Federal lawmakers have a long list of public health priorities to address before the current fiscal year ends on September 30, 2023, including must-pass annual appropriations, reauthorizing the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act, ...
Restrictions on flavored tobacco and nicotine products, including menthol, may reduce sales and reduce the number of new users.
Families who wish to breastfeed in the United States often face barriers in workplace and school settings. To address these disparities, federal, state, and territorial governments are adopting policies to improve lactation accommodations ...
As COVID-19 continues to spread across the country, increased attention has been given to how schools, colleges, and universities can safely reopen for the upcoming 2020-2021 academic year. To note, many schools and institutions closed in ...
To help break the chain of COVID-19 infections, state and local health departments are conducting disease investigations and contact tracing, core tools of public health practice used to combat the spread of communicable diseases. This ...
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 ...
As COVID-19 spread across the country, governors and health officials invoked their emergency powers to order physical distancing measures designed to reduce social interactions and slow the spread of the disease. Several of these ...
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 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 ...
One way states and territories can address ACEs in American Indian and Alaska Native communities is by adopting evidence-based home visiting programs that reflect the specific cultural values of the communities they are serving to reach ...
Emerging evidence indicates that affordable, safe, and stable housing directly impacts an individual’s health and well-being, emphasizing the importance of designing Medicaid benefits packages that incorporate the social determinants of ...
State and territorial health officials share priorities and build relationships on Capitol Hill.
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 ...
Anticipating a rapid deployment of COVID-19 vaccines as they are authorized, the CDC developed COVID-19 Vaccination Program Operational Guidance in collaboration with state and local jurisdictions to outline how each jurisdiction will make ...
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 ...
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 ...
Housing and overall neighborhood conditions significantly influence a community’s health. Housing quality, stability, and affordability also directly impact an individual’s opportunity and ability to be healthy. There are several policies ...
In addition to the countless hours worked during the COVID-19 pandemic, many public health workers are also grappling with how to repay outstanding federal loans. In response, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) recently announced ...