The New Hampshire Public Health Association (NHPHA) recognizes the need for a strong local, regional and statewide public health infrastructure to promote and sustain increases in the quality and span of healthy life. NHPHA supports a strong public health infrastructure to promote and protect physical, mental and environmental health; prevent disease, injury and disability; reduce health disparities; and prepare for and respond to public health emergencies.
Components of a strong public health infrastructure include:

• Increased access to core public health services; 
• Provision of adequate funding to carry out core public health services; 
• Collaborative involvement of broad public health interests in a community, e.g. government, health care providers, human service agencies, schools, businesses, faith communities and the media to address complex public health issues;
• Regular collection, analysis, evaluation and dissemination of data about the public health risks and assets in a community or region;
• Definition of priorities and development of effective policies and strategies to enable public health goals to be met;
• Implementation of programs and interventions that sustain and improve community health which are evidence-based; and
• Workforce development of public health professionals through degree, certification and continuing education programs.

Resources:

Bekemeier, Betty, Catherine M. Riley, and Bobbie Berkowitz.  “Leveraging Finances for Public Health System Improvement:  Results from the Turning Point initiative,” Journal of Public Health Management and Practice 13:6 (November-December 2007) 642-648.

Cioffi, J.P., M.Y.  Lichtveld and H. Tilson.  “A Research Agenda for Public Health Workforce Development,” Journal of Public Health Management and Practice 10:3 (May-June 2004) 186-192.

National Association of County and City Health Officials. “Local Public Health Agency Infrastructure:  A Chartbook,” (October 2001). http://archive.naccho..../chartbook.html

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Assessment of the epidemiologic capacity in state and territorial health departments--United States, 2001,”Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 52:43 (October 31, 2003) 1049-51.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Public Health Performance Standards Program. “The Essential Public Health Services.”
http://www.cdc.gov/od/...lPHServices.htm

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Advisory Committee on Rural Health, “Rural Public Health: Issues and Considerations.  A Report to the Secretary,” (February 2000) ftp://ftp.hrsa.gov/ruralhealth/publichealth.pdf