Press Release

Partner Statements

Florida Department of Health; Chair, Advisory Committee to the CDC Director
"I applaud CDC’s efforts to realign their organization to better serve our shared customers: the American public. By adopting a life stages approach, CDC is better positioned to understand the unique health concerns and risks affecting infants, children, adolescents, adults and seniors, and deliver health information and programs that will make an impact."

John O. Agwunobi, MD, MBA, MPH
Secretary of Health and State Health Officer
Florida Department of Health
Contact number: (850) 245-4111

American Public Health Association
“The health challenges of the 21st century are too complex to risk facing them with 20th century systems.

In the twenty-five years since CDC's last major restructuring, the job of protecting the public's health has become a more complex task requiring greater coordination, flexibility and efficiency than ever before.

Through the new Coordinating Center for Health Information and Sciences, the CDC has highlighted how important it is to give the American public a one-stop shopping source of information on health services and programs while opening the door to promoting collaboration with the agency's partners at the federal, state and local levels. Scientists across the agency are coming together to sponsor a summit and contribute articles that address multiple aspects of health care, including diabetes, smoking, nutrition, obesity, cancer and oral health.

This enhanced collaborative network helps educate and inform Americans about public health through programs that examine stages of our lives and other aspects of our health. Organizations with similar agendas and activities are more encouraged to work together and a greater cooperation exists among CDC operating units. The result is the delivery of more direct, targeted messages to Americans of how they may live longer, healthier lives.”

Dr. Georges C. Benjamin
Executive Director
American Public Health Association
Contact number: (202) 777-2430

Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
“Our nation’s governmental public health system is composed of agencies at the federal, state and local level. No single level of government can function at maximum effectiveness without the other two. Sound science and a functional organizational structure at CDC are vital to the credibility of the entire public health system. The importance of that credibility, and the vital contributions of each of the three partners in the public health system, was dramatically demonstrated earlier this year in the reallocation of scarce influenza vaccine to high-risk individuals. This was real public health in action.”

George E. Hardy, Jr., MD, MPH
Executive Director
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO)
Contact number: (202) 371-9090

National Association of County and City Health Officials
“CDC's determination to move the agency into the 21st century means local public health officials can tap into fast, efficient and quality science to tackle their community's health challenges.

CDC's coordination with city and county health officials is vital to protecting the health of all Americans. One example of the agency demonstrating its commitment to strengthening these relationships is the proposed creation of a new Division of Public Health Partnerships. Through this new division and the assignment of state-level portfolio managers, we anticipate CDC becoming even more responsive to the needs of state and local public health organizations. Local public health can serve as the ‘front door’ for CDC to our shared customer, the people of all our communities.

The nation's governmental public health system, in which CDC, state, and local public health agencies each play unique and indispensable roles, has been growing stronger. Counties, cities and towns, in which local public health agencies work every day with their community partners in the public and private sectors to promote health and prevent disease, will benefit from improved access to CDC's scientific expertise, which is second to none."

Patrick M. Libbey
Executive Director
National Association of County and City Health Officials
Contact number: (202) 783-5550

American Schools of Public Health
“Accredited schools of public health educate the public health leaders of the 21st century, and they will want to join a 21st century organization – CDC is wise to move forward. CDC has aligned its extramural research with the agency's new health impact goals of health protection and preparedness. Research is critical to achieving the impact goals and we strongly support CDC's research agenda."

Dr. Harrison Spencer
President and CEO
American Schools of Public Health
Contact number: (202) 296-1099

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This page last updated April 21, 2005
URL: http://www.cdc.gov/media/pressrel/r050421b.htm

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