About NHPHA Legislative & Advocacy Work

Laws, regulations, and public policy can have a significant effect on public health. The New Hampshire Public Health Association (NHPHA) utilizes education and advocacy to help enact effective policies that support both population-based and individual health throughout our state and communities. 

The NHPHA tracks public health legislative bills and looks at policy matters in terms of their potential impact on the public's health in New Hampshire. NHPHA follows legislative bills that align with its legislative priorities. NHPHA represents the collective membership's legislative priorities and interests, which are data collected annually through its Annual Membership Needs Assessment.

​NHPHA advocacy work ranges from action alerts to legislative updates, giving testimonies, and lobbying on behalf of the public health community. Our goal is to increase awareness within our membership, influence relevant regulations and legislation, and support public health partners who share our mission of improving the public's health in New Hampshire.

2024 Legislative & Advocacy Agenda

Since 1992, the New Hampshire Public Health Association has been a trusted public health voice that empowers our members, partners, and Granite Staters through science-based policy and programs to achieve a healthier, more equitable, and just New Hampshire. This year, our legislative priorities reflect our public health values with the commitment to advancing health equity, social justice, diversity, and inclusion to allow people to achieve their full health potential. 

The 2024 Legislative Agenda of the New Hampshire Public Health Association is shaped by the valuable insights gathered from our members through the Annual Needs Assessment Survey. This comprehensive assessment guides our legislative, advocacy, and professional development efforts, ensuring they are aligned with the needs and priorities of our public health membership.

In this session, we aim to advocate for science-based, evidence-supported public health policies and decision-making to improve the public's health and advance health equity in New Hampshire.

2024 Legislative and Advocacy Priorities

​Protect and Expand Public Health and Health Care Accessibility, Affordability, Infrastructure, and Funding
NHPHA will advocate for protecting and increasing access to public health prevention and healthcare services and programs, including maternal and child health, reproductive health, food security, and climate and health. NHPHA will continue to advocate for public health workers and support measures and policies that invest in the public health workforce.

Promote Health Equity and Social Justice
NHPHA will advocate for policies and practices that promote health equity and social justice and ensure individuals' inclusion, rights, and access to equitable and equal opportunities, services, and programs in New Hampshire.​

Increase Immunization Rates, Accessibility, and Equal Distribution
​NHPHA will raise an intentionally independent and unbiased voice to advocate for equitable access to immunization; and provide clear and accurate information to build awareness and acceptance of the value of immunization across the lifespan.

Position Statements

Equity and Health Outcomes
Food Access and Public Health
This policy statement outlines the New Hampshire Public Health Association’s (NHPHA) support for policies, programs, and practices that enhance food security among Granite State residents. The NHPHA recognizes that regular access to affordable, nutritious food is essential to promote the public’s health and ensure that New Hampshire households are food secure. Download the position statement.
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​Public Health and Social Justice
The core mission of public health is to improve the health of all populations. A social justice approach to public health challenges the public health community to acknowledge and confront underlying root causes, and recognize that racism, socioeconomic inequality, gender discrimination, ableism, and all other forms of discrimination have negative consequences on health. According to a large body of public health literature, in order to improve the health of a population the root causes need to be addressed. Download the position statement.
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Child Health and Safety
The New Hampshire Public Health Association (NHPHA) recognizes the critical importance of healthy New Hampshire children. Good health is essential to children’s academic achievement, successful transition to adulthood, and lifelong contributions to society. Download the position statement.
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​Health Equity for People with Disabilities
The New Hampshire Public Health Association (NHPHA) recognizes that all New Hampshire (NH) residents, including people with disabilities, should have the opportunity to engage in activities that add to their growth, development, fulfillment, and community contribution. Download the position statement.
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​NH's Aging Population and Public Health
The New Hampshire Public Health Association (NHPHA) recognizes that the population of New Hampshire is aging and that in the next few decades we will have one of the highest proportions of older residents in the nation. Download the position statement.
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Assuring the Quality and Accessibility of Health Services
Access to Appropriate Health Care and Social Services
The New Hampshire Public Health Association (NHPHA) supports universal access to high quality evidence based, integrated health care at a level of cost that does not create barriers to care. Download the position statement.
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Integrated Health Care
The New Hampshire Public Health Association (NHPHA) believes that optimal health requires an effective collaboration among public, non-profit and private health service providers and organizations, encompassing a health promotion approach that integrates, medical, behavioral and mental health care. Download the position statement.
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Mental Health
The New Hampshire Public Health Association (NHPHA) holds that mental health is an essential component to overall health and reaffirms findings that a distinction between health of mind and body is not supported by scientific evidence. Download the position statement.
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Oral Health
The New Hampshire Public Health Association (NHPHA) recognizes that oral health is linked with overall health. Dental caries, an easily-transferable bacterial infection of tooth enamel, affects individuals throughout the lifespan. Download the position statement.
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Sexual and Reproductive Health​
Affordable and accessible sexual and reproductive health care and education are essential to the overall health and wellness of New Hampshire people and families. These services prevent unintended pregnancies, reduce the incidence and impact of preterm and low birth weight births, and reduce maternal mortality. Download the position statement.
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Public Health Infrastructure
Public Health Infrastructure​​
The New Hampshire Public Health Association (NHPHA) recognizes that the purpose of public health is to prevent disease, injury and disability, promote health and wellbeing and protect the community. It is a shared responsibility among public, private and volunteer entities in NH and is best achieved through strong integration at state, regional and local levels. Download the position statement.
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​Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery
​The New Hampshire Public Health Association (NHPHA) recognizes the key role public health plays in emergency preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery. Public health emergencies may be natural, accidental, or intentional, and require collective action to prevent, respond to, and recover from. Download the position statement.
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​Disease Management
The New Hampshire Public Health Association (NHPHA) recognizes that disease management systems, when properly developed, have the potential to improve treatment outcomes and promote cost effective delivery of care. Download the position statement.
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​Infectious Diseases
The New Hampshire Public Health Association (NHPHA) recognizes that infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV, influenza, and chicken pox continue to threaten the health of the public. The NHPHA recognizes that cooperation and coordination among a wide range of public and private organizations is needed to effectively prevent, detect and respond to emerging and re-emerging infections. Download the position statement.
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​Monitoring Health Status
The New Hampshire Public Health Association (NHPHA) acknowledges the essential role of public health in measuring, analyzing and reporting on the health status of the people of NH to inform programs and public policy development. Download the position statement.
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​Health Education and Promotion
The New Hampshire Public Health Association (NHPHA) holds that good health requires active participation in health education and promotion programs by individuals, organizations and communities. Health education involves opportunities for learning involving communication designed to improve health literacy, including improving knowledge, and developing life skills which are conducive to individual and community health. Download the position statement.
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Healthy Environments – Natural, Built, and Social
Protecting against Environmental Hazards: Tobacco Use and Secondhand Smoke Exposure
The New Hampshire Public Health Association (NHPHA) recognizes that tobacco use via smoking, smokeless tobacco, or electronic nicotine devices (ENDs) and exposure to secondhand smoke, including marijuana is harmful to the public’s health. Download the position statement.
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Protecting against Environmental Hazards: Food System and Public Health
The New Hampshire Public Health Association (NHPHA) recognizes that a healthy, sustainable and equitable food system is essential to promote the public’s health and protect the population from food system-related harms. Download the position statement.
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Protecting against Environmental Hazards: Indoor and Outdoor Built Environment
The Indoor and Outdoor built environment has a major impact on the health of individuals and populations. The NH PHA recognizes that by supporting initiatives that improve the quality of our built environment, we can help people maintain good health and prevent disease. Download the position statement.
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Protecting against Environmental Hazards: Occupational Health
Work-related injuries and illnesses are preventable, and control of occupational hazards is the most effective means of prevention. The New Hampshire Public Health Association (NHPHA) recognizes that all New Hampshire workers have the right to safe and healthful working conditions.  Download the position statement.

Protecting against Environmental Hazards: Air, Water, and Land
The New Hampshire Public Health Association (NHPHA) recognizes that clean air, water and land are essential to the public’s health, and that hazardous substances or harmful conditions in our air, water, and land negatively impact individuals, animals, and ecological systems. Download the position statement.
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​Protecting against Environmental Hazards: Public Health and Climate Change
The New Hampshire Public Health Association (NHPHA) recognizes the inter-dependent relationship between greenhouse gas emissions, climate change, and public health. Download the position statement.
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Preventing Injuries: Unintentional Injury
The New Hampshire Public Health Association (NHPHA) supports statewide and community-based efforts to reduce the risk and incidence of unintentional Injury. Download the position statement.
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Preventing Injuries: Violence
The New Hampshire Public Health Association (NHPHA) recognizes that violent behaviors included the full continuum: bullying, assault, domestic violence, child and elder abuse, sexual assault and suicide and can result in deaths as well as in long term physical and psychological disability. Download the position statement.
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​Preventing Injuries: Gun Violence Prevention
The New Hampshire Public Health Association recognizes that guns are part of American culture and believes that the pursuit of gun safety is substantially different from the pursuit of gun control. Improving gun safety, in contrast to traditional gun control, reflects a focused, multidisciplinary effort to limit violence and harm subsequent to inappropriate use of a prevalent technology. Download the position statement.
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Substance Misuse – Improving Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery
​Substance Misuse – Improving Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery: Substance Use Disorders and Substance Misuse
The New Hampshire Public Health Association (NHPHA) recognizes that substance use disorders are a chronic brain disease, and that substance misuse is a problem that negatively impacts individuals, families, and communities throughout New Hampshire. Download the position statement.
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Substance Misuse – Improving Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery: Cannabis
The New Hampshire Public Health Association recognizes that legalization of cannabis by states is a relatively new phenomenon. As a result, there is limited research on the public health impact of legalization. Download the position statement.
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Publications

Public health is vital to all of us all of the time

The phrase “public health” is familiar enough. We hear it on the news, if nowhere else. It came up often when COVID-19 swept across the country. People were getting sick, and we had to know how the disease spread. Public health professionals went to work and helped pull us out of that crisis. But when it comes to what public health is, and how it helps us and our families, quite a few people are in the dark.
February, 9, 2024
There is one essential thing everyone in the Granite State can do to protect their health and the health of their loved ones. This measure is easy to access and highly effective. It is vaccination, and it has the potential to save someone’s life — if not your own, then that of someone close to you. Doing your part to help secure the health of those around you is a simple matter of a visit to the pharmacy.

Beat the Heat This Summer
August 18, 2023
WHAT’S BETTER than a beautiful summer day in New Hampshire? The season can be a joyful break from dark days and harsh winters, a time to enjoy our state’s stunning landscapes and relax with family and friends. Unfortunately, with summer sun comes an under-discussed public health threat: heat-related illness.
This summer has been a hot one already, and the record-breaking temperatures we saw in June are expected to continue through July and August. Thousands of Granite Staters are at increased risk of heat exhaustion, heatstroke, dehydration, sunburn, and other health concerns. Luckily, there are steps we can take to look out for each other and stay safe on hot days. That’s why The New Hampshire Public Health Association (NHPHA) just launched its Beat the Heat NH campaign at www.nhpha.org/beattheheatnh. Together, Granite Staters can combat the risks of heat-related illness....
On the docket this legislative session is a bill meant to secure the privacy of anyone who comes to the Granite State from elsewhere in the US seeking gender-affirming healthcare or gender-affirming mental healthcare. This healthcare includes medical interventions meant to align a patient’s appearance or physical body with their gender identity; measures taken to alleviate symptoms of distress due to gender dysphoria; and treatments that suppress the development of endogenous secondary sex characteristics. If a patient comes from out of state to New Hampshire, to avoid civil actions initiated in another state, this legislation will guarantee their privacy.....
State legislators will soon vote on HB 557, which removes the authority of the DHHS Commissioner to determine immunization requirements for school and childcare attendance. In other words, the body that currently decides what new vaccines will be required in schools and childcare will no longer have that authority. The bill goes further, to mandate that while the health department will continue to require diphtheria, mumps, pertussis, poliomyelitis, rubella, rubeola, and tetanus vaccinations, after June of 2026, it will no longer require public school students to be protected from Hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib), and varicella, a.k.a. chickenpox....