Title: PROTECT PEOPLE. SAVE LIVES. FUND PUBLIC HEALTH!
Author:
Section/SPIG: Aging & Public Health
Issue Date:
On Nov. 9, thousands of public health professionals attending APHA’s 132nd Annual Meeting will be walking the halls of Capitol Hill to tell Congress it’s time to make public health funding a national priority!
Increasingly, the health of all Americans is at risk. Without additional resources for a continuum of medical research, prevention, treatment and training programs, our nation’s public health system will not be able to respond adequately to existing and emerging threats. Unfortunately, some of our nation’s leaders continue to not recognize the importance of fully funding the nations’ public health system that protects Americans and saves lives every day.
Nov. 9 carries enormous promise for making the priorities of APHA and the Gerontological Health Section known to Congress, while displaying the solidarity and commitment of the public health community.
APHA’s public health Hill day will start with a rally at Upper Senate Park on Capitol Hill at 8:30 a.m. After the rally, public health professionals will walk the halls of Capitol Hill with their state delegations distributing our message to legislators and their staff.
To make this hill day a success we need your participation! Register to participate in the rally and Hill day at <www.apha.org/legislative/walkhill/signup/>. The Gerontological Health Section is recruiting at least 100 people from our Section to attend. Please register today! A solid representation is absolutely necessary to help convince Congress of the importance of public health.
November is a critical time to advance our key issues to national policymakers. Both mandatory and discretionary public health budgets for the upcoming year face grossly inadequate allocations. Currently, appropriations for the CDC, HRSA, and other federal agencies stand to be either flat-funded or cut, despite the urgent need to greatly expand resources for disease prevention, wellness promotion, and safety preparedness in communities nationwide. Reduced expenditures on these essential programs both deprive and undermine the public health community’s ability to improve the health outcomes of the American public.
Walking the halls of Capitol Hill on Nov. 9 provides an excellent opportunity for GHS members to make their voices heard in both chambers of Congress. Because many senators and representatives are not fully aware of the implications of insufficient public health spending, much can be gained from using our experience and expertise to directly educate them and their staff. Our actions have the potential to both influence this year’s legislation, and send a clear, strong public health message to the incumbent and newly elected members of the 109th Congress.
Your voice and presence on Nov. 9 are crucial to the visibility and effectiveness of this campaign.
For more information on the march, visit the Walk the Hill for Public Health Web page at <www.apha.org/legislative/walkhill/index.htm>, or contact Lakitia Mayo, Director of Grassroots Advocacy, by e-mail at <lakitia.mayo@apha.org> or by telephone at (202) 777-2515.
Together, we can ensure a powerful public health presence in our nation’s capital on Nov. 9!
Sue Hughes, DSW
Co-Director
Center for Research on Health and Aging
Institute for Health Research and Policy Studies and
Professor,
School of Public Health
University of Illinois at Chicago
Action Board Representative