Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jul 1;8(7):ofab304.
doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofab304. eCollection 2021 Jul.

A National Public Health Workforce to Control COVID-19 and Address Health Disparities in the United States

Peter H Kilmarx  1 , Theodore Long  2 , Michael J A Reid  3
Affiliations

A National Public Health Workforce to Control COVID-19 and Address Health Disparities in the United States

Peter H Kilmarx et al. Open Forum Infect Dis. .

Abstract

A large, well-trained public health workforce is needed to control coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the United States in the short term and to address other disease burdens and health disparities in the long run. As the public health workforce declined following the 2008 financial crisis, many US jurisdictions struggled to hire a sufficient number of staff for roles initially including testing and contact tracing and more recently for vaccination. Ultimately, COVID-19 control will require a combination of vaccination and rapid investigation, contact tracing, and quarantine to stop chains of transmission. New federal resources for a public health workforce have been made available. With appropriate attention to addressing administrative barriers and ensuring equity, a 21st-century US public health workforce will hasten the control of COVID-19, provide economic relief to individuals and communities, and reduce the burden of other infectious diseases, noncommunicable diseases, and other disease burdens. A long-term commitment to a robust public health workforce is vital to ensuring health security and preparedness for future health threats.

Keywords: COVID-19; contact tracing; public health workforce.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. A national plan to enable comprehensive COVID-19 case finding and contact tracing in the United States. 2020. Available at: https://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/our-work/pubs_archive/pubs-pdfs/.... Accessed 3 March 2021.
    1. Spencer KD, Chung CL, Stargel A, et al. COVID-19 case investigation and contact tracing efforts from health departments - United States, June 25-July 24, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2021; 70:83–7. - PMC - PubMed
    1. #TestAndTrace. What US states are ready to test and trace today? 2021. Available at: https://testandtrace.com/state-data/. Accessed 3 March 2021.
    1. Hartnett K. Metro Health automates contact tracing, cuts 50 staff, resources, workers can be diverted to vaccine roll-out. Nashville Post. 13 January 2020. Available at: https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/health-care/article/21145448/metr.... Accessed 3 March 2021.
    1. Cousins S. New Zealand eliminates COVID-19. Lancet 2020; 395:1474. - PMC - PubMed