The two articles featured in Policy and Practice in this issue of Context, though accepted for publication months ago, happen to address this week's policy headlines. Both articles also provide the optimistic perspective of describing promising recent policy responses to critical and enduring public health problems.
A November 25th 2007 editorial in the New York Times entitled “The High Cost of Health Care” described how steadily rising US healthcare costs over the last few decades have forced employers to reduce or eliminate health benefits, “forcing millions more people into the ranks of the uninsured.” As Eric Benson writes in his article “Overcoming Hurdles to Health Insurance Reform: Massachusetts' Experience,” forty-seven million Americans lacked health insurance for all of 2006. According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, tens of millions more persons go without health coverage for shorter periods of time, meaning the actual number of uninsured Americans is even higher (RWJF. Facts and Research: Overview. Retrieved December 1, 2007 from http://covertheuninsured.org). Benson describes, in his article, how the state of Massachusetts is successfully responding to the growing uninsurance crisis. He explains how, through the collaboration of all key stakeholders, Massachusetts was able to pass and is now implementing legislation that, if successful, will insure nearly all residents of the state. Benson goes on to analyze the remaining challenges that Massachusetts faces in implementing its health reforms, and to draw lessons from Massachusetts for health reform efforts in other states and at the federal level.
In light of the Annapolis middle east peace conference on November 27, 2007, Michael Morse's article “Health as a Bridge for Peace: Past Successes and Applications to the Palestinian-Israeli Context” is particularly timely. Morse's article explores the use of the Health as a Bridge for Peace (HBP) approach to transform conflict situations. As explained by Morse, HBP includes a diverse set of interventions undertaken by health professionals to “simultaneously advance both peace and public health aims.” Morse provides historical examples of successful HBP efforts, and then reviews in detail four promising ongoing HBP programs that aim to build peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Morse's article makes a case that it is critical to the success of HBP efforts that representatives of parties in conflict who work together on these programs have a basic level of mutual understanding, share common goals for health and peace, and share power related to programmatic decision-making.
Both articles in Policy and Practice in this issue of Context suggest that promising new responses to long-standing public health problems may emerge particularly when stakeholders collaborate to formulate and implement solutions. Morse also points out that young health professionals have important contributions to make to efforts aimed at solving tenacious health and social problems. This is due to our training and skills to be sure, but also due in no small part to our energy, new ideas and attitudes, and ideals.
