With the 2024 presidential election looming, The Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) has a plea for former President Donald Trump: Put public health leadership on your campaign agenda. At a moment when the country is confronting public health issues more than ever before, it takes the ASPPH to remind us that an equal approach needs its playbook for how best that be justifiably fair. In this blog post, we will go over the key points of ASPPH’s charge, walk through what is happening in public health right now, and how public health intersects with/is impacted by politics leading up to November.
The Call for Action
The ASPPH, for its part, made an official statement that candidates must incorporate public health leadership into the policies they advocate. However, public health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic have exposed weaknesses in the U.S. healthcare system as a recent analysis from Axios underscored. In light of the pandemic, that organization called for Trump to acknowledge and empower public health professionals in shaping successful policies going forward and handling crises.
Public health leadership is necessary to safeguard the community’s well-being, and we look for this in our appellation of ASPPH President. “Mr. Trump also has a tremendous opportunity as “president-elect,” to focus on this important issue and put forth new ideas which will improve health in these challenging times for all Americans.”
The Public Health Context Today
The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally altered the public health landscape and exposed vulnerabilities as well as opportunities in our healthcare system. As our nation wrestles with the consequences of a pandemic — disrupted economies, mental illness, and substance abuse on the rise, unsettling racial health disparities revealed in stark relief— it could not be clearer that we need public health leadership more urgently than ever before.
Several key issues outlined in a statement by the ASPPH[7] are:
Health Equity: The pandemic worsened already present health disparities, prompting a call to action for policies that advance health equity. Any candidate who wants to take the reins of this nation had better have a plan for addressing the social determinants of health.
Preventive Care: Investing in preventive care and public health infrastructure can play a role in reducing healthcare costs while improving population health. For these reasons, candidates should focus on initiatives that emphasize vaccination, screening, and early intervention.
Mental Health Services: Demand for mental health services has increased as a result of the pandemic and its effect on people’s mental well-being. Due to the severity associated with it, there is a pressing need for adequate mental health policies that would cater to and counter such crises plaguing Americans.
Emergency Readiness: Numerous public health crises are expected to occur in the future. A strong focus on improving cross-spectrum preparedness and response would empower the country to effectively integrate any new threat scenario into its strategic calculations.
What This Means for the 2024 Election
Given that the nature of public health could very well tip a presidential election back to Trump, how he sees fit to engage with it will matter. From the early days of our country, in states across the nation public health leadership was always a bipartisan issue and had broad voter support. Candidates who show leadership in public health are probably effective messengers for constituents anxious about their wellness.
Furthermore, the call to action by ASPPH dovetails with an increased awareness of health issues among the public. Voters are demanding more, and candidates who present bullish science-backed solutions coupled with collaboration by public health advocates. Trump can instead back off the attack while seizing an area of public health policy for his campaign that will make him unique against other candidates and draw from a larger pool of supporters.
Moving Forward
The ASPPH is not unique in calling for an updated public health leadership agenda. This week, leading health organizations, advocates, and experts are calling for a new dialogue around the critical importance of putting good health at the top of Britain’s political agenda. As the campaign season unfolds, we urge candidates to connect with public health professionals, listen closely to community concerns, and put forward policies that reflect today’s reality of public health threats.
Trump’s campaign has said it is open to conversation about public health policy in response to the ASPPH statement. The open question is whether candidates could use the forum to engage in meaningful conversations with public health experts — and work together on some of these important health challenges.
The ASPPH release comes with an urgent call to all Americans who will be candidates as the 2024 presidential election nears, asking them to prioritize public health on their lists of leadership needed today. As the country grapples with a global pandemic, November’s election provides prospective candidates to address and navigate our public health challenges.
Voters want leaders who care about public health and will fight for policies to keep all Americans healthy. In the run-up to that election, candidates need to appreciate public health is a key vehicle for delivering an overall healthier future.
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