As President Obama embarks on his second term, the American Public Health Association (APHA) is urging him to press forward on four major issues that carry tremendous public health implications: gun violence prevention, climate change, public health funding and implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

Lung cancer takes more lives than any other cancer. This year it will kill an estimated 160,340 Americans – more than breast, colon and prostate cancers combined. Yet while lung cancer remains largely a death sentence — just 15.9 percent of those diagnosed are alive five years later — the federal government funds far less research on the disease than on other common cancers.

So, Congress has recessed until after Labor Day. Just before they left town, they passed a continuing resolution to keep the government funded for the next six months.

The American Public Health Association (APHA) says short-term savings from drastic cuts to critical health programs proposed by a House subcommittee will be outweighed by long-term medical and human costs.

American Heart Association CEO Nancy Brown is warning that the latest round of House budget cuts “puts patient care on the chopping block.”

Taking issue with President Obama's bid to cut funding for two key occupational safety programs, the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) is urging Congress to maintain funding levels for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

President Obama's proposed fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget includes $565.5 million dollars for OSHA, with some individual programs getting a slight increase, some a decrease and some maintaining 2012 levels.

Although there are still several months left in the year, don't expect many regulatory actions to be completed in 2011 -- or in 2012, for that matter.