When you think of public health, you may think of diseases, infectious diseases, and smoking. Now, Connecticut is experiencing another crisis: gun violence.
“We know that in the state of Connecticut, we unfortunately face gun violence in all its forms,” said Manisha Jutani, director of the Connecticut Department of Public Health.
The Connecticut Department of Public Health has now declared gun violence a public health problem. DPH is taking steps to address this issue, even creating a new division to specifically focus on the ongoing crisis.
Jutani said designating gun violence as a public health issue is important in addressing the issue.
“When you look at an issue through a public health lens, you're actually looking at interventions that have data and an evidence base to show that they work. And then fund them accordingly. and evaluate it,” she said.
These are concrete steps that the brand new DPH office will take.
“I wanted to create the Firearms Injury Prevention Bureau,” Jutani said. “In fact, it was only this past year that we got the first support from Congress to say that we think public health agencies have a role to play on this issue.”
Three employees have already been hired: a program leader, a health program associate, and an epidemiologist. They are expected to take up their respective positions within a month.
This comes after gun-related homicides spiked in Connecticut early in the pandemic, increasing by 36%, according to DPH.
And in the 2022 legislative session, lawmakers earmarked $2.5 million from American Rescue Plan funds to DPH specifically to combat gun violence. In 2023, the department received another $32.9 million, this time from state funds.
“We are really happy that the state has invested in us,” Jutani said.
DPH distributes that money in grants to community-based organizations working on interventions. Last year, her seven organizations across the state each won more than $88,000.
These organizations help people with gunshot wounds in hospitals, support young mothers at high risk of injury, create communities for people leaving the correctional system, and even bring people to urban areas for treatment with animals. of children to the farm.
“Who are the people affected? What can we do to intervene? As we redouble these efforts, we start to see things get worse,” Jutani said.
But the chief said this was just the beginning. The new Office of Firearm Injury Prevention will also need to address other types of gun violence, including intimate partner violence, mass shootings, and suicide.
Jutani said a multifaceted approach, including public health, could lead to some solutions.
“We need partners from all sectors: law enforcement, justice, public health,” she says. “This is not a problem that public health can solve alone. What I'm saying is that public health has a voice in this as well.”
