Public Health

A Week to Remember

January 26, 2009

Inauguration Day

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Early on January 20th, it started snowing, and the snow kept up until early afternoon. It was a beautiful snow, and it could not have come on a better day—many people were able to stay home and watch the inauguration with their friends and families. Our School of Public Health family enjoyed watching in our living room , the Michael Hooker Research Center atrium. (Pictures below by Linda Kastleman.) I enjoyed experiencing the event with the community of our School. It felt somehow intimate and connected in a very authentic way. I appreciated the efforts of IIS and our Communications folks to make this work.

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I reread President Obama’s speech several times. I liked his honesty about the bad situation we’re in and the call to action that we all must work together to pull ourselves out of the mess. Obama’s observation that, 60 years ago, his Kenyan father might not have been served in a restaurant in the same city in which his son was taking the sacred oath for the Presidency was both chilling and uplifting. It feels like our country has come a long way, although there is still a long way to go.

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North Carolina State Health Director’s Conference

January 24th, I addressed the state health directors, a truly dedicated, energized and impressive group of people. It was a conference I wish I could have attended throughout. I’d especially have wanted to hear Howard Frumkin, PhD, MD, MPH, from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), talk about the environment. There was a special recognition of Leah Devlin, DDS, MPH, State Health Director and Director, Division of Public Health and a member of our School’s Public Health Foundation Board. I am really going to miss working with Leah in her current role. Over the number of years we have known each other, we have become not just colleagues but also friends. It’s really helped our organizations stay connected. It was clear from the many heartfelt messages that we all agreed Leah is not just a remarkable leader who can see the big picture and the details, a visionary who can get things done and a master of working with the legislature. She also is a gracious, warm, funny, totally human leader who is adored. There are not many people who inspire the kind of true affection that Leah does.

By the way, IIS videotapes the annual conference as part of the support our NCIPH provides. We will add a link to the talks as soon as available.

Health Care Reform

Discussions about health care reform are heating up. Jonathan Oberlander, PhD, Associate Professor Health Policy and Management and Social Medicine, School of Medicine, had a good perspectives piece in the New England Journal of Medicine last week about forces that could facilitate and those that could inhibit passage of health reform legislation. Jon observed that while reform is improbable, it is not impossible. His article provides a good overview of the issues. This is a time when all of us in public health should be aware of the debates and try to influence reform, however we define it. Another UNC professor, Norton Hadler, MD, has weighed in, arguing that any approach that does not put major emphasis on evidence as a driver of payment is doomed to fail. As a member of CDC’s Task Force on Community Preventive Services, I agree. And, of course, any meaningful reform package must emphasize and incentivize evidence-based prevention and wellness interventions. See recent Senate hearings for discussions about this. Reform must work this time, because we won’t have another chance for a long time, I’d expect. Lives depend on it.

The Health Care Blogs Sarah Arnquist has an interesting piece on legislative language setting aside more than a billion dollars for comparative effectiveness research, which, she says, may be portrayed by some as a prelude to rationing. Undoubtedly “rationing” will be only one of several specters that will be seen lurking in the shadows of reform. I hope that we in the School can have great debates about the issues without petty partisan politics getting in the way.

Kay Yow Remembered

I was so sorry to read that Kay Yow, women’s basketball coach at North Carolina State University, died of breast cancer Saturday after a more than 20 years battling the disease. I first met Kay Yow soon after she had been diagnosed, when she agreed to address a summit on breast cancer, and several of us went to visit with her at NC State. She was a remarkable coach and human being who coached winning teams while fighting metastatic cancer. There’s a lot to learn from feisty people who keep on going even when the going is very tough.

Happy Monday.

Barbara


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The views expressed in this blog are Barbara Rimer’s alone and do not represent the views and policies of The University of North Carolina or the Gillings School.