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Editor's Note: The National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) strives to provide up-to-date and relevant information on environmental health and to build partnerships in the profession. In pursuit of these goals, NEHA features this column on environmental health services from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in every issue of the Journal.
In these columns, authors from CDC's Water, Food, and Environmental Health Services Branch, as well as guest authors, will share tools, resources, and guidance for environmental health practitioners. The conclusions in these columns are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position of CDC.
CDR Luis Rodriguez is an environmental health specialist and Holly Wilson is a health communication specialist at the National Center for Environmental Health within CDC.
Environmental health programs routinely generate and collect data on inspection results and violations, facility closures, permits or licenses issued, investigation findings, public inquiries, and responses to complaints. High-quality environmental health services data are essential for timely identification and detection of environmental hazards, decision making, and evidence-based practices guidance. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2021a) has begun a public health Data Modernization Initiative to create connected, resilient, adaptable, and sustainable data systems that can help produce solutions before problems occur and limit negative effects caused by problems that do occur. The Environmental Public Health Tracking Program and the Water, Food, and Environmental Health Services Branch (WFEHSB) of CDC are working together to enhance and expand environmental health data modernization efforts across the country.
The Tracking Program and WFEHSB fund 11 projects from state and local tracking programs to modernize the collection, integration, dissemination, and application of timely, local environmental health data. The funded jurisdictions work on a range of projects to improve use and dissemination of data related to...