Our Vital Records shop does a lot more than manage the State’s birth and death certificate system (which we’ve been doing since 1885). We’re also an integral part of the Nation’s Vital Statistics System, which serves as the backbone of national data sharing in public health. The data collected under the National Vital Statistics System works [...]
At the core- vaccines are really about community protection. Our public health system depends on a solid network of providers that are available to vaccinate kids for all of the nasty infectious diseases that have plagued humanity for millennium. It’s not just access to care and a solid network of providers that vaccinate that are [...]
This is one to remember. SBIRT is an acronym for a behavioral health intervention that stands for “Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment”. The technical definition is “ … a comprehensive, integrated, public health approach to the delivery of early intervention and treatment services for persons with substance use disorders…” A more metaphorical (is that [...]
In public health, we don’t gather data just for the sake of gathering data. Our goal is use that data to see what kind of issues there are, look for programs that are proven to reduce bad outcomes and help the communities implement them. One key area we watch is Maternal and Child Health because making changes [...]
Today is World Polio Day so I thought I’d throw together this post to give you an update on where we are in the global eradication effort. 2012 has been a good year so far- as the global public health system has made some real progress. This year we’re down to only 3 countries with [...]
The vision of the Department is to ideally achieve a state of Health and Wellness for all Arizonans and our mission is to promote, protect, and improve the health and wellness of individuals and communities in Arizona. The updated mission and vision statements are helping us build public health value in-house as well as in [...]
You might have noticed that more and more restaurants and fast food places are starting to put calorie and other nutrition information on their menus. That’s not a coincidence or accident- they’re getting ready for the upcoming menu nutrition labeling requirements in the Affordable Care Act. Section 4205 of the new law requires restaurants with [...]
Safeguarding the public’s health is more important than ever. Whether the threat is a disease outbreak, environmental hazard or natural disaster, the public health system works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to keep Arizonans safe. Each year, the CDC evaluates state and local public health preparedness programs in a detailed report. This [...]
Another AZ monsoon season has come and gone. The seasonal winds blow more than dust in the air, they stir up questions and concerns about Valley Fever. Those who have been in Arizona for a while may know that Valley Fever is a lung infection caused by a fungus that’s common in our desert soil (below [...]
I’ve mentioned in previous posts about how I’d like to build more bridges between the Arizona’s academic public health infrastructure and Arizona’s public health system. After all- our goal is to use evidence-based practices to drive our interventions- and the U of A’s expertise at the Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health is a [...]
