890: Remembering Mary Selecky, Take Down Tobacco Day

JANSON SILVERS: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Tuesday, April 22, 2025. I'm Janson Silvers. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

JOHN WIESMAN: 

Mary was this gregarious person, full of life, who loved living in rural Washington. She had a passion for all things health and passion for all things community.

SILVERS: 

Dr. John Wiesman at UNC Chapel Hill describes his former mentor, Mary Selecky, who passed away on April 7.

WIESMAN: 

Mary had this amazing career. She served 20 years as a local health department director in rural Washington, and then 14 years as secretary of health, one of the longest serving secretaries out there. Mary's, I'd say, impacts and highlights really were, one, the number the countless number of people she mentored.

SILVERS: 

Wiesman says Selecky's career accomplishments were vast.

WIESMAN: 

She helped decrease smoking rates in Washington state by a third, which was huge. Increased childhood vaccinations, got the Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response System, sort of, more well-established after H1N1, and had the opportunity to message about mad cow, and radiation fallout from Fukushima nuclear reactor complex. There's even a Harvard case study on that one.

SILVERS: 

But Wiesman will miss much more than just Selecky's work.

WIESMAN: 

I'll miss her laugh, her zest for life, and her storytelling. Mary could tell a story. I will confess there were times when I think the story was a little different than what she told it, but we would always give deference to Mary.

SILVERS: 

Selecky spent much of her free time serving with ASTHO. She served as president and on several alumni committees over the years. Our condolences go to Selecky's family, and we want to say thank you for all the work she did for public health.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment recently wrapped up its Take Down Tobacco Day. Here's Finn Lanning with the KDHE.

FINN LANNING: 

The focus of this event is organizing youth leaders to take action against the influence of big tobacco in their communities. They do this by building relationships with their peers from across the state, meeting and influencing decision-makers and community leaders around Topeka and around the state.

SILVERS: 

Lanning says getting young people involved can make a real difference.

LANNING: 

Legislators get tired of hearing from adults who are kind of sharing the same message, and so when groups of young people show up in the offices of these legislators, we see kind of a different sort of interest and willingness to engage with some of these questions that they might otherwise, you know, not be so interested in.

SILVERS: 

Lanning also says that this event is only the beginning.

LANNING: 

But it really is a launch pad for ongoing efforts in their schools and communities across the state to see policy change. And so they left with, you know, a lot of ideas and passion to take back to their own communities to talk about how they can create positive change in their schools and communities.

SILVERS: 

Learn more about Take Down Tobacco Day by clicking the link in the show notes.

ASTHO's Adrianna Evans contributed to an article that was recently published in Medscape. The article focuses on how data can help people with disabilities during public health emergencies. Click the link in the show notes to read that article today.

Finally, this morning, don't miss any legislative or policy movements that affect public health. Just sign up for ASTHO's Legislative Alerts. That way you'll always stay informed on the latest. sign up today in the show notes.

That'll 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.