Last month the World Health Organization (WHO) began to receive reports of human cases with SARS-like infections caused by a new coronavirus. According to WHO, 30 cases of this new illness have been found and 60% of the infections have been fatal. So far, the cases have been limited to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, the United Arab [...]
This Spring marks 10 years since Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) arrived on the global public health scene. It started as a mystery illness in SE Asia- without name, origin, or cure in February of 2003. The CDC immediately began working with the World Health Organization to investigate the outbreak. Public health scientists across the globe [...]
Our Licensing and Rulemaking teams spent the last week of April with hundreds of Stakeholders from numerous associations and licensees about our ongoing regulatory reform effort. In addition, we’ve received hundreds of comments regarding our draft rules for Healthcare Institutions and Behavioral Health Service Agencies on our website (the comment period ended on May 5). [...]
Last year I blogged about a grant sponsored by the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council to help folks with developmental disabilities and their families become self-employed by starting their own cottage industry food business. At the end of last year, this funding was awarded to the Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center, which has developed [...]
The work we do often doesn’t get a lot of fanfare. Much like police who respond to hundreds of calls a week, public health workers diligent work to protect the public from health threats – we just don’t respond with lights and sirens and there aren't any TV shows that celebrate our work. I try [...]
Strategic community planning is an effective tool to improve population health. That’s why organizations like the Livable Communities Coalition are so important as they help Arizona communities to become places that improve those social and environmental determinants of health that make such a big impact on population health and public health outcomes. But how do [...]
Continuing with the success of last year’s landmark national tobacco education campaign- the CDC is launching “Tips from Former Smokers” which will run in Arizona through the end of June. The media campaign showcases the real and devastating effects of smoking & secondhand smoke. The ads feature people with smoking-related health conditions and candidly describe the [...]
I’m happy to announce that I’ve permanently appointed Cory Nelson as our official Deputy Director for Behavioral Health. He’s been serving in the Acting capacity since August of ‘12 and has shown great skill and leadership in the position. He’s been very successful working with our leadership and our Agency team as well as our [...]
The American Academy of Pediatrics put out a new policy statement called “Planned Home Birth” this week. The Policy Document summarizes the standards of care for newborn infants born at home. It’s designed to help pediatricians provide supportive, informed advice to women considering home birth. The AAP Report says they agree with the American College of [...]
A city’s General Plan is one tool for communities to define how they want their city or town to grow and improve population health. Currently, Phoenix, Mesa, Tempe, and Scottsdale are updating their General Plans, and each city has a variety of resources that give community members the opportunity to share their opinions and get [...]
