Arizona Efforts to Combat Vector-Borne Diseases
A recent Vital Signs report from the CDC highlights the increasing threat of “vector-borne” diseases—illnesses spread by mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas. Between 2004 and 2016, reported cases of vector-borne diseases tripled, and over half a million people became ill from diseases such as Lyme, West Nile, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and plague. In addition, nine new diseases were introduced or discovered in the U.S, including Zika, Chikungunya, Rickettsia parkeri, [...]
Several Components of the Arizona Opioid Epidemic Act Go into Effect
Many of the provisions of the Arizona Opioid Epidemic Act, or Senate Bill 1001, go into effect on April 26. Governor Ducey signed the law on January 26, just four days after a special session was held with unanimous support for passage of the landmark legislation to reduce overdoses and improve patient safety. Some of the provisions of the bill going [...]
Arizona Receives Top Marks in CDC’s Annual Report for Public Health Preparedness
I’m excited to announce that our State has received another set of outstanding scores for public health preparedness from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response (OPHPR). The 2018 National Snapshot provides an overview of federal, state, local, and tribal preparedness and response efforts. The report also includes fact sheets with performance measures for each of the [...]
Stakeholders Gather for Arizona Extreme Heat Planning Workshop
Temperatures are beginning to rise in our state. Most people probably remember the June heat wave last year, which brought on record temperatures. From June 12-27, 2017, temperatures reached 119 ° in Phoenix, 93° in Flagstaff, 120° in Yuma, and 116° in Tucson. Extreme heat will be upon us again soon. Our latest preliminary heat surveillance data identified more than [...]
ADHS is Developing a Center for Psychiatric Excellence
Earlier this year, we took a huge first step in our efforts to transform the Arizona State Hospital (ASH) into a Center for Psychiatric Excellence by releasing a Request for Proposals (RFP), soliciting outside organizations interested in leasing space on the campus. The Center for Psychiatric Excellence will provide state of the art, comprehensive behavioral health services for residents of [...]
Annual Report Highlights Advances in Making Arizona the Healthiest State in the Nation
This week we celebrated National Public Health Week, highlighting the great work and accomplishments of the Arizona Department of Health Services and our public health and healthcare partners from across the state. We are concluding this week with the release of our Annual Report to highlight many of the great projects and programs our teams accomplished over the last fiscal year, which was from July 1, [...]