The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

3313.0: Monday, November 17, 2003 - 2:30 PM

Abstract #73124

Social justice and public health: Data needs and data privacy

Catherine Cubbin, PhD and Kristen S. Marchi, MPH. Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, 500 Parnassus Avenue, MU-3 East, Box 0900, San Francisco, CA 94143-0900, 415-476-6620, ccubbin@itsa.ucsf.edu

This session will be focused on issues surrounding both data needs and data privacy as they relate to social justice and public health in the United States. The session will include three presentations followed by a brief commentary by a discussant.

Makani Themba-Nixon of The Praxis Project will address issues pertaining to data needs of grassroots organizations focused on social justice & public health. The emphasis will be on what these needs are, innovative ways that groups are meeting these needs, and how these needs can be communicated to and acted upon by public health researchers, agencies, and sponsors.

Sarah Putney of the Human Subjects Committee at the Harvard School of Public Health will address data privacy issues relevant to the "Privacy Rule" required by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). This regulation took effect in April 2001, with compliance mandated by April 2003. She will discuss the likely impact of these regulations on research and initiatives focused on links between social justice & public health.

Carmen Nevarez of the Public Health Institute will provide an update on the Racial Privacy Initiative (http://www.racialprivacy.org/ ), scheduled to appear on the California ballot in March 2004. This initiative would ban collection of racial/ethnic data by government agencies, albeit possibly with exemptions for some kinds of medical research and law enforcement activities, and could have tremendous implications for social justice & public health.

The discussant will be Nancy Krieger from the Harvard School of Public Health who will reflect on issues of data needs and data privacy in relation to work on social justice & public health.

Learning Objectives:

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Social Justice & Public Health: Data Needs and Data Privacy

The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA