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April 2023: Direct From CDC/Environmental Health Services

April 2023 
Volume 85, Number 8

Editor's Note: The National Environmental Health Association strives to provide up-to-date and relevant information on environmental health and to build partnerships in the profession. In pursuit of these goals, we feature a column on environmental health services from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in every issue of the Journal of Environmental Health. 

In these columns, authors from the CDC Water, Food, and Environmental Health Services Branch, as well as guest authors, will share tools, resources, and guidance for environmental health practitioners. The conclusions of these columns are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position of CDC. 

Connecting Environmental Public Health With the Revised 10 Essential Public Health Services 

Ana Pomales, MSc, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
Adrienne Gill, MPH, Center for State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Support, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
Justin Andrew Gerding, MPH, DHA, REHS, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

The 10 Essential Public Health Services (10 Essential Services) provide a common understanding of what public health activities should occur in all communities. Since their release in the mid-1990s, the 10 Essential Services have helped drive public health practice in many ways, such as framing health department accreditation standards, being incorporated into state public health laws, and serving as the basis for discipline-specific modifications such as the 10 Essential Environmental Public Health Services (10 Essential EPH Services). While the 10 Essential EPH Services are closely aligned with the 10 Essential Services, a specific and direct application to environmental public health practice was interwoven into the framework. Since their release in 2007, the 10 Essential EPH Services have served as the foundation for promoting the role of environmental health in broader public health performance improvement initiatives. 

By 2020, the public health landscape had changed with an accompanying evolution of performance improvement initiatives. This evolution culminated in a collaborative and comprehensive revision of the 10 Essential Services. This month’s column explores how to connect environmental public health with the revised 10 Essential Services. 

Read the Column