FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: APHA Media Relations
Contact: For Our Health Media Relations
In response to sweeping policy changes and executive actions that threaten the public’s health, scientific integrity and access to health and health care, APHA is announcing a new initiative, ‘For Our Health,’ which builds on our longstanding commitment to champion optimal, equitable health and well-being for all.
“We must speak up to defend and advocate for evidence-based policies and practices that will protect the public’s health,” said Dr. Georges C. Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. “Many of the recent and proposed actions of the Trump administration will inflict real harm on people across the country, not make America healthy. For Our Health will provide a voice with the varied knowledge and expertise to push for positive change based on science.”
Bringing together leading experts and former high-ranking officials from public health, health care, health sciences, and social services, For Our Health will be a powerful, unified voice defending evidence-based health initiatives and safeguarding critical public health protections. By harnessing the expertise of former leaders from agencies such as the CDC, NIH, USAID, key state health departments, and top universities—and partnering with national health organizations and advocates—the initiative will deliver authoritative analysis and mobilize rapid responses to emerging threats that jeopardize scientific integrity and public well-being.
“In recent weeks, we have witnessed an unprecedented assault on the foundations of public health, science and humanitarian aid,” said Mary Pittman DrPH, co-founder of For Our Health and past President and CEO of the Public Health Institute. “For Our Health will serve as a powerful, independent voice to defend policies rooted in science and ensure that public health remains a national priority.”
The members of For Our Health include former Secretaries of Health and Human Services, directors of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, and former state health directors. A more complete list of the For Our Health membership will be released in the coming weeks, with opportunities for public engagement and support. For more information visit www.forourhealth.org.
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APHA is fighting back against threats to public health. See what we’re doing.
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The American Public Health Association champions optimal, equitable health and well-being for all. With our broad-based member community and 150-year perspective, we influence federal policy to improve the public’s health. Learn more at www.apha.org.