Wu –
Chief of Women’s Rights and Gender Section at the Office of
the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Prof. Konrad
Reinhart, Founding President of the Global Sepsis Alliance.
Speakers highlighted what’s needed: enhanced awareness,
improved prevention and early detection, stronger health
systems, and greater investment in maternal, newborn, and
child health services. They also noted that achieving the
Sustainable Development Goals of the UN Agenda and Universal
Health Coverage requires increased political commitment,
investment, stronger multilevel Sepsis responses, and
partnerships. |
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Hon. Ricardo Baptista Leite, founder and President of the
UNITE Parliamentarians Network for Global Health (a global
network of Parliamentarians dedicated to improving health
systems worldwide through legislation) challenged everyone
to meet at least elementary-school ABCD basics to advance
the sepsis agenda ahead, starting with the “A” for
awareness. |
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Following up on his
challenge, when speaking as a respondent, I stated that
while I had a PhD, I am still at the kindergarten stage of
the “A” for Awareness, but I pledge my support. |
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Following up on his
challenge, when speaking as a respondent, I stated that
while I had a PhD, I am still at the kindergarten stage of
the “A” for Awareness, but I pledge my support.
Dr. Jashi had long been “recruiting” me to join her campaign
about sepsis awareness and funding, starting from a frantic
rush through the crowded streets of New York City to get to
the box office to get her last-minute tickets to the musical
“Buena Vista Social Club”, when she was in the city last
September to attend the United Nations General Assembly
meetings. In further (successful) efforts to entice my
involvement, she invited me and my friend Zeever Baqar (my
former student at Columbia Teachers College in my course on
“Psychology and the UN” and now a colleague in many UN
initiatives and UN Policy advisor for the NGO that I
represent at the UN, the International Association of
Applied Psychology) to go to an invite-only reception before
the World Health Summit in Berlin, Germany (about the
“Virchow Prize” winners) where we would meet her medical
partners in the Global Sepsis Alliance awareness efforts.
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Zeever Baqar, Dr.
Mariam Jashi and Dr. Judy Kuriansky |
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I had known Mariam
years before, when her colleague at the Mission of Georgia
(her native country) to the UN, dear friend Tamar Tchelidze,
served as the Counselor on Health and Social Issues,
co-facilitated the Political Declaration for Universal
Health Coverage for which I was campaigning to ensure that
mental health was included in the document (success: the
opening reaffirms the right of every human being to enjoy
"the highest attainable standard of physical and mental
health" and mental health is mentioned 20 times throughout).
After that, Mariam invited me to be the civil society
representative at the Tbilisi International Solidarity and
Innovative Financing Forum in 2018 to mobilize capital for
the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development. The mission of
Georgia subsequently co-sponsored several of my UN events
about disability.
It’s always useful to know the organizations on board for an
initiative, and this event has an extensive list. The event
was co-organized by the governments of Egypt and Georgia –
taking the lead -- together with four “Non-State Actors” in
official relations with WHO, including Medical Women’s
International Association, Women in Global Health, World
Federation of Societies of Anesthesiologists, and
International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations.
National and regional global health partners support the
campaign, including from the UK, New Zealand, and
Switzerland, as well as Africa, Europe, and East
Mediterranean. Other co-sponsors were the Laerdal Foundation
and the umbrella organization the Sepsis Stiftung,
UNITE Parliamentarians Network for Global Health,
Virchow Foundation,
and the
American Medical Women’s Association |
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Patients form
initiatives to get action. |
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“Martha’s Rule” came
about from the tragic death of 13-year-old Martha Mills in
2021. Martha died after being admitted to King's College
Hospital in London for a pancreatic injury but developed
severe sepsis. Her parents kept warning that she was getting
worse but doctors did not transfer her to the Pediatric
Intensive Care Unit in time. The rule is a critical patient
safety initiative granting patients and their families the
legal right to request an urgent clinical review if their
expressed concerns about a patient deteriorating are ignored
by medical staff. |
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The event ended with
closing remarks and appreciation by Dr. Jashi and MWIA
President Dr. Amany Asfour, with a call for multisectoral
partnerships, a new WHA Resolution on Sepsis, and organizing
a side event on Sepsis during the UN General Assembly
meetings in NYC in September. This meeting would be
supported by the governments of Georgia and Egypt (since
governments ensure success at such convenings) with UNITE,
MWIA, and other partners. |
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A
full recording of the event is available on the YouTube
channel
of the Global Sepsis Alliance. |
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Bookmark Dr. Judy's Column on Black Tie International
Magazine
https://blacktiemagazine.com/Judy_Kuriansky/Judy_Kuriansky_Main_page.htm
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