Celebrate National Farmers Market Week
Going to a farmers market with your family can be great fun! Join with me in celebrating National Farmers Market Week. Worried about the heat? Some markets have moved indoors for the summer and others have early hours. Use AZ Health Zone's fantastic map to find a market near your home. You can narrow your search by season, day of [...]
New 2017 Arizona Opioid Emergency Response Report Highlights Progress but Shows Need for Continued Focus
The 2017 Arizona Opioid Emergency Response Report is out today, and while significant progress has been made, there is still work to do towards reducing opioid deaths in Arizona. This report highlights the emergency response actions taken over the past year since Governor Ducey issued his public health emergency declaration in response to the data in our 2016 Arizona Opioid [...]
Ensuring the Health and Safety of our Littlest Residents and Visitors
Over the past month, there has been a lot of news around unaccompanied minors and migrant children receiving care in in Arizona. ADHS is responsible for licensing health care institutions and child care facilities in Arizona and is committed to ensuring children are in a safe and nurturing environment. In fact, the health and safety of children in Arizona is [...]
Breastfeeding: Foundation of Life
Breastfeeding is a foundation of a healthy life. For the past 27 years, the first week of August has been declared World Breastfeeding Week. Breastfeeding helps to prevent malnutrition, ensures food security for infants and young children, and helps to bring people out of the hunger and poverty cycle. Breastfeeding is one of the most effective ways for a mother [...]
Arizona Immunization Coverage Rates Continue to Fall with Increased Use of Exemptions in 2017
For the second year in a row, exemption rates, the percentage of students exempt from one or more vaccines, increased across all age categories. In the last year, exemptions rose from 3.9% to 4.3% for child care, from 4.9% to 5.4% for kindergarten, and from 5.1% to 5.4% for 6th grade. This increase in exemption rates led to a decrease in vaccination [...]
New Tool to Help Communities Develop Strategies to Prevent and Control Diabetes
Diabetes is a serious health condition attributing to nearly 14,000 Arizona emergency department visits and 11,000 local hospital admissions in 2016. Diabetes, the sixth leading disease-related cause of death in Arizona, is also a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Uncontrolled diabetes can lead to significant disability including blindness, kidney failure and amputation. In 2013, diabetes cost Arizonans nearly [...]