During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government enacted the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, temporarily expanding the use of telehealth ...
When rural hospitals close, it increases the distance people must travel for essential healthcare services. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted and magnified the factors leading to rural hospital ...
Each September marks National Preparedness Month. This year, public health emergency preparedness professionals look back on 20 years since the 9/11 attacks—the event that effectively launched the ...
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 ...
Accompanying an infusion of federal funding, states are considering several policy changes to strengthen the public health workforce and address challenges within the health care workforce.
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 ...
The ASTHO State Health Policy team provides brief updates on 5 of the ten state health policy issues to watch in 2022: mental and behavioral health, rural health, e-cigarettes and flavored tobacco ...
Several states and territories, as well as many local governments, are going beyond recommendations and requiring individuals to wear face coverings when they are in public settings and spaces (i.e. ...
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 ...
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 ...
Health providers have widely used telehealth to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 infection and to improve access to healthcare services thanks in large part to policy changes and regulations. This ...
There are a number of court cases playing out across the country that could affect the options state and territorial health officials have to limit the spread of disease and promote health and ...
While communities transition from emergency response to long-term monitoring and recovery, the federal government and states are taking legislative action to improve emergency preparedness ...
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. ...
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 ...
Human papillomavirus, or HPV, is a common virus that can lead to certain types of cancer later in life. Because of this, some policymakers are working to include the HPV vaccine in school entry ...
This blog post explores the impact of mpox, state health agency response, and the way forward.