Human rights: the foundation of public health practice

lic health programs rely on the constant presence of an effective infrastructure to bear the weight of implementation.Early assessments of infrastructure in these 3 areas give me reason for serious concern about the adequacy of our infrastructure, or put another way, our preparedness to address public health.It is for this reason that I look forward especially to encouraging the publication of work that highlights public health infrastructure and preparedness.I would be grateful to readers who would be willing to share brief examples of cases in which the success or failure of infrastructure had a direct impact on public health practice.I will use these examples to highlight our work in future editorials.Please send examples to me by e-mail (pch4@cdc.gov)or to the Journal by regular mail.We hope that public health practice will become a very important part of the Journal-a part that, along with the important scientific research discoveries published elsewhere in the Journal, will challenge our collective will to advance public health into the next millennium.