Title: Walk the Hill for Public Health!

Author:

Section/SPIG: HIV/AIDS

Issue Date:

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PROTECT PEOPLE • • • SAVE LIVES • • • FUND PUBLIC HEALTH!!!

Calling all HIV/AIDS Activists!!!

Nov. 9, 2004

On Nov. 9, thousands of public health professionals attending APHA’s 132nd Annual Meeting will be walking the halls of Capitol Hill to tell Congress, it’s time to make public health funding a national priority!

Increasingly, the health of all Americans is at risk. Without additional resources for a continuum of medical research, prevention, treatment and training programs, our nation’s public health system will not be able to respond adequately to existing and emerging threats. Unfortunately, some of our nation’s leaders continue to not recognize the importance of fully funding the nations’ public health system that protects Americans and saves lives every day.

November is a critical time to advance our key issues to national policymakers. Both mandatory and discretionary public health budgets for the upcoming year face grossly inadequate allocations. Currently, appropriations for the CDC, HRSA, and other federal agencies stand to be either flat-funded or cut, despite the urgent need to greatly expand resources for disease prevention, wellness promotion, and safety preparedness in communities nationwide. Reduced expenditures on these essential programs both deprive and undermine the public health community’s ability to improve the health outcomes of the American public.

We need your participation to make this Hill day a success!
The rally will begin at 8:30 a.m. at the Upper Senate Park on Capitol Hill. At 10:30 a.m., participants interested in going to Capitol Hill will go with their state delegations. Let's be sure that the HIV/AIDS Section is represented………

1. Register today to attend the rally at <www.apha.org/legislative/walkhill/signup/>.
2. Send a brief e-mail invite to your colleagues, Section members and other APHA members to attend the rally.
3. If you are members of other organizations that send participants to our Annual Meeting, encourage them to attend the rally.

Your voice and presence on Nov. 9 are crucial to the visibility and effectiveness of this campaign to convince Congress on the importance of public health.

Together, we can ensure a powerful public health presence in our nation’s capital by displaying the solidarity and commitment of the public health community.

For more information on the march visit the Walk the Hill for Public Health web page at <www.apha.org/legislative/walkhill/index.htm>, or contact Lakitia Mayo, Director of Grassroots Advocacy, by e-mail at <lakitia.mayo@apha.org> or by telephone at (202) 777-2515.