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American Public Health Association
133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition
December 10-14, 2005
Philadelphia, PA
 APHA 2005
 
3067.0: Monday, December 12, 2005 - 10:30 AM

Abstract #121180

Appropriate public health indicators for environmental public health tracking system in Virginia

Sariyamon Tiraphat, MS and H. Anna Jeng, ScD. School of Community and Environmental Health, Old Dominion University, 227 spong Hall, Hampton Blvd, Norfolk, VA 23529, 757-683-4594, stira001@odu.edu

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) initiated the Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) System to assist the states in meeting Healthy People 2010. To provide a foundation for developing the program, CDC created guidelines on selecting appropriate environmental public health indicators that allow states flexibility to choose specific measures on the basis of individual priorities. This pilot study is to select appropriate public health indicators in Virginia to initiate an EPHT plan in the state.

The approach to select useful indicators include 1) identify environmental and public health concerns by reviewing publications based on the Medline-database and reports from Virginia Department of Health, 2) rank the hazards, exposures, and health effects by level of concern.

The indicators chosen for this study were hazards, exposure and health effects. First, drinking water was categorized as a hazard indicator. Three-priority sources of water contamination are fertilizer, pesticides, and land application. Secondly, lead was classified as an exposure indicator. From the survey of CDC and Virginia Department of Health, 13,800 children in Virginia under the age of six have elevated blood lead levels. Currently, Virginia Department of Health has implemented ongoing plans to eliminate lead poisoning in children by 2010. Thirdly, ambient air was considered as a health effect indicator for asthma.

The results of this study could lead to the development of an EPHT plan for the state of Virginia. That could prompt formulation of health policies to implement a priority surveillance system and improve the public health of communities throughout the state.

Learning Objectives:

  • at the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to

    Keywords: Environmental Health,

    Presenting author's disclosure statement:

    I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

    Committee on Affiliates Student Poster Session I

    The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA