Policy, Law, and the Public's Health
Tobacco Prevention and Control in Washington State: A Comprehensive Approach
Victor Colman and Brenda Suiter
Successful tobacco prevention and control takes sustained,resourceful, and collaborative efforts among tobacco prevention partners as well as state and local policy makers.
Alaska Comes Up for Fresh Air
Caroline Cremo Renner
Sparked by a group of fifth-graders, the Alaska clean air movement in Bethel soon met with wide-spread community support.
Assessing Washington's HIV/AIDS Policy for the New Millennium
Jack Jourden and Maria Courogen
Effective policy review can reveal where a policy works and where it needs to be updated. Even more importantly, an effective review process can uncover issues that remain untouched by the policies under review.
HIV Reporting: Balancing Privacy and Public Benefit
Melvin Kohn and Mark Loveless
Name-based reporting on HIV/AIDS has always been controversial, but Oregon's HIV program developed a successful reporting system that protects privacy and gathers accurate data.
Short-term Gain, Long-term Loss: Fiscal and Public Health Policies Clash in Idaho
Jim Girvan
Raiding the funds dedicated for public health programs severely compromises any opportunity Idaho might have to realize tobacco-related savings in the future.
Local Health Department Targets Preventive Oral Health Policies
Greg Oliver
What does a strapped local health departments do about access to oral health care for low-income people, particularly when there is no new funding?
The Model Emergency Health Powers Act: Why Is It Important Now?
James G. Hodge, Jr., and Lawrence O. Gostin
Two of the Model Act's authors address issues raised in a critique of the Act in the spring issue of Northwest Public Health.
Gender-Based Violence Challenges the Public Health Community
Adesegun Fatusi and Bolanle Oyeledun
Gender-based violence has recently been recognized as a priority global public health problem. Public health workers are particularly well-equipped to bring local solutions to this serious global problem.
Evaluating the New Electronic Disease Surveillance Systems
Bryant T. Karras, William B. Lober, and Gregory T. Smith
Public health's new-found prominence has made it the latest hot prospect for many software vendors. Here's a checklist for evaluating these new disease surveillance packages.
Viewpoint. Political Paradoxes of Public Health: In Pursuit of Stable Funding
Christopher Jones
A coalition of public health professionals has formed a new statewide coalition to obtain sufficient stable state funding for public health.
Policy Watch. Medicaid on the Line: States Juggle Medicaid Dollars
As Congress debates proposals to increase Medicare spending for a prescription drug benefit, most states are considering how to cut Medicaid spending. Why should public health practitioners and advocates care about Medicaid?
In Brief
New bioterrorism training materials
Northwest Public Health Leadership Institute
Northwest Region at a Glance
Smoking rates, smoking-related medical expenditures, and smoking-related death rates.