Title: Annual Meeting Update (Nov 6-10) in Washington, D.C.
Author:
Section/SPIG: Occupational Health and Safety
Issue Date:
Celeste Monforton
<eohcnm@gwumc.edu>
OHS Section events at the APHA Annual Meeting will kick off with a Section Meeting on Sunday, Nov. 7 at 9:15 a.m. All OHS Section meetings, scientific sessions, poster presentations and the social hour are scheduled for the Washington Convention Center. An OHS Section meeting will be held on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings beginning at 7:00 a.m., and EVERYONE interested in occupational health and safety is welcome to attend. Tuesday, Nov. 9 promises to be the busiest day of the Annual Meeting, with Capitol Hill visits, the Section's traditional awards luncheon and evening dance party, PLUS sessions featuring students from the National Labor College and interns from the Occupational Health Internship Program.
The OHS Section's scientific sessions and section meetings will take place in the D.C. Convention Center, not in one of the nearby hotels. All speakers and attendees will need a badge (that is, they must be registered) to enter the Convention Center. The OHS Section has 10 free "one-day passes" to offer to speakers, such as the presenters for the "Research by the Rank-and-File" session or a session featuring high school students. If you know someone who'll need a one-day pass, please contact Celeste Monforton at <eohcnm@gwumc.edu>.
This will be the first year that LCD projectors will be stationed in the session rooms!! (No more overhead or slide projectors.)
OHS Section Popular Education Group to meet at Annual Meeting
Dorothy Wigmore
Winnipeg, Manitoba
<dorothyw@web.ca>
Want a chance to demonstrate a new popular education activity? To talk about how to use popular education in health and safety work? To (re-)connect with other popular educators doing health and safety work?
The OHS Section popular education group will meet on the Sunday afternoon of the APHA Meeting in Washington (Nov. 7). The exact time (likely 1:30 - 4:30 p.m.) and place will be announced closer to the event.
The proposed "agenda" is to be practical and avoid grand plans. Instead, we could spend most of our time trying out and giving feedback about new activities that you bring to the session. For example, I'm doing four half-hour sessions about occupational stress and would like to "play" with one of them. So bring your new tools and activities for practice runs and feedback.
We'll also do the usual catching up and networking to find out who's doing what these days, and where. We always have fun and the range of participants provides useful connections and insights.
Please let me know if you're interested in having the popular education group work with you at this meeting, or if you plan to be there at all. Invite others to attend.
Dorothy Wigmore
Winnipeg, Manitoba
<dorothyw@web.ca>
Nov. 7 meeting of the Association of Occupational and Environmental Health
The Association of Occupational and Environmental Health will be hosting an informational coffee on Sunday morning, Nov. 7 from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the convention center. We are currently scheduled to be in Room 304 (as with all things APHA the room is subject to change). We cordially invite anyone in the OHS Section who would like to learn more about AOEC and those who just want a bit of Sunday morning conversation to stop by and say hello. AOEC will also have a booth in the exhibit hall. Stop by to see our latest educational materials. We are booth 920. Contact Ingrid Denis at the AOEC office if you need more information at (202) 347-4976 or <idenis@aoec.org.>
APHA Legislative Staff Is Collecting Public Health Infrastructure Weakness Stories to Present to Congress on Hill Day
Craig Slatin, APHA Action Board Representative
Department of Health and Clinical Sciences
University of Massachusetts Lowell
tel: (978) 934-3291
fax: (978) 934-3025 or (978) 934-2012
e-mail: <Craig_Slatin@uml.edu>
APHA’s Legislative staff, along with the Public Health Infrastructure Committee of the Action Board, is collecting anecdotes from their practice at the state and local levels that will show how reductions in public health spending are affecting the state and local public health workforce and public health infrastructure.
While APHA Legislative staff is able to prepare statistical information describing the state of public health infrastructure nationally, they are less able to gather anecdotes that can paint a picture of the affect budget cuts are having on the public health infrastructure, particularly at the state and local levels.
The collected information will be used during the Nov. 9 “Hill Day” activities being planned by APHA, and will be entered into a database making it readily available for APHA staff and members to access when elected officials ask for information about public health infrastructure.
This is a wonderful opportunity for the OHS Section to bring attention to the weaknesses and failings of the occupational health and safety infrastructure.
Anecdotes should be sent by e-mail to Diane Downing at <ddowni@arlingtonva.us>, preferably by September 1, 2004, but can be sent up until Sept. 30.
Please provide your contact information: Name, telephone number, and e-mail address with submitted anecdotes. Some examples of the types of anecdotes sought are listed below. Of course, OHS Section members would adapt these for workers’ health and safety issues –- you can be creative.
- In the state of XX more than 15 nurses had to be removed from their immunization duties in order to cover for a shortage of nurses in XX program. Immunizations for students are now backlogged, and the deadline for pre-school immunizations is quickly approaching.
- In state of XX due to cuts in benefits to the Medicaid program, XX Medicaid recipients will no longer receive preventive dental benefits as a part of their Medicaid coverage.
- In XX county in Iowa, cuts to the state’s injury prevention program have led to the suspension of after school programs aimed at giving kids a safe place to play before their parents get home from work.
APHA will notify the membership as soon as the database is available.
Questions may be directed to Diane Downing at <ddowni@arlingtonva.us>.
PROTECT PEOPLE. SAVE LIVES. FUND PUBLIC HEALTH! Walk the Hill for Public Health!
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 nation's public health system that protects Americans and saves lives every day.
Novem. 9 carries enormous promise for making the priorities of APHA and the OHS Section known to Congress, while displaying the solidarity and commitment of the public health community.
APHA’s Public Health Hill Day will start with a rally at Upper Senate Park on Capitol Hill at 8:30 a.m. After the rally, public health professionals, activists, and advocates will walk the halls of Capitol Hill with their state delegations distributing APHA’s message to legislators and their staff.
To make this Hill Day a success for occupational health specifically, and public health generally, strong OHS Section participation is needed! Please register to participate in the rally and Hill day at <http://www.apha.org/legislative/walkhill/signup/>. The OHS Section has been asked to recruit at least 100 section members to attend, so register today! A solid representation is absolutely necessary to help convince Congress of the importance of public health.
Walking the halls of Capitol Hill on Nov. 9 provides an excellent opportunity for us to inform representatives in both chambers of Congress of the key occupational and public health issues facing U.S. workers and the communities in which they live. Because many senators and representatives are not fully aware of the implications of insufficient public health spending and inappropriate program directions, much can be gained from using our experience and expertise to directly educate them and their staff. Our actions have the potential to both influence this year’s legislation, and send a clear, strong public health message to the incumbent and newly elected members of the 109th Congress.
Your voice and presence on Nov. 9 are crucial to the visibility and effectiveness of this campaign.
For more information on the march, visit the Walk the Hill for Public Health Web page at <http://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.
Together, we can ensure a powerful public health presence in our nation’s capital on Nov. 9!