America's public health workforce is among the best in the world. But to me, reflecting on what it might be like leading a city's response to this coronavirus outbreak, one thing is clear: Without the resources they need to do their work while operating under a culture that puts politics ahead of science, their job is much harder. And we are that much less safe for it.
As the former city health director in Detroit, I came to appreciate how much of public health is fundamentally political, a matter of the choices that elected officials make about how to keep us safe -- which is the government's primary role. At its best, that means allocating resources, believing in science and empowering trained and experienced officials. When our elected leaders fail that standard, we have a responsibility to hold them accountable….
Read the full op-ed at: https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/04/opinions/coronavirus-local-public-health-challenges-el-sayed/index.html