A thank you to Sen. Leahy

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

To the editor: We would like to publicly thank Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy for his long-standing and passionate support for global lead pollution prevention in low- and middle-income countries.

Today, one-third of the world's children have a concentration of lead in their blood that the World Health Organization recognizes as causing permanent brain damage and IQ loss. The implications for global public health, economic growth, the environment, and societal violence are profound.

Historically, lead exposures were driven primarily by the use of leaded gasoline, lead-based paint and pipes. However, contemporary exposure sources in low- and middle- income countries now include emissions from unsafe recycling of lead-acid batteries, lead-adulterated spices, and contaminated metal and ceramic cookware. Just as we eliminated lead for gasoline, each of these exposure sources has data-driven solutions proven to be cost-effective.

United States leadership in addressing this critical public health issue has never been more critical. Senator Leahy has acted by appropriating much-needed federal funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to address lead pollution at the source.

For that, we are deeply grateful and thank Senator Leahy for his bold leadership.

Richard Fuller President and Founder, Pure Earth New York City Adam Muellerweiss President, Responsible Battery Coalition Milwaukee, Wisc. Dec. 7

How many inactions does it take to make a disaster?

To the editor: Imagine a group of people watching a house burn. They are gathered around a fire hydrant and a hose is coiled at their feet. As the house burns, the people discuss how they might make it rain to put the fire out. Maybe prayer would work? Maybe a rain dance? Maybe seeding the clouds? The house continues to burn. Absurd, right? But a pretty good analogy to the current health care nightmare and our reaction to it.

In the political debates preceding the November election in Vermont, the subject of health care was mostly missing. That's pretty odd, given how prominent that subject has been in the state's media, chronicling doctor shortages, lengthy wait times to see a doctor and, of course, the ever growing cost of health care. Consider the silence the equivalent of praying for rain to put the fire out.

Health care is a necessity, not some consumer product that people can do without if they don't like the price. The industry can charge pretty much any price it wants. The cost of health insurance is rising considerably faster than incomes, prompting the chair of the regulatory body to call the rates "unaffordable." [https://vtdigger.org/2019/08/08/ insurance-rate-increases-approved-12-4-forbcbs- 10-1-for-mvp/]. There are reportedly "around 30,000 Vermonters with medical debt in collections and tens of thousands more who are paying down medical bills that have not reached collections." [https://www. wcax.com/2022/04/19/why-vermonters-carry- less-medical-debt/].

The only solution offered to date by the Vermont executive and legislative bodies is another vulture, the "accountable care organization" OneCare, which dines on taxpayer dollars without providing or improving care in any way. At the recent GMCB hearing on OneCare's budget, a GMCB member remarked that he was looking for evidence that One-Care was producing outcomes "that matter to patients," but "I can't find them."

There has been a large turnover in Vermont's legislature. Dare we hope that new legislators will finally have the courage and sense to finally notice the fire hydrant? Perhaps to even discuss solutions like a publicly funded universal care plan?

Lee Russ Bennington, Dec. 8