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Abstract #165320

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Jeffrey Levi, PhD, Executive Director, Trust for America's Health, 1707 H Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006, 202-223-9877, jlevi@TFAH.ORG

The US public and policy makers are demanding greater accountability from all public institutions, including public health. This occurs at a time when public health is responding to a broader array of challenges – from preparedness to chronic diseases – while often facing diminished resources in terms of federal funding. This presentation will make the case for a modernized public health system and articulate key principles associated with such a system; identify critical areas of consensus for change within the public health community and areas where new approaches are needed; describe polling data and other opinion survey research regarding public attitudes toward public health; propose strategies for expanding the political base of support for public health, primarily in the context of articulating public health's contribution to the health and economic competitiveness of our workforce; and argue for the critical central role population health can play in health care reform. The public health community needs to use the next 12 months as an opportunity to educate policy makers as they run for national, state, and local office and to develop a comprehensive agenda for a new presidential administration.

Learning Objectives:

• Articulate the political and policy challenges associated with modernizing the US public health system.
• Identify the core elements of consensus within the public health community regarding reform of the US public health system.
• Assess strategies for raising the visibility of public health in the policy debate surrounding the 2008 elections.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

• Slides (pdf) or Handout