APHA Annual Meeting Health Activist Dinner
Background
The Health Activist Dinner traces its roots to the Physicians Forum established in the 1940s.The Physicians Forum had a long history of progressive positions and activities. It was the first physicians' organization to propose a national comprehensive healthcare system for the United States that would be government-sponsored and government-guaranteed.The Physicians Forum was continuously involved in the fight for full rights for African-American physicians and other minority health workers. In the 1950s and early 1960s, it advocated for an end to the discrimination practiced by the American Medical Association and other healthcare institutions. Its leaders were instrumental in establishing the MedicalCommittee for Human Rights and Physicians for Social Responsibility.
In 1984, the Physicians Forum developed a national award (The Paul Cornely Award) and an international award (The Edward Barsky Award) presented to individuals embodying the Forum's ideals. In 2002, it established the Paul Wellstone Award for a legislator who embodied Senator Wellstone's ideals and, arranged for the American Medical Student Association to present its annual Outstanding Student Activist Award. During the 1990s, The Physicians Forum evolved into what is now the Health Activist Dinner, engaging a broader spectrum of public health and healthcare workers and students to meet, share information, and provide mutual support with the goal of promoting social justice.
We will post more information about this year's Health Activist Dinner when it becomes available in July.
You can learn more by visiting http://www.healthactivistdinner.org/
Announcements
In light of the current public health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the APHA 2020 Annual Meeting and Expo, scheduled for Oct. 24-28 in San Francisco, will be an all-virtual event.
Registration will open on July 7.
The virtual meeting will take place the same days as originally scheduled, Oct. 24-28.
The Peace Caucus was founded in 1985 to educate and engage the influential voice of public health professionals in efforts to promote peace. Through outreach and educational activities, we strive to illuminate that peace and social justice are key determinants of the health of individuals and communities across the globe. We are excited to announce our sessions that advance the uptake of APHA’s 2009 policy “The Role of Public Health Practitioners, Academics, and Advocates in Relation to Armed Conflict and War" within and beyond APHA and build on the 2020 APHA Conference theme "Creating the Healthiest Nation: Preventing Violence."
Sidel Levy Award for Peace
The Victor Sidel and Barry Levy Award for Peace is awarded to an APHA member who has made outstanding contributions to preventing war and promote international peace. The award draws attention to the profound health consequences of war and what public health workers can do to help prevent war and promote international peace.The award was endowed by two past presidents of APHA, Victor W. Sidel, MD, and Barry S. Levy, MD, MPH, who have edited books, written papers and spoken widely on war and public health.For more information and a list of past recipients of the award please go to: https://www.apha.org/about-apha/apha-awards/sidel-levy-award-for-peace