For more than 40 years, the American Cancer Society has hosted the Great American Smokeout on the third Thursday of November. The event is an opportunity for people who smoke to commit to healthy, smoke-free lives by encouraging smokers to use the date to make a plan to quit or to quit smoking that day. [...]
Proper immunization throughout the lifespan is one of the most important steps that individuals can take to protect their health, their children’s health, and the health of the community. Each year, a group of health and medical experts called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices creates recommended vaccination schedules for children and adolescents as well [...]
A top priority for our department is to develop prevention programs, services and public education campaigns that help Arizona families make choices that will improve their health and wellness. A major focus of many of our initiatives is preventing heart disease. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both women and men in [...]
Data is an instrumental component of public health that helps us monitor population health, plan and evaluate interventions, and track priorities. One of our most valuable sources of public health data is the annual Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), which is a telephone survey that collects data from Arizona adults 18 and older. The BRFSS survey collects data related [...]
Medical Marijuana will be implemented in April, 2011. The coordination of tasks to ensure smooth and efficient implementation is a huge goal for 2011 and cuts across Bureau lines, involving many distinct portions of not only Public Health Preparedness but the Agency as a whole. Emergency Medical Services Within the Bureau of Emergency Services and [...]
