By LaMar Hasbrouck, MD, MPH, NACCHO Executive Director

Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is seeking article submissions from local health departments, Editor-in-Chief Dr. Sonja Rasmussen told me in a recent meeting at NACCHO.

The weekly publication—produced in hard copy and available online at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/—describes itself as CDC’s “primary vehicle for scientific publication of timely, reliable, authoritative, accurate, objective, and useful public health information and recommendations.” It describes its readership as predominantly consisting of “physicians, nurses, public health practitioners, epidemiologists and other scientists, researchers, educators, and laboratorians.”

The publication receives 1.6 million page views per month online and is e-mailed every week to about 250,000 people. In addition, many journalists who cover health news read the publication and sometimes write about MMWR articles.

Publication in MMWR is very useful. It enables local health departments to share what they have learned with other health professionals, spreading knowledge that can protect the health and improve the lives of people throughout the United States. In addition, publication in MMWR helps draw attention to the outstanding work of local health departments.

I urge NACCHO members to look for opportunities to contribute articles to the weekly report. Any members who would like NACCHO to assist in the process can contact Chief of Marketing and Communications David Egner at [email protected].

Articles need to be about 1,400 words in length. Detailed guidelines explaining how to prepare and submit articles to MMWR can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/author_guide.html

Dr. Rasmussen’s visit to NACCHO affirmed that CDC recognizes the important role local health departments play in America’s health system, as well as the important role that NACCHO plays representing local health departments. I look forward to reading about the work of NACCHO members in future issues of MMWR.