Congressional Resolutions Introduced to Recognize National Public Health Week, April 5-11

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Washington

,D.C., March 11, 2010

– This week U.S. Sen. Tom Udall (N.M) and U.S. Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (

Calif.

) introduced resolutions recognizing National Public Health Week and the importance of public health in preventing disease and promoting good health.

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National Public Health Week

, sponsored by the American Public Health Association, will be held April 5-11 and seeks to educate the public, policy-makers and public health professionals about issues important to improving public health. This year’s theme is “A Healthier America: One Community at a Time.”

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“Recognizing National Public Health Week will serve as an important reminder for individuals, families and communities to focus on stopping preventable diseases before they start,” said Udall. “If we make better choices as individuals and families to promote healthier lifestyles at home, school and work, we can have a major impact on the public’s health today. I appreciate the leadership and advocacy of these public health groups because they encourage communities to plan and make healthy choices so we can spend less time and resources treating diseases and save more lives by preventing them.”

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“National Public Health Week offers a reminder to all of our nation’s families that many of the choices we make in our daily lives directly determine how long we live and how well we live,” said Congresswoman Roybal-Allard who co-founded the Congressional Study Group on Public Health and is a member of the Appropriations Health Subcommittee. “We can no longer ignore the science that links nearly 60 percent of premature deaths in our country to unhealthy behavioral choices, as well as environmental conditions and social circumstances. National Public Health Week is a call to action. I urge everyone to learn more about the small, yet crucial, behavioral changes that we can make to prevent chronic diseases. These changes include adopting better eating habits, exercising more, limiting alcohol consumption and avoiding cigarette smoking. In our homes, schools and in our communities, we all have an important role to play in the effort to achieve healthier futures for all of us.”

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“In order to become a healthier nation, we need policy-makers to set the example and demonstrate a strong commitment to issues of public health and building frameworks for healthier communities,” said Georges C. Benjamin, MD, FACP, FACEP (E), executive director of APHA. “We applaud Sen. Udall and Rep. Roybal-Allard for their leadership. We look forward to a successful National Public Health Week this April and encourage all to learn how they can become involved.”

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APHA urges other members of Congress to show their support by signing on as cosponsors of the resolutions. To view full text of the resolutions, visit

http://www.nphw.org/nphw10/layout_pg_congressional.htm

.

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For more about National Public Health Week, visit

www.nphw.org

.

Founded in 1872, the APHA is the oldest, largest and most diverse organization of public health professionals in the world. The association aims to protect all Americans and their communities from preventable, serious health threats and strives to assure community-based health promotion and disease prevention activities and preventive health services are universally accessible in the

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United States

. APHA represents a broad array of health providers, educators, environmentalists, policy-makers and health officials at all levels working both within and outside governmental organizations and educational institutions. More information is available at www.apha.org.

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