As we rebuild our economy, how do we correct racial inequities that were exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic? What policy lessons can inform public health responses in the future?
As we mark one year of the COVID-19 pandemic, ChangeLab Solutions staff members Derek Carr and Sabrina Adler are among the 50 legal experts who offer a new assessment of the United States’ policy response to the crisis in the COVID-19 Policy Playbook: Legal Recommendations for a Safer, More Equitable Future. ChangeLab Solutions is proud to be a part of this collaboration; we continue to learn from this important work.
While the coronavirus is a threat to everyone, it has not affected everyone equally; the pandemic has amplified deeply entrenched inequities along racial and economic lines. As a member of the editorial committee, ChangeLab Solutions' CEO Sarah de Guia reviewed the report from the perspective of health equity, which must be our guiding principle as we work to restore our health and our economy. Although law alone cannot solve our nation’s health disparities, better use of legal tools can help build a more equitable future.
Drawing on the lessons of the past year, the COVID-19 Policy Playbook recommends policy solutions at all levels of government and helps decisionmakers better prepare for public health crises in the future.
The COVID-19 Policy Playbook was produced by Public Health Law Watch in cooperation with the Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University Beasley School of Law; Center for Health Policy and Law, Northeastern University School of Law; Wayne State University Law School; Hall Center for Law and Health, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law; The Network for Public Health Law; and ChangeLab Solutions. The report is a thoroughly updated version of Assessing Legal Responses to COVID-19, revised with large amounts of new material to integrate lessons learned in the course of the pandemic.
We hope you will find this playbook helpful and share it with others.
3/23/2021