Cholera in Haiti
There’s a big outbreak of cholera in Haiti, and health officials are working with international agencies to control the outbreak. Cholera causes severe watery diarrhea and can spread easily from person to person through contaminated food and water. The diarrhea caused by cholera results in loss of body fluids, which can cause severe dehydration and, without treatment, can kill. The best [...]
Fairness and Transparency are the Keys to Effectively Implementing the AZ Medical Marijuana Act
Throughout my career I’ve learned that a cornerstone of working with the community is to make sure you have a true partnership. Every partnership starts with trust. In order to establish and maintain trust throughout our implementation period, the ADHS needs to ensure that our process is completely fair, open, honest and transparent. Part of establishing these pillars that result [...]
Medical Marijuana (Cannabis) Dispensary Zoning
The AZ Medical Marijuana Act states that cities and towns may adopt "reasonable regulations" regarding the location and operations of medical marijuana dispensaries and growing operations in their jurisdictions. The ADHS still has the responsibility to issue the dispensary license- but any license that we ultimately issue would be contingent on the prospective facility being in compliance with local zoning [...]
Thanks for Giving (note to staff before Thanksgiving)
Thanks for giving your all over the last year. I know it hasn’t been easy. We’ve been though a lot over the last year with budget reductions, furloughs, short staffing and other uncertainty- yet you’ve remained committed to our mission, stayed at your post and helped move our mission ahead for the people of Arizona. Thanks. We have an enormous [...]
Preconception Health II
If you picked up a U.S. Vital Statistics edition in say 1940, you’d notice an emphasis on stillbirth statistics in the maternal and child health sections. Today while infant mortality (rather than stillbirths) receives more attention as a sentinel indicator of maternal and child health, it’s still significant. You may recall reading in a previous blog about Arizona’s historic low [...]
World AIDS Day
Today is World AIDS Day – an opportunity to remember those impacted by HIV/AIDS, look back at its history and toward future developments that may prevent limit its spread. HIV was first identified in the United States in 1981. In the early 1980’s, public health efforts focused heavily on identification of the virus. Once the virus was identified, resources have [...]