Pandemics: Don’t take ‘nothing’ for granted

If 2020 taught us anything, it should be the value of our nothing normalcy. We have the absence of smallpox, polio, yellow fever and cholera. This is our normal.

History also shows societal amnesia, in which people quickly forget the institutions, people, principals and value of the absence of a pandemic.

The past year made me long for some “nothings,” given the non-stop negative “somethings”. That is particularly true of individual and public health.

I am among more than 700 local volunteers for the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department. Because the work is so important, we will not wait for someone to pay us.

When you prevent disease, nothing happens. The dilemma is the difficulty in getting support, recognition or funding when your product is “nothing.”

Human history consistently notes attempts to limit public health interventions. Over the past 200 years Drs. William Jenner, John Snow and William Gorgas were not recognized for interventions that ended pandemics.

My expectation of the COVID-19 pandemic is no different; when our nothing normalcy returns, we will only want to forget the pain.

Whatever happens, I will proudly reply “you are welcome” to anyone who says “thanks for nothing.”

This story was originally published January 5, 2021 at 10:11 AM with the headline "Pandemics: Don’t take ‘nothing’ for granted."