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Building New York State Centers of Excellence in Children's Environmental Health: A Replicable Model in a Time of
Maida Galvez1, Geoffrey Collins1, Robert W Amler1
1Maida Galvez, Geoffrey Collins, Joel Forman, Perry Sheffield, Lauren Zajac, and Philip J. Landrigan are with the Department of Pediatrics and the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY. Robert W. Amler and Allen Dozor are with the Department of Pediatrics and the School of Health Science & Practice, New York Medical College, Valhalla. Evonne Kaplan-Liss is with the Texas Christian University and University of North Texas Health Science Center School of Medicine, Fort Worth. Danielle Laraque-Arena is with the Department of Pediatrics, Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY. Ruth Lawrence and Richard Miller are with the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY. Karen Miller is with the Huntington Breast Cancer Action Coalition, Huntington, NY.
Abstract:
Public health programs may be seriously affected in periods of federal retrenchment. During these times, state-based strategies provide an alternate pathway for advancing public health.A 12-year campaign to secure state support for a network of Centers of Excellence in Children's Environmental Health (CEH) promoting health of children across New York State is described. It was driven by rising rates of asthma, birth defects, developmental disorders, and other noncommunicable diseases in children; growing evidence associating hazardous environmental exposures with these conditions; and recognition that federal resources in CEH are insufficient.Critical campaign elements were (1) formation of a statewide coalition of academic health centers, health care providers, public health officials, community advocates, and other stakeholders; (2) bipartisan collaborations with legislative champions and government leaders; (3) assessment of the burden of developmental disorders and noncommunicable diseases associated with environmental exposures among children; (4) maps documenting the presence of environmental hazards in every county statewide; (5) iterative charting of a changing political landscape; and (6) persistence. The 2017 award of a 5-year, $10 million contract to establish Centers of Excellence in CEH demonstrates the value of this statewide strategy.