New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Secretary Ashwin Vasan sat across from Dean Megan Ranney and chatted by the fireplace.
William J. Chan
William Zhang, contributing photographer
Ashwin Vasan, who will serve as the 44th commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene starting in March 2022, joined dean Megan Lunney for a fireside chat Thursday at the School of Public Health.
Vasan is a practicing primary care physician, epidemiologist, and public health expert who focuses on the physical and mental health, social services, and public policy outcomes of marginalized populations in New York City, as well as nationally and globally. We are working to improve.As a member of the School of Public Health’s “Public Health Leaders” deans speaker seriesIn this show, which profiles some of the biggest names in public health, Vasan and Ranney discuss how government and academia can work together to solve macro-level health problems, and how New York City is tackling climate change. and how to combat its health effects.
“[This campaign] “This is a collaborative project. It’s not just the work of public health departments or schools of public health…it requires intention, focus, and a coordinated effort across the public, private, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors,” Vasan said. .
Mr. Vasan described the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene as follows: “Healthy New York” A campaign aimed at increasing the life expectancy of New Yorkers.by Annual summary of vital statistics, New York City’s life expectancy dropped from 82.6 years in 2019 to 78.0 years in 2020, a difference of 4.6 years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The campaign aims to achieve a life expectancy of 83 years or more by 2030. The department predicts that if this campaign is successful, New York City could avoid 7,300 deaths by 2030.
Vasan also pointed out that HealthyNYC’s campaign includes other things as well. the goal It covers chronic and diet-related illnesses, mental health crises, COVID-19 deaths, homicide deaths, and drug overdose deaths.
The department also recognizes the impact of racial disparities, historic disinvestment in minority communities, and environmental and social factors exacerbated by climate change, which he calls a public health crisis. expressed.
Arinze Colin Agu ’25 is a first-year graduate student in the School of Public Health, majoring in climate change and health. At the event, he asked Vasan to speak on how climate change affects people’s mental health and what the ministry is doing to support them.
“We know that extreme weather and air quality events worsen mental health diagnoses in terms of emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and self-reported data,” Vasan responded. “The idea is that [climate change] It is clearly not true that risks to our physical health are the only risks. There are real effects on mental health. ”
Vasan also emphasized that public health officials and state governments need to begin planning for potential health responses to future weather-related emergencies. He said agencies need to consider “not what we need to put in place when an emergency occurs, but what we need to put in place to start operating.”
The need for materials and plans for potential emergencies arose after Congress cut funding to the CDC and many cities and states were placed in a state of emergency. tighten Their public health budget.
Mr. Vasan emphasized that the New York State Department of Health: Thermal vulnerability indexThis combines green space and tree cover, median income, racial demographics that are closely associated with inequality and poor health outcomes, and other factors that increase residents’ risk of death during and immediately after a heatwave. It’s the score.
“We have ample resources to deal with mental health issues caused by climate change and disaster-related events, but vulnerable communities and affected people have little access to these resources. may not have enough awareness,” Agu told the News. “We need to improve our communication strategies, dispel rumors and reduce inaccessible language.”
Vasan said the Healthy New York City campaign is interested in focusing on places that have historically been ignored by policymakers and health officials. These areas often lack medical and public infrastructure, desert transportation and are areas with high heat vulnerability indexes, he added.
Rachel Nussbaum, 25, a first-year graduate student at the School of Public Health, said she hopes the campaign can also help people with long-term COVID-19 infections and post-COVID-19 symptoms. told.In January of this year, the United States experienced its second-highest number of coronavirus infections. spike This is the first time since the Omicron wave. Nussbaum also mentioned growing bodies. evidence This indicates that each subsequent reinfection increases the risk of long-term COVID-19 infection.
“It is dangerous to refer to COVID-19 in the past tense. 15 percent of Americans report being infected with COVID-19 for an extended period of time,” Nussbaum said. “Death is not the only negative health outcome we have to consider. It also includes disability… That’s why we need to focus on prevention, masks and developing better vaccines.”
Vasan explained that HealthyNYC’s campaign focuses on primary prevention and actions aimed at promoting health and preventing disease before it occurs, rather than relying solely on treatment when the disease occurs. did.
Before the discussion ended, Ranney also asked Vasan about building public trust in public health and what tools are most important for the next generation of public health leaders.
“Don’t fall prey to false choices,” Vasan replied. “It’s not bottom-up or top-down, it’s not grassroots or on the grass… it’s about pushing away reductive narratives about what’s more important than others and creating aspirations that are bigger than any of us can achieve. Let’s have it.”
The School of Public Health Dean’s Speaker Series event will be held in Winslow Auditorium, located on the lower level of 60 College St.
