Across the nation, public health agencies have mounted herculean efforts to stem the COVID-19 pandemic while addressing a pre-existing HIV epidemic and an opioid crisis that is serving as a source ...
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.
How the Emergence of Xylazine Impacts Overdose Prevention Policy overdose prevention policy, overdose crisis, fatal overdoses, emergence of xylazine, illicit drug supply, toxicological testing, ...
Recent state laws and governor emergency orders prohibiting universal school mask protocols are complicating the implementation of CDC’s evidence-based guidance for COVID-19 mitigation measures for ...
As governments and private entities adopt COVID-19 vaccine protocols to protect health and safety, legal challenges are mounting. In some states, policymakers have proactively attempted to limit or ...
Creating community gathering spaces, or placemaking, has garnered considerable attention in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Youth sports is an important outgrowth of placemaking as they can be a ...
As the nation grapples with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, community health workers are being recognized for the role they play in improving health outcomes of our most vulnerable communities. In ...
Incidences of tick-borne disease is on the rise and state legislatures around the country have found ways to address the issue of tick-borne diseases.
Each year, ASTHO notes the top public health policy issues to watch in the upcoming year. Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances are synthetic chemicals that can migrate into soil, water, and air during ...
In 2020 and early 2021, state policymakers took action to raise awareness of the impacts of racism on health outcomes, to reverse the damage of racist polices, and to implement policy changes to ...
The ASTHO State Health Policy team provides brief updates on 5 of the ten state health policy issues to watch in 2022: public health authority, immunization, data privacy and modernization, public ...
Overdose fatality reviews allow states to examine and understand the circumstances surrounding fatal drug overdoses. Knowing the who, what, when, where, and how of fatal overdoses provides a better ...
As leaders of their state agency, state and territorial health officials can be named parties in lawsuits alleging that an action taken by a public health agency was unlawful. These officials are ...
Considerable evidence supports the connection between housing, food security, transportation and health outcomes, so states are implementing policies to build healthy environments that ensure ...
Perinatal substance use is a serious public health issue, resulting in detrimental and even life-threatening fetal outcomes, and it continues to grow.
State issued documents, such as birth certificates, are often required to navigate daily life. Vital records policy is a complex and evolving issue with many of the processes and procedures left to ...