About ASTHO

ASTHO is the national, non-profit organization representing the state and territorial public health agencies of the United States, the U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia. ASTHO's members—the chief health officials of these jurisdictions—are dedicated to formulating and influencing sound public health policy and assuring excellence in state-based public health practice.

Partnership Activities with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

The ASTHO Environmental Health program partners with the National Center for Environmental Health at the CDC to support states in their efforts to build capacity and infrastructure in the collection, integration, analysis, and communication of potential links between environmental exposures and health effects. ASTHO specifically works to:

• Facilitate collaboration and information sharing to develop the tracking network with states that do not have CDC cooperative agreements to conduct tracking activities;
• Assess states' needs and barriers to implementing a national environmental public health tracking network;
• Identify and share models, best practices, lessons learned, and resources developed by grantee states.

Tracking Progress, Improving Health

Twenty-three state and local health departments have participated in the program in the last five years. The pilot projects launched through this initiative vary in size and scope and include projects like tracking algal blooms, preventing heat-related deaths, and linking environmental exposures and cancer risk. To mark the five-year anniversary of this important program, ASTHO has released Tracking Progress, Improving Health, a report which chronicles the history of the program along with its many accomplishments. CDC's Tracking Program is tremendously proud of the results of the fellowship program and its ongoing partnership with ASTHO. Read ASTHO's five-year report: Tracking Progress, Improving Health