Tracy Kolian, Policy Analyst & Amanda Raziano, Policy Analyst, APHA

Greetings again Environment Section members, from APHA’s Environmental Public Health Policy staff! We -- along with all of you -- are busy preparing for the Annual Meeting next month and will keep this update brief. 

As we shared in the last newsletter, there are a number of exciting initiatives ongoing in environmental public health here at APHA. As many of you know, APHA is a working with the Convergence Project and the Transportation for America (T4A) campaign to ensure that public health is included in the SAFETEA-LU reauthorization policy discussions. Dr. Benjamin recently spoke about the nexus of public health and transportation at the ASTHO-NACCHO conference and this incredible opportunity to positively impact health through policy change.

We are also working with Environment Section and other members to develop an APHA transportation policy statement, as well as a policy paper on the links between transportation and health. Look for additional information to be announced at APHA’s Annual Meeting in San Diego.

We also continue to build on the successful National Public Health Week efforts. We have partnered with George Mason University and others to develop a “teachable moment” presentation -- one that will enable public health professionals to educate themselves, peers, policy-makers and their communities about the health impacts of climate change. 

Finally, we are very interested in collecting stories about your experiences in the field of environmental public health. Stories are a powerful way to share what we do and the value of environmental public health. As an initial step, we will be collecting stories at our Environmental Public Health booth at the Annual Meeting. We will continue this effort over the next year and look forward to hearing from you all.  Please stop by, share a story or say hello in San Diego!