Some of the nation’s greatest public health successes would not have been possible without policy change. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s list of “Ten Great Public Health Achievements”—including motor vehicle safety, tobacco control, and maternal and infant health—all involved policy change.1 Because of these public health achievements, the average life expectancy at birth for people living in the United States increased by more than 30 years, from 47.3 years in 1900 to 76.8 years in 2000.2 The age-adjusted death rate in the United States continued to increase to 78.8 years in 2014. However, it decreased to 78.7 years in 2015 and then to 78.6 years in 2016.2 This emerging trend is the result of numerous public health challenges, especially the opioid and obesity epidemics, which continue to burden society.
In this Commentary, we make the case for the central role of policy in mitigating America’s public health challenges. We first define policy, then propose principles that are essential for policy change and are based on the authors’ collective experiences, and conclude with implications for local health departments, academics, and the next generation of public health leaders. (author abstract) #P4HEwebinarMarch2024