What a week!
This Tuesday, Americans heard President Obama say that health reform is critical to our nation’s economic future, that the recovery plan “makes the largest investment ever in preventive care, because that's one of the best ways to keep our people healthy and our costs under control,” and that “health care reform cannot wait, it must not wait, and it will not wait another year.” [You can find a transcript of the speech here.]
And then less than 48 hours later, the president released a budget proposal including a $634 billion fund for health reform - calling it a “down payment” on universal coverage.
Taken together with the reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program last month, the new administration has thus far lived up to its promise to work to ensure that everyone one in our nation has access to the health services needed to stay health. Additionally, there has also been a broad recognition of the role that public health and prevention must play in reform, which is a giant step toward better health in our nation.
APHA is pleased with the direction things are heading for health reform. Are you? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
Hear “Why Public Health Matters”
In support of National Public Health Week 2009 and its theme, “Building the Foundation for a Healthy America,” APHA is pleased to announce the release of a new video series – “Why Public Health Matters.”
Available for viewing on the NPHW Web site, the videos feature public health professionals from around the nation sharing their views on public health. The topics they consider include the greatest public health successes, the relevance of public health, challenges facing public health and much more.
Check them out today and then add your voice to the discussion by submitting your personal story of what public health means to you.
Available for viewing on the NPHW Web site, the videos feature public health professionals from around the nation sharing their views on public health. The topics they consider include the greatest public health successes, the relevance of public health, challenges facing public health and much more.
Check them out today and then add your voice to the discussion by submitting your personal story of what public health means to you.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Putting a face on public health
As our leaders debate the merits of the public health provisions in the economic stimulus bill, one wonders how best to make the case for this important funding.
Health departments, local coalitions, associations and people like you have been writing letters to elected officials, speaking with local media and doing everything they can to explain why investing in public health makes sense. We’ve highlighted how prevention will save money, how the funds will create jobs and how they will allow more people access to important public health services during these difficult economic times.
But this isn’t enough. Despite all the evidence in support of these provisions, they are still in danger of being stripped out of the Senate’s version of the bill. So we need a new approach. Perhaps the problem is that we haven’t succeeded in telling the story of public health – we haven’t given a face to the many lives touched by our work.
We need to share our stories with our leaders and our communities. Share how your clinic has been inundated with people who have lost their insurance and need to see a doctor, but you don’t have the funds to meet demand. Share how your public education campaign resulted in record high numbers of people getting their flu shots. Share how you finally quit smoking after your state required your work to go smoke-free.
Whatever your story, share it. If our elected leaders are able to hear the real-life stories of the lives improved through public health, we might just have a chance to change some minds.
Health departments, local coalitions, associations and people like you have been writing letters to elected officials, speaking with local media and doing everything they can to explain why investing in public health makes sense. We’ve highlighted how prevention will save money, how the funds will create jobs and how they will allow more people access to important public health services during these difficult economic times.
But this isn’t enough. Despite all the evidence in support of these provisions, they are still in danger of being stripped out of the Senate’s version of the bill. So we need a new approach. Perhaps the problem is that we haven’t succeeded in telling the story of public health – we haven’t given a face to the many lives touched by our work.
We need to share our stories with our leaders and our communities. Share how your clinic has been inundated with people who have lost their insurance and need to see a doctor, but you don’t have the funds to meet demand. Share how your public education campaign resulted in record high numbers of people getting their flu shots. Share how you finally quit smoking after your state required your work to go smoke-free.
Whatever your story, share it. If our elected leaders are able to hear the real-life stories of the lives improved through public health, we might just have a chance to change some minds.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Obama gives public health a shout out
With the world’s eyes on D.C. this week, public health got a boost from none other than President Obama himself. The high-profile acknowledgement came during this week’s Youth Inaugural Ball, which was billed as a celebration of the role young people can play to serve their communities.
As he addressed the crowd, Obama said:
“We know that young people everywhere are in the process of imagining something different then what has come before. Where there is war they imagine peace, where there is hunger they imagine people being able to feed themselves, where there is disease they imagine a public health system that works for everybody, where they imagine bigotries they imagine togetherness.”
Don’t believe me? Check it out for yourself (the quote starts at about the 3:00 mark)!
As we seek to impart the importance of public health to our nation’s health, it’s encouraging that millions of people heard our new president call for establishing an effective, comprehensive public health system – not a health care system, mind you – as a means of preventing disease!
What did you think Obama’s public health mention?
As he addressed the crowd, Obama said:
“We know that young people everywhere are in the process of imagining something different then what has come before. Where there is war they imagine peace, where there is hunger they imagine people being able to feed themselves, where there is disease they imagine a public health system that works for everybody, where they imagine bigotries they imagine togetherness.”
Don’t believe me? Check it out for yourself (the quote starts at about the 3:00 mark)!
As we seek to impart the importance of public health to our nation’s health, it’s encouraging that millions of people heard our new president call for establishing an effective, comprehensive public health system – not a health care system, mind you – as a means of preventing disease!
What did you think Obama’s public health mention?
Friday, January 16, 2009
Calling for action
With D.C. gearing up for next week's inauguration, APHA has released a list of its public health priorities for the new Congress and administration.
These recommendations are part of NPHW efforts to urge our elected leaders to recognize the importance of public health as the foundation for a strong national health system that is able to address the many health challenges facing our nation.
Check them out here and then share your thoughts in the comments. What other legislative asks do you think the public health community should promote?
These recommendations are part of NPHW efforts to urge our elected leaders to recognize the importance of public health as the foundation for a strong national health system that is able to address the many health challenges facing our nation.
Check them out here and then share your thoughts in the comments. What other legislative asks do you think the public health community should promote?
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
NPHW 2009 toolkit now available!
The "Building the Foundation for a Healthy America" toolkit is now available. The toolkit includes fact sheets, media outreach materials, suggested community events, legislative information and resources for everyone to use throughout NPHW. Start planning your NPHW event today!
Friday, January 9, 2009
Coming up short
Add this to the looming hurdles on the road to health reform: A recent Physicians’ Foundation survey of 12,000 doctors — mostly primary care physicians — found that half are planning to reduce their patient load or stop practicing altogether. Translation: When the health care doors open to the nation’s 45 million uninsured, will anyone be there to welcome them?
It’s a prediction complicated even more by a September study in the Journal of the American Medical Association that showed only 2 percent of graduating medical students are planning a career in general internal medicine, and an earlier Health Affairs study that predicted a primary care physician shortage of up to 44,000 by 2025.
The problem? Just take a look at Massachusetts. A couple years ago, the state passed sweeping health reform legislation resulting in near universal health coverage in the state. The downside? Not enough primary care doctors to see the hundreds of thousands of newly insured residents.
Pretty sobering. Primary care physicians, along with pediatricians, nurses and other primary care providers, are like the backbone of the health care delivery system, providing the regular check-ups, screenings, preventive advice and treatment that keep people healthy. Plus, the primary care provider is often the person that we learn to trust — something that can’t be overestimated when it comes to staying healthy.
So, what to do? Policy-makers at state and national levels have been working on legislation to beef up the primary care work force, with incentives such as loan repayments and scholarships for medical students and nurses willing to work in under-served communities. But with such massive shortages predicted, will that be enough?
Read more about the problem from AMA and let us know your thoughts.
P.S. Our country is also facing a major public health worker shortage. But since it’s the new year, I’ll stick to one piece of bad news at a time.
It’s a prediction complicated even more by a September study in the Journal of the American Medical Association that showed only 2 percent of graduating medical students are planning a career in general internal medicine, and an earlier Health Affairs study that predicted a primary care physician shortage of up to 44,000 by 2025.
The problem? Just take a look at Massachusetts. A couple years ago, the state passed sweeping health reform legislation resulting in near universal health coverage in the state. The downside? Not enough primary care doctors to see the hundreds of thousands of newly insured residents.
Pretty sobering. Primary care physicians, along with pediatricians, nurses and other primary care providers, are like the backbone of the health care delivery system, providing the regular check-ups, screenings, preventive advice and treatment that keep people healthy. Plus, the primary care provider is often the person that we learn to trust — something that can’t be overestimated when it comes to staying healthy.
So, what to do? Policy-makers at state and national levels have been working on legislation to beef up the primary care work force, with incentives such as loan repayments and scholarships for medical students and nurses willing to work in under-served communities. But with such massive shortages predicted, will that be enough?
Read more about the problem from AMA and let us know your thoughts.
P.S. Our country is also facing a major public health worker shortage. But since it’s the new year, I’ll stick to one piece of bad news at a time.
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