Sign the petition to let state leaders know that it is time to fully invest in Georgia's public health infrastructure! Add your name to ensure that public health workers and agencies have the resources they need to bring community members together to develop local solutions for local health issues, prepare for public health emergencies (like hurricanes or pandemics), and provide free or low-cost health services in schools, homes, and other community spaces.  

Our state's public health agencies and workers are key to the health and well-being of Georgians. Despite living in a state that is recognized as a global hub of health care innovation, employment, and investment, many Georgians continue to experience severe health inequities. Rural Georgians increasingly face difficulties accessing basic health services. Georgians of color get sicker than white Georgians often because of the ways our communities and laws are set up. For example, the Black infant mortality rate in Georgia is over twice the rate of white infants.

Georgians experience some of the worst health outcomes in the nation because state and local public health systems are not adequately equipped to support our health and well-being. Our public health agencies have scraped by without enough funding even as demand grows for low-cost health care, hurricane or other disaster response, and programs that help Georgia families build healthy living skills (like healthy eating or safe sex). 

To ensure a healthy future for all Georgians, our state must invest in public health, boost the workforce, and restore trust in public health leaders. With investments in key areas, our state leaders could take public health in Georgia to the next level:

1. Expand successful pilot programs. After a three-year pilot program that provided HIV prevention medication (called PrEP) to people in higher risk counties due to high rates of opioid use, state leaders have continued its funding in four public health districts. The program's continuation is positive and an expansion of the program would do even more to reduce the state's high HIV rates. Expansions of other promising or evidence-based initiatives would help Georgia effectively address other chronic diseases like diabetes.

2. Increasing services for medically underserved communities. Georgia consistently ranks among the top ten states with the highest maternal mortality rate. Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women. Evidence-based services to eliminate these disparities include home visiting programs, which provide in-home services to parents and families in fewer than half of Georgia's 159 counties. Extending this program to additional high need counties would support healthy parenting and promote physical health and early brain development in children with the greatest needs. 

3. Hire more public health workers and pay them fairly. Georgia's public health workers are paid relatively low wages, regularly take on additional work when high staff turnover leaves positions at their agencies empty. This hampers Georgia's ability to monitor and protect us from emerging diseases or partner with community members to create local solutions to health problems. The state's 2022 pay increase ($5000) for public health workers marked progress but their pay still lags behind public health workers in the private sector and other states. Increasing pay to competitive levels and adding additional positions will ensure local and state public health agencies are adequately staffed.

4. Modernizing public health data systems. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed gaps in the data systems that support and inform our public health system. Two investments are already helping to modernize and expand Georgia's data systems ($1.5 million in state funding in 2021 to update the Georgia Immunization Registry (GRITS) and grant funding from the CDC in 2022), but these are not sufficient on their own. Adaptable and secure data systems that are regularly updated and modernized are imperative to detect new health threats, better identify at-risk groups in Georgia, and respond quickly with tailored solutions.

Sign the petition to show your appreciation for the steps our state leaders have already taken and encourage them to do even more to boost public health in Georgia. By adding your name, you will help ensure our state is prepared to meet our most pressing public health needs.