General

Here you will find topics ranging from current events that affect public health in Arizona to overall information about the Arizona Department of Health Services

“Raise Your Voice!” Report

By |2017-02-10T09:51:40-07:00July 15th, 2011|Behavioral Health, General|

Our behavioral health coalition completed and published our brand-new Raise Your Voice! Report... a product of our behavioral health focus groups with peers and family members in late 2010.  We’re most proud of the fact that the entire process—from beginning to end—had the full participation or peers and family members (from the Arizona Peer and Family Coalition) in planning, organizing, leading [...]

ADHS Asks AZ Attorney General’s Office to Review the Legality of “Cannabis Clubs”

By |2017-02-10T09:51:40-07:00July 14th, 2011|General|

The Arizona Department of Health Services has serious concerns about the legality of so-called cannabis clubs. The information that we have regarding these "clubs" suggests that they are distributing marijuana to customers in a way that is inconsistent with the provisions of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, and the persons involved could be conducting illegal marijuana transactions.  For this [...]

What about this new Fad Diet?

By |2017-02-10T09:51:40-07:00July 14th, 2011|General|

Recently, the department has received numerous inquiries about fad diets: Do they work? Are they safe? Will they help me lose weight?  Our nutrition department put together a couple of tips to watch out for when it comes to dieting.  1)      Promotes a drastic weight loss in a short period of time. Losing more than [...]

Public Health Law Resources

By |2011-07-13T12:42:39-07:00July 13th, 2011|General|

Public health and the law are intertwined- and you can’t really be effective at developing public health policies and interventions without understanding how the law interfaces with public health.  We’re fortunate to have a fantastic local resource right here in Arizona.  The Public Health Law and Policy Program at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law [...]

Comments Off on Public Health Law Resources

Abortion Clinic Licensing

By |2011-07-13T10:37:50-07:00July 13th, 2011|General|

A new law was passed last legislative session (HB 2416) that expanded the definition of an abortion to include “any means” (the former definition was limited to surgical abortions) and changed the qualifications for who can perform the procedure.  For us, it meant that beginning July 21 (when the law was to take effect) we'd be responsible for [...]

Comments Off on Abortion Clinic Licensing

Border Health Partnerships

By |2017-02-10T09:51:41-07:00July 12th, 2011|General, Licensing, Preparedness, Prevention|

A few weeks ago I blogged about the June plenary session of the Arizona Mexico Commission called Arizona & Sonora: Gateway for Innovation.  The conference provided an opportunity to move forward a bi-national agenda supported by Arizona and Sonora.  The health committee discussed regional approaches to valley fever surveillance, burn patient infrastructure, substance abuse, TB, border [...]

Comments Off on Border Health Partnerships

Encouraging Trends in New Bi-annual Tobacco Prevention Report

By |2017-02-10T09:51:42-07:00July 11th, 2011|General, Prevention|

Part of the authorizing statute for our tobacco prevention programs includes a requirement that we develop a bi-annual report of our progress and activities.  Just two years ago, we reported that we were shifting to an “evidence-based” approach to our prevention activities.  In other words- we shifted our intervention strategies to focus on approaches that have [...]

Comments Off on Encouraging Trends in New Bi-annual Tobacco Prevention Report

Guillain Barre

By |2017-02-10T09:51:42-07:00July 11th, 2011|General|

A couple of folks from the CDC have been in Arizona this week to help us (and Sonora) to investigate an unusual number of cases (8 in Arizona and 8 in Sonora) of Guillain Barre syndrome .  The Arizona cases are in the Yuma area.  It’s a rare condition that rarely (but occasionally) happens several days after [...]

New Medical Marijuana Memo from Justice

By |2011-07-11T09:15:19-07:00July 11th, 2011|General|

The U.S. Department issued new guidance for federal prosecutors last week.  We had been anticipating a new memo from Justice for some time- hoping that it would clarify whether the dispensary portions of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act are legal under federal law (the Controlled Substances Act).  We were also hoping it would help us figure out how [...]

Gettin’ to School

By |2011-07-07T09:05:17-07:00July 7th, 2011|General, Prevention|

If you’re my age, you probably walked or biked to school- it was a basic part of our culture. Unfortunately the tradition has been lost (for now).  In 1969 half of all kids walked or bicycled to and from school and almost 90% of kids that lived within a mile of school walked or biked.  Today only [...]

Comments Off on Gettin’ to School
Go to Top