Title: Gerry Eggert Running for APHA Executive Board...Let's Give Him Our Support!!

Author:

Section/SPIG: Aging & Public Health

Issue Date:

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Gerry Eggert, current GHS Development Chair, Annual Meeting Auction organizer, and former GHS Chair, is a candidate for the APHA Executive Board.

Gerry wants to get the Association to pay more attention to the GH Section and its members. According to Gerry, a good example of the neglect of our Section as a resource is the lead article in the September issue of The Nation's Health on the Medicare Drug Bill. Not one member of the GH Section was mentioned as an expert or person of importance in an article describing the most important legislation affecting seniors in the last 25 years! He notes that this omission of any interviews with GH Section members was even more puzzling because the lead article on page two of the issue was focused on the APHA Aging Task Force, co-chaired by former GHS Chair Rick Fortinsky. He also sees the need for APHA to raise the resources needed to develop its own Policy Institute, so it is not so dependent on the opinions of other advocacy organizations. In the case of the Drug Bill, an APHA position on the bill did not appear to be evident in the article, at least not one that is easily recognizable.

Brenda R. Wamsley, PhD, is his campaign Chair. He would like to have more GHS 'ers helping him get elected. (See his bio on page 23 of the September 2004 issue of The Nation's Health). If you are willing to serve on his campaign committee, please contact Gerry at <GMEggert@AOL.com>.