People in the United States make more than 300 million trips to pools each year, but there is no federal regulatory authority governing the health and safety of swimmers, and the current patchwork of state and local laws are often not science-based. 

Jasen Kunz, JD, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suggests in his Critical Opportunities presentation that the Model Aquatic Health Code provides sample evidence-based guidelines that can be adopted to help reduce rates of pool-related injuries and illness.

The Critical Opportunities initiative of the Public Health Law Research (PHLR) program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation presents evidence and ideas for proposed legal and policy changes that can positively impact public health challenges. This video presents these ideas and evidence, and includes the practical and political feasibility of implementing the proposed changes to laws and policies. All Critical Opportunities videos can be viewed at http://youtube.com/CriticalOpps4PHL

Learn more about the Model Aquatic Health Code:

• Frequently Asked Questions about the Model Aquatic Health Code, via the CDC
• See the slides from this presentation

Learn more about Critical Opportunities: http://publichealthlawresearch.org/product-type/critical-opportunities

The views expressed in these Critical Opportunities presentations are those of the authors or presenters, and do not represent the views or values of Public Health Law Research or the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.