Politics and public health are closely linked. Anyone who doesn't understand that won't be able to promote health policy. When we talk about politics, we mean the ties between different groups within the population, an understanding of the social context. Therefore, the field of public health is part of social science as well as medicine, and that's a good thin.
On the other hand, talking about politics in the narrow sense of parties or constituencies hurts public health.
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About a month ago, I wrote a column about how the social fabric is being destabilized and the effect on the public's willingness to follow public health directives, and the risk posed when the government makes decisions without transparency. Happily, since Professor Ronni Gamzu was appointed Israel's "corona czar," he has been working day and night to promote a complex, professional plan, and most of all, to loop people in. He has been out in the field, working to connect the various pieces of the puzzle, consulting and building the systems needed to address the complicated situation.
But very quickly it turned out that politicization of the decision-making process was interfering. We saw this in the weeks-long delay in approving the traffic light plan, in the debate about allowing Hassidim to fly to Uman, and in the decision to start the school year.
The common use of the term "functionaries" tries to dismiss their role. Public health official, as well as other experts in the field of public health, are not "functionaries." They are devoted public servants, experts in their fields.
Certainly, we can debate the values that are motivating the decisions. We should discuss them, argue about them, and look at issues from different angles. But we need to do that in a serious, respectful manner. There is a reason why the various medical organizations stood up to defend Gamzu. Last week, at a nighttime meeting of the team of consulting experts, we felt that things had gone too far, and the processes by which the government was making decisions was insufferable and the public would soon be losing its faith in us, again.
The approval of the traffic light plan – finally – is an important step, but it is also important to remember that it must be backed by support for testing, evacuation of corona carriers to hotel facilities, welfare services, and the needs of at-risk populations. In effect, it creates a round table of everyone involved in public health at the city and local level.
Politicians needs to help promote a view that assesses each city or town individually and moves the main responsibility to local government, with backing from the national level. This is the time to combine politics and public health in the broad social sense, rather than narrow party-based politics, and allow the experts to do their jobs.
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