Below are the candidacy statements of two OHS Section members, Andrea Kidd Taylor and Peter Orris, running for positions on the APHA Executive Board. Drs. Taylor and Orris will also be among the candidates visiting Section Business Meetings at the APHA Annual Meeting in November.
Andrea Kidd Taylor, DrPH, MSPH
APHA has an obligation to continue and increase its advocacy for the public’s health on behalf of those individuals whose voices are often ignored, unnoticed and discounted in today’s society. This means advocating for the entire community - locally, nationally and internationally. As advocates for the public’s health, APHA must continue to lead the call for affordable and quality health care that is accessible to all. In advocating for the public’s health, APHA must also be recognized as an agent for change, fighting for social justice and equality. As we recognize the extreme disparities of survival for cancer, heart disease, AIDS and various social ills among our communities, we should work collectively and continually to advocate for and implement programs and policies that will ultimately improve the quality of life for all individuals. APHA must be at the forefront of identifying strategies to educate, mentor and recruit students from diverse backgrounds into the public health field, thereby increasing and improving the level of professionalism in those communities with the greatest need and empowering them. Such strategies can only strengthen APHA and the state affiliates by increasing overall membership. My greatest contribution to the Executive Board will be the 20 plus years of experience and expertise I bring from work in public health policy and practice. Working to effectively implement APHA’s policies through addressing its strategic priorities and continuing to identify ways of improving communication between the membership, including our sections, SPIGs, affiliates and caucuses, are very important tasks that are critical in helping APHA accomplish its overall mission of improving the health of the public and achieving equity in health status.
Peter Orris, MD, MPH 
I am running for Speaker of the Governing Council because of my 35-year commitment to the deliberative process of the APHA. I have developed resolutions, been a member of the Joint Policy Committee, testified/taken testimony at the public hearings, and participated in Council debate. It is this consensus building process, involving hundreds of public health professionals, that has produced a remarkable array of policy often so important to the public’s thinking. The Association’s role as the nation’s, and with our colleagues in WFPHA the world’s, independent voice for the public’s health, requires us to propose immediate initiatives as well as cures for the underlying causes of ill health.
I believe that APHA must continue to play an important role domestically and, with the new century and our globalized world, internationally as well. As public health professionals we must propose immediate initiatives and identify cures for the underlying causes of terror and insecurity. The realities of racial and ethnic discrimination, war and other environmental disasters, as well as the increasing disparity between multinational corporate profits and global living standards, present formidable problems as yet unresolved.
These and other problems are solvable with a knowledgeable and committed global citizenry. Educating and securing public understanding and support of needed public health initiatives is a primary task of public health associations. We have reduced lead poisoning among children by removing lead from gasoline. We have created a global consciousness about climate change and the need for action. HIV/AIDS has been reduced from a surely fatal disease to a chronic disablement in those countries in which society has been mobilized and committed. Finally, though hard to see, we have slowed the push for larger and more destructive wars in our own country and abroad.
It is through joint action reflecting our collective opinion, crafted out of policy debate, that we are able to move forward and secure government action for the public’s health. Over the past years the Governing Council has revitalized its role in the Association. It has developed the scientific and democratic components of its policy process, become involved in a more meaningful way in the oversight of the activities of the association including strategic planning, and has begun to develop the ability to meet and resolve issues between annual meetings. The Council’s Speaker should be central to the efforts of staff and members to continue to improve individual participation in and group decision making by the Council especially between Annual Meetings.