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January 24, 2021

Op-ed:  Public health and science during the COVID-19 era

By Deena Mansour and Tony Ward

Beginning a new semester has caused us to reflect on the past year. It is hard to believe that when we departed for spring break in 2020, students would not return again until the fall and our communities would face such death and disruption.

Amidst stay-at-home orders and mask mandates, we have witnessed our University of Montana colleagues work tirelessly to safely house and feed students, provide safe classrooms and create impactful learning environments. We have observed colleagues in the School of Public and Community Health Sciences and its Center for Population Health Research as they informed UM’s mitigation, testing and isolation/quarantining strategies. Our public health colleagues have also supported local, tribal and state health departments in a variety of COVID-19 response efforts. Finally, they are able to advise on vaccination strategies.

Today, there is optimism. Even during a pandemic, UM has provided a safe learning and working environment for students, staff and faculty. And now a clear plan is emerging nationally to address this raging pandemic.

But tragically, the pandemic has only exacerbated the deep divides in our society. Ethical considerations in balancing personal freedoms with the responsibilities of citizenship have too often been subsumed into the familiar contours of our political polarization. Mask use remains politicized. Even the word “science” has been stigmatized. Alarmingly, even Montana’s public health professionals are under attack. At the very time our public health workforce is working beyond its limits to protect our communities, many have been subjected to everything from verbal abuse in grocery stores to protesters outside their homes. It has resulted in a public health workforce under siege.

There are indeed economic impacts, and our community is devastated when neighbors lose jobs and businesses permanently close during these horrific times. Moving forward, we are hopeful that science can be used to support mitigation strategies with economic interests in mind. One doesn’t have to exist without the other. As Dr. Anthony Fauci recently commented, this is the beginning of the end of the pandemic. While uncertainty remains, there is comfort in knowing that because of the efforts of scientists and public health professionals like those at UM, we are closer to the end than the beginning.

Given the urgent nature of these issues and our shared mandate to foster dialogue on ethics in public affairs, the Mansfield Center and the School of Public and Community Health Sciences have joined to bring national and statewide experts together to inspire community conversations. We are honored that the premiere expert on the pandemic, Dr. Fauci, will be joining us for this year’s Mansfield Lecture on Feb. 17.

Three “Pandemic Dialogues” will set the stage for Dr. Fauci’s talk. On Jan. 27, UM faculty Drs. Erin Semmens, Erin Landguth and Tony Ward, Postdoctoral Fellow Dr. Ethan Walker, and Doctoral Student and All Nations Health Center Executive Director D’Shane Barnett will discuss UM’s mandate to protect and inform Montana communities.

Disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on Native communities will be explored by Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Chairwoman Shelly R. Fyant and Fort Peck Tribes Councilwoman Kaci Wallette in a conversation moderated by We Are Montana Founder Cora Neumann on Feb. 3.

A discussion on freedom, rights and responsibilities features Montana House Majority Leader Sue Vinton, small business owner Tom Snyder, Former Montana Supreme Court Justice Jim Nelson, and Missoula County Chief Civil Deputy Attorney Anna Conley in a session moderated by Constitutional Law Professor Anthony Johnstone on Feb. 10.

Each virtual session takes place at noon and is free, though registration is required at www.umt.edu/mansfield. We hope that you’ll join us to engage in dialogue that affects each and every Montanan.

Deena Mansour is executive director of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center.

Dr. Tony Ward is a professor and chair of the School of Public and Community Health Sciences.

Article originally published in the Missoulian.