National Public Health Week highlights return on investment
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* Charlotte Tucker

Public health enthusiasts from Maine to Hawaii celebrated the possibilities inherent in a strong public health system during this year’s observance of National Public Health Week in April.

The notion that investment in public health has the ability to save money for individuals, communities and society was the theme of National Public Health Week 2013, which was organized by APHA and held April 1-7.

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Health workers from the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services in California take part in a National Public Health Week yoga session in April. Hundreds of events were held in communities nationwide during the observance.

“Public Health is ROI: Save Lives, Save Money,” was the week’s official theme. ROI stands for return on investment, or the notion that spending a small amount of money on preventive efforts can avert a much larger expenditure years later.

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A University of Maryland, Baltimore County, student talks to visitors at a Baltimore health fair in April.

National Public Health Week, which has been celebrated every year since 1995, was more popular than ever in 2013.

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APHA and the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services in Washington, D.C., hosted a screening of the movie “Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare” during National Public Health Week.

Photo by Matt Makara, APHA

“Over the course of each passing year, National Public Health Week becomes a bigger and bigger event,” said Susan Polan, PhD, APHA’s associate executive director for public affairs and advocacy.

This year was no different. More than 200 groups partnered with the Association, an increase of more than 25 percent from last year, and more than 300 events were listed on the official National Public Health Week calendar. The calendar is a way to let other National Public Health Week participants know what a group is doing to celebrate the week.

APHA sponsored several events in keeping with the week’s theme.

On April 1, APHA partnered with the creators of the award-winning film “Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare,” as well as the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services to host a screening of the film at the university’s Washington, D.C., campus. The screening was followed by a panel discussion that featured Gloria Wilder, MD, MPH, president and CEO of Core Health and a nationally recognized expert in poverty and economic segregation in health care; Fitzhugh Mullan, MD, the Murdock Head Professor of Medicine and Health Policy at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services and a professor of pediatrics at the George Washington University School of Medicine; and Erin Martin, DO, MPH, a primary care physician featured in the film.

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APHA Executive Director Georges Benjamin, second from left, was part of a panel discussion on gun violence at the George Washington University on April 5. The event brought together public health experts on community health, psychology, psychiatry, gun policy and research and family health.

On April 2, APHA organized a panel discussion on the return on investment of public health on Capitol Hill. The discussion, which also featured a question-and-answer session, was well attended by House and Senate staff members.

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APHA member Marthe Gold, MD, a professor at City College, speaks at the Hill briefing.

Photo by Charlotte Tucker

APHA leaders spearheaded several National Public Health Week events as well.

APHA Executive Director Georges Benjamin, MD, traveled to St. Louis April 4 and gave a lecture on the value of evidence-based public health programs at Saint Louis University College for Public Health and Social Justice. He returned to Washington, D.C., to attend an April 5 gun violence prevention symposium at the George Washington University.

APHA President-elect Joyce Gaufin attended and presented at the Oklahoma Public Health Association’s annual meeting, where she discussed preparing for the future of public health April 3.

APHA also led its third and most successful Twitter chat yet on April 3. There were more than 2,800 tweets using the hashtag #NPHWchat from 385 participants during the one-hour chat about the return on investment of public health. Participants were asked about how they benefit from public health and some provided examples of cost-saving prevention efforts.

“We were so happy to be able to engage so many people in conversations about public health and return on investment,” said APHA Director of Affiliate Affairs Kimberly Moore Smith, MHSA. “We were even happier to see the way chatters were engaging with one another about the best way to achieve better health in society.”

Every year, National Public Health Week is supported by national leaders in public health, and 2013 was no different. Participants during the Twitter chat included Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, HHS Assistant Secretary for Health Howard Koh, MD, and U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, MD, MBA.

Benjamin kicked off National Public Health Week 2013 with a video released April 1. In it, she explained public health’s return on investment and announced the beginning of a national effort to promote walking as a means to better health.

Sebelius said in a National Public Health Week statement that public health “affects and connects us all,” and noted that health reform is now making it possible for more people to get or stay healthy. She noted that because of the Affordable Care Act, 71 million Americans with private insurance have access to expanded coverage of preventive services, and that health insurance marketplaces will begin serving millions more on Jan. 1.

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APHA Executive Director Georges Benjamin, fourth from left, poses with staff and students at Saint Louis University.

“These initiatives and the health care law’s investments in public health are focused on keeping people healthy, intervening early to address chronic disease risk factors and demonstrating how public health can show ROI — return on investment,” she said.

On Capitol Hill, U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., and Reps. Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Calif.; Jim McGovern, D-Mass.; and Bill Cassidy, MD, R-La., introduced resolutions in Congress recognizing National Public Health Week and the importance of public health in ensuring safe, healthy communities.

Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., also released a statement supporting National Public Health Week, saying, “Public health improves the conditions and behaviors that affect the health of each and every one of us. Public health ensures that we have safe, healthy communities.”

Also in Washington, D.C., more than 200 people gathered for the 17th Annual Pan American Health Organization Walk for Health on April 6 during National Public Health Week. APHA co-sponsored the walk, which focused on raising awareness of the dangers of hypertension in conjunction with World Health Day.

“There are millions of people all over the Americas who suffer from hypertension, which is the risk factor for the No. 1 killer in the world, cardiovascular diseases,” said PAHO Director Carissa Etienne, MD, in a speech before the walk. “So today we stand in solidarity with those who have hypertension and we stand in solidarity with all of those who are well so that they do not get hypertension. “

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one in three adults in the U.S. has hypertension, and many do not know it. CDC has also found that if 10 percent of adults began walking regularly, the U.S. could avert $5.6 billion in heart disease-related medical costs.

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More than 200 people gathered for the 17th Annual Pan American Health Organization Walk for Health on April 6 during National Public Health Week. APHA co-sponsored the walk, which focused on raising awareness of the dangers of hypertension in conjunction with World Health Day.

Photo by David Spitz, courtesy PAHO/WHO

As part of APHA’s work to involve the public health community in National Public Health Week, the Association sponsored its first infographic contest. APHA teamed with online infographics company Piktochart and asked participants to explain the importance of public health using statistics and engaging visuals. More than 20 infographics were entered in the contest, and APHA chose four winners. The creators of those four infographics were awarded free admission to APHA’s Annual Meeting in Boston and the opportunity to host a meeting session.

National Public Health Week 2014 will be held April 7-13. The theme for the week will be announced at APHA’s 141st Annual Meeting in Boston in November.

For more on National Public Health Week, visit [www.nphw.org](http://www.nphw.org).

## New animated APHA video highlights public health return on investment

APHA harnessed the power of YouTube during National Public Health Week 2013 by crafting a video touting public health’s return on investment.

“Public Health is ROI: Save Lives, Save Money,” has garnered more than 8,000 views and sparked a conversation about the ways investments in public health can benefit people and society financially. ROI stands for return on investment, or the notion that investing in prevention saves money.

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The two-minute animated video, released during National Public Health Week, is a call for smart investments in safety and health. It highlights the value of fluoridated drinking water, seat belt use, vaccinations, food and nutrition education and tobacco cessation programs. The video encourages viewers to help prioritize public health funding.

It notes, for example that every $1 invested in a child safety seat has a $42 return in avoided medical costs.

“Public health is vital to our well-being, from the food we eat to the air we breathe, from our personal health to the effectiveness of our nation’s health system,” said Georges Benjamin, MD, executive director of APHA. “We hope this new video will help educate policymakers and the public about the important role public health plays in our lives every day and the significant value it delivers in saving lives, saving costs and improving quality of life over the long term.”

Watch the video at [www.bit.ly/NPHWROI](http://www.bit.ly/NPHWROI).

*   Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association