Environmental Public Health Tracking: Information to Guide Practice and Policy

Decision making for environmental public health practice and policy development is faced with many challenges. A critical need for informed public health decision making is surveillance data. Unfortunately, health and environmental surveillance systems lack the coordination and integration needed to benefit environmental public health decisions. Decision making is also limited by data gaps which exist in both health and environmental systems.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program (Tracking Program) was created to establish a nationwide network of integrated health and environmental data. The Tracking Program will play a role in environmental public health decision making by filling gaps in data and facilitating the linkage of disparate health and environmental databases. Over the past four years, the Tracking Program has worked to build capacity for environmental public health within state and local agencies. Individual tracking grantees have demonstrated the ability to utilize health and environmental data to inform practices and policies regarding environmental health.

By the end of 2008, the Tracking Program will provide nationally consistent information across multiple states which can assist the decision making process for both public health practice and policy development. The program will provide environmental public health information about lead, carbon monoxide, air, water, asthma, acute myocardial infarction, birth defects, cancer, and reproductive outcomes. Over time, the Tracking Program will add new information and continue to build capacity for environmental public health practice and policy development.