As the country prepares for the inauguration of President-Elect Joseph R. Biden, Jr. on Wednesday, the incoming administration has highlighted several priorities over the next four years. This post is a summary of priorities that are ...
This June marked the 40-year anniversary of the first five cases of what later became known as AIDS reported in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Since then, more than 32 million people have died from the disease worldwide and ...
Each September, the United States observes National Preparedness Month, a month dedicated to raising awareness of public health preparedness. Preparedness—a field that readies our nation to respond to a range of emergencies—is a newer ...
This policy update emphasizes the importance of policymakers choosing to increase funding for public health infrastructure and important initiatives, such as health equity, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Medicaid plays a critical role in providing access to health services for low-income U.S. citizens in the five U.S. territories. However, Medicaid financing in the territories has been underfunded compared to states. In this episode, ...
As the U.S. continues to undertake the largest vaccination campaign in almost a century, it has required government at all levels to surge workforce capacity. The federal government, states, territories, and local jurisdictions are acting ...
One of President Biden’s first actions just before being sworn into office was to draft up the American Rescue Plan, a sweeping proposal that ASTHO has committed to working with the Biden Administration on. The proposal offers a national ...
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 ...
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 ...
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the de Beaumont Foundation has worked closely with organizations like ASTHO to support and strengthen public health. The foundation has produced several publications and guides to support public health ...
Approximately 700 women die annually in the U.S. between 2007-2016 as a result of pregnancy or its complications, according to CDC data. This is one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the developed world. On top of that, there are ...
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 ...
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 ...
The COVID-19 pandemic introduced new challenges for screening children’s blood lead levels, as screening rates across the country dropped during stay-at-home orders. A substantive federal policy change and provisions in the Infrastructure ...
COVID-19 has revealed the stark reality of racial and ethnic health disparities that exist nationally. Black and Hispanic Americans were nearly three times more likely to die from COVID-19 than white Americans. Black and Hispanic Americans ...
While the Biden Administration and Congress have no shortage of immediate health issues to focus on, improving maternal health outcomes—particularly Black maternal morbidity and mortality—have become a priority for federal lawmakers. To ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the consequences of decades of underfunding. To ensure we are better prepared for future pandemics and biological threats, we must consider the long-term investments required to bolster our public ...
Reconciling the tension between public health and civil liberties is one of the most significant challenges of public health law and ethics. The Supreme Court of the United States historically upheld state authority to enact and enforce ...
Guest post by Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta, PhD. Last month, I had the pleasure of joining ASTHO’s Vice President for Health Security, Meredith Allen, EPA Administrator Michael Regan, and the president of the Environmental Council of States ...
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 preparedness field—while actively ...