Category: APHA IH Section

APHA Mid-Year Meeting

by ihsection, posted in APHA IH Section, Guest Blog

Below is a post from past section chair, Dr. Miriam Labbock, who is representing the IH Section at this year’s APHA Mid-Year Meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Dear All:
I am at the mid-year meeting of APHA representing the IH Section – as well I might, as there only seem to be a handful at most of section members here. We gathered together at a break to see who was here…BUT HERE’S MY VOTE THAT WE GET MORE INVOLVED IN THIS MEETING FOR NEXT YEAR!!! It has little to no section or affiliate politicking and actually sticks pretty much to public health issues, and gives sufficient time for discussion and networking. If we can add in a little IH, this could serve as an excellent alternative to the possibly missing GHC opportunity, with some a solid learning time.!

Yesterday, the first day, we had a keynote speech by Dr Don Berwick, guru of improving quality in the health care setting. While he stuck pretty much close to his comfort zone by his own admission, some of the questions pulled him out to discuss public health. Bottom line: huge call for increased communication between clinical and public health agendas.

Luckily, today, the keynote was Dr Mike McGinnis, who is well known in US Public Health circles. His talk much more directly addressed the question of how to increase the dialogue and mutual action. I encourage you all to read his comments, which I am told will be on line on the APHA website soon.

Last night, we had a special session planned to discuss the supreme court decision on ACA. Of course, the decision will not be until Thursday, but there were some interesting points made. In the immigration case, the Supreme Court made a big deal of the fact that they cannot make a judgement on something that is not yet in place…so this heartened the crowd that the provisions that have not as yet been implemented may be safe…we shall see.

Breakout sessions that I attended included “Building the Evidence Base for Public Health” where the take home message was very familiar to those of us who work in other countries: you need ‘evidence’ that is more relevant to action planning! Great speakers. Again, I would encourage you to visit the site. Shiriki offered a bit on the L.E.A.D. approach that may be relevant and all the speakers were innovative and interesting. The next was on Building Community Action – again, I think we are way ahead of the game in IH, but it was good to hear about domestic efforts to involve all stakeholders in health planning. All sessions pretty much addressed increasing activity (for obesity and coronary and diabetes) and decreasing sweet drinks. Lots of sidewalks in the discussion. I wish there has been some other topics, but it was very eye opening to see how state-side public health units have to function. My hats off to them – so many bureaucratic hurdles…

Stay tuned, because tomorrow the discussion will further highlight…ACA, of course! Let’s see what the Supreme Court comes up with!!

Best wishes to all, Miriam

(Still) Seeking a Video Editor for the IH Blog!

by ihsection, posted in APHA IH Section, Information and Social Media

This position is still open, so I thought I would bump it to the top of the blog. If you are interested in getting involved with our blog, or know someone who is, please contact me at jmkeralis [at] gmail [dot] com.

Attention IH Section members and blog readers! The Communications Committee is seeking a volunteer to serve as a Video Editor for the IH Blog. We are not looking for someone to make and/or edit videos, but simply to find relevant and interesting videos available on the internet and post them here to the IH Blog.

While this is a volunteer position, the time commitment is minimal – we are looking for someone who can find relevant videos and write a short description and provide commentary for them. You can do this in any format you’d like: either post the videos as you find them, or compile a weekly digest for the blog. The work can be done from anywhere in the world with a reliable internet connection.

There are several great reasons to get involved with IH section communications:

YOU WILL BE VISIBLE. The IH Blog gets around 800 hits per month, with traffic from all over the world; our Facebook page has over 100 fans and is always growing. Actively contributing to the blog for the IH section, which has over 1,500 members and is a loud voice for international health in a professional society with over 50,000 professionals, is a great way to put your name out there.

YOU WILL NETWORK. You always hear about the importance of networking in building a career. Ever feel awkward about striking up conversations because you need something? A better – way to network is by offering your services – you will be much appreciated and remembered for a whole lot longer.

YOU WILL LEARN. Not only will you contribute to the field and get noticed for your contributions, you will learn so much by being exposed to the disussion: news, politics, analysis, industry trends and problems.

If you are interested in this position, please contact Jessica Keralis, the IH Communications Committee Chair, at jmkeralis [at] gmail [dot] com for details.

APHA 2012 Section Elections Coming Up!

by ihsection, posted in APHA IH Section

Attention all IH Section members! APHA’s 2012 section elections are coming up next month, so please keep an eye out for e-mails from APHA, and check your spam folders. The text of a recent e-mail from APHA’s Francis Atkinson can be found below.

Dear APHA Member:

The American Public Health Association’s 2012 Section elections are quickly approaching and we are excited to continue offering you the opportunity to vote online. The elections will begin June 29, 2012 and will end on July 30, 2012. On June 29, you will be sent an e-mail notification letting you know that your election is open. The e-mail subject line will read “APHA Voting Information Enclosed”. Please do not delete this e-mail.

APHA has set up an election webpage that we encourage you to visit to view the election vacancies for 2012. Please click on the following link to be directed to the election page: http://www.apha.org/membergroups/sections/2012electionvacancies

Your e-mail notification will include:

* Your online election validation number
* Your APHA membership ID number
* Voting instructions
* A direct link to your voting Web site

All you have to do is click on the direct link and VOTE!

If you choose to vote online, please be assured that the site will be secure and you will have the same level of privacy and anonymity as if voting by mail. The system will prevent anyone from voting more than once.

As a member of APHA, your involvement in the selection of your leadership is an integral part of your Association’s governance. We encourage you to take part in this year’s election.

Sincerely,

Frances Atkinson, MSM
Director of Component Affairs

The Atlanta Declaration on Sustaining U.S. Leadership in Global Health & Water (video)

by ihsection, posted in APHA IH Section


Atlanta, Georgia, is home to some of the leading global health and development organizations in the nation and the world. The Atlanta Declaration addresses how the next U.S. Congress and presidential administration can best sustain United States leadership in improving world health, with a particular focus on the role of safe water and sanitation. The three sponsors CSIS, CARE, and the World Affairs Council of Atlanta have prepared this Declaration to mark recent historic achievements and to articulate a vision for U.S. leadership.

Conference Call to Discuss Closing of Global Health Council

by ihsection, posted in APHA IH Section, Section Announcements

Dear IH Section Members,

As some of you may already know, the Global Health Council has recently announced that it will be closing its doors and cancelling its 2012 conference in Washington, DC. The leadership of the IH section has been discussing how best to respond to this news. Below is a message from Peter Freeman, our Advocacy/Policy Committee Chair, which outlines ways in which you can have input in this discussion. Please consider joining the conference call or at least providing him with your feedback. Peter can be reached by e-mail at pffreeman [at] gmail [dot] com.

Hi all –

I spoken with Vina and Malcolm to start discussing the steps APHA is looking to take regarding the close of GHC and the ways in which the association can respond.

Vina informed me that APHA is in the process of a setting up a series of 2 discussions:

  1. The first discussion will be internally for APHA staff only, to gather their thoughts/ideas on what GHC’s role was in the international health community, what roles make strategic sense for APHA to absolve, and our association’s current capacity (and potential growth trajectory) to take on these roles.
  2. The second discussion will happen after APHA’s staff-only one, and may include interested representatives from other APHA sections (IH isn’t the only one that’s weighed in on this) as well as representation from GHC. This discussion will invite the IH section leaders; APHA recognizes the importance of everyone’s voice but having too large a group on the call may not be productive.

In light of this second call, Malcolm and I thought it would be a good idea for our section to have our own brainstorming call prior to APHA’s group call. This way, we can make sure our section’s ideas/thoughts/concerns are collected in an organized fashion; we will have these typed up and sent to whomever represents our group on the APHA group call.

Malcolm and I have scheduled this call for Wednesday, May 9th at 1 p.m. EST for 90 minutes. A prior e-mail mentioned a call on Monday, May 7th; Malcolm and I agreed to not hold the call on Monday and instead hold it on Wednesday, May 9th. I have been assured by Vina that the APHA group call will not be happening before this.

The call-in information is:
1-877-393-3856 (U.S. callers)
1-719-867-7624 (toll number and for international callers)
Participant passcode: 373785

If you are planning on attending, please let me know; an RSVP is not required, but it will help me be aware of who to expect come next Wednesday.

If you are unable to make the call, please e-mail me your thoughts/concerns/ideas around this. I have received the feedback that some of you have sent via e-mail already; thank you for sending that and I promise it will be incorporated into notes from this call.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.