AMA November 15, 2021
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations that represent U.S. governmental public health agencies had cautioned that their ability to keep the country safe from disease and public health emergencies was constrained by lack of dedicated and sustained funding.
The nation’s public health infrastructure has also been threatened by high rates of staff turnover as well as obsolete data-collection and reporting methods. These obstacles can lead to delayed detection and response to public health threats, says an AMA Council on Science and Public Health report adopted at the November 2021 AMA Special Meeting.
“The COVID-19 pandemic did not create these problems, but it inarguably exposed the cracks that had long existed in our public health infrastructure,” says the report....