Top 70 Leana S. Wen Quotes

Addressing motor vehicle crashes as a public health issue didn’t stop people from driving cars, but it did make being on the road a lot safer.

My parents and I entered the U.S. legally, but when it was time for our visa extension, we were turned down. Returning to China meant imprisonment for my father and persecution for my family. We were days from being forced to live here illegally when we were granted political asylum. Other families are not so lucky.

My mother cleaned hotel rooms and worked in a video store. My father delivered newspapers and washed dishes in restaurants.

The higher the rate of covid-19 in a community, the more likely any one individual you come into contact with has the virus and the riskier your interactions become.

We need to stop treating those whose views differ from our own with scorn and suspicion, and instead work together to safeguard our health, our rights and our future.

Working with the psychiatrist and then a mental health counselor helped me understand my own thought distortions.

While I am passionately committed to protecting abortion access, I do not view it as a stand-alone issue.

Abortions are safe.

Public health depends on winning over hearts and minds. It’s not enough to just have a good policy, you have to convince people to actually follow it.

Continuing the legacy of Elijah E. Cummings requires that we fulfill our destiny to fight for the world as it should be.

Driving is an activity that carries risk, which can be reduced by following the speed limit and wearing a seat belt.

In medicine, we refer to pregnancy as a physiological stress test.

While women‘s healthcare extends far beyond reproductive healthcare, its politicization is harming women’s overall health and well-being.

Sound health policy is about so much more than the mechanics of insurance. Let’s stop letting ‘Medicare-for-all’ dominate the conversation.

My mother was a proud and capable woman. She was among the first class of college graduates after China’s Cultural Revolution, then immigrated to the U.S. by herself.

Improvements in global public health must begin locally, and must be driven by leaders who will learn the hard lessons from COVID-19.

Violence can be understood as a public health issue: It spreads from person to person and it can be prevented and treated.

Public health research has saved countless lives in the past.

When I was 10 years old, my neighbor died in front of me of an asthma attack, because he and his family were undocumented immigrants and his grandmother was afraid of what would happen if they called an ambulance for help.

In my work as an emergency physician, I know that checklists can be helpful. They ensure complex procedures are done thoroughly and provide an extra assurance for safety. But they can also result in a ‘cookbook‘ approach, where you get the same recipe of tests and medications as everyone else.

Public health is a powerful tool to level that playing field, to bend the arc of our country away from distrust and disparities and back towards equity and justice.

By definition, outbreaks are quickly evolving situations. Outbreaks with novel diseases bring even more unknowns.

In December of 1990, just before my eighth birthday, I left China for the United States. My father was a political dissident, and after he was released from prison, we joined my mother in a little town in the mountains of Utah. It was quite a change from my hometown of Shanghai, a city of 25 million people.

Abortions that occur late in pregnancy are often due to extreme, extenuating circumstances such as when a woman’s life is in danger, when there has been a severe fetal diagnosis, or when the pregnancy is not viable.

Asking for help doesn’t mean your doctor is incompetent; rather, it should increase your faith in his or her abilities and humility.

Growing up, I always thought of hospitals as having a certain mystique that was impenetrable to the outside world. White-coated figures paraded through long hallways and entered doorways marked ‘restricted access,’ behind which I imagined miracles happened.

A cancer diagnosis is a wakeup call that our time is limited.

In many patients, covid-19 causes a bilateral pneumonia affecting both lungs. Air sacs in the lungs become inflamed and filled with fluid, leading to breathing difficulties and low oxygen saturation. If the pneumonia becomes extremely severe, patients need to be intubated and put on a ventilator.

Addiction is a disease, just like diabetes and heart disease.

We really need to be talking about the COVID vaccine the same way that we talk about other vaccinations – which is that it’s safe, effective, life-saving and essential for the public’s health.

Violence, poverty and health disparities have many inputs.

I had this childhood dream that I wanted to be a doctor, but I came from a neighborhood and an environment where nobody around me was a doctor. I literally didn’t know how one goes from studying in college to becoming a doctor.

In college, if anyone asked me – professors or classmates – I said, ‘I want to be a lab tech.’ Because I was afraid that people would laugh at me if I said I wanted to be a doctor.

Because cervical cancer generally progresses slowly, early diagnosis is often crucial to detecting the disease when there are curative treatment options available.

Simple health interventions such as lead paint abatement and home visiting for pregnant women result in not only improved health for children but also higher rates of graduation, reduced crime, and a more robust workforce.

In a country that lacks federal paid parental leave, many new mothers are back to work within weeks of giving birth, which can result in health consequences like maternal stress and anxiety.

An effective public-health response requires that those leading the response pivot when new information comes out and change course when unexpected circumstance arise.

Every day, I think, by the grace of God, I’m here, blessed to be a U.S. citizen, but I could have just as easily been a Dreamer too.

As a public health official, paid sick leave is first and foremost an issue of health – of people’s lives.

I once treated a 24-year-old construction worker who had scraped his leg but could not afford to take off work. By the time I saw him, the small wound that developed had become a severe infection. He remained in the hospital for days and eventually had to have his lower leg amputated.

I had severe asthma when I was a child and I saw doctors growing up. Seeing someone who could not only help me medically, but also assure me that I was going to be O.K. at this really terrifying time – that’s what I wanted to do.

When hospitals close, ambulance times can increase dramatically, and the additional wait often means the difference between life and death.

Public health relies on public trust. Admitting mistakes and explaining prompt corrective actions engender that trust.

We came to the U.S. with $40. My parents were both professionals in China who had difficulty finding employment here. They worked multiple jobs, but we still really struggled. There were times when we could not make rent and were dependent on the good graces of people that we met, and sometimes we depended on shelters.

Doctors have limited time to listen to your story, but you must make sure they understand why you’re there. Don’t just say that you have chest pain – explain when it started, what you were doing, and how it felt. Write down key elements. Practice until you can tell it in 30 seconds or less.

If someone is told they have depression or addiction, why don’t we allow them the same compassion and time for healing as if they were diagnosed with high blood pressure or diabetes? These are all illnesses for which treatment exists and recovery is possible.

Paid sick leave is a public health necessity. Not only does it allow employees to seek medical care promptly and appropriately, it reduces the chance of spreading infectious diseases to others and enables caregivers to provide for their loved ones.

Let’s focus on the real causes of violence, poverty and health disparities to heal Baltimore and transform it into a successful and positive model for others to follow.

Every time I am on air, I will receive actually quite a few messages that specifically tie me to the Chinese Communist Party – which is ludicrous because my family left on political asylum from China – or that will blame me and ‘my people’ for the coronavirus.

To be clear, from an epidemiological perspective, there shouldn’t be any mass gatherings during a pandemic.

Constant reevaluation is the bedrock of any emergency response.

We must offer mental health services in the community, where people are, including in our schools.

Inaction will always have a disproportionate impact on those who are the most disadvantaged.

The controversial idea of abolishing private insurance in favor of a single, government-run program certainly deserves some rigorous back-and-forth. But not at the expense of issues with a much greater impact on our health.

Of the many lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic thus far, two of the most critical are the need for effective national leadership and clear, consistent communication. Countries that fared well had both in abundance; those that didn’t often faltered.

Birth control is an important part of women’s healthcare. It allows women to plan and time their pregnancies, and reduces preterm births and maternal complications.

Your risk of acquiring covid-19 is additive for every person you come into close contact with. Many people must return to work, but they can still reduce their risk overall by not having social gatherings outside of work. Choose the activities most important to you.

It’s unrealistic to expect that your doctor will be at your beck and call 24/7; however, before you leave your doctor’s office, he or she should communicate to you how you can get help if necessary.

Without access to quality, affordable reproductive health services – which are standard medical care – women will die because they are forced to forego the necessary prevention and treatment for cervical cancer.

If you suspect that the doctor is going through a checklist of yes/no questions, try to get her to focus on you by adding personal elements to your answers.

There is so much information on diagnostics and treatments – one person cannot possibly know everything. A good doctor is one who isn’t afraid to admit that he or she doesn’t know everything.

Routine pap and HPV screenings save thousands of women from dying of cervical cancer every year.

Over and over again, I have also seen our health care system fail women because of discriminatory policies.

No one should die of cervical cancer because they can’t access quality, affordable reproductive health care.

If the goal is to reduce gun deaths and ensure safe, legal firearm usage, activists on both sides should stop fearing data and start embracing it.

The most critical key to getting good medial care is a trusting relationship between you and your doctor.

In order to improve maternal health, we have to focus on improving all women‘s health and access to care – not just during labor and delivery, but before and after pregnancy, and throughout our lives.

The moment I gave birth to my son, Eli, was the happiest in my life. He changed my world. My identity had always been shaped by my career – I thought of myself first as a physician and a public health official – but suddenly I thought of myself first, second, and third as a mother.

We must start 24/7 ERs dedicated to addiction and mental health.

Mental health is just as important as physical health, but why is it that we can’t find the same access to mental health treatment as we do for physical health ailments?