When the goals of public health are used to justify authoritarian overreach, we have a responsibility as a field to say “No.”
One frequently overheard phrase in our field is “in the name of public health” or some equivalent like “in the interest of public health.” This phrase is often applied to the interventions we promote with an eye towards shaping better health for all. Through the years, we have done much in the name of public health. We have promoted handwashing at a time when the practice was still novel and distrusted. We have argued for better sanitation systems and city design to slow the spread of disease in urban spaces. And we have urged greater focus on engaging with the socioeconomic drivers of health as a means of creating a healthier society and preventing disease from taking hold. The range of this work illustrates the breadth of the initiatives we can pursue in the name of public health.
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