Advocating for Public Health

 TACCHO members inform local, state and national policy makers on the status of disease and health in the community, and programs and policies that will ensure a healthy population.

Advocacy
Priorities

Serve as the trusted voice for local public health departments

Build capacity for population health and local public health departments

Improve public health policy

TACCHO Public Health Priorities

 Tuberculosis Control & Prevention – Texas ranked #2 among U.S. states with the most TB in 2022. Texas experienced a 12% increase in TB cases from 2022–2023. The number of U.S. tuberculosis cases in 2023 were the highest in a decade and estimate as many as 13 million Americans have latent TB – CDC. 

Childhood Immunization Services – One-third of Texas children are not fully protected against seven vaccine preventable diseases and is ranked 43rd in the nation for the percentage of young children who have received timely recommended vaccinations - 2023. Childhood vaccinations across the U.S. fell for a second year in a row, leaving hundreds of thousands of kids vulnerable to otherwise preventable illnesses – 2023.

STI/HIV & Congenital Syphilis – Texas has the second-highest rate of new HIV infections in the country – 2023. Syphilis cases across Texas rose by 22%, from 2020 to 2022. The number of reported Congenital Syphilis cases in Texas increased by 313% between 2017 and 2021.  

  Funding for these Public Health Priorities has been stagnant for over a decade.