Pitt Celebrates National Public Health Week

By Allison Hydzik

This year’s National Public Health Week is April 1 to 7, and the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health has a wide variety of activities planned to celebrate.

This year’s theme is “Public Health is ROI: Save Lives, Save Money.” Throughout the U.S., activities are planned to highlight the value of disease prevention and the importance of well-supported public health systems in preventing disease, saving lives and curbing health care spending – a significant return on investment (ROI).

Here in Pittsburgh, Pitt Public Health will host three talks, as well as a blood drive, all of which are free and open to the public. They can be found by entering the school through Parran Hall at the corner of Fifth Avenue and DeSoto Street in Oakland.

• On Monday, April 1, former CBS “Survivor” contestant and Pittsburgh native Ian Rosenberger, founder of the nonprofit Team Tassy and for-profit Thread LLC, will give a talk titled “Eliminating Abject Poverty.” He’ll discuss his experience in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake and explain how Team Tassy came to be. Tassy Fils-Aime, the Team Tassy family liaison, will tell his personal story of how he met Rosenberger and how volunteers saved his life. The talk, sponsored by the Doctoral Student Organization, is from 4:30 to 5:20 p.m. in room A115, Crabtree Hall. It is open to the public. Advance registration is not required, but encouraged by emailing dsogsph@pitt.edu.
• On Tuesday, April 2, Pitt Public Health will host Nancy Kass, Sc.D., the Phoebe R. Berman Professor of Bioethics & Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. She’ll be giving a lecture titled “Obesity, Public Health, and Ethics: When Can We Interfere with Others for Their Own Good?” The lecture is from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p..m. in room A115, Crabtree Hall. It is free and open to the public. 
• From noon to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 3, Pitt Public Health will host a Central Blood Bank blood drive in room 109, Parran, sponsored by the Student Government Association. Every two seconds someone in the United States needs blood, and the winter season often leaves our region with a severe supply shortage. Walk-ins are welcome. 
• On Thursday, April 4, Roberta Patrizio, R.N., M.S.N., of the maternal and child health division of the Allegheny County Health Department will give a talk titled “Return on Investment: The Nurse Family Partnership Program.” She will discuss the ROI from evidence-based public health programs. The talk, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Public Health Training Center, is from noon to 1 p.m. in room 109, Parran. Advance registration is not required, except to view the live stream, available free to viewers who register at https://www.paphtc.pitt.edu/course.asp?m=f&cr=r&cid=115.

For a complete list of National Public Health Week activities at Pitt Public Health, visit www.publichealth.pitt.edu/nphw.