Va ranks 4th per capita in CDC public health funds

BY TAMMIE SMITH
Media General News Service
Published: April 2, 2008

Virginia ranks fourth among states in public-health dollars received per resident from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a new report.

Trust for America’s Health, the same group that ranks states on how fat their residents are, has ranked states on public health funding.

Virginia, in fiscal 2007, received more than $348 million from the CDC for public-health programs. That comes to about $45.20 per resident.

There is not necessarily an expectation of better health in states that get more money.

“For some of the grants, the money is tied to worse health — in the cases of AIDS and TB — but for many of the programs, the funding is based on a competitive grant system,“ said Laura Segal, spokeswoman for Trust for America’s Health.

“But these grants are not tied to health status of states, in the cases of nutrition, physical activity, obesity, occupational safety and toxic substances. The CDC doesn’t get enough money from Congress to fund every state, so it’s based on the success of grant applications to direct limited funds.“

Compared with other states, Virginia ranks in the bottom half in some public health areas. The percentage of adults who engage in regular physical activity and rates of current smokers are areas where the state scores poorly.

According to the report, Virginia public-health spending in fiscal 2007 for some key areas included:

$4.4 million for cancer programs;

$40 million for immunization programs; and

$18 million for emergency preparedness and response.

According to the report, Midwest states receive less funding per person from the CDC, and states in the South receive the most funding per person.

The states getting the most CDC dollars per capita are Alaska, Georgia and Maryland. Getting the fewest dollars per capita are Kansas, Indiana and Florida.

“One of the things we call for in the report’s recommendations is more funding overall, since the amounts of money given to states is unlikely to be able to have a huge impact in turning around such big health problems as obesity [and] asthma,“ Segal said.

“But we also call for more of a logical connection between how things are funded and the status of health problems.“

Tammie Smith is a staff writer for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.