global challenges to public health

Maxine Hayes, MD, MPHState Health Officer

Washington State Department of HealthShoreline Community College

April 6, 2011

What is the relationship between global changes and local public health concerns and services in Washington State?

Travel time from North America to anywhere in the world is less than the incubation period for nearly all infectious diseases

Bugs rule! People, politics, policies Commerce and trade Natural and man made disasters Ecological changes due to the environment Agricultural practices

Movement of disease vectors Emerging/reemerging infectious disease Antimicrobial resistance Vaccine preventable disease outbreaks Food supply chain

Peanut Butter and Pistachios

Surveillance: the linchpin to conquering emerging, reemerging threats

Policy decisions in a variety of areas worldwide

Commit to practicing public health without borders

Change thinking from “think global/act local” to “think and act local and global” - “GloCal”

It’s a small world after all!