What Does the Cyclospora Outbreak Reveal About Public Health Surveillance? An Expert Discusses With ICT
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Brian C. Castrucci, DrPH, president and CEO of the de Beaumont Foundation, discusses what the current Cyclospora outbreak reveals about weaknesses in the nation's public health infrastructure, why speed and capacity disappear when funding declines, and how public health leaders can begin rebuilding trust through clearer, more empathetic communication.
What happens when we expect public health to respond immediately after years of inconsistent investment?
For Brian C. Castrucci, DrPH, president and CEO of the de Beaumont Foundation, the current Cyclospora outbreak illustrates a much larger problem.
"It's about speed. It's about capacity," Castrucci told Infection Control Today®. "You can't underinvest in public health and then expect it to have a fast and swift response."
In a wide-ranging conversation with ICT Lead Editor Tori Whitacre Martonicz, MA, Castrucci discusses foodborne disease surveillance, workforce capacity, misinformation, declining institutional trust, science communication, and why public health funding cannot follow a boom-and-bust cycle.
He also argues that rebuilding trust will require more than telling Americans to "trust the science." Public health professionals must communicate plainly, listen empathetically, build relationships before emergencies occur, and show people how public health affects their everyday lives.
Perhaps his simplest explanation came from his daughter:
"A pediatrician helps one person at a time. My dad helps everybody all the time."