National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program

In 2002, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) established its National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program (Tracking Program). The CDC was awarded funding which they then funded twenty state and local health departments and three schools of public health. Through these partnerships, the CDC wanted to build environmental public health capacity, increase collaboration between environmental and health agencies, identify and evaluate environmental and health data systems, build partnerships with nongovernmental organizations and communities, and develop model systems linking environmental and health data. In 2006, the Tracking Program moved from planning and capacity building to the implementation of the Tracking Network. Now sixteen state and one local health department are being funded to build and implement state-based Tracking Networks. The state and local data systems feed into the National Tracking Network.

In addition, the CDC funds four schools of public health to support state and local health departments to investigate possible links between health effects and the environment. The CDC has also awarded funding to professional national organizations to develop educational materials and tools to build environmental public health tracking capacity among state and local health officials and other partners. Finally, the CDC has also established a memorandum of understanding with NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and with the Environmental Protection Agency to promote collaboration on tracking-related initiatives.

California

Washington