Public policy and health in the Trump era

This report by the Lancet Commission on Public Policy and Health in the Trump Era assesses the repercussions of President Donald Trump's health-related policies and examines the failures and social schisms that enabled his election Trump exploited low and middle-income white people's anger over their deteriorating life prospects to mobilise racial animus and xenophobia and enlist their support for policies that benefit high-income people and corporations and threaten health Although Trump's actions were singularly damaging, many of them represent an aggressive acceleration of neoliberal policies that date back 40 years The suffering and dislocation inflicted by COVID-19 has exposed the frailty of the US social and medical order, and the interconnectedness of society A new politics is needed, whose appeal rests on a vision of shared prosperity and a kind society Health-care workers have much to contribute in formulating and advancing that vision, and our patients, communities, and planet have much to gain from it (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)