Thank you!

Published 23 November 2005

To our public health hero readers, we apologize. We have just learned that Monday, 21 November was the nation’s first ever Public Health Thank You Day. Organized by the American Public Health Association (APHA), Research!America, the Association of Schools of Public Health, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), the day was conceived to celebrate the “public health heroes” who work so hard — and with so little public thanks — to secure the nation’s health and well-being.

According to their press release, Research!America found in a national poll that 74 percent of Americans say they and their community benefit from public health services, such as childhood vaccine programs; restaurant sanitation and safety inspections; inspection of drinking water quality; daycare safety and health inspections; disease outbreak investigations; and emergency response and bioterrorism prevention. We might ask: What does that other 26 percent think of us — chopped liver?

-see a press release here; learn more about the sponsoring organizations: APHA | Research America | ASTHONACCHO