613: Members Meet Legislators, Islands Discuss Priorities

JANSON SILVERS: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Monday, March 4, 2024. I'm Janson Silvers. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

MANISHA JUTHANI: 

We had a great week in Washington, D.C.

SILVERS: 

Connecticut Public Health Commissioner and ASTHO member, Dr. Manisha Juthani enjoyed her time with other members in the nation's capitol last week, as she advocated for WIC funding in her state, as well as the importance of the Public Health Infrastructure Grant.

JUTHANI: 

What I spent the bulk of my time talking about in meeting with different members of Congress was the Public Health Infrastructure Grant, what it means for Connecticut, what it meant over these last several years, and what funding that line item at $1 billion would mean for FY 25 and beyond.

SILVERS: 

Dr. Juthani informed legislators on how helpful the funding has been up to this point, but stressed the need for it to continue.

JUTHANI: 

This grant has given us flexibility to invest in the areas we need to really build our infrastructure and build our workforce. If we were to have a steep drop off in that, we would be back to our base funding on different disease-specific funding items. And that does not help us build a department that is ready for the next pandemic.

SILVERS: 

Juthani is thankful she was able to state her case in-person because it isn't lost on her the difference these in-person meetings can make.

JUTHANI: 

I don't think you can take away from what the direct human-to-human, eye-to-eye contact has when you're trying to communicate an important message. And I literally had somebody tell me that they had seen me multiple times on a screen or on TV, but how much more powerful I was in person. That was pretty dramatic to me to be able to say that if somebody could perceive that when they actually met one-on-one.

SILVERS: 

Also in D.C. last week, ASTHO members who traveled from the island areas. Arthur San Augustine is a special assistant to the Governor of Guam, and knows the perspective he's able to share is important.

ARTHUR SAN AGUSTIN: 

Being able to partner with ASTHO, being able to partner with them in moving forward the initiative for Guam and those that receive Medicaid funding, and being— being able to provide that Pacific voice, just what it means to the islands. So, this is an exciting time.

SILVERS: 

Moses Pretrick with the Federated States of Micronesia says health equity tops his list of priorities.

MOSES PRETRICK: 

We're really trying to advance universal health coverage, which is basically advancing health equity, health parity, you know, for our people throughout the MSM.

SILVERS: 

San Agustin says it's always important to reiterate with leadership some of the distinctive challenges our island areas face.

SAN AGUSTIN: 

We are unique. We have a limited resource. We are geographically out there in the Pacific. We don't have a neighboring state that we can request assistance from. Everything we request in terms of assistance for healthcare, in response to health care, in response to public health issues, it's going to take some time to come to Guam.

SILVERS: 

Learn more about ASTHO's work in the territories and freely associated states by using the link in the show notes.

Also today, the fentanyl crisis continues to run rampant across the country. In 2022, more than two-thirds of the reported 107,000 overdose deaths involved fentanyl. An ASTHO blog article outlines the need for federal support to combat these numbers. Read about life-saving measures that can already be implemented, as well as several bills that are currently being considered. The link is in the show notes.

Finally this morning, stay up to date on public health news and other resources when you sign up for ASTHO's Public Health Weekly email newsletter. The link is in the show notes.

And before we go, a reminder also to follow this newscast on your podcast player so you don't miss a single report, and connect with ASTHO on social media. We're on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

That will 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.