Issue Category: Prevention and Public Health Policy

Immunizations are a Critical Public Health Tool to Support Both Individual and Community Health

Observed annually in August, National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM) highlights the importance of vaccination for people of all ages. Some vaccines prevent the spread of diseases, while others protect people from serious illness. Vaccines have saved millions of lives worldwide.

This awareness month is an opportunity to understand vaccines’ role in our overall health, their safety record, and how they fit into the larger picture of individual, community, and public health.

Childhood vaccinations
Infants and children are vaccinated against numerous infectious diseases based on a schedule recommended by pediatricians and vaccine experts. Following the recommended vaccine schedule gives children the best protection from preventable diseases and protects communities against outbreaks. Children often receive vaccines during well-child care visits or in preparation for a new school year.

Vaccines during adulthood
Vaccines aren’t just important for kids – adults need them too. Vaccination is recommended throughout life to prevent vaccine-preventable diseases and the complications of these diseases. Vaccines may be administered as an annual shot, to update waning immunity, or because a new vaccine was developed in response to a disease threat. Some vaccines are recommended for receipt during adulthood as the risks of certain diseases increase later in life. Adult vaccine recommendations may be based on age, health history, underlying risk factors, travel, occupation, and previous vaccinations.

Immunization supports healthy communities
Vaccinations function as a core element of public health infrastructure. Much like clean water systems or food safety regulations, immunization programs operate in the background to reduce the risk of disease across entire populations. When maintained effectively, they prevent disease spread, reduce demand on healthcare systems, and support uninterrupted access to work, school, business activities, and community life.

The strength of any vaccine infrastructure is rooted in convenient, no-cost access, reliable public communication, public confidence, and sustained uptake. Disruptions, whether due to healthcare access gaps, shifting policy priorities, or declines in public trust, can lead to the return of diseases that had achieved elimination status. Elimination status means that cases of the disease are not naturally occurring within a specific geographic area, however, infections can still happen when an infected person travels from one area to another. Elimination status is jeopardized when vaccination rates drop, and illnesses begin to circulate in communities. Recent increases in measles and pertussis cases in parts of the United States reflect the consequences of uneven vaccination rates in some U.S. communities or in other countries.

Disease elimination requires continued vigilance
Vaccines have significantly reduced the incidence of many infectious diseases in the U.S., with some being eliminated. However, it’s important to note that elimination is not the same as eradication. Disease eradication is when a disease is permanently eliminated, with no new cases from any source. Unfortunately, recent data indicate a resurgence of certain illnesses:

These trends emphasize the need for continued vigilance in vaccination efforts to prevent the reemergence of preventable diseases.

Immunization’s role in overall health and emergency preparedness
Vaccines serve not only as a means of individual protection, but also as a mechanism for ensuring community health and supporting a strong economy. Investing in the immunization pipeline and infrastructure means investing in the long-term resilience of communities.

To strengthen the role of immunization in supporting health and community resilience, TFAH’s  reports Pathway to a Healthier America: A Blueprint for Strengthening Public Health for the Next Administration and Congress and  Ready or Not 2025: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism outline several policy recommendations aimed at reinforcing the nation’s immunization infrastructure and access, including:

  • Ensuring access to and affordability of health insurance.
  • Preserving access to recommended vaccines without cost sharing. Research shows that even small co-payments can be barriers to people getting preventive services like vaccines.
  • Investing in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) workforce and infrastructure, which work with states and communities to detect and prevent outbreaks.
  • Sustained funding for CDC’s National Immunization Program, which supports vaccine infrastructure, outreach, and access and outbreak response at the federal, state, and local levels. The Vaccines for Children program, which provides free vaccines to children in the U.S. whose families couldn’t otherwise afford them, also relies on the infrastructure and public health workforce funded by this program.
  • Providing resources for public health communications strategies, including effective communications about the safety and efficacy of vaccines.
  • Ongoing funding for the Antimicrobial Resistance Solutions Initiative, which includes prevention strategies tied to immunization.
  • Accelerated development, stockpiling, and distribution capacity for vaccines in response to emerging threats.
  • Enhanced demographic data collection and analysis to ensure vaccine efforts reach communities that experience health and economic disparities.

These priorities reflect the role of immunization not just in public health response, but in prevention at the population level. When vaccine systems are well-funded and equitably implemented, they allow for stronger disease protection in everyday life and community level resilience during public health emergencies.

Maintaining continuity in immunization
Immunization is not a one-time decision; it is an ongoing element of preventive healthcare. Over time, the immunity created by a vaccine can weaken making a booster dose important. In addition, a virus can change or mutate making the original vaccine less effective and a reformulated dose necessary. Also, as new data emerges showing changes in disease patterns, vaccine recommendations may change.

Like other foundational aspects of health, such as preventive care, good nutrition, physical activity, and healthy environments, vaccination is most effective when integrated consistently over time. It is one part of a broader health strategy, supporting both individual well-being and community health.

Recommended resources:

The National Count for Measles Cases for 2025 is Over 1,100 and Approaching a Thirty-Year High

Health officials remind the public: Measles is serious and very contagious; being vaccinated is the best defense.

Measles is an airborne, highly contagious disease that can be very severe. However, people have the power to protect themselves and their children with the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine.

As of June 5, the number of measles cases in the U.S. topped 1,000 and were reported in 34 jurisdictions. The growing case count illustrates that the illness can spread easily in communities with pockets of unvaccinated people. If the rate of new cases continues at its current pace, we could reach a thirty-year high in the annual number of cases this summer. Of the cases reported in 2025, 95 percent were people who were unvaccinated or with unknown vaccination status, and 12 percent of cases have resulted in hospitalization.

Sadly, three deaths have occurred as a result of the current outbreaks in Texas and New Mexico. In late February, the Texas Department of State Health Services reported the first death resulting from the state’s outbreak. The death occurred in a child who was not vaccinated. A second death of a New Mexico adult who tested positive for measles and was also unvaccinated, was reported in early March. Any measles death is particularly tragic because such deaths are preventable.

Here’s what you need to know about measles.

  • Measles is highly contagious. You can contract measles by breathing air contaminated by an infected person or touching an infected surface. The measles virus can linger in the air for several hours after an infected person coughs or sneezes.
  • Measles symptoms usually include a fever, rash, cough, and red eyes. Someone who is infected with measles can spread the infection to others before they notice symptoms, especially in the four days before or after a rash develops.
  • Measles can lead to serious health consequences especially for babies and young children including hearing loss, brain swelling, pneumonia, and even death. Anyone who is not protected against measles is at risk, but children under the age of five, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems are particularly susceptible and are at risk for more serious outcomes.
  • Data show that unvaccinated people have a 90 percent likelihood of contracting measles if they are exposed. One out of five people who contract measles will require hospitalization.
  • If you have been exposed to someone with measles or display symptoms, like a rash that spreads from the face to the rest of the body, you should isolate and contact a healthcare provider immediately.
  • Vaccination is the most effective way to avoid contracting measles. The measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine has been in use since 1971 with the measles vaccine dating back even further to 1963. The MMR vaccine has been shown to be 97 percent effective for people who have received the full series (two doses). After the measles vaccine was introduced, reported cases in the U.S. dropped by 97% in just three years.
  • Children between the ages of 6 – 11 months can be given the MMR vaccine in areas with measles cases, but most children receive their first dose between 12 and 15 months. Babies younger than 6 months are not yet ready for vaccination, which is why older children and adults who interact with infants should be fully vaccinated.

 

Resources for further information:

Measles Symptoms and Complications | Measles (Rubeola) | CDC

Measles Vaccination | Measles (Rubeola) | CDC

Vaccinate Your Family: Measles Resources (Vaccinate Your Family)

Measles Vaccination: Know the Facts  (Infectious Disease Society of America)

 

Revised May 27, 2025

COVID-19, Five Years Later: Will We Heed the Public Health Lessons?

(Washington, DC – April 17, 2025) – March 2025 marked the five-year anniversary of the declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic. This milestone offers an opportunity to reflect on the heroic work of healthcare providers and the public health workforce in limiting the pandemic’s impact on Americans’ health. Public health professionals across the country worked tirelessly on the frontlines—often facing unprecedented challenges, personal risk, and even harassment—while providing essential services such as contact tracing, coordinating testing, distributing and administering vaccines, and offering life-saving guidance to communities. Their dedication and expertise were vital to the national response and demonstrated the indispensable role of public health infrastructure in protecting American lives during a crisis.

It is also a time to remember the pandemic’s toll in illness, lives lost, and social and economic disruption. Finally, this anniversary presents an opportunity to consider what can be learned from the pandemic and how those lessons can be applied to protect the nation’s health and economic security during future emergencies.

According to the World Health Organization, COVID-19 deaths worldwide have exceeded seven million. In the U.S., at least 1.2 million people have died from COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

While the public health emergency has ended, COVID-19 infections are still occurring, albeit at a much lower rate. Staying up to date with vaccination remains one of the most effective tools to prevent severe illness, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19—especially when combined with other preventive measures, as appropriate, based on current community transmission levels and individual risk factors.

We continue to face numerous public health risks that demand action, including a multi-state measles outbreak, a tuberculosis outbreak, bird flu, and environmental threats. All of this is happening as federal budget cuts threaten the capacity of federal, state, and local public health departments to respond to emergencies, while workforce reductions risk the loss of sorely needed public health expertise and experience.

COVID-19 Funding Ended the Emergency and Strengthened Public Health Readiness

The COVID-19 pandemic demanded an unprecedented public health response, including funding to modernize the nation’s public health infrastructure and expand its workforce. New funding for CDC’s Data Modernization Program increased the number of healthcare facilities using electronic case reporting (eCR) to report infectious disease cases to public health agencies—from 153 in January 2020 to over 50,000 in February 2025. eCR enables real-time disease tracking, allowing for a faster response to outbreaks. Additional examples include the Public Health Infrastructure Grant, which provides funding to health departments nationwide to support innovative investments in workforce, systems, and services tailored to meet their communities’ specific health priorities and challenges; the establishment of a new Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics at the CDC to model and predict outbreak trends; and the expansion of CDC’s National Wastewater Surveillance System, now implemented in 46 states and the District of Columbia. These critical new capacities are at risk due to federal budget cuts.

What the Pandemic Taught Us

The lessons of the pandemic are numerous and should be applied to strengthen the public health system. Doing so would help ensure that the nation is better prepared for future risks. These lessons include:

  • Protecting CDC’s mission—including its comprehensive focus on both chronic and infectious diseases—is essential, because healthier communities, particularly those with a lower burden of chronic disease, are more resilient during emergencies and recover more quickly.
  • A modernized and interoperable health data infrastructure is critical for real-time disease tracking. Such systems allow healthcare and public health officials to target resources where they are needed most. The progress made in data modernization since 2020 must be sustained.
  • Public health and healthcare readiness, along with surge capacity, are critical in an emergency. Healthcare workforce shortages during the acute phases of the pandemic placed tremendous strain on the system’s ability to manage the surge of patients. The emergency readiness of the healthcare delivery system must be fortified. State public health laboratories were also vital in identifying cases and tracking disease spread. Most states have laboratory surge plans that helped them expand testing capacity during peaks in pandemic transmission. Telehealth was a critical platform for healthcare access during the pandemic, and reimbursement for telehealth services should be preserved.
  • A strong emergency preparedness system is vital to the nation’s economic security. The COVID-19 emergency led to major economic disruptions and the largest employment loss in the U.S. since World War II. A 2023 study by a team of economists estimated that the pandemic’s impact on the U.S. economy through the end of 2023 was $14 trillion. Going forward, protecting the nation’s economy will require systems and capacities that can prevent a small number of disease cases from escalating into an outbreak—and eventually a pandemic.
  • The pandemic highlighted the nation’s health and economic disparities and their impact on health outcomes during emergencies. While all communities may face health emergencies, the impacts are not felt equally. Communities with higher rates of chronic disease and underlying health conditions often experience worse outcomes—disparities rooted in systemic barriers such as income inequality, housing instability, discrimination, poor air and water quality, and gaps in healthcare access. Advancing health equity by addressing these challenges is essential to building a more resilient and prepared nation.
  • The COVID-19 vaccines saved lives and reduced the severity of illness. The rapid development of the vaccines, along with an expansive system to administer them, played a critical role in the national response. According to a Commonwealth Fund study published in December 2022, COVID-19 vaccines prevented an estimated 18.5 million hospitalizations, 3.2 million deaths, and at least $1 trillion in healthcare spending in the U.S. during the first two years of the vaccination program (December 2020 through November 2022). Continued investment in vaccine development, manufacturing and distribution readiness, and other medical countermeasures is essential. mRNA vaccine technology is well-positioned to quickly produce effective vaccines against future virus variants.
  • The pandemic exacerbated misinformation and disinformation about vaccine safety, particularly on social media. Vaccine education that shares accurate information and builds confidence is essential. These programs should acknowledge that some people—while open to learning more—have questions and want space to make their own decisions. Healthcare and public health officials should seek opportunities to listen and respond to individuals’ questions and concerns.

We Need to Act on the Pandemic’s Lessons

  • Increased, sustained, and flexible public health funding is essential. The pattern of boom-and-bust funding cycles has left the system with serious preparedness gaps. Funding levels must be increased, and flexible funding is critical because it allows state and local health officials to quickly target and deploy resources where they are most needed. Investment in workforce growth and retention is also crucial.
  • Invest in prevention to improve health and reduce healthcare spending. As a nation, we don’t spend enough on public health and prevention. Investments in these areas yield healthier communities and significant long-term savings. Typically, less than five percent of the nation’s nearly $5 trillion in annual health spending is directed to public health and prevention programs.
  • Numerous sectors have a role to play in improving the public’s health. These partnerships should include public health, healthcare, educators, community–based organizations, faith leaders, the business community, and others. Strong relationships established before a crisis are central to an effective emergency response.
  • Public trust in government is critical during health emergencies. The politicization of public health has weakened the system and threatens its ability to respond effectively to future crises. Upholding scientific integrity—empowering public health experts to make recommendations based on the best available information—is essential for effective emergency response. Public health authorities must be preserved, and public health agencies must be effective communicators who can clearly explain the rationale behind their guidance. Timely and transparent communication with the public is essential. Public health officials also understand the importance of maintaining strong, ongoing relationships with community organizations and leaders—not just during emergencies. A diverse public health workforce that reflects the communities it serves is also key to building trust.

Closing Thoughts

The COVID-19 pandemic was a tragic event, worsened in part by an inadequate early response. Failing to learn from the pandemic experience would only compound the tragedy. The task now facing policymakers at all levels is to invest in policies and programs that will fortify our public health system—ensuring it is fully prepared to respond quickly to future emergencies—and to restore trust in the system so it can function effectively when lives are on the line.

TFAH’s annual report series, Ready or Not: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism, identifies key strengths, areas for improvement, and recommendations to enhance the nation’s emergency preparedness.

To learn more about TFAH’s recommendations for a stronger public health system, read our 2024 report: Pathway to a Healthier America: A Blueprint for Strengthening Public Health for the Next Administration and Congress.

Support for Prevention and Public Health Fund Remains Strong

Over 200 public health and health organizations urge Congress to support the Prevention and Public Health Fund as the nation faces growing public health threats

(Washington, DC – February 28, 2025) – At a time of increasing healthcare costs and uncertain funding for public health, the Prevention and Public Health Fund (Prevention Fund) is more important than ever. A guaranteed source of funding for public health programs, the Prevention Fund has invested more than $13.5 billion in every state and territory to improve health and help restrain the rate of growth in healthcare costs.

Recently, Senator Richard Blumenthal and Congresswoman Doris Matsui introduced the Public Health Funding Restoration Act which would restore the Prevention and Public Health Fund to its original $2 billion allocation as established by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Under its original allocation, the Prevention Fund should have risen to $2 billion by FY 2015. After multiple cuts over the years, the Prevention Fund will not reach that number until FY 2030, a full fifteen years later than intended. In total, the Prevention Fund has been cut by $12.95 billion over FY 2013 – 2029.

Again, the Prevention Fund has been proposed as a possible offset as part of the FY25 budget reconciliation process. Yet, support for the Prevention Fund remains strong. Last week, 200 organizations joined TFAH in sending a letter to congressional leaders urging them to avoid further cuts to the Fund.

Proven Track Record of Success

While the majority of its investments are at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Prevention Fund also supports programs at the Administration for Community Living and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration for suicide prevention, Alzheimer’s disease prevention, falls prevention, and chronic disease self-management.

Prevention Fund-supported programming has been shown to reduce the significant healthcare costs associated with chronic disease in the United States. For example, The Tips from Former Smokers campaign, aimed at encouraging smoking cessation, helped 1 million smokers successfully quit between 2012 and 2018, prevented an estimated 129,000 early deaths, and saved roughly $7.3 billion in smoking-related healthcare costs. In addition, the Diabetes Prevention Program has saved $1,146 per participant in related healthcare costs. Both programs are either partially or fully supported by the Prevention Fund.

The Prevention Fund also keeps the nation prepared against emerging threats. With experts raising concerns over the spread of H5N1 bird flu, the Prevention Fund supports CDC’s National Immunization Program as well as epidemiology and laboratory capacity grants in every state and U.S. territory to detect and investigate outbreaks and prevent further infections.

Maintaining support for the Prevention Fund is critical as the United States navigates rising chronic disease costs, higher rates of suicide, and decreasing life expectancy. Continued cuts will only impede the nation’s ability to protect communities.

For more information on how the Prevention Fund helps safeguard health and economic security in every state visit  Prevention and Public Health Fund State Fact Sheets – TFAH.

 

2024 Year in Review and Looking Ahead to 2025

During 2024, Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) continued its work to create a more resilient, trusted, and equitable public health system, and a healthier nation.

TFAH continued its work in a number of critical issue areas to improve the nation’s health, including emergency preparedness, public health funding, chronic disease prevention, the role of food and nutrition policy in stemming the nation’s obesity crisis, preventing substance misuse and suicide, supporting healthy aging, and addressing the health impacts of climate change and other environmental health risks.

Progress and Risks

The nation’s public health system is at an inflection point; progress has been made in many areas but there are also continuing and potential new risks to the nation’s health. The following are examples of areas of progress and areas of risk.

Areas of progress:

  • Drug overdose deaths, including from fentanyl, are down. The reduction can be credited in part to the increased availability of treatment options and the adoption of harm reduction strategies such as readily available naloxone, the overdose reversal drug, in many communities. However, disparities persist, with overdose rates increasing in many Black and Native American communities.
  • COVID-19 infection rates are currently low across the country, a testament to what can be achieved when the public health community rallies and has the funding and resources necessary to meet an immediate challenge.
  • Investments in public health data modernization, wastewater surveillance, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics have improved the nation’s ability to identify and track emerging health threats. The Center has awarded more than $100 million to partners who are technologically advancing the use of outbreak data to control infectious disease spread.
  • Fifty-nine state and local health departments have earned Age-Friendly Public Health Systems Recognition Status through TFAH’s Age-Friendly Public Health Systems initiative by making healthy aging a core function of the department. In addition, four public health organizations and 154 individual public health practitioners have been recognized as public health champions.
  • Fifteen states and D.C. have adopted paid sick leave laws which require private employers to provide paid sick leave to employees attending to their own or a family member’s health. Alaska, Missouri, and Nebraska will require employers to provide paid sick leave beginning in 2025. Paid sick leave has been a long-standing TFAH policy recommendation.

Areas of risk:

  • Public health faces a serious funding cliff as monies infused into the public health system as part of the pandemic response are expiring or in some cases rescinded. The loss of such funding returns the public health system to the state of underfunding it experienced for decades prior to the global pandemic. TFAH’s annual report, The Impact of Chronic Underfunding on America’s Public Health System 2024: Trends, Risks, and Recommendations called attention to the critical need to increase investment in public health on a sustained basis.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic exposed serious gaps in the nation’s emergency infrastructure that have not been fully addressed. Furthermore, misinformation about the pandemic, particularly about lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines, contributed to an uptick in mistrust of public health officials that could lead to more vaccine hesitancy and challenges to important public health authorities, all of which could make containing future disease outbreaks more difficult.
  • New disease outbreaks such as the H5N1 Bird Flu could grow.
  • Rates of recommended childhood vaccinations are down.
  • Health disparities continue to impact the nation. Rates of chronic disease are on the rise in every community but are higher, for example, among many communities of color and in rural communities, due to structural barriers to health like access to healthy and affordable food, secure housing, and opportunities for physical activity in those communities.
  • Health risks are also increasing due to an increase in the number and severity of weather-related incidents including extended periods of extreme heat and extreme heat in regions of the country unaccustomed to such weather.

Working With Partners and Providing Leadership to Strengthen the Nation’s Public Health Ecosystem

TFAH released its Pathway to a Healthier America: A Blueprint for Strengthening Public Health for the Next Administration and Congress in October, after consultation with more than 45 experts, practitioners, organizations, and community members. The Blueprint provides the incoming Administration and Congress a policy roadmap for improving the nation’s health, economy, and national security within six priority areas: 1) invest in public health infrastructure and workforce, 2) strengthen prevention, readiness, and response to health security threats, 3) promote the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities across the lifespan, 4) advance health equity by addressing structural discrimination, 5) address the non-medical drivers of health to improve the nation’s health outcomes, and 6) enhance and protect the scientific integrity, effectiveness, and accountability of agencies charged with protecting the health of all Americans.

Working with partners across multiple sectors is central to TFAH’s work. TFAH staff led or participated in a number of coalitions during 2024, including the Coalition for Health Funding, the CDC Coalition, the Common Health Coalition, the Well-Being Working Group, the Injury and Violence Prevention Network, National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity, the Coalition to Stop Flu, the Adult Vaccine Access Coalition, the Age-Friendly Ecosystem Collaborative, the National Alliance to Impact the Social Determinants of Health, the National Commission on Climate and Workforce Health, and the National Council on Environmental Health & Equity.

Advocating for Evidence-Based Solutions

A healthy community supports the health of individuals and families by creating access to non-medical drivers of health such as secure housing, transportation, quality healthcare, high-quality childcare and educational opportunities, and jobs that pay a living wage. Such health security supports individuals, families, communities, and the nation’s economy.

Throughout the year, TFAH convened partners to strategize ways to effectively advance health promoting policies and programs at the federal and state levels. In addition, TFAH staff worked with numerous federal agencies and offices, like CDC, FDA, and SAMHSA, as well as public health organizations such as the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), Big Cities Health Coalition, and the National Governors Association to advance policies and garner support for programs that will improve Americans’ health. Among TFAH’s legislative goals for 2024 and moving into 2025 are increased and sustained investment in public health agencies, infrastructure, and programs; passage of a new Farm bill that provides access to nutrition support programs; reauthorization of the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act and the Older Americans Act; and passage of the Public Health Infrastructure Saves Lives Act and the Social Determinants of Health Act.

These advocacy efforts earned numerous policy wins, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) updates to school meals formulas and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) benefit food packages that aligns with TFAH recommendations.

TFAH’s core annual reports, which track data and recommend policy solutions in the areas of emergency preparedness, public health funding, preventing substance misuse and suicide, and addressing the nation’s obesity crisis, continue to be a critical source for data trends and evidence-based policy and program solutions for health officials, policymakers, other decision-makers, and advocates across the country.

Making Healthy Aging a Core Function of Local Health Departments

Through its Age-Friendly Public Health Systems Initiative (AFPHS), TFAH continues to provide guidance and resources to state and local health departments to help them promote healthy aging in their communities. During 2024, AFPHS co-hosted the 2024 National Healthy Aging Symposium with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. The symposium brought together speakers from sectors across all levels of government, philanthropy, academia, nonprofits, community-based organizations, tribal representatives, and others who shared their perspectives on important topics related to healthy aging including caregiving, brain health, the caregiving workforce, transportation, housing, and social engagement. TFAH also launched the Age-Friendly Ecosystem Collaborative to continuously engage organizations and sectors central to healthy aging.

Supporting Public Health Communicators

TFAH continues to be a managing partner of the Public Health Communications Collaborative (PHCC). PHCC provides no-cost messaging resources and communications training to state and local health departments to help the field effectively address the public’s information needs on public health issues. The Collaborative was first established during the COVID-19 pandemic and now works across the public health sector on such issues as H5N1 Bird Flu, Mpox, protecting health during periods of extreme heat, and vaccine confidence. Its training materials include resources on strengthening public health through community engagement, responding to misinformation, and using social media in health communications. The PHCC newsletter is shared with over 38,000 opted-in subscribers, and its website has earned over 1.2 million page views since its launch in 2020.

Looking Ahead

The 2025 calendar year promises to be pivotal for the nation’s health. TFAH looks forward to bringing evidence-based policy recommendations to the new Administration and Congress, particularly on issues such as emergency preparedness, chronic disease prevention, mental health, veterans’ and rural health, and investing in prevention to reverse the pattern of increasing healthcare spending without better health outcomes. We are committed to making the case for policies and programs that address the non-medical drivers of health in order to promote the nation’s health and economic security.

The Nation’s Public Health System is at an Inflection Point

New Report Provides the Next Administration and Congress a Policy Roadmap for Improving the Nation’s Health, Economy, and National Security

(October 8, 2024 – Washington, DC) – The public health system—responsible for protecting and promoting health in every community— needs sustained investment, policy support, and protection from political interference, according to a new report released today by Trust for America’s Health.

The report, Pathway to a Healthier America: A Blueprint for Strengthening Public Health for the Next Administration and Congress, identifies six priority areas and includes policy recommendations that, if adopted, will improve health outcomes and bolster the nation’s economic and national security.

Americans are living longer, thanks in part to public health. Public health interventions, such as improved sanitation, enhanced vaccination access and stronger infectious disease control, improved nutrition, tobacco use prevention, and addressing preventable injury, were the largest contributing factors to life expectancy increases over the last century.

However, too many Americans are still suffering from preventable health problems. Over the last few decades, increasing rates of chronic diseases and alarming levels of substance use disorder and suicides threaten the public’s health. Furthermore, weather-related emergencies are occurring more frequently, and population-level health disparities persist.

Public health is at risk on several fronts. Underfunding has weakened the public health infrastructure and its workforce. Mis- and disinformation and politicization have contributed to distrust of public health officials and guidance. Public health’s ability to protect communities is also at risk due to proposed or enacted policies that undermine the role of public health officials or access to preventive healthcare.

“This Blueprint Report provides a roadmap for the Administration and Congress taking office in January to improve the health and well-being of the nation. We know what works in public health and that when Congress and the Administration act in support of public health, the return is improved preparedness and individual and community health and safety,” said J. Nadine Gracia, M.D. MSCE, President and CEO, Trust for America’s Health. “The next Administration and Congress will have an important opportunity to enable all Americans to enjoy optimal health.”

2024 Blueprint Priority Areas and Highlighted Recommendations

This report includes recommendations across six priority areas to protect and strengthen public health, prevention, and our nation’s health security. The following are highlighted recommendations from the report. See the report for the inclusive set of recommendations.

Priority 1: Invest in Infrastructure and Workforce to Ensure Our Public Health System Can Meet the Challenges and Opportunities of the 21st Century.

  • Congress should protect and increase overall funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
  • Congress should ensure continuous improvement of public health infrastructure.
  • Congress should invest in public health data modernization and enact the Improving DATA in Public Health Act to better detect and contain health threats.
  • Congress and HHS agencies should support efforts to bolster recruitment, retention, and resilience of the public health workforce.

Priority 2: Strengthen Prevention, Readiness, and Response to Health Security Threats.

  • The White House should maintain coordination and leadership around public health emergencies and biodefense, and the White House and Congress should renew the nation’s Global Health Security Commitment.
  • Congress should expand public health emergency preparedness funding for state, tribal, local, and territorial jurisdictions.
  • Congress and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response should strengthen the emergency readiness of the healthcare delivery system.
  • Congress should enact legislation to ensure access to vaccines for uninsured and underinsured adults.
  • Congress should support nationwide efforts to protect against environmental and climate-related health threats, including extreme heat.

Priority 3: Promote the Health and Well-being of Individuals, Families, and Communities Across the Lifespan.

  • Congress should increase funding to CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.
  • Congress should enhance benefits in and protect access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and should make healthy school meals for all permanent.
  • Congress should create a national standard requiring employers to provide job-protected paid sick, family, and medical leave for all employees.
  • Congress and HHS should address Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) by passing the Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences Act and increasing the investment in the CDC ACEs program.
  • Congress should fund the nationwide implementation of CDC’s Comprehensive Suicide Prevention Program and support Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s efforts to bolster the continuum of crisis care.
  • Congress and the Administration should fund CDC’s internal capacity for healthy aging efforts and its support to build and sustain age-friendly public health systems in state, local, tribal, and territorial public health departments.

Priority 4: Advance Health Equity by Addressing Structural Discrimination.

  • Federal agencies should regularly update and report progress on agency equity plans, ensuring metrics are inclusive of and extend beyond tracking disparities.
  • Congress and the Administration should ensure accurate and complete data collection to report health-related information by race/ethnicity, age, sex, disability, language, sexual orientation, gender identity, and geography.
  • Federal health agencies should focus funding on populations at elevated risk for chronic disease and poor health outcomes due to the impact of structural discrimination and disinvestment.

Priority 5: Address the Non-Medical Drivers of Health to Improve the Nation’s Health Outcomes.

  • Congress should increase funding to $150 million for the Social Determinants of Health program at CDC and pass the Improving Social Determinants of Health Act.
  • The Administration should continue to build on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) efforts to support Medicaid, Medicare, and Children’s Health Insurance Program coverage of patients’ health-related social needs.
  • CMS and Congress should explore opportunities to expand the capacity of healthcare providers and payers to screen and refer individuals to social services.
  • Congress should amend tax laws to increase economic opportunity for families by expanding access to the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit.

Priority 6: Enhance and Protect the Scientific Integrity, Effectiveness, and Accountability of the Agencies Charged with Protecting the Health of all Americans.

  • The Administration and Congress should maintain the existing structure of federal health agencies, which have specific roles and expertise in protecting the nation’s health.
  • The Administration should protect the scientific integrity of public health agencies and leaders.
  • Congress and HHS should invest in and prioritize effective public health communications and reducing the spread of misinformation and disinformation.
  • Lawmakers and courts should reject laws that weaken or preempt public health authorities, which could threaten basic public health protections such as outbreak detection, vaccination, and response.

 

Read the full report

Trust for America’s Health is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public health research, policy, and advocacy organization that promotes optimal health for every person and community and makes the prevention of illness and injury a national priority. 

 

 

National Immunization Month Highlights Lifesaving Benefits of Vaccines

August 2024

National Immunization Awareness Month sponsored by the National Public Health Information Coalition (NPHIC) and observed every August, highlights the lifesaving benefits of vaccines. During the month, activities will raise awareness of the importance of vaccinating people of all ages against serious and sometimes deadly diseases. The awareness month also celebrates the successes of immunizations and educates Americans about vaccine safety and effectiveness.

According to a study by the Commonwealth Fund, from December 2020 through November 2022, COVID-19 vaccines prevented approximately 18.5 million hospitalizations and 3.2 million deaths in the U.S., but the lifesaving impact of vaccines extends far beyond COVID-19. Vaccines have dramatically reduced the spread of diseases like measles, polio, and whooping cough, protecting countless individuals and communities.

According to new data published this month by the CDC, among children born during 1994-2023, routine childhood vaccinations will have prevented about 508 million cases of illness, 32 million hospitalizations, and 1,129,000 deaths over the course of their lifetimes.

Unfortunately, numerous factors have led to a decline in vaccination rates in recent years including healthcare disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic and the spread of misinformation about vaccine safety and effectiveness. In some cases, this has resulted in outbreaks of once-controlled diseases, including measles and to a lesser degree polio, jeopardizing the progress we have made.

According to the American Association of Immunologists, getting vaccinated protects against the spread of infectious diseases by helping our immune systems fight infection. Vaccines work by introducing a weakened or inactive form of a virus or bacteria to the body. This triggers the immune system to develop antibodies, creating a kind of shield against future infection. When a large portion of the population is vaccinated, it creates “herd” or community-level immunity, making it difficult for diseases to spread, even protecting those who haven’t been vaccinated themselves.

The public health benefits of vaccines include:

Disease Prevention: Vaccines are highly effective at preventing serious illnesses like measles, mumps, rubella, polio, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, chickenpox, shingles, influenza, and pneumonia. These diseases can cause severe complications, hospitalization, and even death.

Reduced Healthcare Costs: Vaccines are a cost-effective way to prevent illness and its associated medical expenses. Vaccination programs save billions of dollars in healthcare costs each year.

Protection for Populations at Higher Risk: Vaccines are especially important for protecting those with developing immune systems (infants) or weakened immune systems, such as older adults and people with certain chronic illnesses.

Global Health Impact: Vaccination programs have had a significant impact on global health. They have helped to virtually eliminate smallpox and dramatically reduced the burden of other diseases worldwide.

To build on and sustain the health benefits of vaccines, TFAH’s 2024 Ready or Not: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism report includes a number of important recommended policy actions to strengthen the nation’s vaccine infrastructure:

  • Increased Funding: Congress should provide at least $1.1 billion per year to support vaccine infrastructure and delivery, including programs promoting equitable vaccine distribution.
  • Insurance Coverage: Congress and states should ensure first-dollar coverage for recommended vaccines under commercial insurance and for uninsured populations.
  • Minimizing Exemptions: States should minimize vaccine exemptions for schoolchildren, and healthcare facilities should increase vaccination rates of healthcare workers.
  • New Vaccine Development: Congress should create incentives for new-product discovery to prevent and fight resistant infections including therapeutics, diagnostics, and prevention products such as vaccines.
  • Strengthening Influenza Defenses: Congress should strengthen the pipeline of influenza vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics.
  • Countering Vaccine Misinformation:The spread of misinformation about vaccines can lead to vaccine hesitancy and lower vaccination rates. TFAH calls for promoting accurate information from trusted sources to increase vaccine confidence.

According to research published in The Lancet, since 1974, vaccination has prevented 154 million deaths worldwide. By ensuring equitable access to vaccines, promoting accurate information, and investing in research and education, we can continue to harness the power of vaccines and build a healthier future for all.

 

Ready or Not 2024: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism

The Ready or Not 2024: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism report identifies gaps in national and state preparedness to protect residents’ health during emergencies and makes recommendations to strengthen the nation’s public health system and improve emergency readiness. As the nation experiences an increasing number of infectious disease outbreaks and extreme weather events, the report found that while emergency preparedness has improved in some areas, policymakers not heeding the lessons of past emergencies, funding cuts, and health misinformation put decades of progress at risk.

 

Resource:

Ready or Not 2024: State-by-State Factsheets