As the June 22 primary for New York City mayor approaches, the election season has been defined by COVID-19 with many now predicting that public health will be one of the biggest issues for the next elected mayor. For the dozens of candidates running for mayor, the discussion of health has centered on the recovery from COVID-19 and ways the city can address some of the systemic issues that can affect health. In a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, ICAP’s Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, MPH, MPA was quoted as saying that the campaign season is a unique chance for candidates to focus on public health, which had not been emphasized since Bloomberg’s term as mayor.

“Often, public health is not high up on the priority list,” Dr. El Sadr said.