Public Health and Drought

Editor's note: NEHA strives to provide up-todate and relevant information on environmental health and to buildpartnerships in the profession. In pursuit of these goals, we feature a column from the Environmental Health Services Branch (EHSB) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in every issue of the Journal.

In this column, EHSB and guest authors from across CDC will highlight a variety of concerns, opportunities, challenges, and successes that we all share in environmental public health. EHSB's objective is to strengthen the role of state, local, and national environmental health programs and professionals to anticipate, identify, and respond to adverse environmental exposures and the consequences of these exposures for human health. The services being developed through EHSB include access to topical, relevant, and scientific information; consultation; and assistance to environmental health specialists, sanitarians, and environmental health professionals and practitioners.

The conclusions in this article are those of the author (s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Martin A. Kalis is a puMic health advisor for emergency preparedness and response in EHSB. He is also the vice chair of NEHAs Terrorism and All-Hazards Preparedness Technical Section. CAPT Mark Miller is a senior environmental health officer in EHSB. He is also the coordinator for CDC's Environmental Health. Training in Emergency Response (EHTER). Rachel Wilson is a freelance medical writer and editor who is working with EHSB to draft When Every Drop Counts: Protecting Public Health During Drought Conditions - A Guide for Public Health Professionals.

At the most basic conceptual level, drought is a natural phenomenon in which levels of rainfall or other types of precipitation are lower than average for an extended period of time, resulting in inadequate water supply. To truly understand drought and its effect on people and the environment, including human health impacts, one must also...