631: Inspired by Public Health, TFAH Reports on Readiness

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Thursday, March 28, 2024. I'm Robert Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

KAREN SMITH: 

My first real experiences of what I now think of as public health were during my time in the Peace Corps, first in Morocco and then in Thailand.

JOHNSON: 

Former California Public Health Department Director, Dr. Karen Smith, thinking about the early days of her career, in a conversation during Women's History Month.

SMITH: 

In Morocco, I saw just how devastating a contaminated well was to the people of an isolated poor community in the Atlas Mountains. And in Thailand, I saw many things, including things like the impact of hyper-endemic malaria, dengue, a lot of trauma and all of this taking place where people often had to walk or come by ox cart for days to get any kind of medical care.

JOHNSON: 

Smith says she continues to be inspired by the work happening in public health.

SMITH: 

One overarching thing is that the vision really is this building healthy and resilient communities so that communities and individuals can really take care of themselves and be as healthy as possible. But what I'm really inspired by is just the incredible people that I have had the privilege of working with and learning from during my career in public health.

JOHNSON: 

A new report from the Trust for America's Health ranks all 50 states and the District of Columbia on their readiness to deal with the next outbreak or extreme weather event. TFAH president and CEO, Dr. Nadine Gracia, says the ready or not report is specific about areas that need improvement.

JOSH WYMER: 

We still have too far few people in the country that are vaccinated against seasonal flu. In the last flu season, only about 49% of the population ages six months and older were vaccinated against the flu and that falls well below the 70% national goal in Healthy People 2030.

JOHNSON: 

Gracia says the lack of paid time off is another area where attention is overdue.

WYMER: 

We know that having access to and using paid time off is really an important preparedness and readiness measure to be able to assure that workers don't have to go to work sick and being able to have infection control.

JOHNSON: 

The report also gets into the need for reliable public health funding, a concern that continues despite investments made in response to the pandemic.

WYMER: 

One of our leadings policy recommendations is that Congress should be investing in public health and infrastructure, modernizing that infrastructure by investing $4.5 billion a year to support core foundational public health capabilities at the federal, state, tribal, local, and territorial levels to help improve our data collection systems to improve and strengthen our public health workforce.

JOHNSON: 

You can read the 21st annual Ready or Not report on TFAH's website. The link is in the show notes.

Also today, public health leaders back from the annual HIMSS Global Health Conference continue to reflect on takeaways from the event. This is Missouri's chief health information and data strategy officer, Dr. Josh Wymer.

WYMER: 

When we look at public health and data modernization, the future is very bright.

JOHNSON: 

Wymer says a lot of people in his field are excited about the future.

WYMER: 

I personally perceive an increasingly engaged cohort of stakeholders and collaborators that are moving public health forward. And as we see ourselves able to take these leaps in data and analytics and connectivity, it'll benefit the field and move public health forward as a whole.

JOHNSON: 

Finally this morning, a unique online leadership development program kicks off in early April, O'Keyla Cooper has more.

O'KEYLA COOPER: 

Join ASTHO's leadership accelerator, fast track your skills with ELM program for immersive leadership development. Learn key leadership topics, connect with professionals and access the essentials of leadership and management online course. Virtual sessions begin April 11 and spots are limited. Apply via the link in the show notes.

JOHNSON: 

Before we go a reminder also to follow this newscast on your podcast player and connect with ASTHO on social media. We are on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

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