KING COUNTY, WA - Both at home and all over the world, organizations and communities come together to celebrate public health in April, hailing the great accomplishments of the past century, while also reminding everyone of the hard work that remains to be done.

As part of this celebration and re-dedication to the work of public health, King County Executive Ron Sims and Seattle Mayor Paul Schell have proclaimed April 2 through 8, 2001, as Public Health Week for the county and city, respectively.

"King County has made great strides in improving the health of its residents and communities, but health disparities for some still persist, particularly among racial, ethnic, and sexual minorities."

-- from Executive Ron Sims' proclamation

"Public health services have improved the lives of everyone in Seattle and across our nation through the provision of safe drinking water and food supplies, improvement of prenatal and maternal care, reduction of fatal job-related accidents, control of infectious disease, reduction of smoking, and promotion of oral health, women's health, healthy eating, immunizations, and family planning."

-- from Mayor Paul Schell's proclamation

Public Health - Seattle & King County will celebrate the week with a daily focus on specific actions people can take immediately to improve health for themselves, their families, and their communities.

Topics for the week include:

• Informing parents, travelers and others about immunizations
• Helping people quit smoking
• Improving indoor air quality
• Getting access to health care

King County and Seattle join the National Public Health Association and thousands of agencies, communities, and individuals across the United States in celebration of this event.

Seattle and King County are joined internationally in this effort, as both the World Health Organization and the American Association for World Health have declared April 7 as World Health Day.

For more information on the National Public Health Association declaration of National Public Health Week, visit www.apha.org/news/press/nphw.htm

For more information on the World Health Organization declaration of April 7 as World Health Day, visit www.who.int/world-health-day/index.en.html