Dear Reader,
The tsunami in Asia, which took so many lives in one day, strikingly reminded us of what public health is for. Americans responded with shock and sadness to the thousands initially killed by huge waves, often contributing their own money and energy to help with relief. And yet, we have seen recently that problems with distributing funds, delivering supplies, and organizing rehabilitation can all prevent money from being put to its fullest use. It is public health professionals, among other foreign teams, who are bringing their years of training and experience to the damaged regions, seeing to it that money translates into malnutrition avoided, and sanitation improved, and malaria prevented. The collaboration of strong public health expertise with generous funding is what saves lives in the aftermath of a crisis.
It is tempting, in light of a spectacular disaster like the tsunami, to compare public health workers to firemen or paramedics, who train and practice so that they will be ready for an emergency when it occurs. The analogy, however, is far too limiting. As Laura Schewel’s piece on water projects in rural Virginia demonstrates, public health is not only about emergencies, but also – indeed much more often – about the day-to-day, often tedious, often dirty work of gradually changing the human environment to improve people’s health. Furthermore, seemingly-mundane improvements in infrastructure and education can be vital preventative investments for minimizing the lives lost in a disaster.
This is our fourth issue of PH, and the first with a new editorial board. We’d like to thank the Journal’s untiring founders and outgoing editors-in-chief, David Steinberg and Matthew Wilson, as well as the rest of the first PH team. We also extend our warmest thanks to Dr. Michael Merson, who recently ended his long tenure as dean of the Yale School of Public Health, for his support and encouragement.
We hope you enjoy this first issue of the new year, and we encourage you to visit our website at www.yaleph.com, where you can read previous PH volumes and write to us to tell us what you think.
|
Sincerely, | |
 |
 |
|
|
|