The cost of undermining public health in New Hampshire

Tory Jennison

As a public health professional deeply committed to the health and well-being of all Granite Staters, I am alarmed by the growing erosion of trust in science-based health guidance. This erosion undermines the very systems that protect our most vulnerable residents: children, older adults, people with chronic illnesses, and those with limited access to health care.

The costs of this distrust are not theoretical. When individuals delay or defer care because they no longer trust the health system, the result is measurable harm: preventable hospitalizations, outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases and millions of dollars in avoidable health expenditures.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that missed vaccinations alone cost the U.S. billions annually in treatment and outbreak control. In New Hampshire, we are already seeing strain on our public health infrastructure from rising cases of diseases that were once nearly eliminated, and from an overstretched workforce trying to respond.

And yet, as our neighbors in Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine explore a regional approach to vaccine guidance in response to recent federal changes, New Hampshire has declined to participate. This absence sends the wrong message, creates confusion for families seeking reliable information, and leaves our state outside of an important cooperative effort to keep New England communities healthy and safe.

History offers sobering lessons about the danger of political interference in public health decisions — from delayed responses to HIV/AIDS in the 1980s to the suppression of evidence about tobacco’s harms for decades. Each time politics eclipsed science, lives were lost unnecessarily. We cannot afford to repeat those mistakes here.

Public health depends on trust, transparency and adherence to established science. New Hampshire’s families deserve leaders who will strengthen — not sabotage — the systems that keep us safe.

On behalf of the public health workforce that shows up every day to protect health and promote safety statewide, I urge all of us to call out misinformation when we see it, defend evidence-based guidance, and work together to ensure that everyone has the information and care they need to live healthy, productive lives.

Tory Jennison is the executive director of the New Hampshire Public Health Association.