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MPHA member and MACHW board leader Durrell Fox being interviewed by New England Cable News about public health budget priorities.Public Health Budget Action
MPHA is leading advocacy for increased funding for key public health programs, including immunizations and school health services. The legislature is currently determining its priorities for the Fiscal Year 2006 (FY06) budget, which begins July 1, 2005.
The state's fiscal crisis, brought on by ill-advised tax cuts, has done damage to a range of social programs, but the Department of Public Health was on of the hardest hit: Since FYO1, the DPH has suffered a net cut of 23 percent in its budget.
Last year, MPHA helped win more than $30 million in additional funding for public health in FY05, and we are planning to build on this success. Governor Romney has once again proposed to under-fund public health in FY06. So MPHA is taking its message on the road and to the State House, organizing and speaking at public forums, mobilizing our coalition partners, testifying at hearings, and meeting with legislators. Read on...
Federal Health Dollars in Jeopardy
Act Now to Protect Vital Programs and Services
President Bush's budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2006 spells disaster for public health and health care programs. The president has called for a cut of over $530 million-or nearly 7 percent-to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) budget, including: Read full article.
Interim DPH Commissioner Paul CoteDPH Commissioner Ferguson resigns
Paul Cote takes reigns as Interim Commissioner
Massachusetts Department of Public Health Commissioner Christine Ferguson resigned effective March 1, 2005 to direct a new, health and child welfare foundation under the auspices of America's Promise, a national organization founded by Colin Powell. Ferguson left after serving two years at DPH, including a year as Assistant Secretary of Health for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, where she had combined responsibility for public health, mental health, health care financing, and acute Medicaid services. Ferguson's chief of staff at DPH, Ian Lang, has also left the Department to become deputy director of the new, Alexandria, VA-based foundation. Continue reading.
Notes From The West
Epi Bodhi, director of the Amherst health department, and a Western Mass Regional Committee member, is now serving as one of MPHA representatives to the Coalition for Local Public Health. The resignation of Christine Ferguson postponed the meeting of the Regional Committee with the Department of Public Health. The committee continues to focus on facilitating regional communication with DPH and on providing a western Massachusetts perspective to Interim Commissioner Paul Cote. Full article.
Community Health Workers attend training on public health advocacy co-sponsored by MACHW and MPHA in Worcester.Recently the Massachusetts Community Health Worker (MACHW) Network reached a milestone with its successful filing of its first CHW authored legislation:
An Act to Study the Community Health Worker's Role in Reducing Health Disparities and Increasing Enrollment in Medicaid-funded Health Services in Massachusetts
HD# 4062
This milestone was achieved through hard work and research by three MACHW board members with technical assistance from Massachusetts Public Health Association (MPHA) and some key legislative allies. The primary authors were two CHWs -- Lisa Renee Siciliano of MPHA and Durrell Fox of the New England HIV Education Consortium (NEHEC). They are also the current and immediate past chairs, respectively, of MACHW and were joined by another MACHW board member and Geoff Wilkinson, Executive Director of MPHA. State Representative Gloria Fox, the bill's lead sponsor, and her legislative staff gave valuable technical assistance and insight. Full article.
"Investigating Health Disparities: New Agenda for National Health Research Institutes," Thursday, April 14, 2:00 - 5:00 pm, at the Harvard Conference Center, is free and open to the public and the Harvard community. Moderated by Lisa Berkman, PhD, HSPH Professor of Public Policy. Speakers include Elias Zerhouni, MD, Director, U.S. National Institutes of Health; John Frank, PhD, Scientific Director, Institute of Population and Public Health, Canada; Mirta Roses Periago, MD, Director, Pan American Health Organization; and Sujatha Rao, MA, Member Secretary, National Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, India. Harvey V. Fineberg, MD, PhD, President, Institute of Medicine, will be discussant. Sponsored by the HSPH Working Group on Health Disparities. RSVP attendance at the symposium at www.hsph.harvard.edu/disparities. Info: 617-432-3056, hlthdisp@hsph.harvard.edu.
Michael DeChiara has served as the Executive Director of Community Partners Inc. of Amherst, MA. Community Partners brings together frontline workers, advocates, and government to ensure access to health care that is equitable, responsive, accountable and grounded in the practical realities of people's lives.
Q: What would you do if you were Public Health Commissioner?
A: I couldn't do it in this environment. I'd get fired because I cannot be silent in the face of such outrageous inequity and disregard for regular people. Can you say "tax loopholes?"
Q: Your background includes working for Greenpeace, how has your environmental activism informed your professional life?
A: I learned several important lessons at Greenpeace. One, that movements for social change require a spectrum. My favorite example is that we celebrate an MLK Day in America because of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Compared to them, the powers that be preferred to talk to King. We must always have a spectrum pushing from outside and inside with demands that are outrageous to compromising. Full interview.
Winter has brought several staff changes to MPHA. We are pleased to welcome Eric Weltman as our new Deputy Director for Advocacy and Policy. Eric joined the staff at the end of February, replacing Sarah Almer, who moved to Philadelphia with her fiancée. Eric brings strong advocacy and writing skills and a solid environmental health background to the staff, having worked as organizing director for CPPAX and as an organizer for Toxic Action Network. We are also pleased to welcome Maddie Ribble as Administrative Assistant in the Boston office. Maddie is a MPH candidate at the Boston University School of Public Health and a former MPHA intern. Read on... |
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MPHA's Annual Celebration & Awards Dinner
On May 4th, 2005, the Massachusetts Public Health Association (MPHA) will honor public health leaders Deborah Prothrow-Stith, MD, and Christie Hager, JD, MPH at its annual celebration and awards dinner, "Breaking Ground: Our Health, Our Future." MPHA will present Dr. Prothrow-Stith with the Paul Revere Award -- MPHA's highest honor, named for the nation's first health officer -- for her noteworthy contributions to public health. Christie Hager will receive the Frechette Award, given annually by MPHA to a young professional of high accomplishment and promise in public health. We hope you will join us in thanking them for making Massachusetts a
safer and healthier state.
Sponsorship Opportunities | Ticket Prices | Event flier
State representatives Robert P. Spellane (center) and Jennifer L. Flanagan (far right) prepare to address public health forum.
Public Health Forum Held In Worcester
MPHA President, Harold Cox, put attendees at ease with humor while stressing the need for adequate public health funding at a recent MPHA training. His comments set the tone of community involvement in the legislative process. Public Health Advocacy: Making Our Voices Heard was held on March 18th at the Worcester Public Library. The event, the first in Worcester in about 3 years, was planned and coordinated by members of MPHA's Regional Committee in Central MA. Full article.
Senator Mark C. Montigny addresses attendees of the Hepatitis C Coalition's legislative luncheon.The Hepatitis C Coalition has been very active the past several months, making it self more known and expanding its impact within the community. The Coalition held a legislative luncheon at the State House on Thursday, March 24th, working tirelessly over the previous month lining up speakers, coordinating with legislators, and focusing on legislative outreach to insure a successful and informative event. Read on...
The first US screening of Prince Harry's documentary film, "The Forgotten Kingdom" will premier on Monday, May 16th at 7 PM at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline as a fundraising event to support the nonprofit organization SHARED's programs to help AIDS orphans in southern Africa. The Ambassador from Lesotho, H.E. Molelekeng Rapolaki will address the audience to discuss her government's response to the AIDS epidemic with an emphasis on the devastating effect on children in Lesotho.
Tickets are $10.00 and can be charged at the Coolidge Corner Theatre website at www.coolidge.org or purchased by check or money order by contacting SHARED at (617) 277 - 7800. For more information about this event, please visit SHARED's website at www.HealthShares.org.
MPHA will hold its 16th annual Elder Care Conference for Western Massachusetts, entitled "The Aging Adventure: Image and Reality" on May 11, 2005 at the Mont Marie Conference Center in Holyoke, MA. More information.
Rita Hindin is a member of MPHA and a consultant in epidemiology. This is the first in a series of three narratives written during her trip to Tanzania and Israel.
I'm here as a visitor to Aang Serian, meaning House of Peace in Maa. Aang Serian is an inter-tribal cultural/educational/peace organization founded by youth of a variety of tribal heritages. Their goal is to promote and preserve tribal lifestyle, wisdom, and knowledge. You can visit their web site at http://www.aangserian.org.uk.
Tanzania has about 120 distinct tribes, each with their own language; Aang Serian currently has members from 33 of the tribes; quite an accomplishment in itself. Ki-Swahili was made a national language by Julius Nyerere, Tanzania's first post British-colonialism leader. Aang Serian is currently working in three main areas. Full article.
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