PRESIDENT ’ S / CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER ’ S MESSAGE
The Work Continues
Bill Whitmar , MS President , APHL
We have been at the table since Day One of the transition , talking to transition team members of the Department of Homeland Security , the Office of Science and Technology Policy , and the COVID-19 Advisory Council , providing subject matter expertise in public health laboratory science and practice .”
As we write this message , it ’ s Inauguration Day . We have witnessed history and we have lived history , all within the space of 14 days . There is cause for celebration on so many levels . But there is also cause for concern . Because even with a change in US administrations , natural disasters still happen . A pandemic is still in full swing . Babies are still being born . And an opioid crisis persists . So the work of the public health laboratory continues .
But let ’ s take a “ hot minute ” to regroup .
We ’ ve been working through our day-to-day activities , but the past few years have felt different . Public health measures have been politicized on a level that we had never seen , and science itself has been questioned in ways that we never anticipated . For example , in summer 2020 we advised that focus needed to move from diagnostic testing to also consider and plan for genomic sequencing and serologic surveillance . As subject matter experts in infectious diseases , we know how an epidemic or pandemic works , and a return to surveillance is a natural next step in response . Many of our members began sequencing activities in early fall ( some as early as March ) and into the winter , but for the US public health system we had to strike a fine balance between operating under emergency response conditions and implementing surveillance systems – not an easy ask in the best of times .
APHL has been working closely with the Biden administration to bring them up to speed on public health laboratory activities . We have been at the table since Day One of the transition , talking to transition team members of the Department of Homeland Security , the Office of Science and Technology Policy , and the COVID-19 Advisory Council , providing subject matter expertise in public health laboratory science and practice . The administration is laserfocused on strengthening and building public health infrastructure through the American Rescue Plan , which will include a $ 50 billion boost in pandemic testing , sequencing and surveillance capacity .
Another positive development is that we have opportunities to be heard by the new administration — and when we say “ to be heard ,” we mean hearing from folks on the ground . The White House wants to understand the real-world impacts of their policy decisions . We have been in contact with the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky , MD , MPH , and Carole Johnson , the White House testing coordinator , as well as the White House supply coordinator and White House vaccine coordinator . Along with the
Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists ,
National Association of County and City Health Officials ,
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials , and other leading public health groups , APHL ’ s Executive Committee will be meeting with the White House COVID Response team on a weekly basis to provide critical updates and discuss new plans .
We will also be working with the administration following its recommitment to the World Health Organization . As we well know , viruses do not care about borders or political affiliations . But we also know that we have got work to do to re-establish trust in the global public health community and the public at large . We will be working to create structures within government and outside of government that we will be able to count on for the next large-scale national event or pandemic .
2 LAB MATTERS Winter 2021