Dear Ally and Partner
As you know, 2020 has been a year like no other. The arrival of the coronavirus pandemic has changed nearly every aspect of life in our state, our nation, and the world. At the Massachusetts Public Health Association (MPHA), it has brought new urgency to our efforts to support local public health departments and boards of health, who are working on the front lines to respond to this crisis. It has also underscored the importance of our long-standing work to reduce health inequities. The pandemic’s disproportionate impact on Black, Latinx, and low-income communities has laid bare the fundamental role that structural racism and poverty play in perpetuating inequitable health outcomes. And it has deepened the public health community’s determination to partner with those most affected to develop sustainable solutions addressing these “root cause” issues.
In the following report, you will learn more about some of the ways that MPHA has been working to address the most critical issues associated with COVID-19, including:
- Launching the Task Force on Coronavirus & Equity to make rapid policy recommendations, amplify the voices of those most impacted, and advocate for a more equitable state response;
- Working with a broad coalition of partners to pass the nation’s strongest moratorium on evictions and foreclosures and advocating for additional measures to stop mass eviction and stabilize housing;
- Accelerating investments in our local public health system, including passing new legislation to provide training and grant funding, and advocating successfully for the first-ever state budget line item for local public health; and
- Speaking up forcefully against police brutality and in favor of decarceration, and actively supporting the passage of new legislation that now offers a critical step forward in the effort to fundamentally change policing practices.
While we have achieved some notable successes, much more remains to be done. Given the scale of devastation from COVID-19, we believe that we have a moral obligation to use this moment to achieve real and lasting change. We also recognize that public awareness of the importance of public health measures is at an all-time high, with more people seeing the value of public health than ever before.
As a result, MPHA is seizing this moment to launch several key initiatives, including:
- Building a broad coalition to pass the Statewide Accelerated Public Health for Every Community Act (SAPHE 2.0). This critical legislation will bring much-needed improvements to our state’s inefficient and inadequate local public health system by establishing minimum public health standards for every community, ensuring a qualified workforce, incentivizing municipalities to share services, creating a uniform data collection and reporting system, and dedicating state funding to support local boards of health and health departments;
- Advocating for COVID-19 vaccine equity by monitoring and ensuring equitable distribution of vaccines, including pressing for state engagement with hard hit communities to help earn trust and overcome vaccine hesitancy;
- Continuing to advocate for new housing stability measures, in order to avoid mass eviction and a resulting spike in both crowded living conditions and homelessness; and
- Supporting legislation to provide paid sick time to every worker in our Commonwealth.
We know we will face many challenges in the year ahead as we seek to realize these goals, and we are so grateful to have your support and partnership in the effort. Thank you for being part of the movement for greater equity and health.
With hope,
Carlene Pavlos Neil Maniar
Executive Director Board President