What 2020 taught us about the politics and teaching of public health

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated the critical need to make greater investments in public health and build the capacity of the public health workforce. Among the professional competencies needed to address the ongoing morbidity and mortality associated with COVID-19, as well as other current and future public health challenges, is the ability to effectively engage in the political process. While we acknowledge that public health institutions and workers are under-resourced and are grateful for their tireless efforts to control the pandemic, we argue that their efforts have been severely hampered by a notable absence from politics. We argue that our ability to protect and promote public health has been further challenged by divisive political rhetoric from the former presidential administration, which has amplified a culture of self-interest and individualism. Such values are counter to public health and threaten our ability to address the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on low-income communities and communities of color, along with the myriad of health inequities experienced by marginalized communities in the US. We assert that public health professionals must be better equipped and supported in their efforts to challenge powerful majorities that have generated such unhealthy and unequal social and environmental conditions. Policy change related to social determinants of health should be an integral component of our intervention strategies and political advocacy should be considered a core competency for training future public health professionals. The field needs professionals comfortable and adept at working within the political sphere; students are eager for skills that allow them to translate their passion for social justice in health; and the persistent and pervasive health inequities experienced by marginalized communities demand such action.