Tuberculosis (TB) incidence continues to decline nationwide. This ancient disease is still around, but just less so. In Arizona last year, there were 193 cases of tuberculosis. Compared to 573 cases fifty years ago, that’s a significant decrease. TB programs aren’t satisfied with this decrease; instead programs actively work toward the complete elimination of tuberculosis. [...]
The integrated behavioral and physical health contracts for the northern region (Health Choice Integrated Care), and the southern region (Cenpatico Integrated Care) launched October 1, and Information Technology Services, part of the Division of Planning and Operations, has been tirelessly working over this for the past year to help with the launch. Over the last [...]
A new report published by our Office of Infectious Disease Services examines the epidemiology of selected infectious diseases in recent years. The report contains an overview of Arizona's surveillance system, graphs and maps on more than 25 different reportable conditions and links to other ADHS tables and reports for 2008-2013. Among many other topics, the [...]
Domestic Violence Awareness Month continues throughout October and ADHS employees keep awareness efforts fresh at the mid-month mark. Today is Wear Purple Day for our department. The color represents a reminder to all of us to lend support in our community and bring an end to domestic violence. Many of our partners are showing support [...]
Between April and September, the Arizona WIC Program's outreach efforts included a new project to increase awareness of the WIC Program and increase participation among eligible women, infants, and children. The project has been a success with an increase of more than 10,000 participants a month. In September, more than 153,000 individuals received WIC services [...]
October is Corps Community Month, now in its fifth year to bring awareness on the importance of the primary care workforce in improving health. This month highlights the benefits and impact of the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) programs in bringing more health care providers into underserved communities with limited access. The NHSC increases access [...]
Public Health Laboratory was awarded funds from the Epidemiology Laboratory Capacity cooperative improvement grant to improve laboratory biosafety in Arizona as part of the national response to the Ebola crisis. The funds were awarded to develop a three-year plan to improve the state lab’s biosafety readiness as well as assisting the State Public Health Lab’s [...]
We received notice from the United States Department of Agriculture that the state plans for both the Arizona WIC Program and the Arizona Nutrition Network were approved for federal fiscal Year 2016. While USDA has not yet finalized the budget for the coming year, the Arizona WIC Program was funded for more than $130 million [...]
In 2013 the Oklahoma State Department of Health was notified of a potential hepatitis outbreak associated with poor infection prevention practices in a dental office in Tulsa. This spurred testing of more than 4,000 patients who could have been exposed to hepatitis and HIV. When the investigation concluded, it marked the first documented spread of [...]
Flu season started early this year with Arizona reporting the first locally acquired flu cases last week. You’ve probably seen or heard messages encouraging you to get a flu shot. That’s because it takes about two weeks for the vaccine to take effect in your system, so we want to be sure you are protected [...]
