National Public Health Organizations Brief Capitol Hill On H1N1

Main Category: Swine Flu
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 21 May 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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The recent H1N1 flu outbreak served as a genuine test of our national public health system's ability to respond to an emerging public health threat and experts are cautioning that a more severe outbreak could occur in the fall of 2009. Leaders from some of the nation's foremost public health and medical associations will conduct a briefing for staff members from House and Senate offices on Thursday, May 21, 2009. Speakers will focus on the status of the current public health workforce and efforts needed to sustain workforce capacity to respond to emerging infectious diseases.

WHO:

-- Linda Rosenstock, MD, MPH, Dean, UCLA School of Public Health

-- Georges Benjamin, MD, FACP, FACEP, Executive Director, American Public Health Association

-- Robert Pestronk, MPH, Executive Director, National Association of County and City Health Officials

-- John Prescott, MD, Chief Academic Officer, Association of American Medical Colleges

-- Daniel M. Sosin, MD, MPH, FACP, Acting Director, Coordinating Office of Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response

WHAT: A Congressional staff briefing, entitled "H1N1 Influenza: Is the Workforce Adequately Prepared," is being sponsored by the Association of Schools of Public Health. Co-sponsors of the briefing are the American Public Health Association, the Association of American Medical Schools, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials and the National Association of County and City Health Officials. Speakers will focus on the status of the current workforce and the efforts needed to sustain workforce capacity in order to respond to emerging infectious diseases.

WHERE: The Capitol Visitor Center, Room SVC 215, 100 E. Capitol Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002

WHEN: Thursday, May 21, 2009, 1:00-2:00 p.m.

WHY: The recent H1N1 flu outbreak served to be a genuine test of our national public health system's ability to respond and communicate effectively to the public about an emerging threat. While there is general agreement that this is a mild outbreak, there is still the potential for a more virulent disease outbreak to occur in the fall. Assuring that there is a sufficient number of competent and trained public health professionals is essential to the nation's ability to respond.

About the Association of Schools of Public Health

ASPH represents the 40 Council on Education for Public Health accredited schools of public health (SPH) and promotes the efforts of SPH to improve the health of every person through education, research and policy. Based upon the belief that "you're only as healthy as the world you live in," ASPH works with the government and other professional organizations to develop solutions to the most pressing health concerns and provides access to the ongoing initiatives of the SPH.

Accredited SPH train the majority of public health professionals. These schools have a combined faculty of over 9,600 and educate more than 22,000 students annually.

Source: Association of Schools of Public Health

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