Recovering from COVID—as a nation
Harvard Public Health magazine
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Welcome back to Harvard Public Health Weekly—a newsletter bringing you the best of public health from our pages, and around the web. We kicked off the new year talking about “Damp January” (how are your resolutions holding up?). Today, we have a broader topic in mind: the future of public health.
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The Future of Public Health Stands at a COVID crossroads
K.J. Seung has watched much of the pandemic unfold from within a local public health department in central Massachusetts. In this week’s column, he recounts visits to elderly patients sick from COVID-19, but unable to figure out how to get treated. He talks about listening to people calling into the health department, asking for help with getting a doctor’s appointment, picking up prescriptions, or even getting groceries after a COVID diagnosis. He describes one man sick with COVID his team found sitting in his dark, cold home after the utility company had shut his power off.
Seung says this door-to-door outreach, taking care of concerns small and large, is essential to making public health effective. But the imminent end of emergency funding means health departments are already losing staff, and a return to the pre-pandemic status quo could be just around the corner. The continued expansion of medical, social, and financial support for individuals, households, and communities should become standard for local public health departments, he argues.
Public health in America is at a crossroads. Seung calls for us to invest in a healthier nation.
More from HPH…
For more public health insights from Seung, check out his October op-ed on increasing COVID booster uptake in the U.S., especially for older Americans. With a new sub-variant on the rise, boosters are more important than ever.
Curious about other responsibilities public health could take on to boost communities? It’s time for reparations to Black Americans, says Dr. Mary T. Bassett.
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And in case you missed it last week, read our Q&A with Dr. Aaron E. Carroll on alcohol, moderation, and “Damp January.”
Around the web…
India’s lax oversight of its pharmaceutical industry resulted in dozens of deaths in 2022. ?| Stat News
Planning to fly this winter? Here’s how to avoid catching COVID, in the air and on the ground. | National Public Radio
?Why COVID’s XBB.1.5 ‘Kraken’ Variant Is So Contagious. | Kaiser Health News
See you next week.
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See you next week,?
Christine
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