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Health Affairs, 25, no. 4 (2006):
898
doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.25.4.898 © 2006 by Project HOPE |
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From the Editor |
The State Of Public Health
WHEN HEALTH AFFAIRS last devoted a thematic issue to public health (Nov/Dec 2002), Sen. Bill Frist asserted in it that the system’s infrastructure lacked "focus, funding, and national attention." Fast-forward to today, and it is clear that events since then have reintroduced the nation to the crucial role of public health. Not only does it devote resources to disease surveillance, sanitation, and prevention, but it has taken center stage in confronting and containing biological threats to population health. In this new theme issue, we are publishing papers that represent an updated report on the state of the public health system. As in most large enterprises roiled by the crises of the day, there are both progress and challenges, particularly in relation to public policy making. We acknowledge the important role that Nicole Lurie of RAND played as both an author and our overall editorial adviser for this issue. Parmeeth Atwal, a deputy editor, assumed overall responsibility for the issue’s development.
Publication of this issue was made possible through support provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the largest private philanthropy that devotes its grant making exclusively to health-related projects. At its founding in 1972 and for the next two decades, RWJF invested the bulk of its substantial resources into promoting access to medical care as the nation’s top health policy priority. While coverage for all Americans remains a high priority for the foundation, over the past decade public health concerns have taken on equal importance at RWJF. This shift in priorities began under Steven Schroeder and has blossomed under his successor, Risa Lavizzo-Mourey. In a personal account published in the foundation’s 2005 annual report, reachable through http://www.rwjf.org, Lavizzo-Mourey depicts the public health disasters wrought and exposed by Hurricane Katrina and the deep impression they made upon her.
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