Home HIV Test Pilot Project Was Successful
The HIV Prevention Program just completed a pilot project that provided free home HIV test kits by mail or in-person pickup. People who had never had an HIV test, or who had not tested in a year or longer, qualified to receive a kit. A simple, 20-minute home test, OraQuick, was chosen as it uses an oral swab, requires no blood, [...]
Poetry Contest for National Food Safety Month
Every year, one in six (47.8 million) people in the United States get sick from the food they eat. Oftentimes, foodborne illnesses are seen as being caused by carelessness or negligence, but even the best of intentions can’t stop a foodborne illness unless the right preventive actions are taken. The Food Safety and Environmental Services team wants to help keep [...]
Information Sharing with Hospitals during Disasters
Recent events such as Hurricane Harvey have illustrated the importance of information sharing during a disaster response. Communication and coordination between first responders, health care facilities, emergency management, public health, and other responders is critical to protecting the health and well-being of disaster victims. After action reports and lessons learned from previous responses almost always point to communications and information [...]
New Report Shows Progress in HIV Prevention
Our HIV Surveillance Program has just released their 2017 Annual Report which includes data up through 2016. The number of people living with HIV in Arizona was 17,464 in 2016. This trend that has been slowly increasing over the last two decades partially due to enhanced treatments that lead to improved survival rates for people living with HIV. For 2016, [...]
State Loan Repayment Program for Primary Care Providers Serving in Underserved Communities
The Arizona State Loan Repayment Program provides loan repayment incentives to eligible health care providers who commit to serve in Arizona’s medically underserved communities. Up to $65,000 of loan repayment assistance is available for physicians and dentists in exchange for an initial two-year commitment to serve in federally designated Health Professional Shortage Areas in Arizona. For the same commitment, physician [...]
Statewide Tobacco Inspections Continue to Improve
Since 2002, ADHS has contracted with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office to conduct routine inspections of tobacco retailers to ensure that retailers are complying with the state prohibition on selling tobacco products to minors. Studies have shown that effective youth tobacco enforcement programs reduce the prevalence of youth smoking. Arizona has a dedicated team of public health officials and law [...]