Here you will find topics ranging from current events that affect public health in Arizona to overall information about the Arizona Department of Health Services
Bats are one of three rabies reservoirs in AZ – the others being skunks and foxes. Our skunk rabies season often peaks during winter & spring (although last year – it went all year). Our bat season goes late-March through early-October. Most (but not all) of the 28 species of bats in AZ do migrate [...]
This week the Archives of Internal Medicine published the results of a 20-year lifestyle study on 4886 people in the UK between 1985 and 2005. The study compared mortality rates among the group and analyzed longevity’s relationship to behavior. The study compared people that had various bad behaviors- allocating 1 point for: 1) smoking; 2) [...]
A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that the US Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, passed legislation out of their Committee to reauthorize WIC and the other Child Nutrition Programs last week. It’s called the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. The bill includes the reauthorization of the free and reduced lunch and breakfast [...]
A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that the US Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, passed legislation out of their Committee to reauthorize WIC and the other Child Nutrition Programs last week. It’s called the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. The bill includes the reauthorization of the free and reduced lunch and breakfast [...]
A group called the Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project turned in signatures in support of a proposed “medical marijuana” voter initiative for the November 2 ballot. Election officials will be busy over the next couple of months to determine whether enough of the submitted signatures are valid. If enough of the signatures are valid, if [...]
Monday, April 19 is the registration deadline to vote on Proposition 100- which is the Special Election for the 3 year, 1% sales tax that would benefit education, public safety and health services (including behavioral health). The election will be held on May 18, but many people will be voting using early mail-in ballots. If [...]
We rolled out our new public health information system … called Arizona Health Matters http://www.arizonahealthmatters.org/. It’s an electronic one stop source of unbiased data and information about community health and healthy communities in general. It’s intended to help planners, policy makers, and community members learn about issues and identify improvements. On the site, you can [...]
The latest CDC Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report has the latest on the state-by-state H1N1 vaccination rates for kids as well as national percentages for healthcare workers. Arizona had the highest vaccination rates for kids in the western U.S. The national vaccination rates for healthcare workers were a little disappointing (about 40%)- but keep in [...]
The US Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, passed legislation out of their Committee to reauthorize WIC and the other Child Nutrition Programs last week. It’s called the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. The bill http://ag.senate.gov/site/legislation.html includes the reauthorization of the free and reduced lunch and breakfast programs. I was in DC a couple [...]
The US Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, passed legislation out of their Committee to reauthorize WIC and the other Child Nutrition Programs last week. It’s called the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. The bill http://ag.senate.gov/site/legislation.html includes the reauthorization of the free and reduced lunch and breakfast programs. I was in DC a couple [...]
