Plan4Health connects communities across the country, funding work at the intersection of planning and public health. Anchored by members of the American Planning Association (APA) and the American Public Health Association (APHA), Plan4Health supports creative partnerships to build sustainable, cross-sector coalitions.
Oral Health Project:
Healthy Teeth Amendment Moves to Implementation
The 2015-16 New York State Budget enacted the
Healthy Teeth Amendment, which includes two significant provisions to protect the oral health of New Yorkers.
The first provision amends the NYS Public Health Law so that communities considering halting community water fluoridation will need to provide public notice and alert the New York State
Department of Health.
Water fluoridation decisions in New York State will continue to
reside with local water districts, as per current policy.
The second provision establishes a $5 million Oral Health Fund to provide grants to communities to purchase, repair or upgrade fluoridation equipment.
Community water fluoridation (CWF) is the single most effective and least expensive way to reduce decay for both children and adults.
CWF has been shown to reduce tooth decay by about 25% over a person’s lifetime and the cost over that time is less than the price of one dental filling.
Communities with fluoridated water have better oral health and spend fewer Medicaid dollars on oral health disease. A New
York State study found that Medicaid
-enrolled children in counties where fluoridated water was less accessible required 33% more fillings, root canals and tooth extractions than those in counties where more fluoridated water was available.
The Healthy Teeth Amendmentis important for several reasons.
First, the public deserves transparency; a community decision to halt water fluoridation impacts residents’ access to a preventive dental health benefit.
If fluoridation within a community is stopped, residents and the clinicians who care for them need time to determine alternative ways of protecting dental health, especially for children, in the form of fluoride supplements or other preventive measures.
Second, communities face costs to purchase, upgrade and
maintain equipment for local water systems. By offering grants, this amendment can reduce the need for communities to incur new expenses while continuing to offer a vital public health
benefit.
Schuyler Center commends the Governor and the Legislature for recognizing the importance of the Healthy Teeth Amendment’s
provisions. We look forward to continuing to partner with the State to ensure the successful implementation of the provisions.
For our oral health briefs and other resources, visit:
New York State PHA
Public Health Funding Highlights in Fiscal Year 2015-2016 New York State Budget
With the final adoption of the 2015-2016 New York State budget, we are pleased to announce that consolidation of public health funding has been rejected. Many public health programs have received level funding in lieu of the original proposed consolidation and a 15% cut. A few notable highlights of the 2015-2016 budget include:
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Funding for tobacco control programming will remain level at $39 million.
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The New York State Cancer Services Program will once again receive $25,281,000 - the same level of funding it currently receives. Had the original proposed consolidation and 15% cut gone through, more than 16,000 fewer cancer screenings would have taken place in New York State in the next year.
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The Healthy Teeth Amendment was included in the budget. This provision requires localities seeking to discontinue a community water fluoridation program to issue a public notice, including a justification, an identification of the fluoridation alternatives available, and a summary of the locality's consultations on the subject with health professionals and the New York State Department of Health. The locality must also provide the Department of Health at least 90 days advance notice, which must include the material in the public notice, the date of such discontinuance, and any material required by the State Sanitary Code.
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The budget also includes a $5 million Oral Health Fund that will provide grants to localities for the purchase, repair or upgrade of fluoridation equipment.
NYSPHA extends a thank you to our members, supporters, community allies and partners for a hard-fought win. These and other public health advocacy victories would not have come to fruition had it not been for our collective efforts - from NYSPHA members banding together for a day of advocacy in meeting with our lawmakers, to all of your visits with lawmakers at the Capitol and in your communities, your phone calls, emails and stories. While we bask in the glory of all public health professionals in New York State, we must also keep the upward momentum going strong - explore the possibility of consulting with our Policy and Advocacy Committee to learn how NYSPHA can support public health legislation in your community.
What is the Center for Fluoride Research Analysis?
The Center for Fluoride Research Analysis is an educational entity dedicated to communicating the quality of fluoride-related studies and is endorsed by the American Association of Public Health Dentistry. The primary goal of the Center is to provide practitioners, policy-makers, and all decision makers in the community with the best information available regarding the use of fluoride. To achieve this goal, the Center involves graduate students and an expert committee of mentors with extensive research publication records to conduct a review of the quality of research publications and other reports.
The Center and FluorideScience.org was originally made possible by Grant Number T12HP19335 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and now managed by the New York State Oral Health Center of Excellence.
Its contents are solely the responsibility of the Center for Fluoride Research Analysis and do not necessarily represent the official views of HRSA.
Editorial Board Members
Gustavo Cruz, DMD, MPH
Independent Oral Health Policy Consultant,
Senior Advisor, Health Equity Initiative &
Adjunct Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Health Promotion
New York University College of Dentistry
Chuck Haynie, MD
Hood River, OR
Jayanth Kumar, DDS, MPH
State Dental Director
California Department of Public Health
Charlotte Lewis, MD, MPH
Associate Professor
Department of Pediatrics
University of Washington
William Maas, DDS, MPH
Consultant
Pew Children’s Dental Campaign
Mark Moss, DDS, PhD (Editor)
Dental Director
Wisconsin Department of Health Services
R. Gary Rozier, DDS, MPH
Research Professor
Department of Health Policy and Management
UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
Steven Slott, DDS
Burlington, NC
J. Timothy Wright, DDS, MS
Distinguished Professor
Department of Pediatric Dentistry
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
CDH Project Advisory Committee
Alyssa Ricketts, JD, Chairperson
Wisconsin Oral Health Coalition; Children’s Health Alliance of Wisconsin
William Bailey, DDS, MPH
University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine
Emily Firman, MPH, LICSW
Washington Dental Service Foundation
Matt Jacob, BA
Children's Dental Health Project
Charlotte Lewis, MD, MPH, FAAP
University of Washington
Jane McGinley, RDH, MBA
American Dental Association
LaQuia Vinson, DDS, MPH
National Dental Association; Indiana University School of Dentistry
Shannon Weatherly
America’s Toothfairy: National Children’s Oral Health Foundation
NYSPHA Partners with Live Well Kingston Coalition on Plan4Health Project
March 30, 2015
NYSPHA Partners with American Public Health Association
Plan4Health is a 15-month program that strengthens the connection between planning and public health. Seventy-five percent of the program’s funding supports local and state coalitions working to advance public health through better planning and partnerships. The program is implemented in partnership with the American Public Health Association(APHA) and represents a major new collaboration between planners and public health professionals. Funding for Plan4Health was provided through a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“This is an exciting new opportunity to improve the health of our communities through diverse partnerships,” said Anna Ricklin, AICP, manager of APA’s Planning and Community Health Center. “Collaboration is key if we want to continue to create communities of lasting value that are equitable and healthy for all residents.”
“We are proud to partner with the NYS Public Health Association, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County and HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley to promote active living in Kingston, NY,” said James Rausse, AICP, President of the APA- NY Metro Chapter. “Targeted education and outreach are crucial in improving Kingston’s access to fresh food and reducing its chronic disease and obesity rates. Strong partnerships like this will accomplish these goals.”
NYSPHA Partners with the American Planning Association