As public health professionals, we have a unique opportunity to leverage our influence and leadership to forge stronger partnerships that can more effectively promote public health and prevention. I am committed to strengthening the connections among public health communities and forging new partnerships with non-traditional partners, including but not limited to traditional business, law enforcement, education, and faith-based communities.
We cannot achieve our goals unless we are at the table together, sharing lessons learned and challenging each other to do more, to do better, and to do it together. The power of working together was evident to me back in 2015, when I was the Indiana state health commissioner, and there was an HIV and Hepatitis C outbreak in Scott County.
When we found that more than 90 percent of the people diagnosed with HIV also tested positive for Hepatitis C, we initiated a multifaceted response: expanding free HIV and HCV testing, improving Medicaid registration, monitoring HIV care through the local health department, and starting Indiana’s first syringe exchange program.
We could only respond in this way and bring this outbreak under control by going out in the communities, listening to individuals and local leaders, and building partnerships. Because of them, we could put in place the right prevention, healthcare, and social services.
HIV, Hepatitis C, the opioid epidemic, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria are all national problems that pose threats to the health of our nation. Thankfully, there are things that everyone can do. If we continue to work together, listen to each other, and ensure that decisions are made with people’s health in mind, we can create a healthier nation. In observance of National Public Health Week, let us recommit to partnering to create a healthier nation.
Posted on April 03, 2018 by Vice Admiral Jerome M. Adams M.D., M.P.H., Surgeon General of the United States
