The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #74218

Roni Neff, ScM, Health Policy and Management/Risk Sciences and Public Policy Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, Room 484, Baltimore, MD 21205, 410-243-6040, rneff@jhsph.edu, Thomas A. Burke, PhD, MPH, Health Policy and Management/Risk Sciences and Public Policy Institute, Johns Hopkins University, 624 N. Broadway, Room 484, Baltimore, MD 21205, Kristen Chossek, MPH, Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, 624 North Broadway Street, Room 455, Baltimore, MD 21205, and Nga L. Tran, DrPH, MPH, Exponent, 1730 Rhode Island Ave, Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20036.

The U.S. has made tremendous progress in environmental hazard recognition, control and cleanup. National legislation and strong regulatory programs have led to clear frameworks for site control and remediation. Unfortunately, there has not been any corresponding framework to guide public health responses at contaminated sites. In general, public health responses have been unstructured, late to start, minimally funded, and overall inadequate to community need. In light of continuing concerns about health impacts from hazardous sites, scientific advances in measuring population exposures and the identification of previously unrecognized hazards, there is a critical need to improve the public health component of our national response to contaminated sites. This presentation describes a new framework for public health responses at contaminated sites, structured around the ten essential public health services. It includes new emphases on public health tracking, pro-active and ongoing relationship building, capacity-building, and strategic planning, as well as further improvements in risk communication, community involvement, research, and where needed, intervention. The framework was developed to provide guidance to the Air Force as it seeks to respond to public health concerns at its contaminated bases. It is based on findings from two in-depth case studies and a survey, and was refined at a meeting of environmental and public health leaders and stakeholders. The framework is broadly applicable to contaminated sites.

Learning Objectives:

Participants will be able to:
• Describe at least three of the gaps in the current public health response at contaminated sites
• Describe at least three reasons why these response gaps negatively affect fenceline communities
• Describe at least three of the ten elements of the framework for public health response at contaminated sites

Keywords: Hazardous Waste, Essential Public Health Services

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.