A health crisis is the situation in which a threat to people’s health and well-being arises. It may be a disease outbreak, a disaster or an economic hardship that leaves families in financial distress. The health risks that can trigger a crisis are many: drug-resistant pathogens, obesity and inactivity, climate change, and the economic stresses caused by job loss, home foreclosure and bankruptcies.
Vaccination is a common response to a health crisis, but its impact depends on how it’s managed. Despite frenzied calls for vaccination by governments, the WHO and most medical professionals, and widespread information deluges in the news media, there is still considerable suspicion and hesitancy about vaccines and their safety, fueled by legitimate and conspiratorial counterarguments.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also highlighted the vulnerability of some groups of people to mental distress caused by unavoidable and often long-lasting disruptions to daily life. Many of these groups, such as young adults and those living in communities with few or no social supports, are also disproportionately burdened by a range of risk factors that lead to poor health outcomes like suicide and drug overdose.
A broader approach to health crisis management can address the root causes of these challenges, including targeted outreach and public consciousness promotion of the mental health needs of diverse groups, improved access to formal crises services for individuals at high risk, and attention to the underlying social determinants that exacerbate people’s vulnerability to stressors and reduce their resilience to them. The focus on these issues is at the core of CDC’s mission to protect and improve the health and wellbeing of all people.