About Massachusetts EPHT
Who are we?
Massachusetts Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) is a program within The Massachusetts Department of Public Health/Bureau of Climate and Environmental Health (MDPH/BCEH). Our Bureau is comprised of several other programs, including Community Health Assessment, Environmental Epidemiology, Childhood Lead Poisoning Protection, Environmental Toxicology, and Community Sanitation. The Bureau has been at the forefront of analyzing and presenting health information at the state and local level to determine if exposure to environmental contaminants may be contributing to higher rates of certain chronic diseases. BCEH's programs all contribute to a vibrant Tracking team that supports EPHT's purpose:
"Provide access to up-to-date health and environmental data and visualization tools for the communication and evaluation of environmental public health trends, and for the implementation of successful environmental public health actions."
What do we do?
This website provides an opportunity to begin to more closely examine the possible links between environmental exposure and chronic diseases statewide and locally.
Our program is constantly working behind the scenes on many projects that help forward the mission of EPHT. We are always looking for partnerships and new datasets to make available to support the work of our stakeholders, including local health agents, regional, state and local decision makers, community and health planners, advocacy organizations, academic institutions, among others.
We also participate nationally with other EPHT states to improve how we develop new data indicators, communicate data and trends, work on regional projects, and support public health actions.
Why are we doing this work?
Chronic diseases - such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes - are among the most prevalent, costly, and preventable of all health problems. More than 1.7 million people die of a chronic disease each year in the United States. Massachusetts has one of the highest rates of chronic illness, costing the state $34 billion a year. Environmental factors can play a role in the development of these types of chronic diseases. With the help of EPHT we can reduce the burden of these diseases by completing the following objectives:
- Use data to inform decision makers
- Use data to develop stronger, evidence-based programs, targeted interventions, and policies
- Use data to evaluate programs and progress
How can EPHT website and tools meet public health goals?
This website provides access to reports of environmental and health data in your community including tables and charts that can be downloaded and printed.
We also provide useful tools that combine our data and other data and interpret the information in meaningful ways, including links to resources on a wide range of environmentally-related topics.
History of EPHT
In 2000, the Pew Environmental Health Commission identified the lack of basic information needed to link environmental hazards and chronic diseases. In response, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded a pilot program for state and local health departments to integrate existing health and environmental information systems and build state-based tracking networks.
As part of this effort, the CDC has worked with state partners to develop a set of nationally consistent environmental and health measures. The MDPH The Massachusetts Environmental Public Health Tracking (MA EPHT) Program website was launched in 2008 and includes the national environmental and health measures and continues to grow each year to include additional health and environmental data for Massachusetts.
Privacy and Security
It is important to note that MDPH has safeguards in place to protect private health information. To protect privacy, data may only be presented to the public if confidentiality guidelines are followed through the grouping of data (i.e., data aggregation) and/or cell suppression due to a low number of cases.