Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Healthy You
    • Job listings
    • Q&As
    • Special sections
  • Multimedia
    • Quiz
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • App
  • FAQs
    • Advertising
    • Subscriptions
    • For APHA members
    • Internships
    • Change of address
  • About
    • About The Nation's Health
    • Submissions
    • Permissions
    • Purchase articles
    • Join APHA
  • Contact us
    • Feedback
  • APHA
    • AJPH
    • NPHW

User menu

  • My alerts

Search

  • Advanced search
The Nation's Health
  • APHA
    • AJPH
    • NPHW
  • My alerts
The Nation's Health

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Healthy You
    • Job listings
    • Q&As
    • Special sections
  • Multimedia
    • Quiz
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • App
  • FAQs
    • Advertising
    • Subscriptions
    • For APHA members
    • Internships
    • Change of address
  • About
    • About The Nation's Health
    • Submissions
    • Permissions
    • Purchase articles
    • Join APHA
  • Contact us
    • Feedback
  • Follow The Nation's Health on Twitter
  • Follow APHA on Twitter
  • Visit APHA on Facebook
  • Follow APHA on Youtube
  • Follow APHA on Instagram
  • Follow The Nation's Health RSS feeds
NewsPresident's Column

Staying vigilant in the wake of assaults on public health, science

José Ramón Fernández-Peña
The Nation's Health September 2021, 51 (7) 3;
José Ramón Fernández-Peña
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: president@apha.org

I have spent much of this year talking about the similarities between the HIV and COVID-19 pandemics. My fundamental premise is that pandemics have an uncanny ability to expose the cracks in the structures and systems societies build to address them, and the inequities of the social constructs we establish.

For example, during the AIDS pandemic, the limitations of employment-based health insurance left thousands uninsured when they needed coverage the most. Entrenched homo-phobia and bureaucratic constrictions delayed the development of effective medications and broad prevention strategies. And the lack of rights for the partners of people dying of AIDS oftentimes resulted in homelessness and poverty among the survivors, or in their exclusion from any decisionmaking.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a light on some of the same cracks in systems and structures, as well as on the social inequities that fuel the spread of the disease. But even more shocking is the role of politics in the persistence of this pandemic. Yes, politics has always played a role in what gets funding or attention. But I do not recall another situation where politics were so specifically focused on advocating for unhealthy behaviors.

At the beginning of the AIDS pandemic, there was little interest in addressing a disease that was predominantly killing gay men and injection drug users. But then-Surgeon General C. Everett Koop sent a brochure with AIDS prevention information to every household in the United States. Koop’s conviction to stand up against treacherous and misguided politics pertaining to public health within his own party is sorely missing today.

Our public health leaders are being demeaned and insulted and some are receiving threats of violence against them and their families. The recent dismissal of Michelle Fiscus, MD, FAAP, former medical director for vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization programs at the Tennessee Department of Health, for sharing information on vaccination exemplifies the nonsensical political decisions that will further feed COVID-19 cases.

Figure

How do we stop this madness? The spread of lies is relentless, and nothing good can come of it. As Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said this summer in an official advisory, misinformation is costing us lives. We’ve gone from vaccine hesitancy to outright vaccine rejection — all while most of the world struggles to even get COVID-19 vaccines.

We need to continue to work on developing clear messages for different audiences that reinforce the importance of vaccination and the low risks associated with the vaccine — compared to the dangers and long-term consequences of the disease — so that communities can make decisions based on science and not on politics. We must also remain vigilant in responding to the assault on evidence-based policies and practices.

To read and share this column in Spanish, visit www.thenationshealth.org/URLTBD.

  • Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

The Nation's Health: 51 (7)
The Nation's Health
Vol. 51, Issue 7
September 2021
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • Index by author
  • Complete Issue (PDF)

Healthy You

Print
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article
We do not capture any email addresses.
Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Staying vigilant in the wake of assaults on public health, science
(Your Name) has sent you a message from The Nation's Health
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this item on The Nation's Health website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Staying vigilant in the wake of assaults on public health, science
José Ramón Fernández-Peña
The Nation's Health September 2021, 51 (7) 3;

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
Staying vigilant in the wake of assaults on public health, science
José Ramón Fernández-Peña
The Nation's Health September 2021, 51 (7) 3;
Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
Tweet Widget Facebook Like LinkedIn logo

Jump to section

  • Top

More in this TOC Section

  • Vital Signs en Español: Los giros y vueltas de la vida mehan llevado a un lugar hermoso
  • Debemos mantenernos fuertes tras los ataques a la salud pública y la ciencia
Show more President's Column

Popular features

  • Healthy You
  • Special sections
  • Q&As
  • Quiz
  • Podcasts

FAQs

  • Advertising
  • Subscriptions
  • For APHA members
  • Submissions
  • Change of address

APHA

  • Join APHA
  • Annual Meeting
  • NPHW
  • AJPH
  • Get Ready
  • Contact APHA
  • Privacy policy

© 2023 The Nation's Health

Powered by HighWire