More than 150 of Missouri’s public health practitioners gathered in Columbia for the past three days at the 2012 Missouri Public Health Conference at the Stoney Creek Inn.
Last year, Missouri dropped to 40th nationwide in terms of health rankings.
To combat that and several other dismal health outcomes, the focus of this year’s conference addressed solutions through public awareness.
Despite Missouri’s low health rankings, state health officials are optimistic about the future.
Kansas City Health Department spokesman Bert Malone said, “The pressures on the State of Missouri are indeed great. We need to make our case that investing in health and in public health will prevent disease in the long run and save the State money in the long term.”
Malone said this year’s Missouri Public Health Conference focused on issues facing Americans at the national, state and local levels.
Participants plan to ask Missouri lawmakers for more state funding for public health in the upcoming legislative session that begins in January.
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