516: Mpox Approaches, Health Equity Report Card Creator

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Tuesday, October 3, 2023. I'm Robert Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

CHRIS TAYLOR: 

So fortunately, we have seen a great reduction in new cases of impacts over the past six months or so.

JOHNSON: 

Chris Taylor is ASTHO's director of infectious disease outbreak response and recovery. He says even though Mpox cases are down, public health needs to remain alert.

TAYLOR: 

It's important that health departments and programs remain vigilant and they are and figuring out ways to incorporate their Mpox prevention messages and interventions into some existing programs so that we continue to maintain preventive services.

JOHNSON: 

Taylor says one approach is proving effective.

TAYLOR: 

So, what a lot of jurisdictions have done, the HIV PrEP programs have been offering Mpox vaccination to clients who are also receiving HIV PrEP. So that's a great opportunity to layer those prevention programs together.

JOHNSON: 

And he says partnerships are critical in serving impacted communities.

TAYLOR: 

Identifying those organizations, building or strengthening relationships that health departments may have with those organizations, so that we can ensure that they have access to vaccines, timely and accurate information. So equipping them with the tools to help amplify messages that public health programs and health departments might be putting out into communities, and ensuring that communities are hearing those from organizations that they trust.

JOHNSON: 

Taylor joined ASTHO's Sidney Christian and Amelia Poulin in writing a new blog article about the lessons learned from the Mpox outbreak. You can read it using the link in the show notes.

A health equity report card for your community is only a few clicks away. It's all thanks to a project led by Salud America and the University of Texas Institute for Health Promotion Research in San Antonio. This is Alyssa Gonzalez.

ALYSSA GONZALEZ: 

So, Salud America creates things like action packs to help people advocate for change, from starting a school food pantry to creating a city resolution to declare racism as a public health crisis. But how do you know what health inequities plagued your community?

JOHNSON: 

That according to Gonzalez is where the health equity report card can help

GONZALEZ: 

You enter your county name into our health equity report card, and it auto generates local maps and data visualizations that help you explore the exact issues that are hurting your community, whether it be health care, housing, education, transportation, and more.

JOHNSON: 

The result is a document packed with data about your area ready to download and use to drive change.

GONZALEZ: 

And you can use this information to start and support conversations, programs, and even grants to resolve the inequities that are taking place or impacting your community.

JOHNSON: 

You can check out the report card website and see a sample report card using the link in the show notes.

Also today, data equity can advance maternal health. ASTHO has a webinar scheduled for Wednesday of this week to explain how data equity can improve maternal and infant health outcomes. Again, the event is this week, October 4 at 3 p.m. Eastern time. Save a seat using the link in the show notes.

Finally, this morning, stay ahead of happenings in Congress and state legislatures across the country with ASTHO's Legislative Alert emails. Join the list using the link in the show notes.

We'd also like to remind you to follow this newscast on your podcast player and ASTHO on social media. We're 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.