Implementing the environmental public health tracking network: accomplishments, challenges, and directions

An effective environmental public health surveillance system utilizes health hazard, exposure, and health outcome data to provide public health professionals a picture of the relationship between the environment and health. The environmental monitoring and the health and hazard exposure surveillance systems that currently exist are generally not compatible with one another. There exists a lack of common standards in how data are collected, including where data are collected, the frequency of collection, the characteristics collected, and data formats. Among other uses, the Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) Network will address weaknesses and gaps associated with utilizing and linking these types of data. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's EPHT Program has engaged several interdisciplinary partners to help in developing requirements and to identify functionalities to be included in the network. In working toward implementation, EPHT specialists and the partners have begun to develop several major components and address several challenges.