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Dr. Joan Duwve, State Health Officer for the Kansas Department of Health, talks about the need to put equity at the center of all public health work; Dr. Puthiery Va, Director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, explains that...
Dr. Joan Duwve, State Health Officer for the Kansas Department of Health, talks about the need to put equity at the center of all public health work; Dr. Puthiery Va, Director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, explains that lessons learned from the pandemic will inform her new role at a critical time as she begins her new job; Dr. Mandy Cohen, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says she is working to build trust with local agencies; and ASTHO training modules will tell you what it means to be a state trusted contact for the CDC’s Opioid Rapid Response Program.
ASTHO Policy Statement: Equity Driven Promotion of Optimal Health Outcomes
Kansas Office of the Governor Webpage: Commission on Racial Equity and Justice
ASTHO Webpage: Trusted Contacts Training Modules
ROBERT JOHNSON:
This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Tuesday, October 24, 2023. I'm Robert Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
JOAN DUWVE:
We have to reframe the way we do business in public health.
JOHNSON:
Kansas state health officer Dr. Joan Duwve, talking about the need to put equity at the center of all public health work,
DUWVE:
We have to begin using culturally and linguistically appropriate services standards. And we have to place equity as our North Star and the lens through which we think plan and act in everything we do within our agency with partners, and with every life we touch in our state.
JOHNSON:
ASTHO has a policy statement with recommendations to help agencies promote health equity, Duwve says Kansas is working with two reports that include 150 recommendations developed by a Governor's Commission on Racial Equity and Justice.
DUWVE:
The administration has worked on policy initiatives at the state and agency level, ranging from data transparency, eliminating the sales tax on food, increased spending for behavioral health services, mobile crisis intervention units, early childhood development programs, building systems to support and deploy community health workers, broadband expansion telehealth, reducing language barriers, birth equity initiatives, and fentanyl test strips to name a few.
JOHNSON:
The ASTHO policy statement includes 20 recommendations. You can read the statement and the Kansas report using the links in the show notes. Dr. Puthiery Va is the new director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. She says her job begins at an important time as the agency considers lessons learned from the pandemic.
PUTHIERY VA:
You know, I'm coming in after the emergency phase. And I see it as my job to help folks here in our agency here to navigate through this non-emergency phase of the pandemic.
JOHNSON:
Va most recently was part of the Indian Health Service working with the Navajo Nation in Chinle, Arizona. She says the pandemic emphasized the need to focus on emergency response and preparedness.
VA:
What we learned was the public health team and its infrastructure was much broader than what we would have thought it was meaning we really partnered with our community-based organizations, community-based teams and leaders to be flexible and nimble to meet community based needs.
JOHNSON:
Va also wants to make sure her agency can continue its work to find and address health inequities where they exist.
VA:
Do we have the surveillance systems in place to do that? And do we look through the lens of health equity and all the policies and programs that we deliver as a public health agency.
JOHNSON:
You can read the news release about Dr. Va's appointment using the link in the show notes.
Last week, we heard Dr. Mandy Cohen discuss her priorities as the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. She also talked about her campaign to build trust with local agencies.
MANDY COHEN:
I've been learning so much from colleagues around the country. There are some incredible leaders all across this country and who have been my guides and teachers and continue to be so I'm going to continue getting out there. I'm going to be in Florida, Texas, and Illinois. So, I'm moving around just - that's in the next few weeks. So, I look forward to seeing you all soon.
JOHNSON:
The full interview aired last Tuesday, October 17. You can listen using the link in the show notes.
Finally, this morning, a set of three video training modules will tell you what it means to be a state trusted contact for the CDCs Opioid Rapid Response Program. ASTHO released the modules this summer. They're available on demand using the link in the show notes.
Before we go, we'd like to remind you to follow this newscast on your podcast player and 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!
Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Former Secretary, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
