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Collective Open Letter to APHA - Re: Wen Speaker
The American Public Health Association (APHA) for its 2022 Annual Meeting held in Boston, MA has decided to make Leana Wen, MD, MSc as a speaker. Although Dr. Wen is known among public health practitioners for her contributing opinions to sources like Washington Post and CNN which have run counter to public health practice and wisdom, made working conditions more difficult for public health practitioners, created a controlling and abusive workplace atmosphere, and provided suggestions that are not founded in scientific rigor. Her work has contributed to the harm of disabled and immunocompromised individuals.

We believe that APHA is capable of providing a better experience for its members, one where we uplift people supporting evidence-based best practices in public health. As a result, we have created an open letter to show the organization that practitioners, workers, and members do not support the decision to platform Dr. Wen. We have several demands for APHA in light of this decision as colleagues and members of the organization.

We demand that APHA: 

  1. rescinds the invitation for Dr. Leana Wen

  2. replace Dr. Leana Wen as speaker with someone who is capable and can speak to evidence-based practices rooted in a collective responsibility for health equity

  3. publicly rejects the rhetoric of inevitable mass infection


If you agree or would like to see these changes and would consider yourself a public health practitioner (as broadly defined, as public health is transdisciplinary), please feel free to sign the letter. We believe that these demands are reasonable and well in line with the practice of APHA's mission, vision, and values. By signing, you are agreeing to publicly demonstrate that you are opposed to Dr. Wen as a keynote speaker.

The letter will be updated daily and reviewed for quality to avoid spam/bots until 8/22 at 12pm CST. On that date, we will be sending the letter directly to APHA leadership. If we do not hear of any changes within several days, we will then update you all to our next steps for an email campaign.
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What is your name? (Include any titles)

(e.g., John Doe, MPH, MA, MSPH, PhD, DrPH, MD, RN, etc.)
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What is your role?

(e.g., Student, Professor, Public Health Worker, Advocate, etc.)
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What is your institution or organization you are affiliated with?

(If you are unemployed or not wanting to use an association, you may use "Independent")
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(OPTIONAL) Do you have a recommendation for whom you would like to see as a keynote speaker?
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