Public health is ultimately about protecting our community. But what happens when the system fails? In our latest piece, @ob-sidianblue.bsky.social —a former CDC professional—shares her sister Ivy's story on the fifteenth anniversary of her death.

Our latest at SAPHL looks at the hidden costs of preventable health crises—from lost productivity to the erosion of community trust. In the South, these costs are compounding. Let’s stop funding fires and start funding the fireproofing. Read the full piece: open.substack.com/pub/saphl/p/...

Why do we settle for technocratic "nibbles" when our communities deserve everything they need?

In Nashville in 1987, when the first HIV treatment (AZT) arrived, you’d think there was a rush to treat patients. There wasn’t. Medical centers feared the stigma. Primary care providers wanted nothing to do with it. So the Nashville Health Dept decided to do it themselves. 🧵

I wrote a little bit about why I loathe mobile units with the fire of a thousand suns. saphl.substack.com/p/please-for...

If you're reading this - you probably know that we launched SAPHL this past year. I want to invite you to support our mission to strengthen an alliance of trusted voices in public health to improve health outcomes in Southern communities. www.saphl.org/donate2?blm_...

How do we build lasting change in public health? It's not about short-term wins. It’s about “laying tracks of trust.” At SAPHL, we strive to honor the memory of public health champions by embedding these practices into our work every day. saphl.substack.com/p/the-road-g...

It feels a bit strange to talk about something like SDP's while we're in the midst of a shutdown. But this tells an important story about how quiet, complicated programs find ways to prop up our broken health care. It also tells us what we can expect in the future. open.substack.com/pub/saphl/p/...

I wrote this before the news broke yesterday about Monarez's firing and the leadership resignations. It still remains true today and in case it isn't obvious, we're headed towards catastrophe. saphl.substack.com/p/foodborne-...

The CDC published their annual numbers on vaccination rates and unsurprisingly they've continued to decline across the South. Georgia now also has the lowest vaccination rate of any state in the South. www.cdc.gov/schoolvaxvie...

What Medicaid cuts and the ACA subsidy act lapse will look like in Tennessee: open.substack.com/pub/saphl/p/...

Read the first in our series on what Medicaid cuts and the ACA subsidy lapse will look like in the South: open.substack.com/pub/saphl/p/...

Just the perfect example of why we need more advocacy to lawmakers around public health. Public health professionals have spent far too much time avoiding "political" topics until our entire profession became one.

Hard to express what a big deal these numbers are. This is just as bad as measles and getting half the attention. www.propublica.org/article/whoo...

A big part of my family hails from Hazard, Kentucky. Hazard tells us how far we’ve come—and where we’re losing ground. This public health week, I'll be thinking a lot about how we can do better by communities like Hazard. open.substack.com/pub/saphl/p/...

Absolutely reprehensible and will be particularly devastating for small, rural health departments who have no other ways to absorb these new costs now that the federal government isn't covering it.

In most cases, these staff are specifically supporting programs that Congress specifically appropriated money for and that there aren't folks waiting in the wings to back fill this work. Cuts in everything from miner safety to TB prevention are going to make us a less healthy, less safe society.

On friday, the legislative session will wrap up in Georgia. There are *still* no plans to deal with the massive cuts and costs being passed down to state government. Guess we're just going to wing it till they come back next year?

If RFK Jr. really follows through on narrowing the scope of the CDC to preparing and preventing infectious disease outbreaks, states better be ready to pick up an enormous amount of work in their place. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/27/u...

Extremely important information from @kff.org on what these Medicaid cuts will look like at the state level. The four state we work in - TN, NC, SC, and GA - stand to lose more than $6 billion! www.kff.org/medicaid/iss...

We’re excited to announce the launch of the Southern Alliance for Public Health Leadership (SAPHL.org), an organization tackling some of the South’s most pressing public health challenges: declining vaccination rates, rising infant and maternal mortality, and inadequate access to quality care.

This will be absolutely devastating for public health in the South. www.wsj.com/health/healt...

They won’t stop until they’ve destroyed the entire US Public Health infrastructure. Please call your representatives.

A second death from measles after a decade with none. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/06/h...