Category Archives: National Public Health Week
NPHW Picks Infographic Contest Winners
"The Happy, Healthy Workplace" - See below for full infographic.
As part of this year’s National Public Health Week, APHA and Piktochart came together to co-host the NPHW Infographic Contest encouraging health departments, federal agencies, student clubs and even individuals to create visuals based on the week’s theme: “Public Health is ROI: Save Lives, Save Money.”
Well now the contest is over and APHA has selected the top four, each of which earned free admission to the upcoming 2013 APHA Annual Meedting in Boston this November.
- Tiffany Nicole Tsukuda of the Los Angeles County Health Department: Public Health: Saves Lives, Saves Money;
- Leslie Erdelack of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials: For What It’s Worth: Investing in Public Health;
- Brenda Buescher: The Happy, Healthy Workplace; and
- Arvind Dilawar, Sarah Fudin, Farruk Tillaev and Robyn Song of the George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services: The Cost of Obesity.
Public Health News Roundup: April 1
National Public Health Week Events: ‘Public Health is ROI: Saves Lives, Saves Money’
"Public Health is ROI: Saves Lives, Saves Money" is the theme of this year’s National Public Health Week, from April 1 to 7. By emphasizing prevention and ensuring strong public health systems, public health helps to saves lives and stop diseases before they have a chance to happen. The end result is improved public health and reduced health care spending, meaning those valuable financial resources can go toward strengthening other aspects of a community. Communities and public health schools across the county are celebrating the week and spreading the messages of public health. Read more about National Public Health Week.
WHO: Strain of Bird Flu Kills Two in China; Third Person Infected
While a strain of bird flu has taken the lives of two Chinese men, there is at the moment no evidence to show it can be transmitted from person to person, according to the World Health Organization. The men died in February; a third person, a woman, is in critical condition. The H7N9 virus had previously infected only animals. "At this point, these three are isolated cases with no evidence of human-to-human transmission", said Michael O'Leary, MD, the WHO representative in China. "A new virus tends to be more virulent in the beginning. Either it is going to become a truly human virus, in which case we have to start dealing with it regularly, or it is going to be primarily an animal virus with just a rare human case." Read more on infectious disease.
Given Disease Labels for Children, Many Parents Push for Ineffective Medications
When it comes to doctors insisting sick infants don’t need medication, many parents refuse to take that “no” as an answer, according to a new study in the journal Pediatrics. Instead when given a simple disease label they often push for medications that won’t actually have any effect. Researchers say this demonstrates how simple disease labels can influence parents’ decision-making and shows the importance of good communication. "The disease label seems to send the message that there is an illness that requires medical treatment," said lead author Laura Scherer, an assistant professor in the department of psychological sciences at the University of Missouri. "But, depending on the situation, medical treatments may be necessary, or not. In the case of [gastroesophageal reflux disease], an otherwise healthy infant probably will not benefit from medication. So in this case [that] label can be misleading." Read more on infant and maternal health.
National Public Health Week 2013: Q&A with Georges C. Benjamin
Georges Benjamin, American Public Health Association
It’s that time of year when public health enthusiasts rejoice and remind the rest of the world why this field is so critical—this is National Public Health Week, a yearly observance since 1995. For 2013, the theme is "Public Health is ROI: Save Lives, Save Money." According to the American Public Health Association, (APHA), a key organizer of the yearly observance, this year’s theme was developed to highlight the value of prevention and the importance of well-supported public health systems in preventing disease, saving lives and curbing health care spending.
In honor of National Public Health Week, NewPublicHealth spoke with Georges C. Benjamin, MD, executive director of the APHA.
NewPublicHealth: Is this the first time that National Public Health Week has focused on the return on investment in public health?
Dr. Benjamin: I think it’s the first time we’ve done so directly. There’s no question that we have always talked about the value of public health and we’ve often talked about savings, but this is the first time we’ve really focused like a laser on that investment.
NPH: What reaction have you seen in states and local communities to this year’s theme?
Join the #NPHW Conversation All Week
Today’s kickoff of National Public Health Week is driving a lot of dynamic exchanges on Twitter. You can follow and contribute to the conversation there by using the hashtag #nphw. You can also follow it right here on NewPublicHealth. This post will update dynamically throughout the week, pulling in all the #nphw tweets. As always, follow @RWJF_PubHealth on Twitter for public health information and discussion.
National Public Health Week Begins Today
The American Public Health Association is sponsoring National Public Health Week, beginning today. The theme this year: Safety Is NO Accident: Live Injury Free. The campaign brings attention to the various types of prevalent injuries that affect our public health.
Some of APHA’s U.S. injury statistics are truly startling:
- Nearly 150,000 people die from injuries every year.
- Some 30 million people are injured severely enough each year to go to an emergency room.
- Preventable injuries are among the top ten causes of death for people of all ages.
APHA has put together a useful calendar of safety events being held this week across the country.
A sample of community prevention programs:
- Lecture on the creation of National Public Health Week at the University of Maryland at College Park.
- Panel discussion on domestic partner violence in Portland, Ore.
- Booster seat education program and giveaway in New Britain, Conn.
- Display of injury-prevention posters created by school children in Chicago, Ill.
For more on National Public Health Week, see this interesting post on the Public Health Law Network blog by Jon Vernick, deputy director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy. He discusses the role of legislation in preventing injuries and gives some detail on the Mobile Safety Center that is touring the country right now. As he points out, the public health community is making inroads in the fight against preventable injuries, but there is still much work to be done.
We’ve learned a great deal since 1988 about how to prevent injuries. For example, in 1988 there were 47,000 road traffic deaths in the U.S. In figures just announced April 1st, that total fell to less than 33,000 in 2010, a drop of about 30%.
WEIGH IN: What is your community doing to help promote injury prevention this week?
