CDC Launches New Environmental Public Health Tracking Network

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CDC Launches New Environmental Public Health Tracking Network

Posted: 9:51 AM Jul 7, 2009

Last Updated: 9:51 AM Jul 7, 2009

Reporter: WOWT

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http://www.wowt.com/news/headlines/50131512.html

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now offers an on-line network the

public can use to track environmental exposures and chronic health conditions.

On Tuesday the CDC announced the Environmental Public Health Tracking Network, a

public health surveillance tool that scientists, health professionals, and

members of the public can use.

" The ability to examine many data sets together for the first time has already

resulted in faster responses to environmental health issues. We believe the

Tracking Network holds the potential to shed new light on some of our biggest

environmental health questions, " said Frumkin, M.D., M.P.H., DrPh.,

director, of CDC's National Center for Environmental Health.

The web-based tool unites vital environmental information from across the

country, including air and water pollutants and information for some chronic

conditions, including asthma, cancer, childhood lead poisoning and heart disease

into one resource.

While scientists know exposures such as air particle pollution and lead

contribute to illnesses, many environmental and health connections remain

unproven since detailed health and environmental data existed in separate silos

until now.

" The Tracking Network is the foundation we need to make better environmental

health decisions and help prevent chronic illnesses, such as asthma, cancer, and

heart disease, " said McGeehin, Ph.D., director, Division of

Environmental Hazard and Health Effects of CDC's National Center for

Environmental Health.

CDC funds projects in California, Connecticut, Florida, Maine, land,

Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York,

Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and New York City.

To date, their projects have led to 73 public health actions to control

potential illnesses from environmental exposures. For example, the Utah

Department of Health received a call from a citizen concerned about cases of

cancer in his neighborhood. In the past, a similar call would have prompted a

study that would have taken up to a year to complete, with most of that time

spent waiting for data. In less than a day, the Utah Tracking Program was able

to let this resident know that the likelihood of cancer in his area was no

greater than in the state as a whole.

Massachusetts ranks third in the United States for prevalence of asthma. When

Massachusetts Tracking staff conducted asthma surveillance and indoor quality

assessments in schools, a significant association between mold/moisture and the

prevalence of asthma was found. Based on tracking data, Massachusetts staff are

working with school officials to correct mold/moisture problems and to enact

policy changes for reducing mold and moisture in schools.

In March 2009, CDC received additional funding from Congress to expand

environmental public health tracking to five more locations. Awards will be made

and announced later this summer. Over time, CDC hopes to expand the Tracking

Network across all 50 states, and track additional environmental hazards and

health conditions to build a more complete picture of environmental public

health.

CDC's Tracking Network is the result of collaboration with 17 local and state

health departments; federal partners, including the National Aeronautics and

Space Administration, the National Cancer Institute, the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency and the U.S. Geological Survey; and organizations including

the American Public Health Association, Association of State and Territorial

Health Officials, Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, National

Association of County and City Health Officials, National Environmental Health

Association, National Association of Health Data Organizations and the National

Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems.

[Guest guest]

Thank you SO MUCH for posting this article. Very helpful for us in

Massachusetts as well as the entire United States.

It makes me so happy to see that our country is finally appearing to

support the seriousness of mold exposure and illnesses, but the fight is not

over yet. I have been publicly pushing the need for our own bailout,

especially as it pertains to poor school conditions.

Back in 1995, the GAO released a report on school conditions. They

estimated in School Facilities Condition of America's Schools of February 1995:

" Based on estimates by school officials in a national sample of schools, we

project that the nation's schools need about $112 billion to repair or

upgrade America's multibillion dollar investment in facilities to good overall

condition. " (GAO: Results in Brief, page 2)

In this day and age of bailouts and stimulus packages, this amounts to

chump change. The children have been put in the back of the bus by not

dealing with this issue in a serious and concerted way.

It will take all of us to scream from the rooftops that this has to become

one of the #1 priorities of our federal government to FIND THE MONEY to fix

these schools. We can clearly see that money can be found if it is

important enough so what could be more important than protecting the health of

our children? Can you imagine the health dollars that would be saved if we

all didn't have to go to the doctors repeatedly with mold related

illnesses? Money may need to be spent but untold billions would be saved on

emergency and critical healthcare.

Mulvey son

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