Paradox of health care in the world's greatest nation: commentary on the 2013 Annual American Public Health Association Conference in Boston.

Boston was a laudable location for the 141st Annual APHA conference in November 2013. The city after all was the ‘birthplace’ of the United States of America with the American Revolutionary War (War of Independence) being ignited there in 1775. Throughout history Boston has contributed admirably to the American public health movement. Pre Revolutionary War, Bostonians became masters of political advocacy fighting for ‘liberty’. The Sons of Liberty, an organisation of American patriots was formed to protect the rights of colonists and to stand up to what they perceived as abuses of the British government. They are renowned for the Boston Tea Party in 1773 in reaction to British imposed taxes on tea and other imported goods. The Sons of Liberty groups purportedly exerted substantial political influence at this time and during the early years of the new nation.