Trust for America’s Health’s (TFAH) held a national briefing of its latest milestone report: Pathway to a Healthier America: A Blueprint for Strengthening Public Health for the Next Administration and Congress. A recording of the briefing, which was held at the National Press Club in Washington, DC will be available soon.
Public health sits at an inflection point. Despite its critical role in saving lives and protecting our communities from 21st century threats, public health is at risk. Regardless of the outcome of the November election, the next Administration and Congress have the opportunity to strengthen public health and create a more resilient nation.
TFAH’s Blueprint is a roadmap for policymakers that, if adopted, will safeguard the nation’s health security, promote wellness, and above all, save lives. The event featured highlights from the report as well as engaging conversations with our speakers.
Blueprint Discussions
The Path Forward for Our Nation’s Health and Health Security
- The Honorable Michael O. Leavitt, 20th Secretary of Health and Human Services (2005 to 2009) and former Governor of Utah
- The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius, 21st Secretary of Health and Human Services (2009 to 2014) and former Governor of Kansas
Promoting Health and Saving Lives: Supporting Public Health on the Frontlines
- Frederick P. Cerise, M.D., MPH, President and Chief Executive Officer, Parkland Health
- Susan Kansagra, M.D., MBA, Former North Carolina State Health Officer and Assistant Secretary for Public Health, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
- Anand Parekh, M.D., MPH, Chief Medical Advisor, Bipartisan Policy Center and former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Trust for America’s Health hosted a virtual Congressional briefing and national webinar honoring the 25th anniversary of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) program. REACH aims to improve health, prevent chronic diseases, and reduce health disparities among racial and ethnic populations with the highest risk, or burden of chronic disease. Since 1999, the program has empowered communities to develop and share effective solutions, fostering a healthier future for all.
A panel of subject matter experts discussed the history, achievements, and future of the REACH program.
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.
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Ready or Not 2024: State-by-State Factsheets
On October 11, 2023, Trust for America’s Health hosted an in-person and livestream event recognizing the 20th anniversary of its State of Obesity: Better Policies for a Healthier America report at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The two-hour event featured White House and federal officials discussing the Biden Administration’s priorities for improving nutrition and health including its National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. In addition, senior federal agency officials discussed a whole-of-government approach to advance transformative policies and programs designed to address increasing rates of diet-related diseases and improve the health of the nation.
Another highlight of the event was a panel featuring community leaders and medical experts discussing effective community level obesity prevention programs and innovative approaches to create sustainable change to promote health.
Four-time track and field Olympian and American record holder Chaunte Lowe closed the program discussing the role that sports can play in promoting health and well-being. Ms. Lowe is a member of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition.
Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) will host a Congressional briefing, national webinar on our recently released report, Pain in the Nation 2023: The Epidemics of Alcohol, Drug, and Suicide Deaths.
TFAH’s Pain in the Nation 2023 report found that the death rate due to alcohol, drugs, and suicide increased by 11 percent in 2021. Deaths due to substance misuse and suicide have been rising in the U.S. for over two decades, with numbers doubling from 104,379 deaths in 2011 to 209,225 in 2021. The increase in 2021 death rates occurred among all ages, races, and geographic groups, but TFAH’s report found that increases were particularly high for youth suicides and drug overdoses among certain populations of color and in rural regions of the country.
Resources:
Trust for America’s Health
Crisis Text Line
Policymakers are asking: With the United States spending far more on healthcare compared to other high-income nations, why does our nation still yield substantially worse health outcomes and what funding and policy actions must we take to see better results?
To shed light on that important question, Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Coalition for Health Funding (CHF) are gathering experts in public health policy and funding on June 20th to discuss the critical need for increased, sustainable, and flexible funding that specifically targets public health and prevention. The discussion will focus on how to address the longstanding gaps in public health capacity resulting from chronic underfunding.
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This briefing explores the findings from TFAH’s recent report, Ready or Not 2023: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism.
The past year alone saw the U.S. surpassing 1 million deaths due to COVID-19, decreasing rates of routine vaccinations, and increasing prevalence of health misinformation. In addition, last year the U.S. experienced 10 or more billion-dollar weather-related disasters for the eighth consecutive year. The webinar will review TFAH’s 2023 Ready or Not report which measures states’ degree of preparedness to respond to a wide spectrum of health emergencies and to provide ongoing public health services.
Subject matter experts discussed the nation’s readiness for public health emergencies, examine the findings of the report, and discuss key recommendations for policymakers.
Resources:
Trust for America’s Health
Children’s National Hospital
This briefing explores the findings from TFAH’s recent report, which found obesity rates continue to climb nationwide and within population groups. 19 states had adult obesity rates at 35% or higher, up from 16 states the previous year. These persistent increases underscore that obesity is caused by a combination of factors including societal, biological, genetic, and environmental, which are beyond personal choice. Addressing the obesity crisis will require attending to the economic and structural factors of where and how people live.
Panelists discussed the latest data on obesity and its impacts, promising approaches to ensure healthier communities, and offered policy recommendations that can help all American lead healthier lives.
Resources:
Trust for America’s Health
The White House:
Deaths associated with alcohol, drugs, and suicide took the lives of 186,763 Americans in 2020, a 20 percent one year increase in the combined death rate and the highest number of substance misuse deaths ever recorded for a single year. These data are part of a report releasing today, Pain in the Nation: The Epidemics of Alcohol, Drug, and Suicide Deaths, the latest in a series of reports tracking the nation’s deaths of despair crisis produced by Trust of America’s Health and Well Being Trust.
No single program or policy will be a cure-all to address these issues. Instead, a comprehensive approach that focuses on the underlying causes of these deaths of despair can help heal individuals and communities and make them more resilient.
Resources:
Trust for America’s Health
Well Being Trust
As the nation enters its third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s report calls for urgent investment to create a public health system able to protect all Americans’ health during emergencies. The report measures states’ degree of preparedness to respond to a wide spectrum of health emergencies and to provide ongoing public health services.
A panel of subject matter experts discussed the nation’s readiness for public health emergencies, examined the findings of the report, and discussed key recommendations for policymakers.
Resources:
Trust for America’s Health
Office of Minority Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Articles shared by Céline Gounder, MD, ScM, FIDSA