Threats to public health at every angle

Old_Joe

Following are excerpts from a current newsletter by Epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina:

This month marks the fifth anniversary of the Covid-19 pandemic. Anniversaries are meant for reflection, a moment to take stock, have honest conversations, and apply lessons learned.

But this is not just any anniversary. Instead of an opportunity to evolve and press forward, public health is in survival mode. It’s being actively threatened from every angle—workforce, infrastructure, discovery, and services for infectious and chronic diseases—driven by priority shifts, pandemic revisionism, political retribution, and (dare I say it) some necessity. This is a dark moment for the field.

It’s also a dark moment for the American people who bear the consequences of broken systems—sky-high health care costs, high chronic disease rates, mounting fears that we’re completely unprepared for the next pandemic, and a fractured information landscape that forces them to crowdsource health advice on social media.

It’s frustrating. It’s disheartening. It’s exhausting. And it’s dangerous.

This moment isn’t just about public health. It’s part of a broader reckoning with trust, authority, and expertise. But the timing—just years after a global pandemic—is no coincidence. This week, an $11 billion cut slashed local and state public health infrastructure. With literally a one-day notice. What does this mean to you? Turns out, a lot:

• Want a modernized system to check your immunizations instead of digging through old records? Public health can no longer upgrade immunization information systems.

• Want your mayor to save money and lives by addressing the opioid epidemic? Public health can no longer upgrade disease surveillance and reporting.

• Want faster blood test results? Public health can no longer carry out major lab renovations and modernization.

• Want to better track measles to protect your family? Public health can no longer conduct wastewater testing.

• Want your grandma in a nursing home to live a long, healthy life? Public health must discontinue infection control education for nursing homes.

The media and political narratives frame these cuts as simply rolling back Covid-19 spending. Yes, the funding was allocated in response to the pandemic, but it was used to address long-standing vulnerabilities—issues that affect every public health topic, not just Covid-19. Public health is inherently crosscutting: Strengthening one area strengthens the whole system.

Notes:
• Text emphasis is same as original text.
• Epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina's newsletter is generally posted weekly, and is available at no charge via email. We have subscribed since the pandemic, and found it to be a valuable source of health information.

Crash

We're screwed, until the clown-show is removed. Thanks to the massively obese Orange Doink.