Washington, D.C., April 16, 2007 U.S. Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) joined together today to take a major step toward stemming the tide of America's eroding preventive medicine and public health workforce. Their landmark bill, the Preventive Medicine and Public Health Training Act, introduced in Congress today, will ensure the nation has a continuous supply of highly trained preventive medicine and public health physicians to lead the efforts to promote health and protect all Americans from today's ever growing public health threats.

This is an especially critical measure as baby boomers approach retirement in greater numbers than ever before, obesity plagues young and old alike, emerging and re-emerging infections become harder to treat, and Americans face imminent threats to their health and well-being from around the globe.

The bill will provide the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the necessary funds to train highly specialized public health physicians in the skills necessary to lead pandemic flu planning, bio-terrorism surveillance, chronic disease prevention, quality improvement and safety in the health care system, and health promotion at both the patient and population levels.

"Preventive medicine physicians the only U.S. physicians trained in both clinical medicine and public health are uniquely equipped to address the health needs of individuals and populations alike," said Dr. Michael Parkinson, president of the American College of Preventive Medicine. "We applaud this bi-partisan group of health care leaders for their foresight in protecting the nation's health."

Preventive medicine's mission is to protect, promote, and maintain health and well-being while preventing disease, disability, and premature death. This is becoming increasingly more difficult as the number of preventive medicine p
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Contact: Paul Bonta
pbonta@acpm.org
202-466-2044 x110
American College of Preventive Medicine
16-Apr-2007