The National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network: Bridging the Gap in Environmental Health Information
For decades, the United States has faced a fundamental gap in knowing how environmental contaminants affect people's health. CDC's new Environmental Public Health Tracking Network is working to close this gap by improving environmental public health surveillance. The Tracking Network is a dynamic Web-based tool that tracks and reports environmental hazards and the health problems that may be related to them. It allows scientists, health professionals, and members of the public to see where these hazards and health problems are occurring and how they are changing over time.
The Gap between Public Health and the EnvironmentThe organizational and administrative separation of public health and environmental agencies has posed a challenge to effective environmental public health surveillance and management. The Institute of Medicine noted that the separation led to diffused patterns of responsibility and lack of coordination. This separation also contributed to wide-ranging variations in data collection methods and the characteristics and attributes of data sources. These problems have lead to inadequate analysis of the health effects of environmental problems.1 In September 2000, the Pew Environmental Health Commission reported that the nation’s environmental public health system remained fragmented and too often ineffective at reducing chronic and disabling diseases and conditions. To address these concerns, the Commission recommended the establishment of a national environmental public health tracking network. This network would link information about environmentally related diseases, human exposure, and environmental hazards and provide the basis for strategies to prevent and control many diseases and disabilities. The network would also balance the value of public health activities, confidentiality of individually identifiable health records, and the public’s right to know about risks to health from environmental factors.2 Building the BridgeIn 2002, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention accepted the challenge and established the National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program to provide the leadership needed to develop a tracking network. Recognizing the importance of partnership and collaboration, the Tracking Program has drawn upon a wide range of stakeholders from federal, state, and local public health and environmental agencies, nongovernmental agencies, and schools of public health to build the Tracking Network.
The Tracking Network has established the capacity to exchange data with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and incorporated the standards and guidelines of the Public Health Information Network (PHIN) for interoperability. For example, the Tracking Network uses the PHIN Messaging system to transport data from state and local partners to CDC and to collect the Tracking Program’s Nationally Consistent Data and Measures. The Program is also adding environmental vocabulary code sets into the PHIN Vocabulary Access and Distribution System. CDC is funding heath departments in 16 states and 1 city to build local tracking networks. These partners send data from their local tracking systems to the national Tracking Network to help CDC and other researchers monitor and identify trends in environmental public health data. CDC is also partnering with four other federal agencies for data and expertise on the development of the Tracking Network; the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Cancer Institute, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. “We are proud to take the lead on a project that addresses the needs of communities as well as public heatlh professionals, scientists, and policy makers,” said Judith Qualters, Ph.D., Chief, Environmental Health Tracking Branch. “The Tracking Network is already facilitating faster responses to environmental health concerns, and will provide a firm foundation for data-driven decision making and improving our understanding of how the environment releates to our health. It’s a major step forward, advancing how we practice environmental public health and moving us toward our goals of healthier communities and eventually a healthier nation.” Currently, the Tracking Network’s data and measures focus on:
CDC's Tracking Network can be used by many different people. Scientists will be better able to assess the connection between the environment and its effect on health. Public health officials now can easily assess unusual trends and events to determine which communities may be at risk. Parents can learn about conditions such as asthma or the presence of contaminants in the air in counties where they live and take action to protect their children. Elected officials can see their community's air quality trends to determine if actions taken to reduce pollution levels are working. For more information about the EPHT Network, to go www.cdc.gov/ephtracking. 1 Institute of Medicine. The Future of Public Health. Washington, DC; National Academy Press; 1988. 2 Environmental Health Tracking Project Team. America’s Environmental Health Gap: Why the Country Needs a Nationwide Health Tracking Network. Baltimore, MD; Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, 2000. Downloaded from the internet at http://healthyamericans.org/reports/files/healthgap.pdf on December 13, 2008. 3 Li, J. and Dawson, B. From Patchwork to National Network: Working Collaboratively to Create a National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network. J Public Health Management Practice; 2008 14(6), 596-599. View Tracking Network video >> |
