Association of State and Territorial Health Officers Archives

The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials was officially founded on March 23, 1942, but its predecessor organizations and functions date much earlier. It is the national non-profit organization representing the state and territorial public health agencies of the United States, the U.S. Territories, and the District of Columbia. ASTHO's members, the chief health officials of these jurisdictions, are dedicated to formulating and influencing sound public health policy, and to assuring excellence in state-based public health practice. It is engaged in a wide range of legislative, scientific, educational, and programmatic issues and activities on behalf of public health.

ASTHO's origins date back to 1879 when the subject of forming a national association of health officials was first discussed during a meeting of the Sanitary Council of the Mississippi Valley in Nashville, Tennessee. Attendees met to discuss measures to control the spread of cholera, which had been problematic following the Civil War. Although no formal developments occurred at that time, the officers of state boards of health met informally four years later in Detroit, Michigan during the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA) to discuss forming their own national organization. Earlier, the health officers had been invited by both the APHA and the American Medical Association (AMA) to form a section in these organizations. The assembled state health officials, however, felt that the enforcement of sanitary and other public health laws and regulations was a responsibility that would be best served through an autonomous organization. Accordingly, this group of health officials decided to call a meeting of their own the following year in Washington, D.C. On May 7, 1884, representatives from nineteen states attended the assembly, the result of which was the National Conference of State Boards of Health. Thereafter, meetings were held regularly. In 1897, the constitution was amended to include membership for representatives from Canada and Mexico. To reflect this expanded scope of membership, the name was changed to the Conference of State and Provincial Health Authorities of North America.

By the turn of the century, the U.S. Surgeon General and state and territorial health officials began meeting annually to discuss medical and scientific aspects of controlling yellow fever and other diseases prevalent at the time. At the 1908 conference, however, the inter-state quarantine regulations were discussed in great detail-the first time that a matter of such importance was brought before the members-and handled along the lines of a "working conference." Succeeding conferences became more and more the occasion for the Public Health Service and various state health officials to discuss administrative problems and relationships as well as advances in the prevention and control of disease. In 1935, the conference became a joint venture between the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service, the Chief of the Children's Bureau and the State and Territorial Health Officials. In anticipation of the enactment of the Social Security Act later that year, the entire conference was devoted to discussion of the proposed programs to be carried out under the provisions of that and related pieces of legislation.

From the beginning, the conference organized itself into a number of committees, including scientific research and sanitation, prevention and spread of epidemic diseases, morbidity and mortality statistics, and state legislation. As time passed, committees were abandoned or restructured and new committees were established. The Conference of State and Provincial Health Authorities of North America had also evolved into a committee structure which, not surprisingly, closely paralleled that which was established to facilitate the work of the Surgeon General's conference.

Beginning in 1937, the committee work of the Surgeon General's conference was accomplished by joint committees between that conference and the State and Provincial Health Authorities Conference, with the two meeting concurrently. After the Social Security Act was passed, however, various state health officials expressed the need for an organization that could represent them on matters concerning federal health grants. The wisdom of such a move became increasingly apparent as state public health programs expanded under the Social Security Act in 1935 and subsequent legislation. As a result, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, with membership limited to executive officers of the departments of health of any state, territory or possession of the United States, was founded on March 23, 1942.

[Excerpted from the ASTHO official history]