410: Early Legislative Actions, Implement Data Systems Now

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

This is Public Health Review Morning Edition for Monday, May 1, 2023. I'm Robert Johnson.

Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

MAGGIE DAVIS: 

So we've seen some positive movement in topics such as tobacco and nicotine products as well as some positive legislation related to mental healthcare access.

JOHNSON: 

ASTHO's Maggie Davis reporting on key public health policy actions happening at the state and federal levels.

DAVIS: 

So in tobacco and nicotine products, the FDA recently expanded its definition of tobacco products to include synthetic nicotine. And then in PFAS, there's been new rulemaking from the EPA on water quality standards. So from the state level, there's been some legislation that aligns with these water quality standards for PFAS. And we highlighted several bills, including some from Virginia and West Virginia, specifically on addressing PFAS sources in public water systems.

JOHNSON: 

Davis and several ASTHO colleagues have written a blog article summarizing policies that have been introduced, passed, or debated across the states and territories and at the federal level since January. You can read it using the link in the show notes.

Also today, the federal government needs to take the lead on a nationwide approach to health data infrastructure. That's according to Dr. Gabriel Seidman, director of Policy at the Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine.

GABRIEL SEIDMAN: 

So right now, the federal government's approach to health data is leaving states pretty fragmented and pretty inconsistent in how they're managing this and how they're addressing public health issues using data.

JOHNSON: 

Seidman will present at ASTHO's TechXpo and Futures Forum later this month in Chicago. He challenges agencies to do more than simply test new systems.

SEIDMAN: 

One thing I would focus on is moving from pilots to systems, right. I can't count the number of times that a leader has told me about an amazing pilot they did with an all payer claims database or a health information exchange. Those pilots are amazing, but it's now time to get to change at scale and across systems.

JOHNSON: 

He also wants leaders to do what they can to advocate at every level.

SEIDMAN: 

So one thing I would actually really hope state leaders are going to do is take that data, take that evidence, take those pilots, and advocate for a system level change within their state or within their territory; but also advocate more at the federal level for a federal program that is going to help states create this or contribute to this national health data infrastructure.

JOHNSON: 

You still have time to sign up to attend the TechXpo online. Tickets to watch the event streaming live from the conference are available using the link in the show notes.

May is Older Americans Month. The theme this time is aging unbound. Dr. Luigi Ferrucci is scientific director of the National Institute on Aging at the NIH.

LUIGI FERRUCCI: 

Physical activity is probably the most important intervention that you can do to remain as young as possible. In fact, in work across a number of different disease: prevents cardiovascular disease, it's good for the brain, it's good for the muscle, it's good for the gout, it's good for almost every single part of our body and has been associated with healthy longevity.

JOHNSON: 

Much of Ferrucci's advice is for anyone interested in aging well; but for public health leaders, his message includes guidance about urban design.

FERRUCCI: 

We have created cities that are for young people. We have created communities that are for young people. And because we will have a lot more older people, we need to start planning our cities, our buildings, our offices, for access of all people and provide services that will allow them to survive without having to be helped because they have all the services available.

JOHNSON: 

The Administration for Community Living has an online toolkit. We have that link in the show notes.

Finally this morning, just a reminder to follow and share the newscast. You can find the Follow button on your favorite podcast player. Following us will deliver every newscast to your mobile device when it goes live weekday mornings at 5 a.m. Eastern time. Also, sharing news about the show on social media helps grow the audience. We'd be grateful if you had the time to do one or both.

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.