Quitting smoking is one of the hardest addictions to break, but it’s not impossible . A new year brings a sense of renewal and that’s why so many smokers make the resolution to quit. For some it’s a second, third or even tenth chance at kicking the habit. That sense of failure, or [...]
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently featured our Active School Neighborhood Checklist in their Physical Activity and Community Design Facilitated Peer Networking Call on December 15. The Arizona Nutrition Network's SNAP-Ed program from the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, highlighted work done in Tucson using the checklist. The Active School Neighborhood Checklist is [...]
Opioid abuse not only affects the user, but also others close to the user, especially, if the user is pregnant. Rural communities in the United States are seeing a rise in the number of babies born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, according to JAMA Pediatrics. The syndrome consists of the complications and withdrawal symptoms that result [...]
Our Office of Cancer Prevention and Control has been awarded a contract from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) to continue exciting work on the Breast Cancer Learning Collaborative. In the first year, through some terrific research conducted by the Arizona Cancer Registry, we learned that African American, Native American, and Hispanic women [...]
Our Bureau of Public Health Emergency Preparedness focuses on preparing for, responding to, and recovering from public health emergencies and disasters that are natural or human-caused. One of our preparedness strategies is to test our notification and alerting system, the Arizona Health Alert System (AzHAN) by initiating call down drills. Call down drills test the validity of ADHS's call [...]
Throughout the year, a multitude of agencies release annual reports that attempt to grade states on their preparedness to respond to public health emergencies. Some years these reports use similar indicators to assign state scores, but indicators often vary from year to year. These reports look at areas both within and outside of a health [...]
With the holiday season upon us, you may be planning to travel to visit family and friends or to see different climates. Whatever the reason, it is important to take steps to stay safe while traveling. Visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website to view any travel notices and to check areas of [...]
Every year in Arizona, almost 300 people are killed in alcohol-related crashes. Many deaths occur around the holidays when people are more likely to be celebrating with friends and family. What make these deaths so heartbreaking is that they are preventable. The first and foremost step is never get behind the wheel if you have [...]
Every year our Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program receives more than 65,000 blood lead test results from laboratories and providers for children across the state. Our epidemiologist reviews these results every day to make sure children with elevated blood lead levels will receive proper care. When a child is identified with elevated blood lead levels, [...]
Last week we hosted a Zika Capability Assessment Workshop that was attended by more than 100 tribal, county, state, and federal partners as part of the Arizona Zika-preparedness collaborative. Attendees worked together to identify current response activities, document plans for future efforts, and identify areas for improvement. The workshop included presentations on the history of Zika [...]
