The health crisis we face is a complex one with multiple causes. It’s not enough to focus on a medical response—though that is essential. It’s also necessary to address the social drivers of health, like income inequality and mental health disparities. And it’s critical to take a public health approach that improves environments where people live, work, and play—to help them be healthier.
Our previous experiences with epidemics of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, Ebola, and HIN1 flu should have been a wake-up call. They should have led to the establishment of worldwide infrastructure and systems that enable adequate handling of these emergencies at their source. Instead, we’ve been confronted with a global information deluge, misguided policies of hand washing and mask-wearing, enforced economic shutdowns that deprived individuals of their livelihoods, and a growing lack of trust in both medical and political authorities and the media.
In addition, many Americans are saddled with health care debt, with disproportionate shares of Black and Hispanic adults, women, parents, those with low incomes, and uninsured adults reporting problems with paying for their health-related costs. Moreover, the current US healthcare system handicaps business competitiveness by driving employers’ health benefits costs sky high and placing downward pressure on employee wages.
CDC is working to improve the lives of the people most impacted by the mental health crisis through policies and programs that promote health equity—the idea that everyone has a fair chance to attain their fullest health potential. That includes efforts to improve the mental health of children and youth, as well as those who suffer from substance use disorder, by promoting evidence-based treatments and supporting their families.
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