Welcome to PHLP

Public Health Law & Policy (PHLP) partners with advocates and decision-makers to help create healthier communities. We provide in-depth research and analysis on legal and policy questions, and translate complex information into practical tools such as fact sheets, toolkits, and model policies.

PHLP, a project of the Public Health Institute, works to help build the capacity of advocates, local public health and planning departments, schools, government attorneys, elected officials, and others to advance their public health goals through policy change – for example, by limiting "junk food" marketing aimed at children, protecting people from secondhand smoke, or making healthy foods and physical activity more accessible.

 

Program News

PHLP’s Robert Oglivie joined President Bill Clinton and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as a featured speaker at the Governor’s 2010 obesity summit in Los Angeles on February 24.

The invitation-only summit brought together leaders from business, education, government, and public health to discuss the best policies and practices to combat the state’s obesity crisis. Dr. Ogilvie, who directs PHLP’s Planning for Healthy Places program, was one of three speakers invited to present to President Clinton and the governor.

A federal court has struck down two provisions of the 2009 law giving the FDA more authority over the tobacco industry, upholding most of the law's other provisions. Read more about the decision and likely next steps.

NPLAN’s work help communities make themselves healthier was recognized today during the launch of “Let’s Move,” Michelle Obama’s new childhood obesity prevention initiative. The campaign promotes the availability of healthy, affordable food in schools and communities, and encourages more physical activity for American children.

A Mississippi mayor whose town has successfully opened up their school facilities to a youth basketball league named NPLAN as a resource for helping communities make healthy changes.

PHLP has released an Action Plan that represents an important initial assessment of public health’s abilities and limitations to fully engage in climate change work as well as a preliminary set of recommended actions. It is a synthesis of the priorities and strategies developed during a one-day multi-disciplinary gathering where more than 150 participants exchanged ideas on how to better engage public health networks and agencies in climate change work.