Overview

Partisan divisions over policy in the U.S. Congress and rising disease threats put millions of Americans at risk. The Zika public health emergency is used to illustrate the key functions of coordination, providing countermeasures, and engaging in disease surveillance which the government must engage in during such an emergency. The author looks at how the standoff over Zika funding negatively affected the government’s response within federal agencies, as well as at the state and local level. Also examined in the book are serious threats still on the horizon that are expected to require strong government action in the future. Possible policies to avoid future gridlock are considered.

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9781498568180

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Myers provides an eye-opening critique of how dangerously intertwined partisan politics are with responding to epidemics, which has implications for a devastating loss of life in America and worldwide. This book is needed to spark an overdue debate that goes beyond party lines, and address the importance of a stable funding source to ensure swift action in the face of inevitable public health emergencies. -- Tara Sklar, University of Arizona Pandemics and Polarization is a valuable contribution to the literature on public health emergency preparedness. Nathan Myers documents how the growing virulence of politics in the United States has converged with the increasing risks posed by emerging infectious diseases. Dr. Myers rightly places politics front and center in his analysis of US responses to public health emergencies such as H1N1 and Ebola. The book provides an extended analysis of the 2016 outbreak of Zika and how the response to that outbreak fell victim to the growing partisanship on Capitol Hill. This book is an important wake-up call to the public health community about the degree to which responding to public health emergencies has been politicized. Neither partisanship nor pathogens can be eradicated; the public health community needs to be better prepared to deal with outbreaks of both and politicians need to better understand the importance of investing in public health to mitigate the impact of future pandemics. -- Gregory D. Koblentz, George Mason University Myers has written a valuable account of the building of US public health preparedness efforts to respond to epidemics.. He gives a view of flashpoints in the response to SARS, Avian flu, Zika and Ebola. Legislative struggles with waxing and waning budget support. Origins of government efforts around medical countermeasure development, hospital preparedness, and disease surveillance. And in the end, he makes a persuasive argument that preparedness is strongest when the issue is non-partisan, with both parties rowing in the same direction for the health and safety of the public. -- Tom Inglesby, Director of the Center for Health Security, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Author Information

Nathan Myers is associate professor of political science and public administration at Indiana State University.

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