Influenza Widespread in AZ
With last year’s 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 we are back to a more usual flu season, at least so far. Our first laboratory-confirmed cases were detected earlier than most years (at the end of September), but influenza just kind [...]
Dead Bats
The Department is helping investigate a recent die off of bats in the Tucson Area. About 70 bats were found dead at the overpass near Speedway and Pantono. Initially, there was concern that the animals may have died from rabies, as rabies is always a concern when bats are downed or behaving strangely. However, a sample of bats was sent [...]
2011 Department Priorities Spotlight – Public Health Preparedness
Medical Marijuana will be implemented in April, 2011. The coordination of tasks to ensure smooth and efficient implementation is a huge goal for 2011 and cuts across Bureau lines, involving many distinct portions of not only Public Health Preparedness but the Agency as a whole. Emergency Medical Services Within the Bureau of Emergency Services and Trauma Systems, the highest priority [...]
New Year’s Resolutions & Public Health
Our Tobacco Prevention Program will be hitting targeted audiences (lower income Arizonans) a few days before New Years and during January with smoking cessation messages. There’s no better time to motivate folks to quit smoking than January because that’s the time of year when people generally set health goals for themselves. The ads (funded by a dedicated and voter protected [...]
Masters in Public Health Program Comes to the Valley
The new Phoenix-Collaborative MPH in Public Health Practice program as well as a distance learning Graduate Certificate in Public Health are two great options for individuals looking to advance their knowledge about public health. The Master of Public Health in Public Health Practice is a new interdisciplinary program that prepares students to develop the public health skills needed to work [...]
Community Health Center Expansion News
The US Department of Health and Human Services is in line to receive $11 Billion in funding over the next 5 years for the operation, expansion and construction of health centers nationwide. These funds will be made available through a nationwide competitive grant application process. Our Bureau of Health Systems Development is the Arizona designated Primary Care Office, which means [...]