The field of public health was defined in a 1920 article by Charles-Edward Amory Winslow as the “science and the art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical health through organized community efforts.”1 Its foundations had developed over hundreds of years, but it began to flourish in the 19th and 20th centuries. During that time, the implementation of hygienic and sanitary measures, health codes, vaccination programs, and harm-reduction policies led to advances, including notable reductions in morbidity and mortality — though they were sometimes accompanied by tension between an individual person’s rights and protection of the health of populations.2 [New England Journal of Medicine]

Unfortunately, past progress in public health is now at risk in the United States. The current crisis has resulted from a confluence of interrelated factors, which can be understood by reference to what I might call the six “coms” (“com” aptly meaning “with” or “together”): complacency, commitment, commercialism, complexity, communication, and comportment.

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