For months, public health professionals have been working to stop the spread of COVID-19 and protect communities across the country, but much of this important work is done behind the scenes and goes unnoticed by most people. To help tell the story of the public health response to this historic pandemic, the de Beaumont Foundation and a coalition of 18 other public health organizations today launched WhyPublicHealthMatters.org, a website where public health workers can record and upload a 60-second video from their smartphone, tablet, or computer.
On the website, journalist and producer Soledad O’Brien encourages people to share their story. “For a very long time,” she says, “I’ve been impressed with the commitment and dedication of public health workers, and that’s never been as true as it is today. Public health professionals often go unnoticed and uncelebrated, and you can help change that.”
If you work in public health, please consider recording a short video, and spread the word to your public health friends and colleagues. Or visit the site to watch firsthand accounts of the COVID-19 response that you can’t see anywhere else.
The de Beaumont Foundation is partnering on “Why Public Health Matters” with some of the nation’s leading health organizations:
- American Public Health Association
- Association of Public Health Laboratories
- Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health
- Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
- Big Cities Health Coalition
- Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists
- Episcopal Health Foundation
- Kresge Foundation
- National Association of County and City Health Officials
- National Network of Public Health Institutes
- Network for Public Health Law
- Prevention Institute
- Research!America
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
- Society for Public Health Education
- Sunflower Foundation
- Trust for America’s Health
- Well Being Trust
For more information, visit whypublichealthmatters.org.
