Title: FROM THE CHAIR

Author:

Section/SPIG: Maternal and Child Health

Issue Date:

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Howard Spivak-MCH Section Chair

As this is the last section newsletter before the APHA Annual Meeting, I want to start by stating that on behalf of the section leadership, we look forward to seeing many of you at the MCH Section meeting at the APHA Annual Meeting, as well as the scientific presentation sessions and the Martha Elliot Forum. I'd like to thank the section leaders, councilors and members for all the hard work that each of you has done in behalf of mothers and children.

This year, the Forum will focus on youth violence prevention, a topic of great importance to many of us. Youth violence continues to be a serious concern for most communities around the country. The Forum will take a look at the science, community practice, and public policy issues related to youth violence and will use several of the outstanding programs in the San Francisco area as illustrations of current practice as well as program evaluation. Please try to attend this meeting, as I believe it will be an outstanding program.

We also hope that many of you will be able to come to the business meeting on Sunday (with my promise that irrespective of whether the meeting will start on time, it will certainly end on schedule) and the leadership meeting on Monday morning—which is at some ridiculously early time in the morning. Check the program book for details on time and location. There is also a section banquet on Saturday evening that will be a Chinese banquet at Far East Café on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2003, at 7:00 p.m. Please see below for additional information about this wonderful event!

One of the key topics that we will address at both of the section meetings will be advancing the formulation of an advocacy agenda and plan for the section. The section councilors have been talking with various committees and section members about priority areas, and we want to move the discussion along to the point where we have a clear agenda with specific action plans. The direction of public policy, especially related to children and families at both national and state levels, requires that we not sit back but identify ways for our voices to be heard loudly and effectively. Our section has several thousand members across the country, and we can be heard if we are smart and strategic. I very much want my tenure as chair to help move the section to as visible a role as possible as a voice for women, children and families. So, please come prepared with ideas and possible action steps for us to consider and move along. Among the possibilities are: ddressing the impact of budget cuts at the state and national level; the issues related to the cost of the Iraq War; the extensive attention towards homeland security at a huge cost to programs affecting children and families; issues of childhood nutrition (including obesity-related issues); and possibly other children's programs that are being cut such as Head Start, etc. We have a solid base of public health knowledge and expertise in our section and should use this strength to help build an effective strategic plan for any of these issues.

I always find the interactions with section members and MCH colleagues extremely invigorating and feel renewed and refreshed. Please join me in San Francisco. We have much to do.

Howard