Title: 2004 APHA Policy Process Update
Author:
Section/SPIG: Environment
Issue Date:
The APHA Joint Policy Committee (JPC) met for the first round of the 2004 proposed policy review process on April 27-28 at the APHA headquarters in Washington D.C. The JPC is comprised of 12 members appointed from APHA’s three Boards – The Science Board, the Action Board, and the Education Board. The JPC is co-chaired by the chairs of these three boards. The Action Board members represent the various sections of the Association, while the Science and Education Board members are appointed to broadly represent APHA and its members.
During the two-day meeting, the JPC members reviewed each of the draft policy statements submitted for 2004, discussing their merits in terms of their compliance with APHA policies, accuracy of the problem statements, adequacy of their documentation, consistency and appropriateness of the resolution’s action steps with the stated problem, and their relationship to existing policies (i.e., is it duplicative of existing policies?). The JPC does not make judgments with regard to specific subject or content of the proposed policy statement. Only one of the 23 proposed resolutions received a positive endorsement from the JPC. Six received a negative assessment; and the remainder received a conditional assessment. A positive assessment means that the resolution can go forward with only minor, if any, changes by the author. A negative assessment indicates major flaws in the document that would need to be addressed before the policy document could be resubmitted. A conditional assessment indicates that there are some major concerns that need to be addressed by the author(s), but the resolution could go forward if the changes are made.
Below are the list of submitted resolutions and policy papers along with their JPC assessment. The authors of proposed policy statements that receive a negative assessment from the JPC can appeal the decision to the Executive Committee.
GROUP - A: HEALTH DISPARITIES
A-1: Reducing Underage Alcohol Consumption and Advertising to Youth (CONDITIONAL)
A-2: Supporting Environmental Accessibility to Reduce Health Disparities (CONDITIONAL)
A-3: Eliminating Health Disparities Through a Concerted Emphasis on Prevention (NEGATIVE)
A-4: Treatment of Periodontal Disease and Prevention of Pre-term Low Birth Weight Infants (NEGATIVE)
A-5: No Title Submitted. Subject: ER Personnel turning in undocumented immigrants (NEGATIVE)
GROUP - B: ENVIRONMENTAL AND OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH
B-1: Workplace Violence Prevention-Increased Funding for Intervention Research, Training, and Establishment of an Enforceable OSHA Standard (CONDITIONAL)
B-2: Resolution for Support for Overtime Pay (CONDITIONAL)
B-3: No Title Submitted. Subject: Built Environment (CONDITIONAL)
B-4: Resolution Supporting Environmental Health Education for Health Professionals (CONDITIONAL)
B-5: Preventing human Exposure to Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) Fire Retardants to Protect Public Health (CONDITIONAL)
B-6: Affirming the Necessity of a Secure, Sustainable, and Health-Protective Energy Policy (CONDITIONAL)
GROUP - C ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE
C-1: Support for Repeal of Uniform Individual Accident and Sickness Policy Provision Law (UPPL) Exclusions (CONDITIONAL)
C-2: Support for the Licensure of Naturopathic Doctors as Physician-Level Providers of Comprehensive Health Care (NEGATIVE)
C-3: International Volunteer Vision and Eye Care Services (CONDITIONAL)
C-4: Correctional Health Care Standards and Accreditation(CONDITIONAL)
C-5: Support for Coordinated School Health Programs: Essential Public Health Infrastructure (CONDITIONAL)
C-6: Advocating for the Inclusion of Comprehensive Sex Education Programs in the School System (CONDITIONAL)
GROUP D - PUBLIC HEALTH SCIENCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE
D-1: Resolution Condemning Recent Attacks on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender and HIV-Related Research (CONDITIONAL)
D-2: Threats to Public Health Science (LB 03) (CONDITIONAL)
D-3: Community-Based Participatory Research (CONDITIONAL)
D-4: No Title-Subject: Food at APHA meetings (NEGATIVE)
D-5: No Title-Subject: Antibiotic resistance (CONDITIONAL)
D-6: Support for Nutrition Labeling in Fast-Food and Other Chain Restaurants (POSITIVE)