State Health Policy
ASTHO’s federal and state government experts provide our members with guidance and education on public health policy development and legislation.
ASTHO’s federal and state government experts provide our members with guidance and education on public health policy development and legislation.
This map visualizes ASTHO's ongoing public health and healthcare AI legislative tracking.
Economic security and well-being, job stability, access to safe and affordable housing, access to healthy and nutritious foods, and access to resources to manage mental and physical health—all of these things impact individual, family, and ...
Although suicide was a critical public health issue in the U.S. long before the COVID-19 pandemic began, Americans are now reporting increased mental health challenges like depression, anxiety, and suicidal behaviors. In addition, millions ...
Though now an illegal practice, government contracts, policies, and practices have generally excluded women, and Black, Indigenous, and people of color. Still, practices and existing structures continue the inequitable distribution of all ...
Every August, national, state, and local breastfeeding stakeholders celebrate National Breastfeeding Month by engaging each other and the public in conversations about changes needed to build a landscape of breastfeeding support. The 2021 ...
Over the years evidence has expanded on community health workers (CHWs) improving outcomes and even reducing disparities in heart disease and many other public health priority areas. However, their presence in state and local public health ...
On Aug. 23, 2021, the FDA announced full approval of Pfizer and BioNTech’s mRNA vaccine for COVID-19. ASTHO has answers to five key questions about the approval and what it means for state and territorial health officials: What does the ...
On this episode: public health on alert as the Ebola outbreak expands in Uganda; and David Lakey, MD (alumni-TX) tells us about lessons from 2014 when the Ebola virus made its way to Dallas, Texas.
In this podcast episode, experts offer perspectives on the value of cultivating partnerships between state public health agencies and state units on aging. In addition, officials from Georgia describe their collaboration to improve the ...
In 2017, nearly 64,000 children under six had elevated blood lead levels as defined by the CDC. There is no safe blood lead level in children, and even low levels of lead have been shown to affect IQ, ability to pay attention, and academic ...
Increasing and maintaining vaccine coverage is an important way to prevent the spread of disease and keep communities healthy. Efforts to reduce COVID-19 transmission, such as social distancing, led to fewer people seeking non-urgent ...
Leading a governmental health department is a complex job during the best of times, but particularly so during a pandemic when leaders must navigate every step carefully. In this episode, our guests introduce and discuss a concept called ...
State and territorial health leaders are thinking long-term about how policy changes made as a response to the pandemic might be continued to support vulnerable populations. During this episode, public health experts discuss how states and ...
On this episode, we speak with two public health veterans who led state health departments during times of public health uncertainty—like H1N1 and Ebola. Our guests discuss the lessons they learned during trying times, the advice they’d ...
Advocating on Capitol Hill for strong public health systems is critical to advancing the work of state and territorial health agencies. ASTHO's 2019 “Washington Week” has come and gone, but the work is far from over.
This episode highlights the nation’s childhood obesity epidemic and discusses ways to reduce climbing obesity rates by increasing access to healthy foods and promoting physical activity through community planning and changes to the built ...
Dr. Brian Castrucci, CEO and President of the de Beaumont Foundation, talks about data that shows public health is on track to lose 130,000 people by 2025; an ASTHO blog article discusses how colonialism, military presence, and political ...
Joanne Pearsol, ASTHO’s Director of Workforce Development discusses the debut of ASTHO’s new public health jobs website, publichealthcareers.org; an ASTHO blog article assesses Tennessee’s progress on Opioid Use Disorder throughout its ...
Dr. Laura Parajon, New Mexico’s Deputy Secretary of Health, reacts to the findings of the new PH WINS survey and tells us how we can begin to support and rebuild frontline teams; Dr. Jose Montero, Director of the Center for State, Tribal, ...