National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program
NALBOH Conference
Posted: Thu, 15 Mar 2012
National Association of Local Boards of Health 20th Anniversary conference- August 8-10, 2012
NALBOH Lecture
Posted: Thu, 15 Mar 2012
National Association of Local Boards of Health annual lecture- March 29, 2012
Severe Weather Awareness
Posted: Thu, 15 Mar 2012
March is Severe Weather Awareness Month. “Make a kit, Make a Plan and Stay Informed.”
National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month
Posted: Thu, 01 Mar 2012
March is National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month. Avoiding or reducing children’s exposure to harmful chemicals may help prevent some developmental disabilities. Find out more on the Tracking Network.
CDC's New Data Query and Results System
Posted: Tue, 08 Nov 2011
The Tracking Network has improved the performance and display of the data query system giving user more flexibility for data viewing. Visit the Tracking Network to check out these new additions and stay tuned for more exciting new developments from the Tracking Network
CDC Releases New Climate Change Module
Posted: Tue, 08 Nov 2011
Scientists believe that changes in climate can affect your health in many ways. Visit the Tracking Network's new climate change module to learn how climate change can affect you.
Guide to Building and Environmental Public Health Tracking Network
Posted: Tue, 08 Nov 2011
The Tracking Program "How to Guide" provides the materials, tools, methods, recommendations, and products needed to develop and to put in place local or state environmental public health tracking programs.
Tracking Success Stories
Posted: Tue, 08 Nov 2011
24 CDC-funded state and local tracking programs work 24/7 saving lives and protecting people from health threats. Learn how Tracking is making a difference across the United States.
Iowa is one of 23 states that have received a grant through the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop a state-based environmental tracking program that when combined will make up the national environmental public health tracking (EPHT) network. The CDC's national EPHT portal provides the cornerstone for the network.
EPHT is the ongoing collection, integration, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of data from environmental hazard monitoring, and from human exposure and health effects surveillance. The availability of these data in a standardized network portal will enable Iowan's to evaluate disease impact and trends, identify populations or geographic areas of impact, and to guide public health intervention and prevention policy efforts.
Beginning in August 2010, the four year grant from CDC will allow IDPH to work with other state and local agencies and non-governmental organizations to develop and implement an Iowa EPHT network. During the first two years the focus will be in planning and capacity building to integrate environmental and health data from multiple agencies and develop the technical infrastructure to analyze and disseminate that data to the community. Implementation of the Iowa EPHT portal is targeted for fall 2012.
State and local health departments have been funded as part of the National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program to collect and disseminate Environmental Public Health Indicators (EPHIs). Health indicators are used to measure the health of a community, county, city, state, or the nation. Indicators may be used to assess baseline status and trends, track progress toward program goals and objectives, and build core surveillance capacity in state and local agencies. An EPHI framework was designed to be needs-based and to assist the states in meeting Healthy People 2020 objectives. The best indicators reliably predict the relationship between human health and the environment, are routinely collected, and have well-accepted definitions and data collection standards.
EPHIs provide information about a population's health status with respect to environmental factors and may be particularly useful when measurable links are not clear. As such, they can be used to measure health or a factor associated with health in a specific population. For example, because the amount of lead in paint in older homes is difficult to measure, we use blood lead measurements in children to indicate both the lead paint hazard and the risk for childhood lead poisoning. For more information about EPHIs, visit http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/indicators/ 
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Click here to learn more about the CDC's national EPHT program.
Carmily Stone, MPH, CP-FS
Bureau Chief
321 E. 12th Street
Des Moines, IA 50319-0075
(515) 281-0921
