In November, the Community Health Planning & Policy Development Section turns 40. We share milestones with our colleagues in the Epidemiology Section observing its 80th year, and with the Vision Care Section observing its 30th year. This year is special also for Chair-Elect Amy Carroll Scott, and her husband, Cobb, who had their first son, Connor Salvatore Scott on August 13. Congratulations to the Scott family!
What does 40 years mean for a Section? Turning 40 for the Section means we have an opportunity to reconnect with the past to guide the future. As a Section, we are lucky to have several of our experienced leaders. Walter Tsou, Paul Meissner, Lynne Kotranski, Linda Quick, Karen Valenzuela, Tom Piper, John Steen, Anne Umemoto, Monica Chan, Sue Myers, and Judy Gorbach continue to be involved with the Section, and be more than advisors.
Among the CHPPD Section’s strengths is student involvement. Two months ago, we asked the leadership team, that is members who participate in the bi-monthly conference calls, if they knew how students are involved with the CHPPD Section. We were surprised to learn that our leadership group did not really know.
Students keep the Section running smoothly. Scott Williams is coordinating membership engagement; Aneesah Latise Akbar-Uqdah helped coordinate a “public health career” section with the Student Assembly at the annual meeting program planning session; Erin Knight has been reviewing the proposed policies; and Ashley Wennerstorm is coordinating the CHPPD Section 40th Celebration at the Annual Meeting with Marina Ansuri, who just got a job, and both the Section newsletter editors, Sami Jarrah and Elizabeth Schiffman, are graduate students. It is also notable that Sami in his first month of involvement designed the Section brochure.
It was in Philadelphia that the CHPPD Section was born 40 years ago. We will be celebrating the 40-year milestone with about 100 colleagues over a dinner on Sunday, Nov. 8 at 8:00 p.m. We were in Philadelphia four years ago when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, and APHA had to change the venue, and reschedule the meeting. This year, we are in the midst of recovering from a recession. Many members are unable to attend the meeting due to budget cuts. Fortunately, being part of APHA and the CHPPD is more than about participating in the Annual Meeting. We will be thinking of you.
This year, the theme for the Annual Meeting is "Water and Public Heath: The 21st Century Challenge." I think of the destruction caused by wind and water during Hurricane Katrina, and the destruction caused by wind and lack of water in wildfires raging in California this year. I also think of suffering caused by drought in California, Ethiopia and in many part of the world; deaths due to diarrhea in Asia and Africa, and importance of sharing and sustaining water for life.
In 1999, when the Section turned 30, then Chair Patricia A. McGeown wrote, "We’ve heard a lot about health care reform, although we’ve yet to experience it. We’ve seen the upward spiral of the number of uninsured." As we learn about the Section’s history, we will find that we have grown in numbers, and diversity, and yet much is unchanged.
What do you think we will say about our experience with heath reform in 2019?
By Priti Irani, Chair, CHPPD Section, pri01@health.state.ny.us