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  5. ASTHO President Anne Zink, MD, Testifies to Congress to Advocate for Sustainable and Flexible Public Health Funding

ASTHO President Anne Zink, MD, Testifies to Congress to Advocate for Sustainable and Flexible Public Health Funding

March 23, 2023

ARLINGTON, VA—Anne Zink, MD, president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and chief medical officer for the Alaska Department of Health testified today before the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies. Zink discussed the importance of Congress providing sustainable and flexible funding for key programs and initiatives at CDC, HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, Health Resources and Services Administration, and other federal agencies to improve our nation’s public health.

“Governmental public health agencies are on the front line of protecting our nation and improving the health of the entire U.S. population. Our work is unique in its mission to lead, develop, and coordinate interventions that support the communities we serve. Healthy economies are built with healthy people. Healthy people are cheaper than sick people, and this is why sustaining funding in public health is an investment in the future of this great country, a future for all of our children,” says Zink.

“ASTHO urges Congress to provide sustainable and flexible funding for federal public health agencies to ensure that state, local, tribal, and territorial health agencies are to improve their infrastructure and capacity, meet the needs of their communities by maximizing limited resources to reduce social determinants of health, and modernize our public health data systems to ensure localized, timely, and actionable data for patients, providers, and policymakers.”

For more information about the hearing visit the committee’s website and read Dr. Zink’s full testimony.

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ASTHO is the national nonprofit organization representing the public health agencies of the United States, the U.S. territories and freely associated states, and Washington, D.C., as well as the more than 100,000 public health professionals these agencies employ. ASTHO members, the chief health officials of these jurisdictions, are dedicated to formulating and influencing sound public health policy and to ensuring excellence in public health practice.