Issued by: Kathy Quirk
414-229-3144
kquirk@uwm.edu
Date: March 27, 2003
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Issued by: Kathy Quirk Date: March 27, 2003 |
MILWAUKEE - Tracking of environmental health hazards has come a long way since the days of Typhoid Mary, but it still has a long way to go - especially in these days of potential bioterrorism.
On April 11, local public health experts and community health staff can learn more about a new national effort to develop networks of databases to better track the health problems resulting from exposure to environmental hazards. The briefing, on "Nationwide Health Tracking: A Federal Initiative to Improve the Public's Health in the 21st Century," is from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's School of Continuing Education, 161 W. Wisconsin Ave.
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's School of Nursing Continuing Education and the Institute for of Environmental Health are co-sponsoring the free conference with Physicians for Social Responsibility.
Wisconsin is one of the first states to receive federal funding to develop a tracking system that will eventually be nationally linked, says Laura Anderko, interim associate dean of UWM's School of Nursing. "The lack of exposure data has limited researchers trying to associate diseases with specific causes, as well as hindering health officials trying to treat health problems that develop long after initial exposure to an environmental hazard," she says. The potential for bioterrorist attacks after September 11 led to the Nationwide Health Tracking Act of 2002, which provided funding for the national tracking systems. However, such systems are also critical in following up on other environmental hazards, she says. Examples might include the long-term impacts of a train wreck that releases hazardous fumes, or the health impact on children who grow up near a Super Fund site. "It's particularly important for children that we track the long-term impacts of environmental hazards," says Anderko.
The briefing on Wisconsin's pioneering efforts to develop better tracking systems should be of interest not only to researchers, she adds, but also to doctors, nurses and other health staffers dealing with health problems potentially associated with exposure to environmental hazards.
"Key speakers at the event are Laura Rasar King, outreach director, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and Henry Anderson, chief medical officer for the Bureaus of Environmental Health and Occupational Health in the Wisconsin Division of Public Health.
Pre-registration is not required to attend the briefing.
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