On May 2 and 3, Turning Data into Action (TDA), a CDC REACH CORE project at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, held its regional convening, Paying the Price with Our Health: A Community Strategy Conference on Clean Air and Better Health, at The California Endowment Los Angeles Conference Center. The event brought together over 100 people including health professionals, educators, community service providers, residents and other community stakeholders to discuss recommendations for a Community Action Plan for systems and policy changes to address health inequities related to a disproportionate exposure to air pollution in Boyle Heights and Long Beach.
“What you see (at the Paying the Price with Our Health convening) is a great cross section of Angelinos that you hardly ever see and that is really what it is going to take to address a complex issue like air pollution,” says Paul Simon, MD, MPH, Director, of the Division of Chronic Disease and Injury prevention with the Los Angeles County Public Health Department who presented at the event. “Action needs to occur at multiple levels; you need action at the local level but also at the state and federal levels.”
Other presenters included Wayne E. Cascio, MD, FACC, FAHA, Director, Environmental Public Health Division of the U.S. EPA who provided compelling research linking cardiovascular disease and air pollution. Additionally we heard from Marta Cota, Co-Founder of the Long Beach Alliance for Children with Asthma, who shared her experience having participated in numerous campaigns to improve air quality at the ports.
Visit our Flicker page to view photos taken at the event.
Learn more about Turning Data Into Action, a CDC REACH CORE project (a project of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research’s Health DATA Program).
Tags: boyle heights, long beach, policy changes
