711: PHAB’s Implementation Center Role, Tobacco Retailer Licensing Policy Trends

SUMMER JOHNSON: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Monday, July 22, 2024. I'm Summer Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

WHITNEY MAGENDIE: 

So, alongside ASTHO and NMPHI PHAB will help to launch the implementation centers as we stand up the project from assessing public health agency readiness and launching recruitment. Through to designing and actually implementing the Public Health Agency experience.

JOHNSON: 

Whitney Magendie is the lead advisor of the Public Health Infrastructure Grant for the Public Health Accreditation Board, also known as PHAB. She tells us about fabs involvement in the newly announced National Implementation centers. PHAB will be heavily involved in the day-to-day work.

MAGENDIE: 

PHAB is also leading the evaluation of the Implementation Center Project, which is critical to ensure we capture lessons learned so that we can inform future work in this area, but also to make the case for the importance of investing in public health data modernization.

JOHNSON: 

Magendie says with ASTHO and NMPHI and PHAB all working on the implementation centers, health agencies will be set up for success.

MAGENDIE: 

It is this pairing I think of experts and resources together and putting them exactly where they're needed precisely where they're needed, so that public health agencies have the right folks and the right resources to figure out what are the barriers for moving this work forward.

JOHNSON: 

You can read more about the implementation centers by using the link in the show notes.

Studies have shown that tobacco retailer licensing policies can reduce availability and access to tobacco products. Ann Abraham senior analysis of chronic disease risk factors at ASTHO tells us what those policies can look like.

ANN ABRAHAM: 

A lot of these policies also often entail age verification requirements. They may impose penalties for not complying to the law or even prohibit sales near certain establishments like schools, all of which can reduce use and availability of tobacco products, especially in low income and marginalized communities. Because as we know, these are the areas where they are heavily targeted by tobacco industry marketing.

JOHNSON: 

Abraham says recently, more communities have been considering these requirements.

ABRAHAM: 

So, in the past couple of years, many jurisdictions have either passed or considered legislation to implement or strengthen these licensing requirements. For example, in Michigan and South Carolina, they've introduced bills simply to require establishments to obtain this license to sell tobacco products.

JOHNSON: 

Abraham has authored a blog article on the topic, you can read the full story by clicking the link in the show notes.

Also today, Dr. Umair Shah, the secretary of health for the Washington State Department of Health recently hosted a conversation with US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy the to discuss loneliness in the US. Here's general Murthy.

VIVEK MURTHY: 

And you see that we have become in the grand scheme of human existence, quite lonely and isolated despite the fact that we live in more densely populated parts of the world. Despite the fact that we are connected through our devices and technology.

JOHNSON: 

Murthy says he issued a surgeon general's advisory on loneliness because it has real effects on our health.

MURTHY: 

But we also learned how consequential it is right? They increase risk of everything from anxiety, depression, and suicide to heart disease and dementia and premature death that come with being socially disconnected.

JOHNSON: 

In his conversation with Shah, Murthy said we have to rebuild what he calls our social infrastructure.

MURTHY: 

Now we rebuild that in part by telling the stories about culture. The stories about purpose as well. We're strongest often when we feel like we have a set of common values, but also a common purpose that's driving us forward.

JOHNSON: 

The full conversations about 40 minutes long, and you can watch or listen to the whole thing by clicking the link in the show notes. ASTHO has a new blog article on the integration of health equity into state and local data sharing practices. In it you can find important considerations for state and local data sharing. There's a link to that in the show notes. Finally today, an ASTHO brief dives into the Grants Management Office Structure Optimization Toolkit. O'Keyla Cooper has more.

O'KEYLA COOPER: 

The Grants Management Office Structure Optimization Toolkit helps health departments assess their federal grant workload and staffing needs. It's important for improving grant management capacity and maximizing federal funding outcomes as seen with the Puerto Rico Department of Health. The toolkit is now available for download in both English and Spanish through the link in the show notes.

JOHNSON: 

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