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Dr Hamburg, you cochaired an Institute of Medicine (now the National Academy of Medicine) committee that issued a report in 2003 warning the United States to fortify its public health system not only to better prepare the country for outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases but to help poor countries improve their capacity to do so as well Hamburg: COVID-19 has cast a very harsh light on inequities that exist within the nation\'s health care system, but also in terms of the opportunities that some populations have and others do not, and that has really created an environment where, at the moment, it feels absolutely intolerable for us to continue on this way, that real action must be taken Hamburg: One thing that was very striking to me when I was health commissioner-and I\'m sure this trend has persisted-is that when I looked at indicators for the worst health status, whether it was infant mortality or heart disease, they stacked up in the poorest communities of the city and communities that very much tended to be people of color [ ]my strong interest in emerging infections and resurgent infectious disease threats grew from my period as health commissioner there
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