Public Health: Point/Counterpoint

Debating Pressing Public Health Issues of our Time

In2013-2014 the Penn Center for Public Health Initiatives will present a seminar series entitled Public Health Point/Counterpoint. Each event within the series will discuss a key public health issue or approach in a debate format, allowing for a variety of opinions and viewpoints to be represented.  Specific themes to be covered include:

• The Oregon Health Insurance Experiment: Lessons learned for the Affordable Care Act? Does the Oregon Health Insurance Experiment give us insight into if expanded health insurance access in the US will make a difference to health outcomes? If so, what do the data tell us?
• Can Taxes improve Health?: Do public policy actions such as a soda tax, cigarette tax or liquor tax improve the public's health? If so how? And at what cost?
• What is the best way to Incentivize Health?: Are monetary incentives for behavior change the best way forward to encourage positive health behaviors? Are these methods sustainable and worthy of a long-term investment? Or should we be focused on other public health approaches instead?
• What is the Bottom Line in Public Health?: What should drive public health investment and practice? Should we be focused on long-term health outcomes alone or should we be driven to take action because all people simply deserve access to certain services, commodities and environments?
• The Future of Global HIV Policy: Current responses to the revolution in HIV Treatment. Is treatment as prevention the best approach? Or should we be investing more funding it different approaches?
• Public Health by Design: Can we achieve positive public health outcomes through focusing on individual behavior or do we need to take a design approach to making healthy behaviors easier to achieve?

Other two topics to consider

• Gun Control and Health: What approaches have the best change of working in the US?
• Is it ethical to not hire smokers?

More information coming soon!