Planning and Capacity Building Activities
| Grantee: | Pennsylvania Department of Health |
|---|---|
| Contact: | Dr. James Logue |
| Telephone: | 717-787-1708 |
| E-mail: | jlogue@state.pa.us |
| Address: | Pennsylvania Department of Health P.O. Box 90 Room 925, Health and Welfare Building Harrisburg, PA 17108 |
| Web site: |
http://www.dsf.health.state.pa.us/health/ cwp/view.asp?a=171&q=199923 [external link] |
| Funded Since: | September 30, 2002 |
| Funded Program: | National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program, Part A |
Program Description:
Pennsylvania Department of Health (PADOH) will partner with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) to implement this program. This grant allows PADEP and PADOH to collaborate on environmental problems that emerge throughout the state and develop a coordinated and integrated environmental public health tracking (surveillance) network (EPHTN) that will include both environmental databases developed and maintained by PADEP as well as environmental health outcome databases developed and maintained by PADOH.
PADOH recognizes that multiple, coordinated elements are necessary for an effective EPHTN. These include the following initiatives to:
- Collaborate and forge partnerships between traditional
health-focused entities (for-profit and non-profit) and environmental
monitoring agencies at the federal, state, and local levels
- Expand capacity in the area of personnel expertise and latest
technology infrastructure
- Develop standardized electronic data elements
- Build mechanisms for disseminating information to stakeholders.
This program will build on the existing resources, such as the Bureau of Epidemiology (BOE), which has primary responsibility for the EPHTN in PADOH. Two BOE divisions, the Division of Environmental Health Epidemiology (DEHE) and the Division of Community Epidemiology (DCE), will coordinate and lead this project. Their combined responsibilities include public health assessments, environmental health investigations, toxic management, health advisories, environmental health surveillance, responses to concerns about hazards and health effects, and investigation and study of chronic diseases, injury, and family health issues. Examples of such efforts include Three-Mile Island, Palmerton Zinc studies, and Chester County Mushroom Farm.
PADOH intends to enter into a collaborative relationship with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to link into the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) database to obtain state-specific TRI data on a real-time basis.
Additional commitments outlined by PADOH are:
- Establish a planning consortium of technical experts, community
leaders, and other key stakeholders
- Further examine state legislation and regulations to determine
whether additional authority or resources are required to collect new
data, integrate data, and share data
- Develop and evaluate strategies for communicating information
generated by an EPHTN and related program activities to diverse
audiences
- In collaboration with the Centers of Excellence in Environmental
Health Tracking, examine the feasibility of environmental public
health indicators and develop training tools and provide training to
state and local staff on topics related to environmental health
tracking
- In collaboration with Environmental Public Health Tracking program partners and stakeholders, develop standardized data definitions; examine the availability and applicability of data standards and data exchange messages; and discuss project accomplishments, barriers, and lessons learned through a variety of communication media.
