TY - JOUR T1 - Reclaiming comprehensive public health JF - BMJ Global Health JO - BMJ Global Health DO - 10.1136/bmjgh-2020-003886 VL - 5 IS - 9 SP - e003886 AU - Rene Loewenson AU - Kirsten Accoe AU - Nitin Bajpai AU - Kent Buse AU - Thilagawathi Abi Deivanayagam AU - Leslie London AU - Claudio A Méndez AU - Tolib Mirzoev AU - Erica Nelson AU - Ateeb Ahmad Parray AU - Ari Probandari AU - Eric Sarriot AU - Moses Tetui AU - André Janse van Rensburg Y1 - 2020/09/01 UR - http://gh.bmj.com/content/5/9/e003886.abstract N2 - Summary boxGlobal and national responses to the COVID-19 pandemic highlight a long-standing tension between biosecurity-focused, authoritarian and sometimes militarised approaches to public health and, in contrast, comprehensive, social determinants, participatory and rights-based approaches.Notwithstanding principles that may limit rights in the interests of public health and the role of central measures in some circumstances, effective public health in a protracted pandemic like COVID-19 requires cooperation, communication, participatory decision-making and action that safeguards the Siracusa principles, respect for people’s dignity and local-level realities and capacities.Yet there is mounting evidence of a dominant response to COVID-19 where decisions are being made and enforced in an overcentralised, non-transparent, top-down manner, often involving military coercion and abuse in communities, even while evidence shows the long-term harm to public health and human rights.In contrast, experiences of comprehensive, equity-focused, participatory public health approaches, which use diverse sources of knowledge, disciplines and capabilities, show the type of public health approach that will be more effective to meet the 21st century challenges of pandemics, climate, food and energy crises, growing social inequality, conflict and other threats to health.Over the past 6 months, we have witnessed diversity in the spread and severity of the COVID-19 and in the nature and timing of responses to it in different countries and contexts.1 Acute emergencies often mobilise a short spurt of attention and resources. COVID-19 is, however, a protracted pandemic that spreads through and exacerbates socioeconomic inequalities and stresses health and democratic systems in a way that calls for sustained responses from local to global levels.The ways that different governments have responded to COVID-19 highlight the long-standing tensions between different frameworks and approaches to public health. Broadly characterised, one approach views people as rights holders who should actively be engaged in proactive interventions that address the social determinants of … ER -