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AJPH editorial: US readiness for COVID-19, other outbreaks hinges on investments to public health system

Date: Feb 13 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Arnice Cottom, 202-777-3913

Washington, D.C., Feb. 13, 2020 – "If the U.S. wants to remain fully prepared to protect its residents from diseases such as COVID-19, it must invest in public health readiness. Doing so will help shore up an already-taxed public health system, according to a new editorial in APHA’s American Journal of Public Health.

The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak is a reminder “how critical it is to continue to sustain and strengthen our nation’s public health infrastructure,” according to editorial authors Nathaniel Smith, MD, MPH, secretary of the Arkansas Department of Health; and Michael Fraser, PhD, MS, president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

The coronavirus outbreak — which numbers more than 45,000 cases worldwide, with 15 confirmed cases in the U.S. — is putting pressure on the U.S. public health workforce, which has experienced both funding and job cuts in recent years.

As U.S. health workers labor to prevent and contain COVID-19 cases, they are also dealing with critical everyday public health work, and “as a result, the entire public health system is strained during large-scale outbreaks and epidemics,” the authors noted.

“The unprecedented pace of the public health response to COVID-19 has only been possible because of prior investments in public health preparedness.” they wrote. “To maintain readiness, the nation needs continued strengthening of public health agencies’ core response capabilities.”

Read the editorial online.

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The American Journal of Public Health is published by the American Public Health Association. APHA champions the health of all people and all communities. We are the only organization that combines a nearly 150-year perspective, a broad-based member community and the ability to influence federal policy to improve the public’s health. Learn more at www.apha.org.