Public health threats are always present. They include natural disasters; biological, chemical, and radiological incidents; and explosions. The impact of these threats can range from local outbreaks to incidents with national or global ramifications. Last year’s influenza pandemic underscored the importance of communities being prepared for potential threats. Being prepared to prevent, respond to, and [...]
We published one of our most popular annual documents this month, our 500-page Arizona Health Status and Vital Statistics Annual Report. It provides refined health statistics on pregnancies, births, reportable diseases, deaths, inpatient hospitalizations, emergency room visits, marriages, divorces and population of the State. The site got more than 2,000,000 hits last year! The report provides [...]
We published one of our most popular annual documents this month, our 500-page Arizona Health Status and Vital Statistics Annual Report. It provides refined health statistics on pregnancies, births, reportable diseases, deaths, inpatient hospitalizations, emergency room visits, marriages, divorces and population of the State. The site got more than 2,000,000 hits last year! The report provides [...]
You’ve most likely heard the words Title XIX, Title XXI, and Title V (aka Title 19, Title 21, Title 5) bandied about in the halls and elevators throughout your careers- but some of you might not know what those words mean. Here’s a thumbnail sketch: Title V When you hear someone say “Title V”, they’re [...]
Daniel T. Cloud, Jr., M.D., one of Arizona’s most dedicated health and public health professionals, passed away last week. We’ll miss him, but his life work lives on. Dr. Cloud made his dream come true to establish a children's hospital in Arizona- and became the Founding President of Phoenix Children's Hospital in 1983. He was [...]
The Trust for America’s Health released their annual obesity report. Overall, the national trend toward increasing obesity rates continued it’s march forward. Arizona ranked in the middle of the pack, but the pack itself in increasingly unhealthy. More than two-thirds of states have adult obesity rates above 25 percent. In 1991, no state had an [...]
I have a new bookmark spot for you. It’s called Science Clips, and it’s the CDC’s newest weekly publication. Each week selected science clips will be posted on the site for the public health community with the goal of enhancing awareness of emerging scientific knowledge. The focus is applied public health research and prevention science [...]
The “Schultz” fire started last weekend to the north and east of Flagstaff. It’s grown rapidly and is now over 14,000 acres but is about 40% contained. The actual fire is in a sparsely populated area off of Highway 89. But- the public health threat from wildland fires are from the smoke- not so much [...]
An article in last month’s New England Journal of Medicine provides a good summary of the public’s perception of the H1N1 response in an article called The Public's Response to the 2009 H1N1 Influenza Pandemic. It’s a comprehensive review of data from 20 national public opinion polls conducted between April 2009 and January 2010. Early [...]
For regular readers, you know this is the last topic of the CDCs 5 "winnable battles". CDC's new leader, Dr. Thomas Frieden, is focusing the agency's energies on these topics because he believes we can beat them in three years. 5. Teen Pregnancy Preventing teen childbearing could save the United States about $9 Billion per [...]
