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Spring
Celebration Success
MPHA’s Annual Spring
Celebration on April 26 was an outstanding
success. Nearly 300 people joined us at the Park
Plaza to honor three public health pioneers, Matt
Fishman, Zoila Torres Feldman, and Ali Noorani.
MPHA would like to thank our event
sponsors, as well as Nancy Turnbull and Jack
Connors, Jr., our event co-chairs, for their dedication
and hard work in making it such a wonderful evening.
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Dimock Community
Health Center President and CEO Ruth Ellen
Fitch congratulates Zoila Torres Feldman,
2007 recipient of the Lemuel Shattuck
Award |
Geoff Wilkinson, MPHA
Executive Director and Ali Noorani, recipient of
2007 the Alfred L. Frechette
Award
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DPH Commissioner John
Auerbach presents the 2007 Paul Revere Award to
Matt
Fishman
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Public Health Budget
Action
There’s some good news
in the House’s FY2008 budget, which was wrapped up in
late April. The House maintained last
year's supplemental spending as part of the FY08 "base"
and approved a modest increase over the
FY07 public health budget, from $514.5 million to $525.5
million. The House also added $10
million in public health amendments to the budget
originally proposed by the House Ways and Means
committee. MPHA’s combination of grassroots organizing
and State House advocacy helped achieve victories on
several public health priorities. Most notably, we
won an increase of $500,000 for Environmental
Health Services to pay for additional indoor air
inspectors and food safety inspectors. Click
here for our updated budget spreadsheet.
Now it’s on to the
Senate where we’ve been advocating these
recommendations. The Senate Ways and Means
Committee is expected to release its proposed budget in
mid-May. Please click
here to send an email to your state senator and
Senate President Therese Murray in support of public
health funding.
For more information,
contact Geoff Wilkinson at MPHA: 617-514-6696, ext. 100;
gwilkinson@mphaweb.org.
School Nutrition
Bill
 MPHA is gearing up for a
May 30 hearing on legislation to prevent childhood
obesity by getting junk food and sugar-packed drinks out
of schools. With the help of a cadre of interns,
we’ve garnered the support of over 60 organizations,
held two successful activist meetings, and generated
dozens of emails and letters to legislators.
Please help us send a
powerful message to our legislators: It’s time for
Massachusetts to adopt this common sense approach to
promoting healthy eating habits in children. Visit
our web site to:
email
your state representative and senator
sign
our electronic endorsement form
download
our fact sheet and list of endorsers
And come to the State
House on May 30 to build the momentum for passing a
school nutrition bill. At the hearing, the Public
Health Committee will be considering two school
nutrition bills that contain slightly varying standards:
H. 2168, sponsored by Representative Peter Koutoujian,
and S. 1262, sponsored by Senator Richard Moore.
Stay tuned for details about the day’s
events.
For more information,
please contact Eric Weltman at MPHA: 617-524-6696, ext.
111; eweltman@mphaweb.org.
Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow at
the State House![]()
The Alliance for a
Healthy Tomorrow Mother’s Day Lobby delivered a powerful
message with power. On April 10, over 100 people
from across the Commonwealth delivered more than 24,000
postcards in support of the Safer Alternatives bill to
legislators and Governor Patrick. The legislation
builds upon the proven success of the state’s Toxics Use
Reduction Act (TURA) by encouraging the use of safer
alternatives to toxic chemicals in manufacturing and
products. Next step is the bill’s public hearing
on Monday, June 11.
“Measuring Chemicals in People:
Promise and Pitfalls”
On Wednesday, May 30,
MPHA’s Environmental and Occupational Health Section is
holding a forum to discuss biomonitoring, the practice
of measuring chemicals in people’s bodies. The
meeting is from 6:00 – 8:00 pm at MPHA’s office in
Jamaica Plain ( click
here for directions).
As the technology has
improved, biomonitoring is increasingly being
used by health agencies and advocacy organizations, with
California just establishing the first statewide
surveillance program. This meeting will provide an
overview of biomonitoring – what it is and how it's
being used – as well as address some of the significant
ethical and policy questions raised by this issue.
The featured speakers
will be Tom Webster, DSc, Associate Professor in the
Department of Environmental Health at the Boston
University School of Public Health, and Jessica Nelson,
MPH, conference coordinator, Boston Consensus Conference
on Biomonitoring. The meeting is being
co-sponsored by the Boston University Superfund Basic
Research Program.
For more information,
contact Eric Weltman at MPHA: 617-524-6696, ext. 111; eweltman@mphaweb.org.
Welcoming JudyAnn Bigby and John
Auerbach!  On April 12, we celebrated a new
day for public health in Massachusetts. Over 100
people joined MPHA at a reception welcoming Dr. JudyAnn
Bigby, Secretary of Health and Human Services, and John
Auerbach, Commissioner of Public
Health.
Central Massachusetts
Organizing
In central Massachusetts, MPHA
has been organizing support for school nutrition
legislation, funding for school health services, and the
Safer Alternatives bill.
MPHA generated
constituent emails, postcards and phone calls to
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Dawn Clark,
central MA regional committee
member | legislators
to build support for school nutrition legislation,
resulting in a commitment from Senator Augustus and
Representative Spellane to actively support passage of
the bill. We are working with Jennifer Moiles, a
Worcester public school parent, to plan next steps,
including in-district meetings with legislators as well
as people to participate in the May 30
hearing. In budget activity, MPHA and the
Massachusetts Coalition of School Based Health Centers
generated 50 constituent postcards to area legislators
from school health staff requesting increased funding
for school health in the FY2008 budget.
MPHA would like to
provide special recognition to Dawn Clark, a member of
the central Massachusetts regional committee and the
Community Advocacy Coordinator for the Center
for Living and Working. Dawn collected over 100
postcards to legislators and Governor Patrick in support
of the Safer Alternatives Bill this month. Without
commitment from regional committee members like Dawn
Clark we would not be able to grow in central
Massachusetts. MPHA values its collaboration with
Dawn and the Center for Living and Working, a non-profit
independent living center that advocates to empower
people with disabilities. Thank you, Dawn!
For more information,
contact Sara Kanevsky at MPHA: 508-414-0976; sara.kanevsky@gmail.com.
Western Massachusetts
Organizing
On April
5, MPHA’s second western Massachusetts forum on
regionalization was held at Holyoke Community
College. MPHA Board President Harold Cox
presented findings and recommendations from
a working group he is leading to develop a regional
system for local public health in the state. Event
attendees included representatives from urban, suburban,
and rural communities and our own region’s DPH
office.
Western Massachusetts
was well represented at our annual Spring
Celebration. Among the attendees were the
University of Massachusetts at Amherst School of Public
Health’s Risa Silverman, Associate Dean of Practice
Idalí Torres, health policy professor William J.
Bartosch, and soon-to-be-former Amherst resident Drita
Protopapa. Our region’s loss is central Massachusetts’
gain as Drita has accepted a position with the
Department of Public Health and is moving east.
The grand re-opening of
the Sullivan school greenhouse in Holyoke is scheduled
for Friday, May 18, from 3:00 – 6:00 pm. All are
welcome. Reggaeton music for this event will be
provided courtesy of the El Mercado, a local café and
activist hub.
Creating Healthy Lifestyles as We
Age: The 18th Annual Western Massachusetts Elder Care
Conference
Wednesday, May 23,
2007
8:15 am – 4:00 pm
The Springfield
Sheraton
The conference will
feature 20 workshops on important issues affecting
elders today. It will be a program for elder care
providers, administrators, educators and
policy-makers. Click
here to learn more. For more information,
please contact Kara Keenan at MPHA: 617-524-6696 x113 or
kkeenan@mphaweb.org.
Methamphetamine Abuse
Conference
Thursday, June 7,
2007
8:30 am - 4:30
pm
Bedford Campus Center, Cafe East
591 Springs Road,
Bedford Sponsored by the Middlesex Community
College -Program on Homeland Security, Tewksbury
Hospital, and the Greater Lowell Pharmaceutical
Association Click
here to learn more.
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