Neglected Global Tropical Disease Initiative
Last week marked an important milestone toward better controlling 10 neglected tropical diseases by 2020. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank, 13 pharmaceutical companies, the U.S., U.K. and U.A.E. governments and other global health organizations announced a new, coordinated push to defeat diseases like Dengue, rabies, blinding trachoma, Buruli ulcer, endemic treponematoses (yaws), leprosy (Hansen disease), Chagas disease, sleeping sickness, leishmaniasis, cysticercosis dracunculiasis (guinea-worm disease),echinococcosis, foodborne trematode [...]
Public Health Preparedness Milestone
Back in 2008 we set the ambitious goal of becoming a “Public Health Ready” state- and we’ve worked hard over the last 3 years or so to accomplish our goal. We made it last month- and Arizona became one of only a couple of states to have all county health departments recognized by Project Public Health Ready (PPHR). The program [...]
Dispensary Application Timeline Forecast
As you know from earlier blog posts a judge ruled in a state case that had challenged our dispensary applicant selection criteria. The judge’s decision basically struck down several of the selection criteria we had been planning to use to for competitive areas of the state (areas where there will be more than 1 applicant per Community Health Analysis Area. [...]
AZ Smallpox Outbreak
Smallpox broke out in southeast Arizona almost exactly 100 years ago last week (co-incident with the Statehood activities). The first cases were in Tucson and Douglas with a few dozen cases and several deaths… and there were a few additional cases in Nogales and Globe. Of course, all the cases were among folks that hadn’t been vaccinated. The public health interventions of [...]
EMS Overdrive
This month has been a doozy for our Bureau of Emergency Medical Services and Trauma System team. This week we finished the 2nd of 2 high-profile and important decisions. A couple of weeks ago I made a decision to let Yuma City take over part of the ambulance response in that town. I thought the city folks had given solid evidence [...]
Referee a Safe Super Bowl Party
When it comes to the Super Bowl, defense matters. When it comes to planning a Super Bowl XLV party, good defense against foodborne illness matters even more. Food Safety Playbook Fans should follow the food safety play book at the Super Bowl parties that they host. Large gatherings can increase the chance of becoming ill, but by following these rules [...]