The Smoke-Free Arizona Act went into effect nearly 10 years ago on May 1, 2007. The Act prohibits smoking inside and within 20 feet of entrances, open windows, and ventilation systems of most enclosed public places and places of employment. Our Smoke-Free Arizona Program is responsible for education, compliance, and enforcement of the Act statewide [...]
We rolled out a new electronic birth certificate system this week that will be a game-changer for public health. Our system (which took about 18 months to plan, create & launch) will help us collect better surveillance data for our Winnable Battles like obesity, tobacco use, substance abuse, and better data about birth outcomes that will help [...]
Over the past two years, folks in ITS and Epidemiology and Disease Control have been working together to enhance our state’s electronic communicable disease surveillance system called MEDSIS. This week the new version of MEDSIS went live. Major enhancements include the integration of tuberculosis reporting, case management and surveillance; expanded case management capabilities for all diseases; [...]
Our chronic disease prevention team and the county health departments, community partners, and Pima Prevention Partnership, officially launched STAND last week. It’s a coalition of local youth groups that have banded together in a common cause against tobacco use. It’s the culmination of a three-year effort to engage more youth in the actual planning and [...]
CDC’s Field Services Office rolled out their Direct Assistance for Assigning CDC Field Staff to State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Health Departments internet site this week. The website provides answers to frequently asked questions concerning the availability and appropriate use of direct assistance from CDC staff. The CDC wants to increase the number of their [...]
I started my career in public health inspecting restaurants, motels and the like in the mid- 1980s. My area was right around here down toward South Mountain- and I inspected the cafeteria in the basement of the Executive Tower and the cafeteria that used to be on the 4th floor of the 1740 building. It doesn’t seem [...]
