Dear MCH Section Members,
The APHA Annual Meeting is in Washington, D.C., this year from Saturday, Oct. 29 to Wednesday, Nov. 2. I hope many of you will be joining us for a Halloween meeting in our Nation’s capital!
This Section newsletter includes highlights from the MCH Section Program and Business Meetings, and I want to speak about the exciting things we are planning for this year’s meeting.
First and foremost as always is the Martha May Eliot Award Luncheon and Forum. In 2011 we will be celebrating 90 years of the MCH Section in APHA – come join us to celebrate!!! This event is Monday starting at 12:30 in the DC Convention Center.
· Dr. Peter van Dyck who recently stepped down as Associate Administrator of the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration Maternal and Child Health Bureau, is the winner of the 2011 Martha May Eliot Award, which honors exceptional achievements in the field of maternal and child health. Van Dyck has a nearly 40-year history of active participation in the maternal and child health community, first in Utah as State Maternal and Child Health and CSHCN director and as a faculty member at the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Utah Medical Center.
· Lauren Ramos will receive the MCH Young Professional Award. Ms. Ramos is the director of programs at the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs. In this role Lauren is a member of the Senior Leadership Team and oversees all of AMCHP’s cooperative agreement and grant funded work, and most important Lauren is currently serving as MCH Section Secretary!
· The March of Dimes American Indian/Alaska Native Women’s Committee, which is the Effective Practice Award winner, was formed in 2006 to address high rates of infant death and premature birth experienced by Native families.
· Kay Johnson, who will receive the Outstanding Leadership and Advocacy Award, has been a leader in MCH for over 25 years. She has been active in Medicaid and health policy since 1984 and a consultant to more than 40 states. Her expertise encompasses a wide range of MCH issues, including: perinatal and preconception care; home visiting; early childhood; oral health; immunization; newborn screening; adolescent health; and services for children with special needs.
The Martha May Eliot Luncheon is the premiere MCH Section event at every APHA Annual Meeting. In the past years this event has sold out in advance of the meeting, so please be sure to buy your ticket when you register for APHA. If you have already registered and did not purchase your ticket, log back in to the registration site at https://show.jspargo.com/apha11/reg/default.asp. At the bottom of the page is a link for registration changes. Once you log back in, you can add tickets to your registration. You will have to give your credit card number again.
Following the Martha May Eliot Luncheon is the Martha May Eliot Forum – the topic this year is “Life Course Perspective: Moving from Theory to Practice” -- a timely and important topic in MCH.
In addition to the Martha May Eliot award, the MCH Section will also be co-sponsoring other award sessions, including:
· the Agnes Higgins Award co-sponsored with the Food and Nutrition Section on Monday evening.
· the Text4Baby State Award Reception on Tuesday evening.
· the Greg Alexander Outstanding Student Paper Session on Monday morning.
· the session to celebrate 10 years of service from the CDC’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities on Tuesday evening.
· the MCH Section itself will be recognized for our 90th Anniversary at the APHA Awards Reception also on Tuesday evening.
A hot topic in public health these days is health reform and advocacy, and I want to highlight two of the many sessions we are presenting:
· On Sunday morning we will sponsor the MCH Town Hall with a specific focus on Health Reform, entitled “Maternal Child Health and the Affordable Care Act.”
· On Tuesday morning we will sponsor a session entitled “Policy and Advocacy in Maternal Child Health,” which will include training from APHA, AMCHP, ASTHO, and leading advocates in MCH on how to advocate on the Hill for MCH. This session can be followed by visits to meet your representatives on Capitol Hill should you feel inspired! For more information, please contact Ellen Schleicher Pliska at eschleicher@astho.org.
In addition to the many excellent award and scientific sessions, we also have planned our MCH Section business meetings and social events:
Saturday 2:00–3:30 p.m. MCH Section Business Meeting (130.0)
Saturday 7:00 p.m. MCH Dinner Mehak Restaurant 817 Seventh Street NW ($25 for buffet dinner, reservations needed)
Sunday 4:00–5:30 p.m. MCH Section Membership
Meeting (224.0)
Sunday 5:30–7:00 p.m. MCH Section Networking and
Social Hour (239.0)
In addition to these meetings we will have our committee meetings. As you can see most of these meetings occur on Saturday and Sunday – so book early and arrive by Saturday.
All events are open to all APHA members interested in Maternal and Child Health
Please join us! I look forward to meeting all of you in Washington, D.C.!!!
Debra Jackson
Chair, MCH Section