Agencies
Services
News – Monday, March 31, 2025
IDPH Celebrates “30 Days of Public Health” to Highlight Vital Role of Those who Protect Us
Illinois Again Extends National Public Health Week to Full Month of April, Overlapping with National Minority Health Month
SPRINGFIELD – For a second consecutive year, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) will celebrate 30 Days of Public Health throughout the month of April. Governor JB Pritzker helped kick off the month with this video message hailing the state’s “Public Health Heroes.” The observance amounts to an extended National Public Health Week (April 7-13) and coincides with National Minority Health Month. The month-long slate of activities includes an IDPH Job Fair on April 23 and is intended to engage Illinoisans about how they can be healthier and safer in their own lives, and raise awareness about all that public health does to protect us from illness, disease and injury.
“National Public Health Week is always one of the weeks in April, but in Illinois, we’ve started a new tradition: we celebrate public health all month long, because seven days just isn’t enough,” Governor Pritzker said. “When it comes to highlighting all the great things our ‘Public Health Heroes’ accomplish throughout the year, we need all 30 days.”
The month will also shine a light on the purpose of public health departments, their connection to the health care system, and the fulfilling careers available in the field. IDPH will host a Job Fair in Springfield on April 23 that will highlight the great job opportunities in public health, from working in labs to disease surveillance to protecting the public from foodborne illnesses.
“Thirty Days of Public Health is back for Year two, and IDPH is more excited than ever to share stories throughout April of the public health heroes in our communities working to protect your health today and prepare you for tomorrow,” said IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra. “This year’s celebration comes at a challenging and uncertain time for our public health community with big changes from the federal government affecting Illinois. That is why now more than ever we are working to raise awareness of our critical work. Please join us on our website and many social media channels as you learn how we build healthy and safe communities across Illinois.”
IDPH will be collaborating during the month with local health departments, schools that offer public health curriculums and other public health system partners. Activities will include a daily audio series “Public Health History Minute” and two new episodes of IDPH’s in-house “This is Public Health” podcast. The daily audio features will highlight a major moment in Illinois public health history, from the founding of the first statewide public health agency in 1877 to efforts to combat polio, measles, and the harmful effects of lead exposure.
A centerpiece of the month will be the 2025 Illinois Infectious Disease Conference in Champaign on April 15 & 16 which is dedicated to advancing our understanding and fostering collaboration in the field of infectious diseases. The keynote speakers will include Dr. Tania Bubb, the Senior Director of Infection Prevention & Control at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York and the 2024 President of Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology; Dr. Paul Offit, Director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; and Dr. Brad Nieder, a physician who is nationally known as “The Healthy Humorist” and mixes ample doses of comedy with health-related edification.
There is still time to register for the conference HERE.
Observed every year in April, National Minority Health Month raises awareness about health disparities that continue to affect racial and ethnic minority populations. IDPH’s Healthy Illinois 2028 State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP) and State Health Assessment (SHA) include addressing racism as a public health crisis as one of the department’s five key priorities.
Currently, four in ten Illinoisians are from racial and ethnic minority populations. However, disease burdens such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease, stroke, HIV, substance abuse, infant mortality, and COVID-19 infection and deaths rates remain higher among these populations. In partnership with local health departments and community stakeholders, IDPH continues to work towards eliminating health disparities, accelerating health equity and making Illinois a stronger and healthier state.
Also held in April is Black Maternal Health Week 2025 (April 11-17), which features the theme: “Healing Legacies: Strengthening Black Maternal Health Through Collective Action and Advocacy.” Governor Pritzker and IDPH have made it a priority to eliminate longstanding racial disparities in maternal health outcomes through the Governor’s ongoing Birth Equity Initiative.
The daily audio series Public Health History Minute will be available on IDPH’s social media channels. Following are the dates and topics for “This is Public Health: The Podcast,” which will also be available on IDPH’s social media channels as well as Spotify:
- 4/1 Topic: “30 Days of Public Health”
- 4/21 Topic: “Local Public Health Transformation”
IDPH encourages all Illinoisans to participate in 30 Days of Public Health, National Minority Health Month and National Public Health Week. For more information about the observance, click HERE. You can also engage with IDPH on social media and listen to the audio features by clicking on the following links:
