Will Humble

/Will Humble

About Will Humble

Will Humble, M.P.H. Director Arizona Department of Health Services

Border Car Seat Safety Program Moves Forward

By | October 9th, 2013|General|

A cooperative partnership between Arizona and Sonora highlights the importance of a safe ride home for all children and their families. Car seat use in Arizona is about 90%, yet car seat use in Sonora is less than 20%.  A lot of this is because car seats cost more in Mexico than they do in [...]

International Data Sharing

By | October 8th, 2013|General|

Arizona and Sonora have a long history of collaborating on many projects over the years.  We long ago understood that disease doesn't stop at the border.  Arizona and Sonora were the 1st states along the U.S.-Mexico Border to share information on cross border cases in an organized way.  Since 2008, we’ve been sharing this information electronically [...]

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Border Bi-National Health Week

By | October 7th, 2013|Prevention|

I’ve was in DC much of last week working alongside many of the health officers from the 10 US Mexico border states.  We had meetings with the U.S.-Mexico Border Health Commission as well as events associated with Border Binational Health Week.  Border Bi-national Health Week is just one of the initiatives of the Commission- whose goal is [...]

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Evaluating a Trauma System

By | October 3rd, 2013|Preparedness|

How do we evaluate Arizona’s trauma system, you ask?  Good question.  Over the next few weeks I’ll  blog about “Trauma System Evaluation 101” as well as some of the evaluation tools we use to assess Arizona’s trauma system.  The goal of any trauma system is to get the right patient to the right place in [...]

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Valley Fever Clinical Trial

By | October 2nd, 2013|General|

Earlier this week, a big event happened in Bakersfield, California where federal, state, and local officials met for a Valley Fever symposium. The symposium was led by California Congressman Kevin McCarthy.  Rep. McCarthy was joined by Arizona Congressman David Schweikert, co-chair of the House of Representatives Valley Fever Task Force, Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of [...]

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Dogs & River Blindness

By | October 1st, 2013|General|

Last year a young child came down with onchocerciasis in northern Arizona.  Onchocerciasis, is caused by a filarial worm similar to dog heartworm and the roundworm that causes elephantiasis.  This child had a dog-related species (Onchocerca lupi) of the roundworm in her neck next to her spinal cord and was the first documented case in the [...]

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Influenza Vaccine Season Blows In

By | September 30th, 2013|Prevention|

It’s almost that time of year… flu season.  Flu shots have arrived and are already in many pharmacies and doctor’s offices, meaning you can already get vaccinated before the flu hits this season.  There’s a wide array of influenza vaccine choices these days - more than ever.   The nasal spray is approved for healthy, non-pregnant people between [...]

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50 Years of Newborn Screening

By | September 29th, 2013|General, Newborn Screening, Preparedness|

The first newborn screening test was developed in 1963 by Dr. Robert Guthrie to test for phenylketonuria, commonly known as PKU. Since then, scientists have developed more tests to screen newborns for a variety of severe conditions.  This year, the nation celebrates 50 Years of Newborn Screening. The State of Arizona currently screens for 29 [...]

E-cigarettes and Teens

By | September 27th, 2013|General|

E-cigarettes have been a huge topic of discussion in the tobacco control industry and in public health over the past few years. While containing no actual tobacco, they do contain nicotine, are flavored and require the user to emulate the act of smoking.   The CDC recently released a study showing that e-cigarette use has doubled [...]

ADHS Web Resource Showcases General Plans Around AZ

By | September 26th, 2013|General|

Where you live impacts your health. General and Comprehensive Plans guide the big picture vision for how the community should take shape for the future. We know that to achieve the goals we’ve set out in our Strategic Map, planning must include community health. Working collaboratively with others, we're finding ways to support healthy behavior, such [...]

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