The COVID-19 pandemic has presented many challenges for breastfeeding families and state breastfeeding initiatives. This brief discusses these challenges and how states in ASTHO’s Breastfeeding Learning Community are overcoming ...
Heart disease and stroke are the leading causes of death in Guam, Palau, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. These jurisdictions are taking innovative steps to reduce hypertension among their populations.
#MaskUp Campaign ASTHO and the Big Cities Health Coalition produced a public service announcement to encourage people across the country to express their compassion for others and #MaskUp. Please download, share, and encourage others to do ...
Many pharmaceutical companies urgently began developing a COVID-19 vaccine earlier this year to reduce the spread of the virus as the threat of a pandemic loomed. Fast forward several months and millions of COVID-19 cases later, states and ...
As a truly historic year comes to an end, many public health policy issues received a considerable amount of attention in 2020. Subjects such as the pandemic that will live on in infamy, racial health disparities, and the future of the ...
Healthy People 2030 charts the course for public health over the next decade. In this episode, public health leaders share their perspectives about where state and territorial health agencies intersect with Healthy People 2030 and why it ...
On Dec. 3, the International Day of People with Disabilities commemorates disability rights and brings awareness to essential issues for those with disabilities by promoting the “well-being of persons with disabilities in all spheres of ...
As public health officials lead the pandemic response, clear direction-setting in every state and territories is vital to assure our planning and implementation is fair and focused on those most at need. These are not entirely ...
On April 3, 2020, ASTHO CEO Michael Fraser issued a statement emphasizing the importance of using face coverings as a potential intervention to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
As we celebrate National Rural Health Day this year, we are reminded of how important telehealth can be for public health and healthcare. Telehealth can minimize challenges faced by rural patients and communities—such as transportation, ...
Conditioning school attendance on student vaccinations is an evidence-based way of maintaining and increasing vaccine coverage. State law establishes school vaccination requirements which apply not only to public schools but often to ...
State and local jurisdictions are developing Ending the HOV Epidemic plans. The EHE initiative has largely focused on four key strategies: Diagnose, Treat, Prevent, and Respond to potential outbreaks. The EHE initiative set a goal to ...
The adage “what gets measured, gets done” has had staying power for a reason. When we can accurately describe conditions, quantify impact, and elucidate connections, we have a better chance at taking collective (and effective) action to ...
Deciding what book to read is a task in itself. To make things easier, ASTHO’s staff curated a list of page-turning and thought-provoking books guaranteed to be worth your time. There’s something for everyone on our list, whether ...
How to Support Youth Post COVID-19 With More Flexible Policies Caitlin Langhorne Griffith, Victoria Pless, Martha Yeide Over the past few months, COVID-19 has highlighted how current policies and funding do not support an equitable ...
More than 100 rural hospitals have closed since 2010, and an additional 25% are at high risk of closure, and COVID-19 has magnified the existing stressors on rural healthcare. As a result, states are using a variety of measures to address ...
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 ...
This Health Policy Update is an overview of state legislative activity to increase financial stability for families during the COVID-19 pandemic which may help to prevent adverse childhood experiences.
Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of heart disease, particularly in adults aged 35 to 64. This blog post breaks down ways the Surgeon General's report on smoking cessation may be helpful to state health officials.
On Dec. 10, 2020, ASTHO president and Pennsylvania secretary of health Rachel Levine, MD, testified about the COVID-19 vaccine before a Senate subcommittee.