Precision Public Health Matters: An International Assessment of Communication, Preparedness, and Coordination for Successful COVID-19 Responses

The most powerful country on the planet was not expected to fall so easily to a virus. Yet 13 months after the outbreak of COVID-19, the United States continues to display some of the worst outcomes in the world: more than 23 million cases and 390 000 deaths.1 Despite having more time to prepare- th...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of public health (1971) 2021-03, Vol.111 (3), p.392-394
Main Authors: Sales, Chloe, Kim, Yeuen, Kim, Gloria, Lin, Bryant, Palaniappan, Latha
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Communicable Disease Control - organization & administration
Cooperative Behavior
Coordination
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
COVID-19 - epidemiology
Disaster Planning - organization & administration
Epidemiology
False information
Global Health
Health care access
Health Communication - methods
Health disparities
Humans
Internet
Life expectancy
Life span
Media
Medical research
Morbidity
Mortality
Neighborhoods
Opinions, Ideas, & Practice
Overcrowding
Pandemics
Political communication
Public Health
Public Health Practice
SARS-CoV-2
Socioeconomic Factors
Socioeconomic Science
United States - epidemiology
Viral diseases
Viruses
Working conditions
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The most powerful country on the planet was not expected to fall so easily to a virus. Yet 13 months after the outbreak of COVID-19, the United States continues to display some of the worst outcomes in the world: more than 23 million cases and 390 000 deaths.1 Despite having more time to prepare- thanks to lessons learned from our European and Asian counterparts-we have struggled with poor communication, mismanaged information, and inconsistent response coordination. In some regions of the United States, pandemic mortality varies widely within a 15-minute driving distance, magnifying long-standing inequities in life expectancy and access to care. These disparities persist when stratified by neighborhood income, overcrowding, work environment, and other barriers. Meanwhile, in smaller, less powerful countries, including Taiwan and New Zealand, the virus is all but contained.2So why the difference?One answer lies in precision public health: the best response for a specific population at a given point in time.3 Precision public health addresses disparities in morbidity and mortality and is particularly relevant, as COVID-19 exacerbates health inequities (Figure A, available as a supplement to the online version ofthis article at http://www.ajph. org) and unearths political and social divides.3
ISSN:0090-0036
1541-0048
DOI:10.2105/AJPH.2020.306129