One of the hallmarks of democracy is its emphasis on the health of the citizenry. When a democratic nation’s health status begins to decline precipitously, as America’s did around 1990, it is often a sign that the vitality of the democracy itself is waning.
Faltering indicators in maternal and child health, obesity and diabetes, more recently paired up in the 21st century with a lack of general preparation to deal with epidemics.
In ancient people-oriented governments, top leaders were often chosen for their health science credentials. An example was Moses in ancient Israel, who wrote the book of Leviticus, the nation’s first public health code. Other examples include Imhotep in ancient Egypt, and Shennong in ancient China.
Our own country sported a credentialed medical scientist turned political leader in Benjamin Rush, a Founding Father who signed the Declaration of Independence and became the nation’s first Surgeon General.
Today, Taiwan’s Vice President Chen Chien-jen is a government official in the mold of past democratic leaders. Colleagues say he is a scholar who does not care about partisan politics, a sort of Taiwanese version of our own Dr. Anthony Fauci.
As a trained public health epidemiologist specializing in viruses, Chien-jen has been at the center of successful preparations to deal with the coronavirus there.
Perhaps it’s time we elected national and state leaders who have a strong background in health and in science. Doing so might prevent the kind of fix we are in now.
Robert Kimball Shinkoskey, Woods Cross
