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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Melody Schreiber

Public health takes center stage in US midterm campaigns: ‘It’s already been politicized’

people hold signs that read 'CDC protects families' and 'public health saves lives'
Demonstrators outside the Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, on 4 December 2025. Photograph: Megan Varner/Bloomberg via Getty Images

As public health has become increasingly politicized in the US, with a particularly chaotic year under the Trump administration, some political candidates are pushing back by making public health a central part of their campaigns – and the grassroots organization Defend Public Health has ideas about how to do it.

On Monday, the group launched guiding principles for campaigns to prioritize public health, called the People’s Health Platform, highlighting the importance of ensuring healthcare for all, protecting and expanding sexual, reproductive, and gender-affirming healthcare, preparing for the climate crisis and the next pandemic, and taxing billionaires, among other tenets.

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