New PHAB Report Open for Public Comment

The Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB), a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving and protecting the health of the public by advancing the quality and performance of Tribal, state, local, and territorial public health departments, has taken the recommendations of the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD) and updated their Standards and Measures document to address health equity. The public is invited to comment on the revised document through August 9, 2013. You can use this survey link to submit comments directly to PHAB. The NACDD leadership celebrates the effective work of the council and all members that have contributed to the ongoing advancement of health equity everywhere.

National Influenza Vaccination Week

National Influenza Vaccination Week (NIVW) is a national observance that was established by CDC to highlight the importance of continuing influenza vaccination, as well as fostering greater use of flu vaccine after the holiday season into January and beyond. This year NIVW will be held December 2-8, 2012.

Historically, vaccination activity drops quickly after the end of November. CDC and its partners, including NBCH, want to dispel the myth that vaccination beyond the holidays is "too late." As long a flu viruses are spreading and causing illness, vaccination should continue and can provide protection against the flu. Even unvaccinated people who have already gotten the flu can still benefit from vaccination since the flu vaccine protects against three different flu viruses and more than one flu virus circulates each season. CDC recommends a yearly flu vaccine for everyone 6 months of age and older as the first and most important step in protecting against flu viruses. The flu vaccine is the best way modern medicine currently has to protect against this serious disease.

Vaccine supplies are ample and there are more choices than ever available this year, both in terms of where to get vaccinated and what vaccine to get. Millions of doses of influenza vaccine have been delivered to people safely for decades. This season, the regular flu shot is available along with the nasal spray vaccine. There also is a “high-dose” vaccine for people 65 and older and an intradermal vaccine with a much smaller needle that is approved for use in people 18 to 64 years old.  Once vaccinated, you can enjoy this holiday season knowing that you have taken the single best step to protect yourself and your loved ones against the flu.

To kick-off the week CDC has a number of activities planned including a national media teleconference and radio media tours to get the word out that it’s not too late to get vaccinated. A Twitter chat is planned forDecember 5, 2012 from 1-2pm ET. The hashtag for the chat will be #NIVW2012 and you can follow @CDCFlu for more information. We encourage you to participate and also promote the chat with your members, colleagues, and partners. 

You can find more NIVW materials at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/nivw/index.htm, and NIVM activities at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/nivw/activities.htm.

Lastly, don’t forget to share your NIVW activities -- CDC would like to celebrate and share your involvement in the campaign.

IBM, CDC and PHDSC collaborate to enable real-time reporting of public health cases

IBM scientists are collaborating with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Public Health Data Standards Consortium (PHDSC) to further standardize the exchange and use of public health information to improve health care quality and coordination of care.

Controlling major outbreaks of infections such as whooping cough or tracking circulating flu strains is critical to public health. However, the lack of public health electronic reporting standards results in irregular and delayed reports that often create inconsistencies and duplication of efforts.

According to the news release, IBM Research is working with the CDC and PHDSC to develop a new approach to defining and delivering public health reporting by drawing insights from structured and unstructured data that currently exists in disparate systems. The scientists are creating templates for public health case reports that could work with electronic health record (EHR) systems, allowing critical information in the proper format to be easily shared among local, county, state and federal public health agencies to speed response times to public health issues.

Private biz profits when public health improves

We know that obesity and other health problems like diabetes and asthma are often compounded by an unhealthy environment: neighborhoods with no safe place to walk or bike, communities with lots of opportunities to buy unhealthy food or cigarettes but no place to purchase fresh produce, and environments where polluted air can trigger asthma and other ailments.

We also know that the health of our local economy depends on a healthy workforce. Chicago employers must join with leaders in transportation, housing, energy and other sectors to find solutions to these unhealthy environments. We must start investing in building healthy places for people in the Chicago area to live—and work. Read the full article featuring Larry Boress...