Quotes from Leana S. Wen

What needs to happen in a public health crisis? The federal government must establish a national roadmap with clear goals and evidence-based policy guidance.

Public health works by using evidence to lessen harm.

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

Public health research has saved countless lives in the past.

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.

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

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.

After eight years of fighting, and multiple rounds of chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation, my mother lost her battle with cancer. I think about her every day. I miss her terribly, and wish she were there to walk me down the aisle at my wedding and to cheer when my sister received her college diploma.

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.

I believed we could expand support for Planned Parenthood - and ultimately for abortion access - by finding common ground with the large majority of Americans who can unite behind the goal of improving the health and well-being of women and children.

When I finally addressed my stuttering - I was almost through with medical school by the time that I finally sought therapy for speech - one of the exercises was making sure that we say what we want to say and not substitute words.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In my life as an immigrant living in low-income communities, as an emergency physician and as a public health advocate, I have seen more preventable deaths than I can count or recall.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

Primary care providers and community health centers can do more to provide the full range of reproductive healthcare in their clinics. In turn, reproductive health providers should also look to expand their services to cover patients' primary care concerns.