Licensed Practical Nurse Melanie Boestfleisch, right, administers a flu shot Thursday to Veronica Vargas of Gainesville at the Health Department. Photo by Sara Guevara/gainesvilletimes.com

Last week, 57 percent of respondents to a PHWEEK poll reported receiving their flu shot. This flu season, the Department of Public Health (DPH) is encouraging Georgians to once again get their flu shot on time. Many of our local public health departments are offering special events and hours to accommodate community members.

 

 

Each year, flu season presents an opportunity for all public and private providers to remind Georgians of the importance of getting a flu shot. 

 

For the second year in a row, the pharmacy Walgreens is offering $10 million nationwide in free flu shots to people who can't afford them or whose health insurance won't cover the shot. Vouchers for 300,000 free shots will be distributed through local public health departments. The vouchers are available on a first-come, first-served basis. 

 

Polarized light is more focused than traditional radial light, which scatters in all directions, said Dr. Daron Ferris, director of the Gynecologic Cancer Prevention Center at Georgia Health Sciences University. 

When a woman gets an abnormal Pap smear, it's often followed by a colposcopic exam where radial light and magnification are used to view the cervix, then biopsies are performed on suspicious areas. 

 

   

The DHP currently coordinates four coalition initiatives: Smoke Free Coalition (SFC), Diabetes Action Community Coalition (DCAC), Healthy Heart Coalition (HHC) and Safe Kids Coalition. HPAC was established to provide guidance, opportunities for the cross-coalition communication on prevention, health promotion and public health. 

HPAC brought together elected officials from all fourteen municipalities in Fulton County, representatives from Atlanta and Fulton County Public School systems, the Metro Atlanta Chambers of Commerce, community-based organizations, academic institutions, hospitals, faith-based organizations, major metro Atlanta corporations, Insurance agencies, Georgia Department of Public Health and CDC to provide a forum for the complex planning and coordination of prevention efforts across the county.

  

Even diets rich in folic acid should be supplemented with a daily multivitamin to ensure you are getting the recommended 400mcg a day.

It's the New Year and many of you have resolved to eat better, increase your servings of vegetables and cut the sweets. Think that you are now getting all the vitamins and minerals you need from your cleaned up diet? Think again. Certain vitamins are hard to get from food alone. Just because you eat a healthy diet does not mean you should skip a morning multivitamin. Many vitamins, including folic acid, are provided in daily multivitamins and are important for your health.
 

 

 

The Georgia Suicide Prevention Action Strategy works to promote awareness that suicide is a public health problem that is preventable.

Every 17 minutes another life is lost to suicide. An estimated 30,000 Americans will take their lives this year-that's 86 people a day-and another 150,000 will attempt suicide.

Every year there are more suicides than homicides in Georgia, according to the CDC's National Violent Death Reporting System.  In 2009, there were 1,107 suicides and 615 homicides in Georgia.

DPH urges you to think about what you can do over the next 17 minutes to help change the life of someone who is contemplating suicide or to remove the stigma around mental health. The first way to help remove the stigma is to talk about suicide and mental health and to get those persons to treatment and help.