The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted both the physical and mental health well-being of youth. Disruptions in both their home and school life have put youth at risk for poor mental health outcomes that include increased anxiety, depression, ...
May is Mental Health Awareness Month and the importance of continued mental health promotion and suicide prevention efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. As we address the physical effects of COVID-19 through social distancing, mask ...
Vaccines are one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century, as well as some of the most powerful and cost-effective tools to prevent disease, disparities, disability, and death among children and adults. The COVID-19 ...
Anticipating a rapid deployment of COVID-19 vaccines as they are authorized, the CDC developed COVID-19 Vaccination Program Operational Guidance in collaboration with state and local jurisdictions to outline how each jurisdiction will make ...
Looking to the future, states are improving access to care, providing subsidies for tuition costs, expanding hours of licensed facilities, increasing access, and meeting the needs of both parents and children.
States and territories have broad powers to protect public health and safety, including powers to prevent and control the spread of communicable disease typically exercised by state and territorial health departments. This authority is an ...
As the number of COVID-19 vaccinations grows, some states are looking at their vaccination rates to determine when to loosen measures that mitigate the spread of COVID-19, such as venue capacity limits, business closure times, and masking ...
Increasing and maintaining vaccine coverage is an important way to prevent the spread of disease and keep communities healthy. This post is an overview of 2019 state vaccine legislative activities.
Recent legislation at both the state and federal levels has significantly affected the ability of health care providers to serve patients virtually and across state lines.
Three ways policymakers are addressing access to care are through telehealth, safety net and emergency services, and adjusted reimbursement rates to Medicaid-enrolled providers.
To address the youth tobacco epidemic, jurisdictions filed lawsuits against JUUL to end their marketing practices aimed at youth and to obtain compensation from the financial toll experienced by communities.
A mid-session legislative update on five of ASTHO's top 10 public health state policy issues to watch in 2023: data privacy and modernization, reproductive health, health equity, strengthening public health agencies, and immunization.
A mid-session legislative update on five of ASTHO's top 10 public health state policy issues to watch in 2023: tobacco, HIV, mental health, PFAS, and opioids.
Many states have introduced bills to strengthen and increase access to these prenatal, delivery, and postpartum services, building a solid foundation of care for women who must navigate the healthcare system and make difficult decisions ...
States and municipalities are adopting tobacco retailer licensing (TRL) policies to control tobacco prevalence and impact. Learn more about TRL programs.
This blog from ASTHO discusses mitigating risks of AI use in government agencies, emphasizing privacy, transparency, and ethical concerns.
How the Emergence of Xylazine Impacts Overdose Prevention Policy overdose prevention policy, overdose crisis, fatal overdoses, emergence of xylazine, illicit drug supply, toxicological testing, withdrawal symptoms, xylazine test strips, ...
Earth Day is a natural time to examine current and future climate change policies that impact human health, including clean air, safe drinking water, access to food, and secure shelter.
This Health Policy Update is an overview of policy strategies that states have taken at the executive and legislative levels to increase the healthcare workforce to more effectively and efficiently respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.