The 18th annual National Women’s Health Week kicked off on Mother’s Day, May 14 and is celebrated through May 20. This week is an annual observance encouraging women to make their health a priority and an opportunity to inspire all women to choose a healthy lifestyle that focuses on their mind, body, and spirit. The [...]
Meeting the annual training requirement just got a little easier for Vaccines for Children providers and participants thanks to the Arizona Immunization Program Office (AIPO) Train! AIPO Train is a dedicated online learning management system (LMS) providing a simple and intuitive user interface for Arizona’s VFC providers and immunization partners. Until now VFC providers and partners [...]
Workplaces can either help or hurt our efforts to eat well, be active, and improve our health. Here at the Arizona Department of Health Services, we are taking a step forward to make it easier to include healthier options and physical activity in our meetings with a new department-wide Healthy Meeting Policy and a Healthy [...]
Arizonans are no strangers to weather emergencies. Weather reports of extreme heat, flash flooding, wildfires, dust storms, and monsoon storms are frequent during our summer months. During our winter months, some of our higher elevation counties experience cold and snow hazards. As mentioned recently during National Public Health Week, extreme weather impacts public health. Our agency routinely works with local, state, and federal partners [...]
Our state’s trauma system is comprised of dedicated healthcare professionals delivering compassionate, quality care across 42 state-designated trauma centers (hospitals specializing in trauma care), 200+ emergency medical services agencies, and countless other first responders and heroic bystanders – all serving as a critical link in the trauma chain of survival for tens of thousands of [...]
Viral hepatitis is inflammation of the liver caused by a virus, the most common types being hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C. More than five million Americans have chronic hepatitis B or C infections and about 75% of those infected are unaware. Viral hepatitis is the leading cause of liver cancer and the most [...]
Hantavirus was first discovered in 1993 in the Four Corners region of the United States—an area shared by Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. The disease is carried by many types of rodents, including the deer mouse. People can be exposed to hantavirus by breathing in infected particles from rodent urine or droppings, as well [...]
The Buckeye Fire-Medical-Rescue Department recently became Arizona’s fourth emergency medical services (EMS) agency to successfully obtain ADHS Treat & Refer (T&R) EMS Agency recognition. Arizona's T&R Recognition Program recognizes EMS agencies that have demonstrated optimal patient safety and quality of care by matching appropriate treatment, transport, and care destination options to the needs of [...]
The Arizona Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) started its first data collection cycle last month. PRAMS is a joint research project between our agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that collects data on maternal attitudes and experiences before, during, and after pregnancy. Every month, Arizona PRAMS will mail a questionnaire packet to [...]
Do you remember walking into your favorite restaurant and being asked, “smoking or non-smoking?” Just a decade ago you could still hear that familiar phrase as smoking in a restaurant or bar was legal. Those smoking sections did little to protect non-smokers from the dangers of secondhand smoke. Voters passed the Smoke-Free Arizona Act in [...]
