Public health has reach into many areas that you may not think about.
Currently we’re working to reduce the number of prescription drug overdoses and deaths. The misuse of prescription drugs is a national epidemic. We’re working with the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission to attack the problem here. The funding for our prevention efforts comes from the Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant from the CDC.
The block grant has provided strong support to states since the 1980s; the way Arizona invests the funds changes over time based on the public health needs in our state. Right now, in addition to the prescription drug initiative, we use the funding for skin cancer prevention through the SunWise program, to fund and provide assistance to county health departments to improve and protect the health of the public by advancing the quality and performance of services in their respective jurisdictions, sexual assault prevention programs, and to provide meaningful and timely Arizona health status reports using health data that is collected by the Agency.
Every year ADHS, along with the Block Grant Advisory Committee and County Health Directors, reviews data and priorities as the grant work plan is developed. We have a meeting set up where we describe the plans for investing the funding for the next year.
You are invited to attend and express your ideas for future funding; the meeting is Wednesday, May 13, at 12:30 p.m. at 150 N. 18th Avenue.
Cara M. Christ, M.D., M.S. became Director for the Arizona Department of Health Services in May 2015. Dr. Christ has served the agency for more than nine years. Among her many accomplishments at ADHS, Dr. Christ collaborated with health partners and stakeholders to develop strategic plans for infectious disease prevention and control including the Governor’s Council on Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response. She was involved in leading statewide efforts during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, and worked with partners to find solutions to improve childhood vaccination programs. In 2012, Dr. Christ managed the development and implementation of 20 Articles of Arizona Administrative Code for Health Care Institutions allowing integration of physical and behavioral health services statewide. Dr. Christ obtained her master's degree in microbiology with an emphasis in molecular virology and public health. She earned her Doctor of Medicine from the University of Arizona College of Medicine. Follow the Director on Twitter @DrCaraChrist.
This is really great. Well done