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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Deborah Erickson, Alaska Division of Public Health., Coordinator, Turning Point National Public Health Statute Modernization Collaborative; Deputy Director, AK Division of PH, P.O. Box 110610, Juneau, AK 99811-0610 and Lawrence Gostin, JD, LLD (Hon), Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center; Professor of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and P, Georgetown University Law Center, Georgetown University Law Center, 600 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20001, (202) 662-9406, Deb_Erickson@health.state.ak.us.
The Institute of Medicine,in their 1988 report on the future of public health,found that “state public health laws are in many cases seriously outdated.” The Institute recommended that states review their public health statutes and make necessary revisions. Healthy People 2010 includes a related objective and asserts that “the Nation’s public health infrastructure would be strengthened if jurisdictions had a model law and could use it regularly for improvements.”
Since the events of September 11 and the subsequent anthrax attacks, the importance of a strong public health infrastructure with capacity to identify and respond to bioterrorism as well as natural disease outbreaks has been demonstrated to the public and has become a focus of federal, state, local and tribal governments. One of the few critical benchmarks set for every State in the nation as a condition of receiving federal bioterrorism funds is an assessment of public health statutes and regulations to ensure that governmental public health agencies have the power to act.
The Turning Point Public Health Statute Modernization National Collaborative, established in April 2000 and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, brings together expertise in public health practice and public health law from across the country in an effort to develop such a model state public health law.
This panel will explore the current condition of state public health law, describe the Turning Point Collaborative’s purpose and organization, explain the legal authorities required for public health action, provide an overview of the principles and framework of the Model State Public Health Act, and discuss political approaches to public health law reform.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the participant will be able to
Keywords: Community Collaboration, Public Health Legislation
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: Grantee