Tracy Kolian, Policy Analyst

Amanda Raziano, Policy Analyst

APHA

Greetings, Environment Section members, from APHA’s Environmental Public Health Policy staff! This is the first of our (hopefully) many columns to come in your newsletter.

Now is an exciting and challenging time for environmental public health here at APHA and across the country. Environmental public health issues — climate change, built environment, preparedness, work force needs — are moving to the top of many of our agendas, and APHA is taking action to meet and address these challenging issues. Spring was a particularly busy time — here a few highlights.

Thanks to the many of you who assisted in making this year’s National Public Health Week theme, Climate Change: Our Health in the Balance, a success! Special thanks goes out to Environment Section members John Balbus and Jonathan Patz and Medical Care Section Chair-elect Mona Sarfaty, all of whom served as advisors to this year’s activities.

If you have not already, please read the June/July issue of The Nation’s Health newspaper for a review of NPHW activities, which are only the beginning of APHA’s continued climate change commitment. Also, access APHA’s recently released blueprint to learn more about public health’s role in tackling this global problem. As part of this year’s NPHW kick-off, the blueprint was unveiled at the Association of Healthcare Journalists’ annual meeting, where former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher stated: “Global warming could be one of the top challenges facing the public health community today.”

In March, APHA, in collaboration with CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health and the National Hispanic Environmental Council, hosted a workshop on climate change and communities of color. The workshop brought together experts and leaders in the field to develop recommendations for a research agenda to assess the vulnerabilities and needs of these communities. CDC is expected to release final outcomes from this and other climate change workshops in early 2009.

In conjunction with the World Federation of Public Health Associations and U.S. Group on Earth Observations, APHA also co-sponsored a forum — Changing Climate, Changing Health Patterns: What will it take to predict and protect? — on June 18 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. 

For the launch of CDC’s Environmental Public Health Tracking Network and Web site this fall, APHA recently brought together national and community partners to discuss the network’s capabilities, challenges and future needs. APHA will continue to partner with CDC to promote awareness of the Tracking Program and Network and push for increased capacity and resources.

As a first step in that process and in an effort to develop clear and compelling messages about environmental public health and its workers, we’ve conducted interviews with environmental public leaders about our nations’ chemical safety programs and CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. This information will be used to develop educational materials about ATSDR.

On the horizon are activities around asthma control, healthy homes, environmental public health performance standards and the built environment.

And with increasing attention to environmental public health issues and an increase in our internal capacity, now is a pivotal time for us. We are in the process of defining our purpose, our role at APHA as well as our position among other national organizations that work on environmental public health issues and our role in working with you. We will be in touch with you and your fellow Section members and leaders for continuing input, guidance and expertise.

Hope you all have a great summer! We look forward to seeing you in the fall in San Diego for APHA’s Annual Meeting. And one more thing: Check out environmental public health’s much more prominent presence on APHA’s Web site: www.apha.org/eph