For the last several years global public health has been coming down the home-stretch to eradicate Polio from the globe - making it the 3rd infectious disease to be eliminated - joining smallpox and rinderpest. Polio incidence has dropped 99% in the last 20 years…going from 350,000 cases in 1988 to only 279 cases so [...]
Americans eat about one-third of their calories away from home - meaning that consumer information at restaurants are an important piece of information that folks need in order to make good choices. This week, the FDA took a big step that will eventually provide the public with information when they eat out. The new rules [...]
Last week we proudly released new Arizona Opioid Prescribing Guidelines for Arizona clinicians. They’re a voluntary, consensus set of principles and best practices for prescribing opioids. The Guidelines were built using the expertise of practitioners from across Arizona including representatives from professional associations, health plans, academic institutions, federal healthcare providers, and many others. The new guidelines [...]
On October 21 Governor Brewer issued Executive Order 2014-08 establishing the Council on Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response. The Council was charged with developing and implementing a coordinated comprehensive plan to ensure Arizona's public health infrastructure is prepared for the potential outbreak of infectious diseases, such as the Ebola virus, influenza, enterovirus, tuberculosis, and other [...]
A couple months back, I sent a note to staff letting you know about an opportunity to help out kids in our hood…students at Capitol Elementary School. Several of you volunteered and will be tutoring the kids a couple days a week in math and reading. As Winston Churchill said:, “We make a living by [...]
The holiday season can be challenging if you're trying to eat healthy and limit sodium. Fortunately, you don't have to give up all of your favorite dishes in the name of heart health. Be sure to check out these six tips for a healthier Thanksgiving. Also, click here to visit the Million Hearts Healthy Eating [...]
I’ve been blogging about our Community Profiles Dashboards over the last few weeks. They’re a powerful new tool for public health professionals, city planners, non-profit organizations, and medical providers, and anyone interested in heath data. We’ve showcased several of the functions of the Dashboards and how they can help visualize and analyze health data. The [...]
Our Women’s and Children’s Health Team is working on the 5-year Needs Assessment for the Maternal and Child Health Title V Block Grant. The needs assessment helps us tailor how we spend the federal funding to improve the health and well-being of Arizona’s women, children, and adolescents. You can help narrow down the 10 health [...]
Arizona’s Developmental Disabilities Planning Council got some good news this week after learning that Governor Brewer extended the Executive Order that created the Council in 2009. Signed on November 4th, the Executive Order authorizes the Council to continue its work through 2019 in supporting persons with developmental disabilities and their families by funding important projects [...]
Last month I wrote about how we are working on revising our Newborn Screening rules because of a change in state law. The changes include requiring hearing tests on all newborns, adding critical congenital heart defects screening and adding a screening for severe combined immunodeficiency started January 2016. The last test depends on whether we [...]
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