Click here to read the 3/9/18 newsletter. Subscribe to the Bmore Healthy newsletter.

In this issue:

• Note from the Commissioner
• Health Department Joins Lawsuit Against President Trump
• Baltimore Times: Dr. Wen Shares Her Personal Story in Women’s History Month Profile
• WEAA 88.9FM: Dr. Wen Discusses Health Department’s Efforts for a Healthier Baltimore
• and more

This week, Baltimore City announced that we will be joining a lawsuit against President Trump, challenging his Administration’s cut in federal funding for evidence-based reproductive health education programs.

In July 2017, the Health Department received notice from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Office of Adolescent Health that the grant period for Baltimore City’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program would be terminated two years early. This amounts to a reduction in overall funding from $8.6 million to $5.1 million – a cut of $3.5 million.

This funding cut will result in reduced access to evidence-based teen pregnancy curricula for 20,000 students in Baltimore, creating a vacuum in critical health education for thousands of vulnerable teens. It eliminates the capacity to train teachers in evidence-based reproductive health education and jeopardizes our Youth Advisory Council—Baltimore City teens who act as peer health advocates.

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The Hopkins 21st Century Cities Initiative partnered with the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society at the University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley) to host a conference titled “Race and Inequality in America: The Kerner Commission at 50” on Feb. 28 and March 1.

The panel on public health in cities, focusing on how it relates to black neighborhoods and other marginalized communities, featured Baltimore City Commissioner of Health Dr. Leana Wen, Center for Disease Control epidemiologist Robert Hahn and Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the Berkeley School of Public Health Mahasin Mujahid. 

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The Osler Medical Symposium (OMS) kicked off its first event, “Baltimore in the 21st Century: A Commissioner’s Perspective,” on Friday, March 2 in Gilman Hall. The panel featured Dr. Peter Beilenson and Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, both of whom served as former Baltimore health commissioners, as well as Dr. Michelle Gourdine, the former deputy secretary for public health in Maryland. The discussion was moderated by Dr. Leana Wen, the current health commissioner for Baltimore.

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