Jun 19, 2020
Public Health Laboratories
Scott J. Becker, MS
Executive Director
Analysis, Answers, Action
Public Health Laboratories
Analysis, Answers, Action
Disease Detectives
Sen. Ken Donnelly, D-Arlington, MA
“Each year in reviewing the state’s budget … I look for the line items that fund programs important to my district (local aid, education funding, elderly services) … The Hinton State Laboratory Institute, a crucial partner in keeping the Commonwealth safe, is one of those not-so-obvious programs.”
Analysis, Answers, Action
Informing Decisions & Policy
“Unlike private institutions, the Hinton State Laboratory Institute has the mission and authority to focus on public problems. .. It addresses small problems before they become big and big problems before they become catastrophes.”
Tom Garvey, MD Primary Care Physician
Peter Shult, PhD Wisconsin State
Laboratory of Hygiene
“The state PHL is the only lab
with the culture & the mentality of emergency
response.
We’re [the only] emergency
responders from the lab
perspective.”
Analysis, Answers, Action
• Disease Prevention, Control & Surveillance – Newborn Screening & Genetics
• Reference & Specialized Testing • Environmental Health & Protection • Food Safety • Emergency Preparedness • Integrated Data Management • Lab Improvement & Regulation • Policy Development • Research • Training & Education • Partnerships & Communication
Core Capabilities of a PHL
“if SCID is identified in the first months of life, such as through newborn screening, and before severe infections occur, most infants are successfully treated.”
Jennifer Garcia TX mom
Analysis, Answers, Action
Infectious Diseases
Analysis, Answers, Action
Food Safety
Are the new cases of food poisoning random
… or the beginning of an outbreak?
Analysis, Answers, Action
Providing Data to Inform Public Policy
Testing in MD Lab over Time
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
1898 1918 1938 1958 1978 2009
# o
f te
st
(in
mil
lio
ns
)
# of test (in millions)
And the Future?
PHL Interoperability Project
Analysis, Answers, Action
Dwindling Funding
Analysis, Answers, Action
State Senator Terry C. Burton, R- 31st District, MS
“I am very pleased to be a part of providing the Department with an updated lab that will benefit our health initiatives and enhance prevention programs for our people. Mississippians should be proud of this outstanding facility and the investment the legislature has made to public health.”
“Take interest, I implore you, in those sacred dwellings which are designated by the expressive term: laboratories. Demand that they be multiplied; that they be adorned. These are the temples of the future…temples of well being and happiness. There it is that humanity grows greater, stronger, better.”
- Louis Pasteur
Analysis, Answers, Action
Take-Away Messages • PHLs keep our population healthy and
productive.
• Everyday our lives are touched by a PHL.
• The mission of PHLs to protect the public makes them a vital part of government infrastructure.
• Their complex testing requires highly trained staff, sophisticated instrumentation and specially-designed facilities.
Analysis, Answers, Action
Connect
• http://blog.aphl.org/
• http://www.facebook.com/PublicHealthLabs
• http://twitter.com/aphlnews
• http://www.linkedin.com/company/54323
• http://www.youtube.com/user/aphlvideo
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