The U.S. is an international leader in many areas, but in some measures of health, it has much to learn from the rest of the world. With a theme of “Think Global, Act Local,” APHA’s 141st Annual Meeting and Exposition encouraged attendees to share and learn about the best practices from around the world.
Held in Boston in November, the meeting, which drew about 12,500 people, offered hundreds of sessions and posters featuring the latest public health research, as well as networking, idea-sharing, career events and business meetings all aimed at improving the nation’s — and the world’s — health.
An Annual Meeting attendee takes a photo at a book signing with opening session keynote speaker Sarah Weddington.
Photo courtesy EZ Event Photography
As always, the meeting was an opportunity to reinvigorate public health professionals and help them understand the importance of their work in the big picture.
And make no mistake, their work is critical. That was the message of opening session keynote speaker Michael Marmot, PhD, MPH, chair of the World Health Organization’s Commission on Social Determinants of Health and director of University College London’s Institute of Health Equity.
Meeting keynoter Michael Marmot speaks at the opening session.
Photo courtesy EZ Event Photography
Marmot used his address to gently chastise the U.S. for its poor showing in health among other developed nations and to put out a call for the country to use its great wealth to help the poor and disadvantaged.
Marmot noted that the U.S. ranks below Latvia on measures of child poverty, concluding that such a low ranking must have been a choice.
Annual Meeting attendees browse information at the expo.
Photo by Michele Late
“The level of child poverty is a decision governments make,” he told the audience. “You have a functioning democracy, so this must be the way you want it.”
Marmot talked about the role of poverty in life expectancy, noting that study after study shows that it is the poor, the disadvantaged, and the ethnic minorities who die young.
But despite the dismal facts, Marmot told the thousands in the crowd that he has not given up hope.
“Is anyone listening?” he asked. “And…my evidence-based answer is yes. We said, naively perhaps, that we wanted to create a social movement. I think…what you represent here, is part of that movement.”
He ended his speech with a quote from Chilean poet Pablo Neruda: “Rise up with me, against the organization of misery.”
Marmot was followed by a keynote address from attorney Sarah Weddington, JD, the attorney who argued for the winning side in the historic Roe v. Wade case. Weddington focused her talk on the need for leaders in public health to step up and fight for the cause. She talked about the Annual Meeting as a place where public health professionals can gather the energy they need to go forth and “make an impact as you leave this conference.”
She cautioned the audience that not every attempt will be successful, but she said those who come behind them will learn from their mistakes.
Attendees pick up their Annual Meeting programs and get information at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.
Photo by Michele Late
“It is part of being a leader to do things you’re not sure are going to work,” she said. “I am always watching to see techniques people have that I could use to be a better leader.”
APHA’s role as a leader in moving public health forward was never more clear than at the outset of the opening session, when Association Executive Director Georges Benjamin, MD, announced the debut of the new APHA.
After screening a video outlining the many public health victories and some of the work still yet to be done, Benjamin then focused his remarks on the importance of APHA’s members.
“We work on behalf of a public that doesn’t always understand,” he said. “When we do our best work, nothing happens. Communities stay safe and healthy…You are the heart of APHA and the strength of the public health community.”
Participants take in information at a meeting Learning Institute.
Photo by Michele Late
For more on the new APHA, see Page 1.
Speeches from the opening session, including those from Marmot and Weddington, can be watched online via APHA’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/aphadc.
The end of the opening session meant the beginning of other meeting events. Scientific sessions kicked off on Sunday afternoon, Weddington, Benjamin and others hosted book signings in the expo hall and members took over the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, making connections, meeting new people and taking advantage of all of the opportunities the meeting had to offer.
The Annual Meeting included many other high-profile public health leaders and advocates, who addressed a range of topics during the five days of events. Author Noam Chomsky, PhD, MA, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor, spoke at a Monday, Nov. 4, session on peace and health in the Middle East. Linda Birnbaum, PhD, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and recipient of the Environment Section’s Homer N. Calvert Award and Lecture, addressed environmental chemicals at another Monday session.
Georgia Southern University offers free on-the-spot mentoring for visitors at its booth at the Annual Meeting expo.
Photo by Michele Late
The same day, activist Winona LaDuke, MA, executive director of Honor the Earth, spoke on climate change and indigenous populations, while H. Westley Clark, MD, JD, MPH, director of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, discussed prescription drug misuse and abuse and highlighted a new Opioid Overdose Prevention Toolkit from SAMHSA.
U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health Howard Koh, MD, MPH, spoke Monday about social determinants of health and providing opportunities for students to learn. In a session on high school graduation and public health, Koh spoke about the role that advocates can play in supporting healthy students and communities.
“Good health is much more than what happens in the doctor’s office,” Koh said. “Health is where people live, labor, learn, play and pray.”
Most of the Annual Meeting’s thousands of sessions and events were held at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.
Photo by Michele Late
Overall, more than 1,000 scientific sessions and 5,000 presentations were held during the meeting, as well as a huge number of social gatherings, both formal and informal. People walking through the convention center also had the opportunity to learn about public health and APHA history on the History Trail, which recounted important milestones in the field over the past 150 years.
APHA Executive Director Georges Benjamin speaks to the opening session crowd.
Photo courtesy EZ Event Photography
As in previous years, Annual Meeting attendees and those watching from afar used social media to communicate the best parts of the meeting. This year was different from the past in the sheer number of Twitter messages — or tweets — sent using the official Annual Meeting hashtag, #APHA13. Over the course of the meeting and the days just before and after, 17,600 tweets were sent using the hashtag. That figure more-than doubles last year’s 8,300 tweets.
“We were so happy to see APHA members and meeting attendees embracing Twitter’s potential to bring people together,” said APHA Communications Director David Fouse.
The Annual Meeting Blog, at www.aphaannualmeeting.blogspot.com, was the central source for Annual Meeting news again this year, publishing nearly 60 posts. The blog featured posts on all of the major Annual Meeting events, as well as roundups of tweets, photos and coverage of scientific sessions.
APHA continued its tradition of offering continuing education credits at the meeting. Nearly 1,500 people used the meeting to earn continuing education credits, and more than 500 people participated in Learning Institutes held Saturday, Nov. 2 and Sunday, Nov. 3. Three Learning Institutes — focusing on biostatistics, global health and the Medical Expenditures Panel Survey — were sold out.
Association members gave back in Boston like never before, raising $13,500 for Groundwork Lawrence, an organization that promotes healthy communities and empowers residents of Lawrence, Mass., to improve their quality of life. The money was raised as part of APHA’s Help Us Help Them effort, which invites attendees to donate when they register for the meeting.
The Annual Meeting was also a place to celebrate public health leaders and achievements. Awards were given throughout the meeting, both by APHA and its member groups (see Page 30). The Association celebrated its honorees Tuesday, Nov. 5, at its annual award ceremony and reception. Among the recipients of this year’s awards were environmental health advocate Shelley Hearne, DrPH, MPH, who received the Executive Director Citation, and first lady Michelle Obama, who was named the winner of the Presidential Citation for her leadership on the Let’s Move! campaign.
The Annual Meeting expo featured more than 700 exhibits.
Photo courtesy EZ Event Photography
The Annual Meeting closed with an address by Evan Tlesla Adams, MD, MPH, the first Aboriginal health physician advisor for British Columbia, and a panel on improving the health of Native people.
Adams talked about the danger of lumping all Native people together, noting that while some may be troubled, many others are happy, healthy, productive members of society. And all Native people need to have a voice in the decisions that affect them.
“It is perhaps immoral to institute programs without consulting people,” he said, adding that the U.S. government and states need to work with Native communities to ensure improvements in health.
For those looking for photographic reminders of the Annual Meeting, there are several options. Photographs from APHA’s professional photographer are now online and available for purchase. See Page 5 for more information. Members who stopped by APHA’s membership booth and had their photos taken with the new APHA logo can also view images at www.bit.ly/APHAPhotoGallery.
Attendees enjoy the Annual Meeting opening session on Sunday, Nov. 3. Speakers addressed a crowd of about 6,000 people.
Photo courtesy EZ Event Photography
With the 2013 Annual Meeting in the rearview mirror, it is time to look ahead. Abstract submissions are now being accepted for the 2014 meeting, which will be held in New Orleans Nov. 15-19 (See Page 2.)
APHA has not been to New Orleans for an Annual Meeting since 1987. The 2005 meeting was scheduled to be held in the city, but in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the city was unable to accommodate such a large group, and the meeting was moved to Philadelphia.
For more on APHA’s past and future Annual Meetings, visit www.apha.org/meetings, call 202-777-2742 or email annualmeeting{at}apha.org.
- Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association
