Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Public Health: improving health, preventing disease, and reducing health care costs for all

By Kristina Diamond, Policy Director, New Hampshire Public Health Association

The mission of the New Hampshire Public Health Association (NHPHA) is to strengthen the public health system to more effectively protect and improve the health and safety of our population. Many people don’t realize that public health initiatives help improve health, prevent disease and reduce health care costs for all. Our current health care system isn’t working and we need to fix it. With the uncertainty now of whether national health reform will pass, we must take the opportunity to not only educate the public, but also NH policymakers on the importance of integrating prevention and wellness into all aspects of our lives.

NHPHA takes several approached to educate and promote the value and work of public health in NH. On February 10, 2010 NHPH is hosting our annual Policymaker’s conference. In 2009, we rolled out a public health marketing campaign, and we have recently released our 2010 Policy Priorities. More information is available on our website www.nhpha.org.

NHPHA believes that our current system of disease management is not sustainable, but it is costly. Chronic diseases cause 70% of deaths in America and are responsible for three-fourths of health-care spending. Most are caused by lifestyle factors and are preventable. Consider these facts, which relate to our 2010 Policy Priorities:

• Annual medical costs for obesity in New Hampshire are estimated at $302 million—that’s $232 per person. Public health is helping to reduce obesity by promoting walking to school, daily physical education and worksite wellness.

• Asthma-related hospitalizations in New Hampshire cost upwards of $4.2 million per year. Thanks to public health initiatives, including the ban on smoking in New Hampshire restaurants, tobacco use and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke is declining in the Granite State. That’s especially important since exposure to environmental tobacco smoke is a leading cause of asthma in children and of asthma-related emergency room visits for children.

• A bike helmet costs $30. In New Hampshire, hospitalization for a traumatic brain injury cost about $700,000 per admission. By increasing awareness of the importance of bike helmets, public health is helping prevent bike-related traumatic brain injuries.

• 85% of New Hampshire’s prison population has an alcohol or addiction problem. It costs $32,750 to incarcerate one person for one year—but it costs only about $70 per person per year to provide effective drug and alcohol prevention services in New Hampshire.
Of all of NHPHA’s 2010 priorities, obesity is one the greatest threats to our nation’s and state’s public health. The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey reports that in 2008, 63.2% of the nation’s adults, and 63.1% of NH adults were overweight or obese. Unlike previous generations of Americans who looked forward to longer lives and better health than their parents, today’s children face shorter life spans. NHPHA is working in collaboration with other public health partners to combat obesity and related health issues. The primary focus of our annual Policymaker’s conference this year is obesity prevention: understanding and developing integrated policies. We will explore the intersection of obesity and our environment and discuss policies to HEAL ourselves and our environment. New Hampshire needs to take a comprehensive approach to obesity prevention.

It is NHPHA’s job to educate lawmakers on the importance of understanding their role in developing sound public policies that integrate all aspects of our lives. A model of health promotion and disease prevention is better for NH. Adopting healthy behaviors and practices improves health, reduces disease, and reduces health care costs FOR ALL.

For more information on public health and our Policymaker’s conference, please visit the New Hampshire Public Health Association’s website at www.nhpha.org or contact our office at (603) 228-2983.

[1] Andrew Weil, MD. Why Our Health Matters: A Vision of Medicine That Can Transform Our Future, 2009.

Tags: disease management, health care system, NH Citizens Health Initiative, NH Policy Makers, NHPHA, prevention, public health, wellness

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 at 7:33 pm and is filed under Health Reform. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.