Boston, Mass., November 5, 2006 --
Aaron B. Katz, BS, CPH, received the 2006 American Public Health Association (APHA) Award for Excellence today in honor of his contributions to higher education in public health and health policy and work with
Seattle’s community organizations and state government.
Katz received the award, which recognizes individuals who have made exceptionally meritorious contributions to the improvement of the health of people and honors creative and innovative work, here at the 134 th APHA Annual Meeting & Exposition.
Katz spent the first 30 years of his career focused on state environmental policy and state health policy. Among the highlights of his achievements during that time, he worked to reduce the potential damage from a proposed new coal-fired power plant in Ontario, Canada, on the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northern Minnesota. He helped draft the civil rights and public health policies for Washington’s 1988 Omnibus AIDS Act, and for 15 years he directed the health policy program at the University of Washington School of Public Health.
Katz was the primary advisor on health policy to the Washington Health Care Commission, a group that proposed comprehensive health system reforms, which incorporated public health as a major pillar. In 1986, he established the annual Washington Health Legislative Conference, the state’s premier gathering of professionals, activists, state and local officials and health sector organizations to discuss health policy issues.
Since 2000, Katz has become more involved with international health issues, particularly reproductive health, family planning and development issues in poor countries. He has helped societies build the capacity to advocate for stronger public health systems in places such as Nigeria, Uganda and the Philippines. He works with leaders from 24 countries in south Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America as director of the Packard–Gates Population Leadership Program. The program now includes a network of 70 leaders in government, domestic non-governmental organizations and international agencies working to improve the well-being of their communities.
“Aaron’s work and worldview exemplify the adage ‘think globally, act locally,’” APHA member P. Rea Katz, MS, PA-C, wrote in a letter nominating Aaron Katz for the award. “He has his eye on the big picture of public health and health policy for both his adopted home state of Washington and the home countries of his Population Leadership fellows.”
Katz teaches core health policy courses for master of public health and master of health administration students and has published numerous articles and papers on health policy.