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On the Road to Good Health at the Mailman School’s 2007 Alumni Conference
The Mailman School’s 2007 Alumni Conference, attended by more than 100 graduates of the School, was held on April 25 at Pfizer’s World headquarters in New York City. This year’s theme, “Can the Road to Good Health be Legislated, Regulated, or Adjudicated?” was especially timely, addressing some of the public health issues currently playing out in cities across the nation. Executive Vice Dean Andrew Davidson welcomed the audience and introduced Barbara DeBuono, MD, MPH, senior medical advisor, Pfizer Public Health and Policy Group. New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Commissioner Thomas R. Frieden, MD, and Mailman School alumnus (MPH ’86) presented this year’s keynote address, “Local Public Health Agencies: Waking Up to the Challenge of Chronic Disease Prevention and Control,” in which he offered his perspective on safeguarding the public’s health.
In speaking about the concept of legislation and regulation as important tools for decreasing preventable deaths, Commissioner Frieden was clear that both communicable and non-communicable diseases are controllable, and outlined ten steps toward better health as a part of the City’s “Take Care NY” campaign. These include seeing a doctor regularly, being tobacco-free, improving heart-health by cutting trans-fat from restaurant foods, improving mental health by screening for depression, increasing cancer screening and detection, having lead-free homes, and expanding the nurse-family partnership. According to Dr. Frieden, with five million deaths recorded a year and an increase to ten million expected, tobacco-related deaths are the single greatest challenge for the developing world. Yet, he noted that smoking remains the most under-regulated industry.
Following the keynote address and continuing the theme of preventable deaths, a panel of public health experts held a lively discussion on “Working Toward a Tobacco-Free Generation.” Moderated by Sherry Glied, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management, panelists included Cheryl Healton, DrPH ’91, president and CEO, American Legacy Foundation; Donna Shelley, MD, MPH ‘99, assistant professor of clinical Sociomedical Sciences; and, Ronald Bayer, PhD, professor of Sociomedical Sciences. Panelists discussed the industry’s ability to deliver a cigarette product without carcinogens—though it does not offer one—and that due to under-regulation by the government, actual ingredients in cigarettes are not disclosed.
A second panel, “Sex and Drugs: Evidence vs. Morality,” explored the volatile mixture of sex and politics. Moderated by Robert Fullilove, EdD, associate dean for minority affairs and professor of clinical Sociomedical Sciences, panelists included John Santelli, MD, Harriet and Robert H. Heilbrunn Professor of Population and Family Health and department chair; Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, MPH ’91, professor of clinical Epidemiology; David Vlahov, PhD, professor of clinical Epidemiology, and director, Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies, New York Academy of Medicine; and Ernest Drucker, PhD, professor and director, division of Public Health and Policy Research, Department of Epidemiology and Population Health and professor of Psychiatry, Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine. The discussion centered on the need to ensure that science and data form the basis for policy decisions.
Following the panel discussions, Amy Fairchild, PhD, MPH ‘90, associate professor of Sociomedical Sciences, talked about the law in relation to public health, and the ways in which laws have been used over the course of history to steer public health policy.
James Curran, MD, dean of the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, congratulated Allan Rosenfield, MD, dean, and Dr. El-Sadr for all the groundbreaking work of the Mailman School overseas. The program closed with the awarding of the first Allan Rosenfield Alumni Award for Excellence to Nancy Barhydt, DrPH '79, RN, director, clinical affairs, New York State Department of Health, Office of Health Systems Management (see related article), which was presented by Michael Barnett, JD ’72, MS ‘70, chair of the School’s Alumni Executive Board.
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