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Children and The Environment
US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Carol M. Browner announced that EPA is creating an Office of Children's Health Protection. One of this office's duties is to carry out the agenda from EPA's 1996 report, "Environmental Health Threats to Children." This agenda includes addressing a wide array of complex environmental threats to children's health, from air pollution that can exacerbate asthma to toxic chemicals that can lead to serious health problems. It also includes expanding families' right to know about environmental issues affecting children. Key actions planned for the office include (1) reviewing and setting child-protective environmental standards; (2) researching and setting new policies on children's unique susceptibility and exposure to pollutants; and (3) expanding communities' right to know and education on children's health. Philip Landrigan, MD, chairman of the Department of Community Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, will help lead this effort as the senior advisor to the administrator for children's health. Dr. Landrigan, an expert on environmental health and pediatrics, helped produce the 1993 study by the National Academy of Sciences on pesticides and children and is co-author of the book Raising Children Toxic Free. The full text of EPA's press release concerning this new office is available through the EPA web site.
The Carnegie Corporation, created by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding, has put many of its child- and adolescent-related publications or publication ordering information online at http://www.carnegie.org/. Some of the publications address child development, violence prevention, education, school health promotion, science teaching, conflict resolution, middle school human biology, role of sports in youth development, parent education, business and adolescent health, and learning in the primary grades. The Carnegie Corporation of New York's Publications Office can also be reached at 437 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10022; telephone (212) 371-3200; fax (212) 754-4073. Because of staff changes, no Volume (Vol.) 6, Number (No.) 4 issue of Hazardous Substances & Public Health was produced. In addition, Vol. 7, No. 1 (Spring) and No. 2 (Summer) issues are being combined and delivered as Volume 7, Number 1/2, Spring/Summer 1997. ATSDR plans to return to a quarterly newsletter release schedule with the Vol. 7, No. 3 (Fall) issue. Healthfinder Web Site Launched To Improve Consumer Access to Health InformationOn April 15, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) unveiled the healthfinder web site (http://www.healthfinder.gov), a gateway to consumer health information resources produced by the federal government and its partners. Healthfinder will allow people to get reliable health information faster and easier, according to HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala. The site includes links to health-related information such as web sites, organizations, publications, databases, support and self-help groups, and discussion lists. Searches can be done by health topic, and topics can be narrowed by age group or other demographic categories and by kind of resource sought (all, web only, organization only).
The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) is providing new resources for performing assessments of community environmental education needs and improving collaborations between local health departments and communities. The first resource is Partnerships for Environmental Health Education: Performing a Community Needs Assessment at Hazardous Waste Sites. This guide is designed as a tool to assist local health departments in working collaboratively with communities to identify environmental health educational needs and develop cooperative action plans to meet those needs. The first draft was pilot tested by 10 local health departments, with the support of NACCHO and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). NACCHO revised the guide based on feedback from the pilot test. The guide is available, with or without an accompanying diskette that includes modifiable forms for data collection, for the following prices: NACCHO active member - $18 without diskette, $22 with diskette; nonmember - $28 without diskette, $32 with diskette. The second resource is Improving Community Collaboration: A Self-Assessment Guide for Local Health Departments. This guide is designed to provide local health departments with a philosophy and method for enhancing their relationships with the community to improve public health, particularly at hazardous waste sites. Its central goal is to enable local health departments to assess critically their role in working with community residents in a true decision-making partnership. The guide's content is drawn from the experiences of local health departments, community groups, and other health agencies. It is available to NACCHO members for $15 and nonmembers for $25. Both guides were supported through a cooperative agreement with ATSDR and were released in spring 1997. To order either of these guides, contact Anissa Bradby, NACCHO, 440 First Street, NW, Suite 450, Washington, DC 20001; telephone (202) 783-5550; fax (202) 783-1583.
The bimonthly, electronic newsletter Public Health GIS News and Information is available free of charge through e-mail to anyone interested in using geographic information systems (GIS) in the public health arena. Dedicated to scientific excellence and advancement in disease control and prevention through the use of GIS technology, the newsletter is a means by which Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry staff and others can communicate about GIS-related activities and issues. The newsletter provides timely information on a wide range of GIS topics, including assistance with applications of GIS technology, professional meetings and conferences, communications from GIS users subscribing to the newsletter, and public health GIS literature. To subscribe or receive a copy of the newsletter, send an e-mail request to the editor, Charles M. Croner, PhD, Office of Research and Methodology, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at cmc2@cdc.gov or call (301) 436-7904, ext. 146.
ATSDR environmental health scientists conduct health studies at Superfund sites nationwide to evaluate the health effects of hazardous substances on exposed populations. The following health studies are available to the public in paperback through the National Technical Information Services (NTIS) (costs include $4 shipping and handling):
*This document, supported by funds from an ATSDR grant, was printed as submitted by the grantee and was not revised or edited to conform with ATSDR guidance. To order these health studies and others prepared by ATSDR, contact NTIS, Sills Building, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22151; telephone (703) 487-4650; fax (703) 321-8547. For more information on health studies activities, contact Sharon Campolucci, deputy director, Division of Health Studies, ATSDR, 1600 Clifton Road, NE, MS E31, Atlanta, GA 30333; telephone (404) 639-6200.
CALENDAR
May 16-17, 1997; Marketing and Public Policy Conference 1997; Boston, Massachusetts. Contact: Easwar Iyer or George Milne, University of Massachusetts School of Management; telephone (413) 545-5667; fax (413) 545-3858; e-mail eiyer@mktg.edu or milne@mktg.umass.edu. May 24-27, 1997; Medical Library Association (MLA) 1997 Annual Meeting; Seattle, Washington. Contact: MLA, PO Box 4267, Carol Stream, IL 60197-4267; telephone (312) 419-9094; fax (312) 419-8950. June 28-July 2, 1997; National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) 61st Annual Educational Conference & Exhibition; Washington, DC. Contact: NEHA, 720 S. Colorado Blvd., Ste. 970, S. Tower, Denver, CO 80222-1925; telephone (303) 756-9090; fax (303) 691-9490. July 26-29, 1997; Conference on Communication and the Environment; Syracuse, New York. Contact: Sue Senecah, Environmental Studies Department, SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry, Syracuse, NY, 12210; telephone (315) 470-6570; e-mail ssenecah@mailbox.syr.edu.
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