This Public Health Week, let’s take screening and testing seriously

By Virginia Templet

April 7 marks the start of National Public Health Week, which has brought public health to the national consciousness for three decades. Let’s face it: In 2025, we have serious work to do.

According to the latest research, Americans’ views of their mental and physical health have reached their lowest point in nearly 25 years — a decline that continued throughout and since the COVID-19 pandemic. Only 31 percent of Americans consider their mental health “excellent” while even fewer (24 percent) say the same for their physical health. Along the way, public trust in U.S. public health institutions has plummeted, while post-COVID health concerns are ramping up. 

With the measles outbreak spreading to nearly two dozen U.S. states (including New England), and the long-term effects of bird flu remaining unclear, it is safe to say that we need to take our health more seriously than ever before. COVID taught us that for years, and we need to continue learning key lessons. This means keeping our health on track even when we’re healthy. 

According to Denise Mayo, MD, a Mass General Brigham Medical Group internal medicine doctor, regular screenings and tests are critical to preventing serious health issues, starting with annual preventative care visits with primary care physicians.

On the one hand, there is blood testing. Six of the most important ones are complete blood counts, lipid panels, basic metabolic panels, Hemoglobin A1C tests, thyroid function tests, and 25-hydroxy vitamin D tests, among other examples.

But that’s not all. From COVID to the flu, testing swabs have proven useful time and time again. Earlier this year, during the influenza spike, over-the-counter tests helped millions of people identify whether they had the flu or COVID-19. While such tests can’t check for every single respiratory virus, this flu season was the first time that people could test for influenza at home. Using self-collected nasal swabs, results are ready within 15 to 30 minutes (depending on the type of test).

Or take measles, which is diagnosed by collecting a throat or nasopharyngeal swab sample. This tests for measles RNA and antibody using a RT-PCR test. Once collected, the swab sample is placed directly into a liquid transport medium and sent to the lab for testing. It is comforting to know that we have measles tests at our disposal as cases rise, working alongside vaccination to ease people’s concerns.

Public health and testing are inextricably linked. In modern healthcare, diagnostics play a crucial role in prevention and early diagnosis in modern healthcare, given that laboratory tests help inform 70 percent of all healthcare decisions. It is not hyperbolic to suggest that our healthcare system falls apart without proper testing.

Let’s take public health seriously this week, but also every week. To improve America’s health outcomes, it will take individual responsibility en masse — hundreds of millions of people taking the requisite steps to make and keep themselves healthier. From consulting a primary care physician to screening and testing, the best healthcare is a never-ending process. There are no shortcuts; there is only dedication to the process of living healthy day in, day out.

Rest assured that public health experts are working around the clock for the sake of societal progress. This month, more than 15,000 experts will converge in Vienna, Austria at ESCMID 2025, where the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases will convene the best and brightest minds in the fields of clinical microbiology and infectious disease. Representing Maine, Puritan Medical Products will be there too, gaining new insights and sharing news of our own.

I am optimistic about public health. While there will be more outbreaks and crises, the first step toward progress is a recognition that we can do much better as a society. Health is wealth, and we can all be richer. Let’s keep doing the hard work — before it is too late.

Templet serves as marketing director at Puritan Medical Products.