Secretary Meneses welcomes Chinese Taipei Minister of Agriculture for a conversation about SNAP/Basic Food
On Friday, Aug. 4, DSHS Secretary Jilma Meneses, DOH Secretary Dr. Umair Shah welcomed Chinese Taipei Minister of Agriculture Chen Chi Chung and a delegation from the Ministry of Agriculture to share how Washington’s Women, Infants and Children and SNAP/Basic Food programs provide a valuable safety net for Washington residents. During his welcoming remarks, Minister Chen spoke of the importance of building relationships and learning from each other, saying “a good friend is a friend forever.”
Economic Services Administration Assistant Secretary Terry Redmon and Community Services Division Director Babs Roberts spoke to the delegation about DSHS and Washington’s SNAP/Basic Food program. They described how ESA services are designed to help families have enough nutritious food and help parents support their children, with programs like Basic Food providing for around a half million households in Washington each month.
Michele Roberts, Assistant Secretary of Prevention and Community Health at the Department of Health, shared how the WIC program helps improve the health of mothers and children through nutrition education, breastfeeding support, health screenings and healthy foods like milk, cereal, fruits and vegetables.
Following the presentations, Secretary Meneses and Secretary Shah gifted Minister Chen a wheel of Cougar Gold cheese from Washington State University in Pullman, and Minister Chen shared gifts of tea.
Secretary Meneses attends Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting
On Sunday, Aug. 6, Secretary Meneses attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation High-Level Meeting on Health and the Economy at the Seattle Convention Center Summit. The meeting focused on strengthening health care, pandemic prevention and response, and how to increase investments in public health.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra addressed the meeting, noting that these efforts are “integral to healthy people and healthy economies.” Becerra also acknowledged the “importance of strengthening care infrastructure and supporting care providers as an integral part of health care and health systems, as both paid and unpaid care work is essential to the healthy functioning of our economies and societies.”
Secretary Meneses attended the event as part of DSHS’ partnership with HHS in the effort to ensure that Washington residents are healthy, safe and supported.