Do you have an opinion on the policy resolutions being presented to the APHA Governing Council at this year’s APHA Annual Meeting?  Even if you are not attending the meeting, you can submit an opinion to Marcia Rosenstein at Marcia.Rosenstein@cdph.ca.gov

If you are attending APHA and would like to represent the Section at the Public Hearings on Sunday from 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.,  please contact Marcia Rosenstein Marcia.Rosenstein@cdph.ca.gov

Information about the 2008 Policies are also available on the APHA Web site at

http://www.apha.org/advocacy/policy/proposedpolicies.htm   

So how do you review? When you contact Marcia, she will provide you with a policy review form.  Then you will choose one of the policy groups  (Group A, B, C, or D).  After reviewing, you will attend the first Section Meeting on Policy Review on Sunday, Oct. 25, 7:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. in the Convention Center Room 16 B, OR you will send your comments to Marcia prior to the Annual Meeting so she can include them in the discussion.

How does this policy process work?  Marcia has outlined the steps below and indicated our point in the process right now: 

• Any member is permitted to propose a policy based on APHA’s criteria. 
• The policies are submitted to the Joint Policy Committee (JPC) for review (made up of members of the Action Board, the Education Board and the Science Board). 
• The JPC reviews them, edits them, makes suggestions, and the authors then revise them.
• The JPC then sends them for PRELIMINARY review. 
• We submit our comments to the JPC (see the e-mail address below).
• The JPC then integrates the suggestions.
• Then right before the APHA Annual Meeting, the revised policies are submitted for general review by the membership, and we will re-review in preparation for the Health Administration Section Policy Committee and Section meeting. WE ARE AT THIS POINT RIGHT NOW.
• At the APHA Annual Meeting, the Health Administration Section Policy Committee will convene and re-review the policies as they stand at this point. 
• I will then ask each of you to attend a public hearing on the policies, and provide the input we have received on the policies.
• At the Public Hearing, all the Sections/individuals/Caucuses/SPIGs provide input.
• The JPC integrates the suggestions.
• The JPC then recommends policies for placement on the Consent Calendar.  At this point, if the policy is on the Consent Calendar, if the Governing Council votes to accept the Consent Calendar, the policies on the Consent Calendar list then become APHA Policy.
• Those that are taken off the Consent Calendar are then reviewed and voted yes or no at the Governing Council meeting.
• Once the Governing Council votes yea, a Policy is then APHA Policy.  If it is voted no, it does not become APHA policy.

• There is a process for introducing Latebreakers.  If there is a hot topic that has arisen after the initial process has been completed, it is possible for a member to introduce a Latebreaker.  The Latebreakers are reviewed in the Public Hearings.  If they are placed on the Consent Calendar, they become APHA policy FOR ONE YEAR, during which they must undergo the rigorous review I just outlined.

2008 Proposed Policies

A: Health Disparities

• A1: Protecting the Health of Migrant and Immigrant Workers
• A2: Need for Screening for Developmental Disabilities of the Lower Extremities
• A3: Call for Education and Research into Vitamin D Deficiency/Insufficiency

B: Environmental Health

• B1: Using “Green Carts” to Increase Access to Healthy Foods in Low-Income Urban Areas
• B2: Equal Protection for Workers Exposed to Toxics
• B3: Reducing Youth Exposure to Smoking in the Movies
• B4: Calling for a Global Ban on Lead Use in Residential Indoor and Outdoor Paints, Children's Products, and All Nonessential Uses in Consumer Products

C: Access to Care

• C1: The Need for State Legislation Protecting and Enhancing Women’s Ability to Obtain Safe, Legal Abortion Services Without Delay or Government Interference
• C2: Neonatal and Adult Male Circumcision for HIV Prevention
• C3: Opposition to Prophylactic Removal of Third Molars (Wisdom Teeth) 

D: Public Health Science and Infrastructure

• D1: Patients’ Rights to Self-Determination at the End of Life
• D2: Community Water Fluoridation
• D3: Promoting Interprofessional Education and Patient Care
• D4: Strengthening Health Systems in Developing Countries