Category Archives: Umair Shah

Celebrating National Public Health Week through Collaboration, Engagement, and Action

By Umair A. Shah, MD, MPH, NACCHO President and Executive Director of Harris County Public Health in Houston, Texas

April 2–8 is National Public Health Week (NPHW), a time to recognize the key contributions of public health and highlight issues that are important to improving our nation’s health. The celebration, organized by the American Public Health Association, is commemorated during the first full week in April each year. This year’s theme is “Healthiest Nation 2030: Changing Our Future Together” and underscores the importance of improving health in the places in which people live, learn, work, worship, and play. Each day is dedicated to a topic-specific theme: behavioral health, infectious disease, environmental health, injury and violence prevention, and ensuring the right to health. NPHW presents a terrific opportunity for local health departments (LHDs) to engage partners and community members to raise awareness about the life-saving work we do year-round. Continue reading →

The Local Health Department Response to the Zika Virus: Lessons Learned and Looking Ahead

By Umair A. Shah, MD, MPH, NACCHO President and Executive Director of Harris County Public Health in Houston, Texas

Local health departments (LHDs) have been on the front lines of responding to the Zika virus since its emergence as a public health threat in the United States (U.S.) more than two years ago. The virus, spread by Aedes aegypti (L.) and Ae. albopictus Skuse mosquitoes, carries adverse and costly health risks for pregnant women and their babies and has affected communities across the U.S. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2,395 pregnant women in the U.S. states and the District of Columbia have shown laboratory evidence of possible Zika virus infection to date. Additionally, NACCHO’s 2017 Forces of Change survey found that confirmed travel-related cases of Zika have been reported in nearly 90% of large LHD jurisdictions. LHDs incorporated a multi-pronged, One-Health approach to responding to the virus that included vector control, epidemiology, environmental public health, maternal and child health, community engagement, and advocacy activities. Continue reading →

Local Public Health Spreads Importance of Good Oral Health during Children’s Dental Health Month

By Umair A. Shah, MD, MPH, NACCHO President and Executive Director of Harris County Public Health in Houston, Texas

The oral cavity, including the teeth and surrounding structures, are necessary for adequate nutrition, proper speech and a positive self-image.  Although tooth decay is largely preventable, it continues to be the most common chronic disease of early childhood.1  Dental health can impact school performance when a child has untreated tooth decay with resulting pain that affects their ability to concentrate, sleep at night or even attend school, “more than 51 million school hours are lost each year to dental related illness.”2 Taxpayers share approximately 11% of the $113.5 billion spent nationally on dental care expenditures, a percentage that has increased over the years as dental care utilization continues to increase among children.3  Children with cavities in their primary (baby) teeth are three times more likely to develop cavities in their permanent (adult) teeth which could contribute to broader health problems including diabetes and cardiovascular disease.4 Continue reading →

Public Health Advocacy: Informing Lawmakers about What Matters Most in Our Communities

By Umair A. Shah, MD, MPH, NACCHO President and Executive Director of Harris County Public Health in Houston, Texas

The Journal of School Health defines health advocacy as “The processes by which the actions of individuals or groups attempt to bring about social and/or organization change on behalf of a particular health goal, program, interest, or population.” 1 It is also one of the main pillars of public health. Local health departments depend on policymakers to enact laws that make our communities safe and promote healthy living. Every day, federal, state, and local decision-makers discuss a myriad of issues, including those related to public health. Through the power of advocacy, we have seat belt, tobacco prevention, safe drinking water, and nutrition labeling laws, just to name a few. For the betterment of our communities, it is imperative that public health professionals who possess expertise and experience in the field, educate lawmakers through evidence-based research. Continue reading →

Health Equity Matters: Bridging the Gap between Underserved Populations and Access to Care

By Umair A. Shah, MD, MPH, NACCHO President and Executive Director of Harris County Public Health in Houston, Texas

What is Health Equity?

Public health is built on the foundation that all people have a right to health. Health equity is the principle that every person should have the opportunity “to attain their full health potential,” regardless of social, economic or environmental conditions. Achieving health equity requires valuing all individuals and populations equally, acknowledging and repairing historical injustices, and investing in those communities. Across the United States, state and local jurisdictions have made it their mission to reduce and eliminate health inequities in their communities. There are many root causes of health inequities, including racism, class-based oppression, gender inequity, and other forms of systematic injustices. These create societal conditions that influence an individual’s health such as: the quality of education, housing, neighborhood environment, and employment opportunities leading to disproportionate health outcomes, to name a few. Continue reading →

American Diabetes Month: Local Health Departments Work to Mitigate the Burden of Diabetes Across the Nation

By Umair A. Shah, MD, MPH, NACCHO President and Executive Director of Harris County Public Health in Houston

Today, over 30 million people in the United States live with diabetes—the seventh leading cause of death in the nation.1 Every day, local health departments (LHDs) work with community partners including schools, city planners, businesses, and restaurants to educate the public about diabetes and develop programs and policies to aid prevention, screening, and management.

November is American Diabetes Month, a time for the nation’s LHDs and other healthcare organizations to bring awareness to their efforts in preventing, screening, and managing diabetes. Continue reading →

Convening Cross-Sector Partnerships to Implement Health in All Policies at the Local Level

By Umair A. Shah, MD, MPH, NACCHO President and Executive Director of Harris County Public Health in Houston

Local health departments (LHDs) play a critical role in ensuring that communities across the nation are healthy. We work every day to ensure the safety of the water we drink, the food we eat, and the air we breathe. Over time, many LHDs have broadened their missions and scope of services to address the root causes that influence health. It’s becoming commonly understood that factors like our socioeconomic status, education, the physical environmental, employment status, social supports, and access to care all play a part in shaping our health and quality of life. In addition to addressing infectious disease and chronic disease, we’re now focusing our efforts on the social determinants of health. With this increasingly complex view of health, it is imperative that LHDs move beyond the walls of our health departments to collaborate with the myriad other organizations that impact the social determinants of health and help them take into account how their policies and programs affect the health of communities. One promising tool for engaging in this work is the Health in All Policies (HiAP) framework. Continue reading →