Prevention – Page 58 – AZ Dept. of Health Services News

Topics here will include issues that fall into the Prevention Division of the agency, which include – as the name implies – programs that help prevent disease in our state. You will find information about chronic diseases (cancer, heart health, breathing disorders) as well as tobacco use prevention. This area also includes education about Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the Women, Infant and Children programs; both USDA programs that help provide nutrition to lower income residents.

50 Years of Newborn Screening

By Will Humble|2017-02-10T09:50:44-07:00January 29th, 2013|General, Newborn Screening, Prevention|

Last year we welcomed about 87,000 newborns to Arizona. Our Newborn Screening Program (in our State Lab) ensures that each are tested for 28 inherited disorders and hearing problems. The goal is to help kids avoid illness, developmental delays and even death. Teamwork, communication and coordination are critical in making this program effective. A quick [...]

Studying Vaccine Choice

By Will Humble|2017-02-10T09:50:45-07:00January 25th, 2013|Preparedness, Prevention|

As I mentioned in a blog post a few weeks ago, more AZ parents are choosing not to vaccinate their kids- and using “personal exemptions” when they enroll their kids in school. If the trend continues, we could jeopardize our immunization rates enough so that we'd see long gone diseases like measles and mumps return in [...]

Comments Off

Selling Food

By Will Humble|2017-02-10T09:50:46-07:00January 16th, 2013|Prevention|

Food marketing to children and teens is a major public health concern. Earlier this year, the Walt Disney Company announced it will no longer accept advertisements for junk food on its child-directed television, radio, and online sites. Disney also updated its nutrition standards for foods that can be advertised to children. The food and beverage [...]

Comments Off

Folic Acid Awareness Week

By Will Humble|2017-02-10T09:50:46-07:00January 11th, 2013|Prevention|

Taking a daily multivitamin can save babies lives by preventing birth defects. Folic acid is a B vitamin can prevent up to 70% of neural tube defects (including spina bifida and anencephaly). An average of 52 babies are born with neural tube defects in Arizona each year. The easiest way for women of childbearing age to get [...]

Comments Off

Influenza Going Gangbusters in US and AZ

By Will Humble|2017-02-10T09:50:47-07:00January 10th, 2013|General, Licensing, Prevention|

During the 2009- 2010 influenza pandemic, we saw how influenza can be unpredictable in terms of who it affects most, when it occurs, and what strains will circulate. This season is no exception. While the circulating strains are exactly what we predicted, the peak of the flu season is hitting earlier than usual (now) and it's [...]

Comments Off

‘Tis the Season to Be Vaccinated…

By Will Humble|2017-02-10T09:50:48-07:00December 19th, 2012|Prevention|

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices released issued new recommendations to encourage pregnant women to get the whooping cough (pertussis) vaccine (Tdap) during their pregnancy. Since most kids get whooping cough from a close family member, vaccinating parents (and teens) is one of the best ways to prevent infants, especially those who are too young [...]

Comments Off

Suicide Prevention: A Winnable Battle

By Will Humble|2017-02-10T09:50:48-07:00December 18th, 2012|Behavioral Health, Prevention|

Back in 2009, AZ had the 9th highest rate of suicide in the U.S. In that year 1,060 Arizonans took their own lives- so it’s easy to see why suicide prevention is an agency priority and is featured in our Strategic Map as a Winnable Battle. Since we’re responsible for the state’s behavioral health system- [...]

Comments Off

Vaccines & the Social Contract

By Will Humble|2017-02-10T09:50:48-07:00December 14th, 2012|Prevention|

At the core- vaccines are really about community protection. Our public health system depends on a solid network of providers that are available to vaccinate kids for all of the nasty infectious diseases that have plagued humanity for millennium. It’s not just access to care and a solid network of providers that vaccinate that are [...]

RSV on the Upswing in AZ

By Will Humble|2012-12-12T08:27:20-07:00December 12th, 2012|Preparedness, Prevention|

We're off to an early start with the flu and RSV season this year with more cases reported in November than in previous seasons. Respiratory syncytial virus (or RSV) is a respiratory virus that mainly affects little kids and circulates during the winter. There’s no vaccine for RSV- but for those babies that are at highest [...]

Comments Off

Mission of Mercy

By Will Humble|2017-02-10T09:50:49-07:00December 7th, 2012|Prevention|

Oral health is more than a nice smile. Having good oral health improves a person’s ability to speak, smile, smell, taste, touch, chew, and eat. Plus, tooth decay and gum disease have been linked with other health problems like heart disease, stroke and diabetes, as well as premature births. Given the link between oral diseases and [...]

Previous 575859 Next