Public Health is Essential
WSNA is playing a leadership role in a new campaign, Public Health is Essential, designed to educate lawmakers and the public on the critical role public health plays.
February 9, 2017 • 4 minutes, 32 seconds to read
Public health is essential — to our families, our communities, our health care system and our economy.
That’s why WSNA is playing a leadership role in a new campaign, Public Health is Essential, designed to educate lawmakers and the public on the critical role public health plays. Together with other partners, WSNA has helped develop a statewide public affairs strategy, with the ultimate goal of securing $60 million for public health in the state’s 2017-19 operating budget.
As providers, we know the essential role public health plays. Yet, focus groups conducted this summer found that when public health is doing its job, no one notices. E. coli outbreaks are quickly stopped because public health investigators find the source. Water contamination is swiftly identified and met with health alerts and boil water advisories. Emergencies receive immediate coordination and response because we are prepared.
Despite public health’s critical role, recession-era budget cuts and growing populations have left our communities vulnerable to the spread of disease.
So who’s responsible?
In Washington, public health funding is a shared responsibility.
Since the repeal of the state’s Motor Vehicle Excise Tax in 2000, Washington’s public health system has not had a dedicated and consistent funding source. Existing dollars have shrunk due to population growth and inflation, in addition to recession-era budget cuts.
These cuts have come even as our population grows: more than 1 million new residents have moved to Washington since 2000, and that figure is expected to grow by another 2 million residents in the next decade. At the same time, the complexity of diseases has increased.
Washington currently spends far less than many other states — just $38.08 per person — while our neighbors in Idaho spend $54.35 per person and Wyoming spends $89.75 per person.
It’s not too late to curb this worrying trend. This coming legislative session, a coalition of health groups and public health leaders has developed a proposal to reinvest in our crumbling public health system. It’s not just about infusing money; it’s also about modernizing public health’s service delivery and infrastructure so it is both effective and efficient.
The proposal identifies core public health services that should be available to every resident in our state, regardless of where you live. It also asks the state to make a critical down payment to begin filling the most critical service gaps, for things like disease prevention and response that can help avoid costly epidemics.
This down payment from the state would also streamline and modernize the public health system by designating services that can be effectively and efficiently shared between local health departments. That means multiple health departments across different counties and cities could share staff resources and services in key areas, reducing redundancy while increasing coverage.
With support from the Legislature, Washington can rebuild our essential public health services so that we can monitor, respond to and prevent public health emergencies. We must keep our residents — in every corner of the state — safe and healthy. Other states are rising to the challenge, and it’s time we do the same.
Critical gaps around the state
These are just a few examples of how cuts to public health are having a negative impact on our families, neighbors and communities:
Unable to protect all moms and babies from Hepatitis B
Critical medication must be given on time to prevent the transmission of Hepatitis B from pregnant women to their unborn babies. When a pregnant woman is diagnosed with Hepatitis B, it is designated a “reportable condition” that must be reported to Public Health — and Public Health is responsible for following up with the mom to ensure she receives the needed medication and treatment. Currently, Public Health – Seattle & King County is reaching only 60 percent of the women who need treatment; they should be reaching 90-100 percent. Public Health is hampered by a lack of time and resources — which are further stretched when there is an outbreak of whooping cough, E. coli or measles — to follow up with all pregnant women, putting their babies at risk for a lifetime of illness, including liver disease.
Water contamination causes losses for small business
When a water main broke in the city of Pullman, a precautionary boil water order was issued to protect residents from possible water contamination. Businesses and residents were told to use bottled water or to boil water used for drinking, brushing teeth, preparing food, making ice and washing dishes. While Pullman didn’t require area restaurants to close, many opted to shut down during the three-day boil water order because both the expense and challenge of adhering to the boil water order were too much. One local restaurant owner estimated the unexpected three-day closure cost him about 10 percent of profits he would have made that month.
Lacking capacity to curb spread of sexually transmitted diseases
Snohomish County’s syphilis rates have increased 123 percent in one year, but the local health department does not have the staff or resources to do more than triage high-risk cases after they have been reported. Additionally, more than 1,700 chlamydia cases reported this year have gone unchecked. Many local health departments around the state face the same lack of capacity for partner notification and, as a result, are seeing increased STD rates. For example, King County’s syphilis rate has nearly doubled in the last decade. The situation in Benton and Franklin counties is even worse, with a 150 percent increase in gonorrhea cases in just the last year. Additional funding is needed to increase response and prevention efforts.
Preventing illness in school-age children
San Juan County has one of the lowest immunization rates in the country, putting kids at risk for illnesses like whooping cough and measles. Using limited funds, health officials have successfully worked with several local schools to improve immunization rates through direct outreach to parents and guardians. New state funding will allow San Juan County to expand this program to all of its schools, keeping kids healthy and ready to learn. Lewis, Klickitat, and Kittitas counties would also use new state funding to expand their vaccine education work with parents and schools.
Legislative budget ask
Our public health system has an agreed-upon set of core services that the state should financially support so that every community in Washington has equal access to public health programs and services. The Legislature is being asked to support those core services, and to allow public health to rebuild its system with added efficiency, by providing the following down payment:
$50 million for local Health Departments
Local health departments track, respond to and prevent public health epidemics at the community level; this funding will fill critical gaps in disease prevention and response.
$6 million for State Department of Health
Our state Department of Health needs to improve its capacity for disease monitoring and investigations — and expand its laboratory capacity to meet increased demand.
$4 million for modernization
Local public health must respond quickly and efficiently to outbreaks. Over the last four years, state and local public health leaders have developed a plan to modernize the state’s public health system, ensuring core services are available everywhere and designating others that can be effectively and efficiently shared between health departments.