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The 2019-2020 flu season had approximately 5 million fewer illnesses than the previous year. Thanks to COVID-19 mitigation efforts like social distancing and increased handwashing—coupled with a higher rate of flu vaccinations among the ...

The 2020 holiday season is coinciding with a nationwide surge of COVID-19 cases. With great concern that holiday travel to see loved ones may exacerbate community spread of the virus, many states are increasing public health measures ...

As COVID-19 emerged and spread in the U.S., people working and residing in long-term care facilities have experienced a significant burden of COVID-19 cases and deaths. As of Oct. 8, deaths associated with these facilities account for 40% ...

Several states and territories, as well as many local governments, are going beyond recommendations and requiring individuals to wear face coverings when they are in public settings and spaces (i.e. grocery stores, retail stores, ...

Continuing ASTHO’s Legislative Prospectus series—which highlights the top 10 public health policy issues for 2022—this post focuses on mental and behavioral health, as well as supporting the public health workforce.

While communities transition from emergency response to long-term monitoring and recovery, the federal government and states are taking legislative action to improve emergency preparedness capabilities.

Each September marks National Preparedness Month. This year, public health emergency preparedness professionals look back on 20 years since the 9/11 attacks—the event that effectively launched the preparedness field—while actively ...

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 limits, business closure times, and masking ...

Increasing and maintaining vaccine coverage is an important way to prevent the spread of disease and keep communities healthy. This post is an overview of 2019 state vaccine legislative activities.

Two rising health trends are negatively affecting women’s health across the United States: maternal mortality (death from pregnancy or delivery complications) and severe maternal morbidity (mental and physical health consequences from a ...

A mid-session legislative update on five of ASTHO's top 10 public health state policy issues to watch in 2023: data privacy and modernization, reproductive health, health equity, strengthening public health agencies, and immunization.

The need for food and nutritional assistance is growing. Based on Feeding America’s food insecurity projections released in March, it is anticipated that 42 million people may experience food insecurity this year—up from 35 million ...

States Assessing and Mitigating Risks of Agencies Using Artificial Intelligence artificial intelligence, machine learning, drug overdose deaths, privacy protections, chatbot technology, department of technology, societal biases, artificial ...

State efforts to reduce firearm injury and death with safe storage policies.

In the U.S., jurisdictions vary in their newborn screening practices and requirements related to the scope of testing, approach to parental consent, options for blood sample destruction, sample retention periods, and permissible uses of ...

Earth Day is a natural time to examine current and future climate change policies that impact human health, including clean air, safe drinking water, access to food, and secure shelter.