Photo by Sean Pavone, courtesy iStockphoto
As the place where many of the nation’s key public health policies are made, Washington, D.C. is the ideal setting for APHA’s 2025 Annual Meeting and Expo.
From Capitol Hill and the White House to the headquarters of major federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, D.C. has long been a hub for national decisionmaking.
APHA 2025 will add to that leadership by welcoming over 12,000 researchers, educators, students and other supporters to the city Nov. 2–5. This year’s meeting theme, “Making the Public’s Health a National Priority,” is especially relevant to the state of public health, given ongoing political threats to funding, staffing, programming and agencies.
In keeping with the theme, APHA is organizing a much-anticipated rally for public health on the National Mall on the afternoon of Wednesday, Nov. 5. Attendees will want to allocate time on their schedule for the event, which will allow people from the meeting and beyond to publicly proclaim their support for public health.
“Having the Annual Meeting in D.C. always brings something special,” Georges Benjamin, MD, APHA executive director, told The Nation’s Health. “With today’s public health challenges, there’s no better time or place to connect experts, leaders and communities to share solutions and shape the future of health.”
Meeting attendees will also want to register for a special APHA-only night at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, on Monday, Nov. 3. The museum celebrates the richness, diversity and contributions of Black Americans, with artifacts ranging from a hymnal owned by abolitionist Harriet Tubman to a training aircraft used by the Tuskegee Airmen.
Washington, D.C., has vibrant neighborhoods and eye-catching architecture, such as these rowhouses in Adams Morgan.
Photo by Amedved, courtesy iStockphoto
APHA 2025 will have hundreds of events and sessions to attend and many networking and learning opportunities. The Public Health Expo will feature over 250 exhibits from publishers, nonprofit organizations, universities and health departments, while the pre-meeting Learning Institutes will offer insights for continuing education credit.
Besides serving as the center of U.S. policymaking, D.C. offers an array of museums, monuments and cultural activities. Attendees can take in one of them without leaving the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, where APHA 2025 will happen: The center will be offering free tours of its large art collection during APHA 2025.
Visitors can also take a short stroll to the National Mall — a two-mile stretch of National Park land — to visit monuments and memorials. They can take a walk through the National Gallery of Art’s outdoor sculpture garden, visit the many free Smithsonian museums, climb the famous Lincoln Memorial steps and take a ride to the top of the Washington Monument, which has commanding views of the Mall and beyond.
For those who want to get an inside look at the city, the Environment Section will be hosting its annual food tour on Saturday, Nov. 1, with visits to local community-led programs that work to develop a fair and sustainable food system for D.C.’s 679,000 residents.
Public health professionals unable to attend the meeting in Washington, D.C., can take part virtually with a digital version of APHA 2025.
For more information and to register, visit www.apha.org/annualmeeting.
- Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association
