Keeping Us Healthy Through Prevention

Patt Morrison’s profile of Dr. Shirley Fannin (“The Big Sneeze and Other Scary Tales,” Nov. 30) insightfully examined the often-overlooked goal of maintaining our community’s health through prevention.

The column’s discussion of public-health approaches to threats such as emerging and reemerging diseases could not have been more timely, since the L.A. County Board of Supervisors is in the midst of a watershed reorganization of the county health department.

The lessons cited by the column complement recommendations from a critique of county public-health programs conducted by our faculty earlier this year. That is, we need to spend adequate time and money keeping people healthy instead of waiting until they get sick to attend to their ills.

Dean Abdelmonem A. Afifi

UCLA School of Public Health

Westwood

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Dr. Fannin’s dedication to public health is the reason many of us work in this field. She helps us focus on our work and constantly reinforces our commitment to the community.

We are proud to be on the same team.

Billie Weiss

L.A. County Department of Health Services

Los Angeles