HomeMy WebLinkAboutProclamation National Public Health Week 2021
PROCLAMATION
NATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH WEEK
April 5-11, 2021
WHEREAS, the week of April 5-11, 2021, is National Public Health Week, and the theme is “Building Bridges to
Better Health”; and
WHEREAS, since 1995, the American Public Health Association, through its sponsorship of National Public
Health Week, has educated the public, policymakers and public health professionals about issues
important to improving the public’s health; and
WHEREAS, U.S. life expectancy dropped from 2014 to 2017 in the longest sustained decline since the Great
Recession and only in 2018 began to increase again; further, studies consistently show the United
States has a lower life expectancy than comparable countries; and
WHEREAS, there is a significant difference in health status, such as obesity, poor mental health and drug use,
among people living in rural areas compared with people living in urban areas, and this variance
increases because rural residents are often more likely to face social determinants that negatively
impact health, such as poverty, transportation barriers and lack of economic opportunity; and
WHEREAS, public health professionals help communities prevent, prepare for, withstand and recover from the
impact of a full range of health threats, including disease outbreaks such as the COVID-19 pandemic,
measles, natural disasters and disasters caused by human activity; and
WHEREAS, public health action, together with scientific and technological advances, has played a major role in
reducing and, in some cases, eliminating the spread of infectious disease, and in establishing today’s
disease surveillance and control systems; and
WHEREAS, six in 10 U.S adults have a chronic disease and four in 10 have two or more; and health risks such as
alcoholism, obesity and tobacco use are the primary reason for 7 of every 10 deaths annually in the
United States; and
WHEREAS, the COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated and exacerbated racial inequities and a growing number of
local, state governments and public health leaders have declared racism a public health crisis.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, The Honorable James Hovland, Mayor of the City of Edina, by virtue of the authority vested in
me by the laws of Edina, Minnesota, do hereby proclaim the week of April 5-11, 2021, as National Public Health
Week 2021 in the City of Edina and call upon the people of Edina, Minnesota to observe this week by helping our
families, friends, neighbors, co-workers and leaders to better understand the value of public health and supporting
great opportunities to adopt preventive lifestyle habits in light of this year’s theme, “Building Bridges to Better
Health.”
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 6th day of April, two thousand twenty one.
Dated this 6th day of April, 2021.
_________________________________
James B. Hovland, Mayor