AJPH 10/24: Building Bridges Between Local and Federal Public Health Policies

Alfredo Morabia and Prof. Vickie Mays (UCLA) from AJPH interview Sarah Moreland-Russell, PhD, Associate Professor of Practice, and Caitlin McMurtry, PhD, Assistant Professor, both at Brown School, Saint Louis University. Why are local public health policies sometimes be in conflict with federal policies? In some states public health officers downplayed the threat of COVID and the benefits of the vaccine. In other states reproductive health services or marijuana laws required crossing state lines. We discuss if there were ways to build bridges between the two, whether political polarization impacted the response to COVID, and whether public opinion and political processes impact how public policy can work to address inequities.