March 2, 2020

Widespread transmission of the COVID-19 coronavirus within the United States is “inevitable” and a successful response to the epidemic must protect the health and human rights of everyone in the country, over 450 public health, human rights, and legal experts and organizations warned today in an open letter to Vice President Mike Pence and other government officials.

The open letter details a series of recommendations that government officials must consider through new legislation, policies, leadership, and spending.

The recommendations stress the protection of vulnerable populations, including healthcare workers, people living with chronic health conditions, incarcerated individuals, and the elderly.

Joining other public health experts in signing the letter were Dornsife faculty Dean Ana V. Diez Roux, MD, PhD, MPH, Dean and Distinguished University Professor of Epidemiology; Joe Amon, PhD, MSPH, Director of the Office of Global Health, Director of the Jonathan Mann Global Health and Human Rights Initiative, and clinical professor in the department of Community Health and Prevention; and Robert Field, PhD, MPH, professor with a joint appointment at Dornsife and Drexel's School of Law.

Leading health and human rights organizations including the American Public Health Association and the Big Cities Health Coalition also signed on to the letter.

Read the open letter