The Opportunity Cost of COVID for Public Health Practice: COVID-19 Pandemic Response Work and Lost Foundational Areas of Public Health Work

Focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the diversion of resources, attention, and efforts away from other critical public health issues. This diversion has led to missed opportunities and negative consequences for various public health domains, such as chronic disease prevention, mental health services, substance abuse treatment, and environmental health. This article suggests the need for a comprehensive approach that balances the response to COVID-19 with the maintenance and resumption of other essential public health activities. It calls for increased investment in public health infrastructure, workforce capacity, and policy frameworks to mitigate the opportunity costs and ensure a more resilient and equitable public health system in the future.

Resource Details

• Setting/Context of Implementation: Workplace
• Topics of Practice: Data Collection and Analysis|Policy Change/ Development
• Outcomes of Interest: Improve Data Infrastructure
• Level of Evidence: Emerging
• Tools or Materials Included in Resource: No
• Social Determinants of Health: Economic Stability
• Outside of US: No