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 [...]
Work Continues to Reduce Opioid Deaths as Emergency Declaration Comes to an End
Governor Doug Ducey has officially ended the formal emergency public health declaration he issued last year that directed our department to lead a statewide response to the opioid epidemic. We have made tremendous strides, but the work we started last June is far from complete. The list of accomplishments over this last year is long and highlights the work we [...]
Stay Safe from the Summer Heat
Memorial Day signals the start of summer break for many kids in Arizona as well as triple digit temperatures. Many people are preparing for upcoming outdoor activities with friends and family. While enjoying the holiday grilling or relaxing by the pool, it is important to remember safety tips to protect yourself from the Arizona heat and sun. Despite heat-related illnesses being preventable, 2,874 heat-related illness emergency department [...]