1016: Harris Reflects on Presidential Term, TFAH Obesity Report

JANSON SILVERS: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Wednesday, October 22, 2025. I'm Janson Silvers. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

SCOTT HARRIS: 

The men and women doing public health in this country, in the states, and D.C., and the freely associated states and the U.S. territories, they really care about their communities.

SILVERS: 

That's ASTHO's president, Dr. Scott Harris, state health officer with the Alabama Department of Public Health. It's been a year since Harris began his term as ASTHO's president, which he will soon be wrapping up. As he reflects on his term, Harris thinks about the impact the current political environment has had on his role.

HARRIS: 

We've seen things happen in public health that we really couldn't have imagined. You know, we've seen, again, in my experience, unprecedented cuts in public health. We've seen a lot of politicization of things that we thought were just in the realm of science, and that weren't really controversial.

SILVERS: 

Harris says he and his colleagues have adapted to recent changes to break through to those in their jurisdictions.

HARRIS: 

We really have had to learn to express to the public why we do the things we do. It's just not sufficient to tell them what the right advice is. It's not sufficient to tell them you should do this, but we actually have to explain why.

SILVERS: 

Through these uncertain times, Harris says he is proud to have served with a group of professionals who do such a great job for public health, and hopes they'll remain strong.

HARRIS: 

I would encourage people just to hang in there, to keep the faith, to know that the work that they're doing is really meaningful and really makes a difference.

SILVERS: 

Harris says he's looking forward to continuing as an ASTHO member under the leadership of incoming president, Dr. Manisha Juthani. Stay tuned to hear more from her on tomorrow's show.

Last week, ASTHO chief medical officer, Dr. Susan Kansagra, joined TFAH president and CEO, Dr. J. Nadine Gracia, TFAH director of strategic communications and policy research, Rhea Farberman, and Megan Lott with the Duke University Global Health Institute for a press briefing on public health policy surrounding chronic disease prevention and obesity.

SUSAN KANSAGRA: 

This is an issue that goes beyond clinical walls, as so many health issues are. It is something that we really need broad cross-sector work and partnerships to think about how we support making healthier choices easy for people no matter where they live.

SILVERS: 

One way communities can support healthy movement is by thinking about the resources they may already have.

KANSAGRA: 

Programs like, for example, joint use agreements. How do you- how do you create access to play spaces for children and opportunities for them to move more? Well, one way is to think about how you could partner with schools to leverage their facilities on a weekend or after hours.

SILVERS: 

To learn more about chronic disease prevention, check out TFAH's new 2025 State of Obesity Report, which details key demographics and policy recommendations. You can access the full report now using the link in the show notes.

Coming up on Wednesday, October 29 at 3 p.m. Eastern Time, join part one of ASTHO's two-part webinar series to explore effective preparedness and response tactics to use during extreme weather events. Hear from North and South Carolina about their accomplishments relating to hurricane preparedness and response. You can register for the event now, just click the link in the show notes.

Finally, today, Wednesday, October 22, at 3 p.m. Eastern Time, don't miss part four of the Public Health Nursing Workforce Learning Lab. This session will focus on leveraging partnerships to strengthen the PHN workforce, where attendees will gain the strategies and resources they need to address workforce challenges. It's not too late to sign up. Just click the link in the show notes.

That'll do it for today. We're back tomorrow morning with more ASTHO news and information. I'm Janson Silvers. You're listening to the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition. Have a great day.