Giving Compass' Take:

• KXAN reports threats to public health in 2019 like childhood obesity, access to health care, disease prevention, and birthing complications among others. 

• To change public health for the better, it's going to take initiatives from schools, media, philanthropists and doctors. How can a collaborative outlook produce the health results we want?

• Here's how wealth inequality factors into health inequality in America. 

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Is Texas ready for the next big public health threat? As we enter a new year, state health experts weighed in on what the state can learn from disease outbreaks like Zika and Ebola, and natural disasters like Hurricane Harvey, as officials work to keep Texans safe.

The four most recent commissioners of the Texas Department of State Health Services made a rare appearance together to discuss their experiences leading the department. Each panelist weighed in on the threats that affect every aspect of our lives.

"Every single day from the moment you wake up, public health had something to do with your ability to go to the next step," said Dr. Eduardo Sanchez, Texas Commissioner of Health from 2001 to 2006.

Read the full article about 2019 threats to public health by Wes Rapaport at KXAN