Hi, I’m Don.
Thanks for joining me today.
I’m here to spend a few minutes with you,
talking about the ways you can advocate on
public health through APHA.
You know, your voice is really important for
the public’s health.
Leaders in Congress are making decisions every
day on things that affect public health.
They need you to help them make the right
decisions.
The ones that are based on science.
And that will protect and improve health.
Here at APHA, we rely on you, our members,
to serve as advocates.
To help us support legislation and actions
that promote health.
To fight against things that would put the
public’s health at risk.
So every year, APHA looks at what’s going
on in Congress, in the White House and at
federal agencies.
And we come up with key priorities that will
be on the agenda.
The areas we know we can have a big impact.
We create tools that APHA members can use
to advocate with their members of Congress.
We have talking points and phone scripts.
We have fact sheets and reports.
We have op-eds and sample letters.
Basically, we make it easy for you to advocate
on public health.
Which is so important.
Your voice matters.
Our voice matters.
Together, we can make sure that public health
is heard, loud and clear.
So how can APHA help you do that?
Well, APHA action alerts let you send a message
right to your members of Congress on important
issues as they’re being considered.
We’ll send you an email letting you know
when your voice matters most.
Go to the action alerts page on the APHA website
to send a message to Congress now.
You can also reach out to your legislators
while they’re in your community.
Every year in late summer and early fall,
members of Congress take a break from DC.
They come home and they talk to their constituents.
They are home because they want to talk to
you.
Our PHACT campaign gives you tips and tools
so you can go to town halls, and public speaking
events and talk to legislators about public
health.
If you can’t catch up with legislators while
they’re home, then you can take the message
to them in DC.
Say you’re in DC for a meeting, for APHA
business, or even for a vacation.
Schedule a meeting with your representative
or senators while you’re here.
We have information to help you set up those
meetings, who to contact and what to say.
And we’ll give you a packet of information
to take with you.
You can educate your legislators about how
their actions impact the health of the public.
Don’t know where your legislators stand
on public health?
Well, we can help.
We have resources that can help you understand
how your members of Congress voted on key
public health bills and amendments.
We also love to talk to APHA members in person.
While you’re at APHA’s Annual Meeting,
come to our sessions on advocacy.
We’ll tell you how can run a successful
advocacy campaign.
We’ll help you understand what “lobbying”
is.
We can talk to you about advocacy restrictions
related to your job.
We can show you how to advocate, no matter
who you are.
Another great way to weigh in on public health
issues is through APHA policy statements.
APHA has hundreds of these on the books, and
they’re a great advocacy resource.
Our policy statements are science and evidence
based.
And they’re authored by you — the APHA
member.
Check out our policy statements calendar to
find out how you can get involved.
At APHA, our strength in advocacy depends
on you, our members.
Thank you for being a public health advocate.
Find out more at APHA.org.
