公眾對衛(wèi)生當(dāng)局的信任是抗擊冠狀病毒的關(guān)鍵

公眾對衛(wèi)生當(dāng)局的信任是抗擊冠狀病毒的關(guān)鍵

During infectious disease outbreaks, public trust in the government and health agencies becomes critical. Officials need to convince millions of people that they are telling the whole truth, and that their guidance on what to do — and not do — should be followed.

在傳染病暴發(fā)期間，公眾對政府和衛(wèi)生機構(gòu)的信任變得至關(guān)重要。官員們需要讓數(shù)以百萬計的人相信，他們說的是實話，應(yīng)該遵循他們的指引，做什么，不做什么。

How's that going as coronavirus has begun spreading in some parts of the U.S.?

隨著冠狀病毒開始在美國部分地區(qū)蔓延，情況如何?

According to a Gallup poll last month, 77% of people felt confident "the federal government will be able to handle an outbreak of the coronavirus in this country." However, that poll was done before instances of community spread began to appear and before the first U.S. death was announced.

根據(jù)上個月的蓋洛普民意測驗，77%的人相信“聯(lián)邦政府將有能力處理這個國家爆發(fā)的冠狀病毒”。然而，這項調(diào)查是在社區(qū)傳播事件開始傳播和美國第一例死亡被宣布之前進行的。

"If people don't trust that the government is telling them the truth about the risk to themselves and their families, people start to make decisions that are not rational, and that puts our medical system at greater risk," says Beth Cameron.

“如果人們不相信政府在告訴他們自己和家人風(fēng)險的真相，人們就會開始做出不合理的決定，這將使我們的醫(yī)療系統(tǒng)面臨更大的風(fēng)險，”貝絲·卡梅倫說。

Previously, she served as senior director for Global Health, Security and Biodefense on the White House's National Security Council, a position that was eliminated by the Trump administration in 2018.

此前，她曾在白宮國家安全委員會擔(dān)任全球衛(wèi)生、安全和生物防御高級主任，這一職位在2018年被特朗普政府取消。

"You really want to make sure that people understand when it makes sense to stay at home, when it makes sense to come to work, and how they can get the care that they and their families need," Cameron says. "When people don't have information, they tend to panic."

卡梅倫說：“你真的想讓人們明白什么時候呆在家里是有意義的，什么時候來上班是有意義的，以及他們?nèi)绾蔚玫阶约汉图胰诵枰恼疹櫋?rdquo;當(dāng)人們沒有信息時，他們往往會驚慌失措。”

The American public seems to be nursing some level of anxiety, if not panic. There's the price gouging on hand sanitizer, runs on face masks (which are unnecessary if you're not a health care worker).

美國公眾似乎在某種程度上感到焦慮，如果不是恐慌的話。比如高價的洗手液、口罩(如果你不是醫(yī)護人員，這是不必要的)。

"I think there is right now a little bit of a deficit of public trust because there has been a lot of confusion about the test kits," Cameron says.

卡梅倫說：“我認(rèn)為現(xiàn)在公眾的信任有點不足，因為人們對測試盒有很多困惑。”。

She thinks the administration likely lost time in its response to the virus by getting rid of her old job, which was a position on the National Security Council — instead it had to form a task force specific to coronavirus.

她認(rèn)為，美國政府很可能在應(yīng)對病毒方面浪費了時間，因為她丟掉了原來在國家安全委員會的職位，而不得不組建一個專門針對冠狀病毒的工作小組。

Cameron says she thinks the current deficit in public trust is reversible, and that it "can be easily and quickly rectified if the administration continues to provide clear scientific, fact-based communication on a regular basis," she says.

卡梅倫說，她認(rèn)為目前的公眾信任赤字是可以彌補的，而且“如果政府繼續(xù)定期提供明確的科學(xué)的、基于事實的信息交流，就可以輕松而迅速地糾正。”

Howard Markel, a physician and University of Michigan medical historian, agrees that complete and clear communication from officials is what establishes public trust during an epidemic. He says whenever a country announces there's an epidemic, it stands to lose a lot of money, so there's always an urge to wish it away.

密歇根大學(xué)(University of Michigan)的內(nèi)科醫(yī)生、醫(yī)學(xué)歷史學(xué)家霍華德·馬克爾也認(rèn)為，官員之間全面、明確的溝通是在疫情期間建立公眾信任的關(guān)鍵。他說，每當(dāng)一個國家宣布出現(xiàn)疫情，就會損失很多錢，所以人們總有一種愿望希望它消失。

"Concealment is one of the big no-nos in the history of pandemics, and it happens again and again and again, sometimes for political reasons, sometimes for commercial reasons," he says.

他說:“隱瞞是傳染病史上的大忌之一，這種事一次又一次地發(fā)生，有時是出于政治原因，有時是出于商業(yè)原因。”

It's important that government officials work "to coalesce the population — to make sure that we're all on the same page of what we need to do to keep ourselves and our children and our families safe — our communities safe," he says.

他說，重要的是，政府官員要努力“凝聚民眾，確保我們都站在我們需要做的事情的同一邊上，以確保我們自己、我們的孩子和我們的家庭，我們的社區(qū)安全。”。

Public trust is needed when officials say that your risk is low, and you should go about your normal life — which is what they're currently saying is true for most Americans — and when things suddenly change, and officials need cooperation in closing schools or canceling public events.

當(dāng)官員們說你的風(fēng)險很低，你應(yīng)該過正常的生活，這是他們目前所說的對大多數(shù)美國人來說是正確的，以及當(dāng)事情突然發(fā)生變化，官員們需要合作關(guān)閉學(xué)?；蛉∠不顒訒r，公眾信任是需要的。