Virginia Public Health Association

Welcome!

The Virginia Public Health Association (VAPHA) is an alliance of multi-disciplinary health professionals from the public and private sectors committed to improving the health of all Virginians.

The Association, founded in 1950, represents the public's interest in the health of all Virginia residents, and we are affiliated with the American Public Health Association.

Let's Talk Public Health at Virginia Tech: Summer Conference

On August 2-4 the Commonwealth Public Health Training Center and it's partner organizations are inviting rising high school juniors and seniors from across Virginia to challenge their conceptions about public health. Participants will join public health professionals from a variety of backgrounds to learn more about public health careers and opportunities. Click here for more details.

VAPHA Plans Rural Health Conference

Mark it on your calendar, in ink: the Virginia Public Health Association is partnering with the Virginia Rural Health Association to hold a Rural Health Conference October 8-9 at the Omni Charlottesville Hotel. The event will focus on revising Virginia's State Rural Health Plan. Details will be forthcoming. For now, click here for details on the existing Rural Health Plan and the work of the Rural Health Plan Councils.

National 2012 County Health Rankings Provide Roadmap for Improvement

The third annual County Health Rankings were released in April by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. According to the Rankings, the five healthiest localities in Virginia, starting with most healthy, are Fairfax County, followed by Arlington, Loudoun, and Albemarle counties. The five localities in the poorest health, starting with least healthy, are the city of Petersburg, the city of Emporia, Buchanan County, Dickenson County and the city of Franklin. Read more from VDH, or click here for the complete Rankings.

Handouts are Available from VAPHA's Spring Meeting, Environmental Health: It's Elemental

If you missed the Virginia Public Health Association’s Spring Meeting, Environmental Health: It’s Elemental, April 20 in downtown Richmond, the handouts from the program speakers are available. The program served as a forum to discuss the interconnections between environmental and public health and the impacts environmental factors can have on the public’s health at the most basic levels. Click here for the link to the handouts.

VAPHA 3rd Annual Statewide Career Fair Poster Winners

On January 27th one hundred and fifty students and alumni representing seventeen different colleges and universities attended VAPHA's 3rd Annual Statewide Career and Internship Fair in Richmond. Registrants talked with potential employers and participated in a variety of roundtable sessions in which they were able to discuss some of the varying career tracks open to public health students as well as ideas for improving their applications, whether for work or graduate school, and tips to make social media work for them rather than against them in their job hunts.

Eighteen posters were submitted for the poster competition. There was a three-way tie for first place:

1. Childhood Influenza Vaccination Rates during 2009-2010 Season:  The Impact of Parental Beliefs, Attitudes, and Knowledge
2. Charlottesville City Market: It's Place in the Community Today and Tomorrow
3. Prescription Drug Use Among Older Adults and Potentially Inappropriate Drug Use: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study

For more information on the winning posters, see the Awards and Scholarships page.

2011 America's Health Rankings

United Health Foundation’s 2011 America’s Heath Rankings®, released on December 6th, finds that troubling increases in obesity, diabetes and children in poverty are offsetting improvements in smoking cessation, preventable hospitalizations and cardiovascular deaths. The report finds that the country’s overall health did not improve between 2010 and 2011 – a drop from the 0.5 percent average annual rate of improvement between 2000 and 2010 and the 1.6 percent average annual rate of improvement seen in the 1990s.

“Where people live matters. Every state can make improvements to ensure healthier quality of lives for their residents,” said Reed Tuckson, M.D., United Health Foundation board member and executive vice president and chief of medical affairs, UnitedHealth Group. “In the history of the Rankings, we have seen many examples of stakeholders coming together to improve their standing. States such as Tennessee and Maine – which made explicit efforts to improve their rankings – have shown us that improved public health is achievable but must be tackled in a concerted and aggressive way.”

“The Rankings provides comprehensive data states can use to develop prevention solutions and health-improvement plans – empowering their residents to live long, healthy and productive lives,” said Jud Richland, M.P.H., president and CEO of Partnership for Prevention.

For the complete press release, click here. To see the complete Rankings, click here.

Advancing Health Equity

Research has documented striking disparities in the life expectancy and mortality of those living in the United States, with Asian females outliving black males by 17.6 years on average in 2010. In Virginia, 10.2% of the total population and 13.8% of children (250,000 total children) lived below the Federal Poverty Level in 2008 and, while African Americans make up just 19% of the Virginia population, African American children account for 47% of the children living in poverty in Virginia. Ample evidence demonstrates that some subgroups in the United States are more likely to experience death and diseases, such as HIV and cancer. Despite efforts to reduce health inequities, research indicates widening socioeconomic disparities and continuing gaps.

VAPHA's efforts to improve health equity in Virginia are ongoing!The Virginia Public Health Association and our partners explored issues surrounding health equity during the Health Equity Conference in Richmond on September 22-23, 2011. Thanks to all of our partners, and our Platinum Sponsor, the Office of Minority Health and Health Equity, Virginia Department of Health, for their help in making the program such a success. Click here for more information on the program, including links to the speaker presentations  and video clips on You Tube (scroll to the bottom of the page for the links).

Check out the latest research!
Dr. Ann C. Klassen, the associate dean for research at the Drexel University School of Public Health, was recently published in the American Journal of Public Health as co-author of a study that links racism and cancer-related health behaviors. Click here for details.

There's also still the health Equity social network that was formed following our 2009 Health Equity Conference. Please join the social network website where you can:

We hope you’ll take advantage of this website on a routine basis to learn, ask questions, share, and connect with others who also want to advance health equity across the Commonwealth!

Archived Public Health News

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