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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently awarded Maryland nearly $4 million to implement a state- and nation-wide Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) Network. Maryland is one of 17 recipients of this 5-year award. The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) is the project lead. The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) will be involved as a contractor for some of the work.
“The EPHT Network will be a step forward for environmental health,” said MDE Secretary Kendl Philbrick. “MDE is committed to making Environmental Public Health Tracking a reality. Tracking will be a useful tool to people both inside and outside the department to help us gain a better understanding of the health of our environment and of Marylanders. I congratulate the MDE team for this achievement!”
Project Goals and Logistics
At its most fundamental level, environmental public health tracking is a type of public health surveillance that brings together health, exposure, and environmental data. The Centers for Disease Control grant creates an opportunity for the State of Maryland to move ahead in linking health and environmental information at the state and local level. The information made available over the EPHT Network will be used to monitor trends, help prevent environmentally related diseases, educate the public, and support environmental health efforts.
The first release of the national tracking network will be in 2008. The initial version will contain data about ozone, airborne particulate matter, water contaminants, hospitalizations from asthma and heart attacks, childhood blood lead levels, birth weights, and cancer. Other datasets, such as birth defects, will be added as the network grows.
In Maryland, DHMH and MDE will work closely together. While DHMH will house and maintain the major pieces of the network, provide health data, and build partnerships inside and outside the agency, MDE will provide the environmental data and environmental health expertise. The team members will also participate in national workgroups to help establish nationally consistent indicators and data standards.
Other Grant Recipients
Other recipients of the 5-year grants are: California, Connecticut, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, New York State, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.
Click
here for more information about the Maryland Environmental Public Health
Tracking Network.
Click here for more
information about CDC's Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) Program.
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