373: PH Funding Barriers, Planning an Equity Movement

ROBERT JOHNSON:

This is Public Health Review Morning Edition for Thursday, March 9th, 2023. I'm Robert Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

THOMAS DOBBS:

And one of the things I've talked about, which was really one of my most frustrating career events, is we founded an STD/HIV clinic in a rural area in southwest Mississippi where was desperately needed. And it was fantastic.

JOHNSON:

Former Mississippi state health officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs, urging agencies that fund local public health programs to eliminate the barriers that can get in the way of life saving work.

DOBBS:

We had people coming in, they were getting tested for STDs, they were getting treated. We're finding syphilis, we were preventing HIV transmission. It was really an absolutely fantastic experience. But because it was funded through both HRSA and CDC, they couldn't get the accounting right, so they made us quit doing STDs. So that really contracted the number of patients that were able to see for HIV because it was a limited population. And then they came and said, we're not seeing enough patients, you need to close it down.

JOHNSON:

Dobbs is now the dean of the John D. Bower School of Population Health at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. You can read more of his comments in a new article in Health Affairs. There's a link in the show notes.

Justice and health equity are the focus of ASTHO's 2023 Health Equity Summit planned for April 25th and 26th. In Atlanta, we had the chance to talk about it this week with ASTHO's Dr. Kimberly Wyche-Etheridge, during the organization's annual Spring Meeting here in Washington, D.C. Dr. Kim, so good to see you at the ASTHO Spring Meeting.

KIMBERLEE WYCHE-ETHERIDGE:

It is so wonderful to see you in person. This is a new experience.

JOHNSON:

Isn't it, though? It wasn't that big of a deal three years ago, but now it's everything.

WYCHE-ETHERIDGE:

You gain energy from seeing people in person and being able to connect like that. It's a game changer.

JOHNSON:

You're at this meeting, but you have another one in the works. The Health Equity Summit coming up in Atlanta in April. Tell us what is exciting about that for you?

WYCHE-ETHERIDGE:

Well, first of all, as we said, the idea that the Health Equity Summit can be in person and online, so we have a hybrid going on. And whereas the last two years have been completely virtual, which has been a great way of transferring information, but not transferring connection. And so being able to do it in person this year, really adds that extra energy for us. We're most excited about the fact that this year, this summit is focused on the issue of justice of movement for justice. And this national convenient being able to have our partners from across the country talking about justice as it relates to equity, in the different range from anything from environmental justice to women's justice, to racial equity justice. So just the full range of the things that we're dealing with when we have to try to approach health equity.

JOHNSON:

And you talk about a movement, we hear that word sometimes it sounds big, maybe even impossible to create. But how does it fit in when you're talking about equity?

WYCHE-ETHERIDGE:

Well, to have those conversations to hopefully inspire action, and that action is one step at a time we didn't get here overnight. As far as health equity issues or say rather, disparities, it's been a long time coming. So, it has to start somewhere. So, we're hoping to inspire our participants provide some of the best practices and information to get people moving a movement to move it forward so that we can start moving towards health equity. Equity, meaning optimal health for everybody.

JOHNSON:

Thinking about the people who might be interested in this meeting. More and more departments have health equity officers or maybe even a team., but you're looking to attract people beyond that job description.

WYCHE-ETHERIDGE:

Yes, so if there is equity in your job title, and it may or may not be simply just director of health equity, it could be environmental justice, it could be maternal child health, because we know equity roles between all of those in that horizontal domain. And we're really hoping that many of our non-traditional partners will join us in the virtual space, to be able to hear a little bit more about equity, and also to meet some of their colleagues who in the future may be good partners in order to get them to, you know, get their work done in a more efficient way.

JOHNSON:

In the end, you would like everyone in a public health department to be thinking about how equity affects what they do and how they can affect equity.

WYCHE-ETHERIDGE:

Yes, public health is rooted in social justice and equity, and so to be able to do public health means to be able to look at it through an equity lens. And that means looking at the way that we do business and possibly changing it. We know that to do things the same way and expect a different response is the definition of insanity. And unfortunately, we've been practicing insane public health for over a generation.

JOHNSON:

What would you like people to take away from the meeting once they've been there and attended the program?

WYCHE-ETHERIDGE:

I think probably the biggest takeaway is that everybody has the opportunity to be involved and to make a difference. It's not just the government's, it's not just public health, but it's really health equity as for all. And if we all understand that we're all willing to take one step, then we can move this forward.

JOHNSON:

You can get more information about the event using the link in the show notes.

Also, today, a new ASTHO blog article written by a group of rising professionals examines what it takes to lead at this moment in public health. O'Keyla Cooper has more.

O’KEYLA COOPER:

ASTHO's Diverse Executives Leading in Public Health Program, also known as DELPH, challenges scholars to reflect on what it takes to bring equity work to their own health departments. In a new ASTHO blog, several DELPH scholars explore what type of leader this moment in public health requires and talk about their experience in health equity leadership during the pandemic. Read the full blog using the link found in the show notes.

JOHNSON:

Finally, this morning, get the latest on everything happening in Washington from ASTHO's top government relations executive. Carolyn Mullen is ASTHO's Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Relations. She's here tomorrow to report on ASTHO's view from Washington DC. If you follow us now, you can listen when the show goes live at 5am Eastern Time.

That'll do it for today's newscast. We're back tomorrow morning with more ASTHO news and information. I'm Robert Johnson. You're listening to Public Health Review Morning Edition. Have a great day.