Access to quality internet may not be the first thing you think of when you think about health equity, but it is something that impacts many communities. In this interview, ASTHO chats with Craig Settles on ‘broadband redlining’, how ...
In May 2021, President Biden released full details of the fiscal year 2022 budget. Overall, the budget request combines President Biden's American Jobs Plan, his American Families Plan, and funding priorities for the Pentagon and ...
While COVID-19 has shown some of the best attributes of the U.S. public health system, it has exposed the weaknesses of our data systems—wrought by chronic underfunding and further exacerbated by siloed, categorical funding and planning. ...
This post explores the importance of including maternal and child health considerations in infectious disease emergency preparedness and response in states, territories, and freely associated states.
In order to contain and mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic, widespread, rapid testing is key. Rampant and efficient testing determines who has the virus and who may be at risk of transmitting it, and allows for effective management of ...
In the face of a worldwide pandemic, an increase in natural disasters, and the unsettling specter of homeland security threats, it’s easy for public health and environmental officials to feel like the odds are stacked against us. But we ...
U.S. Territories Face Healthcare Cuts if Congress Does Not Address Impending Medicaid Financing Cliff ARLINGTON, VA—Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) member Esther Muña, MHA, chief executive officer at the ...
This episode highlights why it's important for Congress and the Trump administration to support state, territorial, tribal, and local public health workforces as they respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Public health data collection and surveillance systems by health departments are in dire need of modernization. Though the public health community began developing a path to modernization over the last decade, attention to this issue from ...
On March 15, 2023, ASTHO announced a jointly-authored article on state and territorial emergency powers since the COVID-19 pandemic has been published in Journal of Emergency Management.
Well before COVID-19 hit, an increasing share of American households faced housing challenges. This is a public health concern because stable, affordable, and accessible housing has a direct and well-documented impact on physical and ...
A discussion with Meredith Allen, ASTHO’s Vice President for Health Security, about how the first shipments of the COVID-19 vaccinations have been a major turning point for the pandemic and a milestone moment for U.S. public health ...
This series explores the critical need for engagement of disability stakeholders and disability-led organizations as equity partners in public health preparedness.
Information on disability status and type is not systematically collected during emergency department visits and, as such, it cannot be used during surveillance. ASTHO conducted six key informant interviews with disability professionals to ...
In 2021, ASTHO convened state environmental health directors and directors of public health preparedness to discuss innovations developed during the COVID-19 pandemic such as virtual inspections. This ASTHOBrief explores how state health ...
To ensure that establishments were abiding by food safety rules during the COVID-19 pandemic and to protect the health of professionals who inspect these facilities, multiple state health agencies implemented virtual inspection protocols.
Federal funding that supports public healthy emergency preparedness is critical. Read the latest on PAHPA and more in the Health Policy Update.
Following a hurricane, the risk of exposure to infectious disease increases due, in part, to the presence of floodwater and debris. Hurricanes may contribute to population displacement and overcrowding—further heightening risk factors for ...
On Dec. 3, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, ASTHO is commemorating nearly 12 months of supporting disability and preparedness specialists in state and territorial health agencies. Throughout 2021, ASTHO embedded 20 full-time ...
Researchers estimate more than 140,000 children in the United States experienced the death of a parent or grandparent caregiver between April 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021. The study highlights disturbing disparities in caregiver deaths by ...