Ex-state health czar: Pandemic ‘far from over’
Harvard professor says we must bolster public health system
Responding to the coronavirus pandemic while working to avert future crises will require an intense strengthening of public health systems and a coordinated effort across all governments, a former Massachusetts health commissioner said.
“We are running a public health marathon right now and we are far from over,” said Dr. Howard Koh, who served as commissioner of public health in Massachusetts
from 1997 to 2003 and later went on to be the 14th assistant secretary for health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
“Our health is very fragile, we can’t take it for granted, we have to protect it every day,” said Koh in a Tuesday afternoon webinar with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where Koh currently works as a professor.
Koh said chronically underfunded public health systems slip under the radar until an event such as a pandemic happens, so to prevent future damage, bolstering the system is necessary now.
“We need best national coordination possible, a one government approach at the federal, state and local level,” said Koh.
If Americans feel supported and informed by clear and coordinated government measures, efforts such as hospital funding, contact tracing and supply stockpiling will work better, said Koh.
“We have to make that system so much stronger going forward,” said Koh.
Koh said guidance from the federal government in regards to reopening the economy safely has been “general,” but needs to be more detailed.
“We have a common enemy and that’s the virus, and right now this is the time to help build global health organizations,” such as the World Health Organization, said Koh.
The Trump administration has threatened to permanently cut funding to the WHO, asking that the agency demonstrate independence from China.
“It is absolutely the wrong message, we need to be leading global health efforts, not undermining them,” said Koh.
Also swept into the shadows lately has been the Centers for Disease Control, said Koh, an organization to which many Americans turn for guidance.
“Right now they have not played that role, they have been sidelined,” said Koh. “We need the CDC and all the HHS agencies to be taking the lead here in the best coordinated fashion possible.”
To continue fighting against coronavirus and future pandemics, programs such as the Hospital Preparedness Program, which has seen funding cuts for many years, will also need to be revived, according to Koh.
“We need to keep supporting those efforts and get people ready,” said Koh.