The Boston Globe published a Letter to the Editor from MPHA Executive Director Carlene Pavlos and MPHA Deputy Director Oami Amarasingham on the dismantling of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice (ACIP).
BOSTON, MA – At the Massachusetts Public Health Alliance (MPHA) Annual Meeting on December 10, 2024, the Members elected a slate of new officers and board members for the 2025 term. The meeting took place after the annual conference where MPHA unveiled its policy priorities for the 2025-2026 Massachusetts Legislative Session and held sessions to address pressing issues including housing, climate justice, sustainable food systems, transportation, and public health infrastructure. In addition to electing four new board members, Roeshana Moore-Evans was elevated to Board President and Dolores Thibault-Muñoz as President Elect.
The Massachusetts Public Health Alliance (MPHA) is gravely concerned about the confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Mr. Kennedy’s extensive record of spreading disinformation about vaccines, HIV and AIDS, water fluoridation, and transgender health care reveals a dangerous disregard for established science and evidence-based public health measures that have saved countless lives. During confirmation hearings, Mr. Kennedy demonstrated that he lacks the requisite training, health care management experience, ethical judgement, and basic understanding of science required to serve as our nation’s chief health official.
Mr. Kennedy, working at the behest of President Trump, is likely to systematically dismantle essential public health infrastructure and coerce health institutions, local officials, and public health workers to abandon evidence-based practices that have a real-world impact on the lives and health of millions. The health and safety of communities across the country depend on leadership that respects science, understands public health, and puts people ahead of politics and profits. Mr. Kennedy’s confirmation represents a dangerous departure from these principles.
Carlene Pavlos speaks to the role of Community Health Centers and the importance of accurate, detailed data to address inequitable health outcomes for BIPOC and low-income people.
Carlene along with DPH Commissioner Robbie Goldstein, and colleague Nancy Kreiger, professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health address the federal gag order on sharing public health data, an act Carlene likened to book burning.
MPHA detailed what is at stake if the Trump administration is successful in freezing federal grants and loans to myriad organizations working on public health related issues.
BOSTON, MA – The Massachusetts Public Health Alliance opposes the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to be the Secretary of Health and Human Services and is urging senators to vote against his confirmation.
Mr. Kennedy’s well-documented history of spreading disinformation regarding vaccinations, HIV and AIDS, water fluoridation, and transgender health care demonstrates that he is unqualified to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In each of these cases, not only do Mr. Kennedy’s assertions conflict with the recognized science, but they undermine successful public health interventions that have reduced illness, suffering, and deaths for decades.
On January 21, the Trump Administration instituted a sweeping gag order on all public communications from federal health agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and the National Institutes of Health. This dangerous new gag order is already impeding efforts to respond to emerging public health threats, like bird flu, and stalling critical medical research.
BOSTON, MA – Today, public health leaders from across the Commonwealth praised Governor Maura Healey for signing the Statewide Accelerated Public Health for Every Community (SAPHE 2.0) Act that was passed by the legislature as part of the Mass Leads Act. The landmark law will significantly strengthen the state’s local public health system and support consistent, equitable public health responses.
Massachusetts will mandate new performance standards and allocate resources for its 321 local public health departments to “improve a patchwork of local services responsible for ensuring restaurants are clean, pools are safe, and disease outbreaks are tracked and reported.” As Massachusetts Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein, lead sponsor Senator Jo Comerford and MPHA Deputy Director Oami Amarasingham explain in this article, the goal of Statewide Accelerated Public Health for Every Community (SAPHE 2.0) Act is to increase quality as well as equity in every community.
BOSTON, MA – The Massachusetts Public Health Alliance (MPHA) celebrated a major victory for local public health in Massachusetts with today’s signing of the Statewide Accelerated Public Health for Every Community (SAPHE 2.0) Act by Governor Maura Healey. SAPHE 2.0 was passed by the legislature as part of the Economic Development Bond Bill. The landmark law will significantly strengthen the state’s local public health system and improve consistent and equitable public health responses across the Commonwealth.
MPHA’s advocacy to shore up Massachusetts’ local public health system long predates the COVID-19 pandemic and the current election cycle, but these two seismic events threw into sharp relief the urgent need for SAPHE 2.0 to help foster public health and equity.
“For too long our local public health workforce has been stretched to the breaking point, responding to a relentless stream of public health challenges—from devastating weather events fueled by climate change to the opioid crisis and the viral spread of health disinformation,” said Oami Amarasingham, Deputy Director of the Massachusetts Public Health Alliance.
Massachusetts Public Health Alliance
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