As the City of Philadelphia acknowledges National Gun Violence Awareness Day, citizens across the city are donning orange in a stance against the perennial blight of gun violence. In a move to educate and foster action, Philadelphia's health department's Division of Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention (CDIP) is launching a series of blog posts, announced in alignment with Wear Orange Weekend, as per the City of Philadelphia. Today, which also signifies the start of National Gun Violence Awareness Month, will see the first of these blog posts aiming to shed light on the intersection of public health and gun violence.
According to a post on Philadelphia's government website, the blog series has a tripartite mission. It aims to introduce public health concepts related to gun violence, educate and spread awareness with facts about gun violence, and describe the health department’s actions to prevent violence. With an evident surge in firearm-related incidents ravaging urban centers, recognizing gun violence as a public health crisis is a stride towards enacting meaningful change.
The CDIP recognizes the multifaceted nature of gun violence, acknowledging that solutions must stretch beyond criminal justice and delve into the realm of public health. The department's forthcoming blog posts, set to be published every Friday this June, are slated to delve deeper into such public health concepts. This public health perspective insists on a collective consciousness that refuses to disconnect the issue of gun violence from its systemic roots and societal implications. "By series end, you’ll understand the public health approach to reducing and preventing gun violence," the City of Philadelphia stated.
