The COVID-19 pandemic has provided the United States with an unprecedented opportunity to understand the important lessons that global health can teach us. As public health organizations in the United States strive to address this and other challenges, looking beyond our country’s borders for creative and scalable solutions may provide more effective approaches to our greatest public health challenges. Yet it is not only within the context of a worldwide pandemic that global health can be a powerful resource for U.S. local health departments (LHDs). Successful health initiatives know no boundaries. Approaches learned from other countries can provide a wealth of knowledge and inspiration for LHDs working to address challenges in their own communities.

As the world deals with the effects of this pandemic, global health collaboration provides an unparalleled opportunity for shared learning. The world has come together to address the immediate needs of COVID-19, but we can continue to come together to address the expected long-term challenges that are anticipated as well. Global health at its core is grounded in bidirectional sharing of information and expertise, and NACCHO wants to tap into the unique resources that a global-local perspective can provide.

In this issue of NACCHO Exchange, we share global approaches to some of our greatest challenges; including COVID-19, maternal and child health, global warming, substance use disorder and more. It is our hope that this will inspire you to think about how successful approaches around the world could be adopted and adapted to address challenges in your own communities.

Feature articles in this issue include:

• Anticipating Mental Health and Substance Use Challenges in the Aftermath of COVID-19
• Three Critical Weapons for Fight Against COVID-19: A Kerala Experience
• Implementing Cuban Methods to Improve Prenatal Care in Local Health Departments in the Rural United States
• A Global Health Model for Inclusion: From Venezuela to California and Back Again
• COVID-19 Response and the Local Health Authorities: PAHO’s Megacities Challenge
• Global Health at Home: How Henry Ford System Partnered with the Detroit Health Department to Tackle COVID-19

To access this entire issue, visit our Publications Bookstore.