Celebrate National Public Health Week, April 4-10. Missouri’s theme is “Healthy Missouri 2030: Making Communities Stronger.”
Investing in prevention and public health can make an enormous difference. During this week, help raise awareness of the critical role that public health and prevention play in keeping individuals and communities healthy.
A toolkit for promoting National Public Health Week can be found at http://health.mo.gov/information/nphw/index.php. The toolkit includes social media messages, a sample proclamation, a sample news release and a promotional ecard. Also on this page are two videos created by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. The first video is to help raise awareness about public health. We encourage you to add a link to (or embed) the video on your webpage and Facebook page. View the video at http://health.mo.gov/information/nphw/index.php. Directions to embed the video on your webpage and Facebook page can also be found on this link.
The second video is a slideshow of public health photos. The photos were submitted by local health departments across the state. View the slideshow at https://youtu.be/zvt8h-KDfvU.
As we celebrate the accomplishments public health has made over the years, we focus on these public health facts:
- Build a nation of safe, healthy communities – Health must be a priority in designing our communities, from healthy housing to parks and playgrounds.
- Help all young people graduate from high school – Education is the leading indicator of good health, giving people access to better jobs, incomes and neighborhoods.
- The relationship between increased economic mobility and better health – It’s time to fix our country’s growing income inequality and the unhealthy stresses it puts on adults and children.
- Social justice & health – Everyone has the right to good health. We must remove barriers so everyone has the same opportunity to improve their lives and their health.
- Give everyone a choice of healthy food – Our food system should provide affordable food with nutritious ingredients, free from harmful contaminants.
- Preparing for the health effects of climate change – Our health is connected to our environments. What happens upstream to our environments at work, school and home affects our health downstream.
- Provide quality health care for everyone – Health reform was just a start. To fulfill its potential, we must continue to pursue options for expanded access to quality care at the federal, state and local levels.
- Strengthen the public health infrastructure – Strong and consistent funding levels are necessary for the public health system to respond to both everyday health threats and unexpected health emergencies.
Additional information can be found at http://www.nphw.org/.
Please contact Lori Buchanan, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Lori.Buchanan@health.mo.gov or 573-751-6060 if you have any questions.