National Public Health Week marked nationwide: Event honors ‘Building the Foundation for a Healthy America’
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Thousands of health advocates celebrated National Public Health Week in April with activities, proclamations, town halls and other events, bringing this year’s theme of “Building the Foundation for a Healthy America” to communities nationwide.

The 2009 celebration of National Public Health Week, which was held April 6–12, worked to raise awareness of public health’s critical role in improving the U.S. health system. The event included free tools and materials, a Web site, blog and Twitter to help supporters spread their health messages.

![Figure1](http://www.thenationshealth.org/https://www.thenationshealth.org/content/nathealth/39/5/1.2/F1.medium.gif)

[Figure1](http://www.thenationshealth.org/content/39/5/1.2/F1)

In Oregon, Acting Public Health Director Mel Kohn, MD, MPH, speaks at the Capitol during National Public Health Week.

Photo courtesy Oregon Department of Human Services

“With debate around health reform under way, this year’s theme was particularly timely and relevant,” said Georges Benjamin, MD, FACP, FACEP (E), executive director of APHA. “As a nation, we spend far more on health care than any other country, yet we fall short in many of the important measures of what it means to be healthy.”

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[Figure2](http://www.thenationshealth.org/content/39/5/1.2/F2)

Public health students at Benedictine University in Lisle, Ill., collaborate on a National Public Health Week poster.

National Public Health Week was also used to debut a new APHA video campaign, Healthiest Nation in One Generation, aimed at raising awareness of the role of public health in ensuring a healthy America. More than 10,000 people viewed the video, online at [www.generationpublichealth.org](http://www.generationpublichealth.org), in its first week alone. (See [Page 5](http://www.thenationshealth.org/lookup/volpage/39/5?iss=5))

Health workers, organizations, students and others were invited to take part in National Public Health Week and to share their events with *The Nation’s Health.* Many responded, submitting photos, proclamations, fliers, newspaper articles and other materials detailing their successful events.

Full nationwide coverage starts on Page 18.

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