Across the nation, public health agencies have mounted herculean efforts to stem the COVID-19 pandemic while addressing a pre-existing HIV epidemic and an opioid crisis that is serving as a source ...
COVID-19 has generated awareness of the importance of building community resiliency and brought about an influx of federal funding, which offers an opportunity to advance equity in prevention, social ...
The statistics of who is dying from COVID-19 paint a glaring picture and highlight the ever-growing health disparities that exist in communities of color. These health disparities have become a focus ...
Dental care and the oral health workforce have also been tremendously impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the midst of stay at home orders, nationwide closures, and related employment loss, people ...
The National School Lunch Program, a federally-assisted meal program run by USDA, has provided millions of children with nutritionally balanced, low-cost or no-cost lunches each school day.
The ASTHO State Health Policy team provides brief updates on 5 of the ten state health policy issues to watch in 2022: public health authority, immunization, data privacy and modernization, public ...
As leaders of their state agency, state and territorial health officials can be named parties in lawsuits alleging that an action taken by a public health agency was unlawful. These officials are ...
In 1965, while signing the Voting Rights Act into law, President Lyndon B. Johnson stated that “a man without a vote is a man without protection.” However, voting is a bit more complicated this year ...
In order to contain and mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic, widespread, rapid testing is key. Rampant and efficient testing determines who has the virus and who may be at risk of transmitting it, and ...
As COVID-19 spread across the country, governors and health officials invoked their emergency powers to order physical distancing measures designed to reduce social interactions and slow the spread ...
As the number of COVID-19 vaccinations grows, some states are looking at their vaccination rates to determine when to loosen measures that mitigate the spread of COVID-19, such as venue capacity ...
As COVID-19 continues to spread across the country, increased attention has been given to how schools, colleges, and universities can safely reopen for the upcoming 2020-2021 academic year. To note, ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has further amplified the need for strong tobacco prevention and cessation policies. Research indicates that tobacco use is associated with increased rate of COVID-19 disease ...
Scientists are working quickly to develop a safe and effective vaccine to provide immunity to COVID-19. Once a vaccine is approved, it will likely be imperative for states to authorize as many health ...
As part of ASTHO’s annual Legislative Prospectus series, we are taking time this week to focus on efforts to end the HIV epidemic. Public health officials across all levels of government have been ...
Data reveals that nearly one third of COVID-19 patients experience one or more post-COVID conditions that linger for weeks or months after infection. The cause, duration, and potential treatments for ...
The COVID-19 pandemic introduced new challenges for screening children’s blood lead levels, as screening rates across the country dropped during stay-at-home orders. A substantive federal policy ...