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Hopkins Study Documents Harassment And Violence Against Epidemiologists And Other Public Health Professionals

Threats Have Been Ongoing Throughout The Pandemic

Better Supports And Protections Called For

Media accounts of resignations, harassment, and threats to epidemiologists and other public health professionals have been reported in the media since the pandemic of COVID-19 began in early 2020.  A mixed-methods study of these incidents from March 2020-January 2021 has now been published in the American Journal of Public Health by Julie Ward and colleagues at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. It documents at least 1,499 harassment experiences and 222 job departures over the first 11 months of the pandemic.

Themes

Through theme analysis, the investigators also described other negative outcomes. These are:

 1) the expertise of the epidemiologists and other public health professionals was marginalized and disregarded,

2) they were portrayed, especially in rural communities, to be villains instead of public servants and trusted community members,

3) they suffered from the politicization of public health policies,

4) they experienced disillusionment for a variety of reasons, and

5) they had to function in an underfunded and understaffed public health infrastructure.

Recent Experience

The Hopkins investigators have continued to collect data for the period subsequent to January 2021, according to Beth Resnick, a co-author of the AJPH paper. She told the Epi Monitor “We are currently doing additional research for the year 2021 - so we do not yet have any official information yet, but yes anecdotally for sure harassment and intimidation against health officials and their staff continued, as we saw during our study, but to what scope and extent I am unable to comment at this point.” 

Recommendations

The Hopkins team has been very proactive in seeking to support and protect the public health workforce. For example, Resnick testified in Congress in September of last year and described several urgent tasks she believes need to be carried out. They are:

1. Stop the harassment and violence against the public health workforce. This has two parts. According to Resnick, CDC should establish a national reporting system for incidents of violence against the public health workforce, and the federal government should provide legal protections for public health workers facing harassment and violence.

2. Protect the statutory authority of public health. Surprisingly, state legislatures have passed laws which undermine public health authority. This recommendation would involve implementing legal strategies and funding incentives to support effective emergency public health authority at the state and local levels.

3. Rebuild the public health system. It has been neglected since the financial challenges of 2008 and has left the country unprepared for the pandemic, according to the Hopkins group. Congress should guarantee multi-year funding for state and local public health agency infrastructure, make a sustained investment in the workforce, and modernize the data systems of public health.

Call to Action

A call to action has been issued by partner organizations including the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, the Big Cities Health Coalition, the National Association of County and City Health Officials, and the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Several organizations have responded to the call by agreeing to stand with public health. A Stop! Partner Group has been formed to bring about the reforms needed. Readers may learn more at:
https://bit.ly/3wyYoV3


 

 


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