Public Health

The imbalance in US health spending between public health and medical care is no secret. For example, of the more than $3.8 trillion in US health… More

We are likely still too close to the Covid pandemic, too enmeshed in its ongoing risks, to fully evaluate what we did right and what we did wrong these past years, and how we can best plan for future pandemics. More

Not long ago, some of us were asked to attend a meeting at our institution on the topic of development and employment opportunities for young people… More

The sunsetting of emergency declarations and orders, while signaling a decrease in the turmoil caused by COVID-19, does not mean the pandemic is over in the United States or globally. More

The politics of public health requires a closer look at the role played by county commissioners, mayors, and other local elected officials. We need a political strategy to persuade these officials that their constituents will benefit from a better public health system. More

At some level, we failed at prevention during the COVID-19 pandemic. If our metric for success was preventing viral spread, illness, or death, then a pandemic in which the United States was hit harder than any other large country showed us that we fell substantially shorter in prevention than we might have hoped. With this as a motivating impulse, I suggest that we ask two questions: what caused the consequences of COVID-19 to be so devastating in the US? And, understanding that, what would be an intellectual and practical agenda for prevention going forward? More

As the public health sector begins an unprecedented data modernization effort, scholars and policymakers should ensure ongoing reforms are aligned with the five components of an ideal public health data system: outcomes and equity oriented, actionable, interoperable, collaborative, and grounded in a robust public health system. More

A new vision for the field of public health emergency preparedness for the future, one that is integrally connected to a future vision for public health. More

There is growing evidence that the basic infrastructure of the public health system in the nation has eroded to the point that its capacity and capabilities to adequately protect the nation are in doubt. More

In 1986, I had dropped out of graduate school and was working as a temporary typist to pay my rent. I happened into a job with an alcohol policies project started by the Trauma Foundation, an injury prevention organization housed at San Francisco General Hospital. That was the beginning of my public health career and my focus on alcohol policies. More