Public health is typically underfunded and very much underappreciated, but nonetheless a foundational concept in the health of all of us.

A good example of the lack of appreciation is that the pandemic preparedness work done during the Obama administration was obliterated by the Trump administration — work that had been done in recognition that emerging and reemerging diseases are happening and due to happen at any time. If the preparedness program had been operational and supported, chances are reasonably good that we would be in a much stronger position than we occupy today.

But on the other side of the equation, the George W. Bush administration did a great deal of good public health work with HIV-AIDS, both domestically and especially in the international context with the PEPFAR program, which was very successful in subsaharan Africa and Asia. It is entirely possible for both Republican and Democratic administrations to do good work on pandemic preparedness and response.

Our contemporary situation is the astonishing resistance to the very simple concept of wearing masks becoming political battles and attacks and death threats against public health officials for suggesting such a basic and stunningly simple approach.

What has happened to us as Americans — all of us as Americans together? What happened to cooperation in the face of a significant threat? And looking out for the welfare of each other? And making all of us American people “great again”? And communal responsibility for “the mask prevents me from infecting you, and you from infecting me, and us together not infecting anybody else, and them not infecting us.” We can do this — it may be a tiny inconvenience — but isn’t infecting each other and dying pretty inconvenient too?

Not wearing a mask as a political statement is a tragedy, and has served to expose the horrendous lack of understanding or appreciating what public health is meant to undertake. Now, as the pandemic surges, the emphasis for the need for use of masks surges as well. The political situation has finished and ebbs away, so the no-mask statement need no longer be made. We must all address this problem together, regardless of political affiliation or any other limiting factor, because the more we ignore the basic public health actions of mask wearing and social distancing, the longer and longer the pandemic will last, dribbling on and on and on.

Regarding vaccination, yes — great strides have been made. But when there is an actual vaccine in hand there will be a huge problem with distribution, and also the hierarchy of who gets it when. Obviously, medical personnel and first responders need it most, and from there it trickles through various levels down to ordinary people like you and me and most of us — and that will take a while.

In the meantime, we cannot afford to let our guard down. We must continue with the basics — masking and distancing.

So back to appreciation of public health. A sobering example is found in a 6-minute video vignette entitled “The Fauci Awards” — subtitled “What if public health officials got awards instead of death threats?” It is based on the format of other awards ceremonies, but necessarily takes a different turn. It is very worthwhile viewing at https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/25/opinion/fauci-public-health-awards.html.

Andrew Clark

Pendleton