Leading medical journal calls to replace Trump over health response
British medical journal The Lancet on Friday called for American voters to elect a president who will stop using “partisan politics” to guide public health.
In a blistering and unusual editorial The Lancet – one of the world’s premier medical journals – called the US administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic “inconsistent and incoherent.”
“Americans must put a president in the White House come January, 2021, who will understand that public health should not be guided by partisan politics,” the editorial said.
The statement comes the same day as US President Donald Trump unveiled the US’ Operation Warp Speed, which is a broad government effort to rapidly develop a novel coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year.
Trump went on to claim that without a vaccine the virus will “go away.”
“The Administration is obsessed with magic bullets-vaccines, new medicines, or a hope that the virus will simply disappear,” the editorial said, adding that there must be a focus on “basic public principles” like testing and tracking.
The editorial said Trump has undermined the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the leading US public health authority, while adding that the CDC botched its rollout of coronavirus testing in the early days of the outbreak.
Read also: Trump hopes for COVID-19 vaccine by end of year, ‘maybe before’
The US leads the world in reported coronavirus cases – 1.4 million – and deaths – over 87,000.
Most US states have moved forward with reopening their economies while instituting some form of public health restrictions, however, concerns are growing over a second wave of the novel coronavirus in the fall and winter. (dpa)
