The other health crises when the coronavirus era comes to an end

We have crossed the devastating milestone with 500,000 Americans who have died from the coronavirus. While the country grieves these lives lost, there are hopeful signs that the pandemic is slowing. Nearly 20 percent of Americans have had at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, as cases and deaths are declining across the country. By all measures, these recent developments are encouraging. But even when the whole population gets the vaccine, our health care crisis will stay far from over.

The coronavirus has unveiled and exacerbated a number of other physical and mental health issues that continue to devastate our communities and overwhelm our health care system. All these problems vary from physical health issues such as cancer, obesity, and heart disease, which have been linked as comorbidities to the coronavirus, to some severe mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and substance abuse.

President Biden and the administration have to illuminate the worsening physical and mental health in the country after the pandemic. They must work on bipartisan scientific reform with our health care system to make Americans stronger and happier. The overall poor health of the country was laid bare by the pandemic, which has been shown to prey on those with less than optimal health, or who have certain comorbidities which exacerbate the toll the coronavirus takes on their bodies.

According to federal government data, there were a dozen states in 2019 that had an obesity rate over 35 percent, which marked an increase from nine states in 2018. Obesity has the potential to triple the risk of going to the hospital if the coronavirus is contracted and brings harmed immune function, making those with obesity more at risk of getting infected with the coronavirus and other illnesses such as heart disease.

Heart disease can be genetic, but the most prevalent form in the United States is caused from the effects of obesity, being inactive, or having an unhealthy diet. Heart disease has been the leading cause of death in the country for more than 80 years, with about 655,000 Americans taken by heart disease each year. The United States has to pay about $220 billion each year to address the effects of heart disease, a statistic that includes the cost of health care services and of prescription drugs.

Another disease that has devastated the country for years is cancer and it can also exacerbate coronavirus sickness for patients. Almost two million new cases of cancer were diagnosed in the United States and more than 600,000 Americans died from the disease in 2020. Moreover, cancer has been deemed an epidemic in the United States and the rest of the world. It is estimated that we will reach over 21 million global cases of cancer by 2030, which can come with a cost of almost $460 billion.

Research indicates that patients with cancer, or who are recovering from cancer, are more at risk for infections from the coronavirus, as well as for developing more severe cases than patients without cancer. Biden notes the importance of cancer research. In his final year as vice president, he worked to accelerate cancer research, make more therapies available to patients, and enable disease prevention along with early detection. Any initiative of the magnitude Biden has spoken of to cure cancer would be an incredible advancement for the country and the world.

In addition to these physical health problems, our mental health crisis is severe and worsening. The mental health of Americans has deteriorated with the pandemic, which leads to higher rates of substance abuse with drugs and alcohol. Such instances are on the rise, especially with young Americans. With the severity of the physical and mental health problems facing the country, the administration and lawmakers have their duty to address each as critical provisions of health care reform.

This means finding ways to handle these issues with funding, education, and resources for rural communities to close these physical and mental health divides that exist based on race and economic status. While this pandemic could soon draw to a close, the gravity of our overall physical and mental health crisis remains considerable. This needs an immediate series of efforts to make Americans stronger and happier.

Douglas Schoen is a political consultant who served as campaign adviser for Bill Clinton and Michael Bloomberg. Jessie Howkins holds a degree in exercise science and is also the founder with Pure Soul Personal Training.