Much More Has Been Done Right Than Wrong

• Published in: American journal of public health (1971) Vol. 110; no. 11; p. 1613
• Main Author: Sundwall, David N
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Public Health Association 01-11-2020
• Subjects: AJPH Reimagining Public Health; Black Lives Matter movement; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; Epidemiology; Fault lines; Health care; Humans; Judicial system; Laboratory tests; Pandemics; Police; Political activism; Politics; Public health; Public health administration; Public Health Administration - economics; Public Health Administration - methods; Racism; SARS-CoV-2; Shutdowns; Social Science; Supply chains; Surveillance; United States - epidemiology; United States; United States > US
• ISSN: 0090-0036; 1541-0048
• DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2020.305925

I appreciate the invitation to comment on the article by Brownson et al. (p. 1605). The recent events in our country have affected me as a person, as a seasoned physician, and as a former public health official (administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration and executive director of the Utah Department ofHealth). I am aggrieved by the confluence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the problems that have arisen owing to disagreement on how to respond to the current Black Lives Matter-related protests, which began in large part as a consequence of the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Both have exposed serious fault lines- in our criminal justice system and our public health system. At the same time they have provided opportunities for working together across the political spectrum to achieve consensus on what needs fixing in the United States. Unfortunately, both issues have been politicized: they have been used by politicians and activists on the left and right to further their agendas. I am not an expert or experienced on matters of policing policy, but I feel that whatever changes are sought we need to continue to protect the public and maintain the rule of law. So, I will limit my comments to the great challenges we must address to improve and strengthen public health practice in our country.