The Healthy Eating Active Living Convergence Partnership is a collaborative of six major health funders in the United States that are interested in promoting environmental change approaches to improving health, particularly around healthy eating and active living. The Partnership has identified the upcoming reauthorization of the federal surface transportation bill, SAFETEA-LU, as an important opportunity to build momentum for environmental change work and increase attention to health outcomes in federal transportation policy.
The Convergence Partnership is funding the American Public Health Association to be on the executive committee of the Transportation for America Campaign (http://www.t4america.org/), in order to bring a health perspective to advocacy efforts in the reauthorization process. SAFETEA-LU currently includes some components that highlight the importance of safety and injury prevention, but a broader emphasis on health outcomes from transportation related activities and increased support for health priorities in the bill is needed. The federal transportation bill presents an opportunity to bring attention to transportation policy’s effects on health and increase funding for much needed efforts and programs like injury prevention, public transit, bicycling and pedestrian programs, and impacts and opportunities for low income communities and communities of color, among others. It is important that the Transportation for America Campaign, other efforts to increase attention to health in federal transportation policy work, and anyone interested in becoming involved in this work, identify ways to work synergistically and maximize influence on the bill that will ultimately take shape. Prevention Institute (http://preventioninstitute.org/) and PolicyLink (http://www.policylink.org/) are working with the Convergence Partnership to continue identifying partners and resources to better understand the role health can play in transportation policy and the best way to frame recommendations to get the most traction.
On the ICEHS leadership conference call, several people volunteered to help draft a policy statement for APHA on this issue. Others are needed to provide assistance and support. If you are interested and also if you have sections of representatives of other APHA sections who would have interest in this effort, please contact Larry@preventioninstitute.org and Janani Srikantharajah (Janani@preventioninstitute.org).
Background on the Convergence Partnership:
In 2006, a collaboration of funders came together to create the Healthy Eating Active Living Convergence Partnership, with the shared goal of changing policies and environments to better achieve the vision of healthy people living in healthy places. The steering committee includes representatives from The California Endowment, Kaiser Permanente, Nemours, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention serve as critical technical advisors on the committee. Visit www.convergencepartnership.org for more information.