Wisconsin Environmental Public Health Tracking

About

In September 2000, the Pew Environmental Health Commission issued a report entitled “America’s Environmental Health Gap: Why the Country Needs a Nationwide Health Tracking Network”. In this report, the Commission documented that existing environmental health systems were inadequate and fragmented and recommended a “National Health Tracking Network for disease and exposures.” In response to the report, Congress appropriated funds in the fiscal year 2002’s budget for the CDC to establish a National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program and Network. Funds have been appropriated each year thereafter to continue these efforts.
 
The WI Tracking Program has received funding since 2002. 

Funding title: Enhancing Innovation and Capabilities of the Environmental Public Health Tracking Network
 
Funding source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH)

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Aims

The purpose of the program is to integrate health and environmental data and use it to provide information in support of actions that improve the health of communities.
 
The WI Tracking Program hosts data on nearly a dozen environmental public health topics. These include air pollution, drinking water, asthma, heat stress, lead poisoning, carbon monoxide poisoning, heart attack, Lyme disease, birth and reproductive outcomes, birth defects, and cancer. Additionally, the Tracking Program generates County Environmental Health Profiles which provide a snapshot of a county’s environmental health.

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Expected Outcomes

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• Public health decision makers and other end-users are aware of and have access to comprehensive and integrated public health and environmental health data, and are able to view trends and measure impact.
• Public health decision makers and other end-users incorporate environmental public health data into decision making.
• Public health and environmental professionals develop and deliver strong informed programs, targeted interventions, and policies to address environmental health issues.
• Improvements in evidence and scientific discovery driven by the availability of integrated, publically-available environmental public health data.

 

Partners

The WI Tracking Program has a wide range of partners, including but not limited to, local health departments, data stewards, decision-makers at the local and state level, Department of Health Services’ programs, academia, and non-government organizations

Team

Michelle Mueller, MPH