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| February 06, 2012- In This Issue |
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Home
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Forging Hearts of Iron |
Combating Child Obesity |
DPH recognizes National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day |
Effington Co. Health Dept. Gives Kids a Boost |
Heart Health in Fulton County |
Severe Weather Emergency Kit
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PHBRIEFS |
PHRECIPE |
PHTRAINING |
PHEVENTS
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PHNEWS
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Eva (bottom left), born with a
congenital heart defect called
hypoplastic left heart syndrome, joins
her family in representing Ironheart
Racing Team at the Help Mend Broken
Hearts 5k. |
To watch Eva run around with her siblings, you
would never guess that she is anything but a
regular four year old. She plays with her
younger sister and keeps up with her older
brother and sister. She is strong, goofy and
full of energy. Her infectious personality gives
no clues to the struggles she has overcome from
her very first moments on Earth. Eva was born
Nov. 30, 2007 with a congenital heart defect
called hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS).
She has since had five open heart surgery
procedures. Her final procedure was in April
2010 and is meant to be the last of the series.
Eva's condition was not found in her prenatal
ultrasounds and at the hospital when she was
born. Her mother stresses the importance of
educating staff about conditions like Eva's.
"Early diagnosis is so important," she
explained. "Conditions like Eva's can be
prenatally diagnosed. Much teaching needs to go
to the ultrasound technicians and OB/GYNs to
catch them early."
After Eva's first surgery, her heart stopped and
she had to be placed on a machine called ECMO,
which is a kid-sized, heart, lung bypass machine
that would allow her heart to rest and gain
strength. When children are placed on ECMO,
their chance for survival is 50 percent.
"Eva is alive because she had access to that
ECMO machine," explains her mother. "Machines
like ECMO are only possible through donations to
hospitals and are specifically donated to those
departments. If the machines had been in use by
other children when Eva needed it, she would
have died. Eva is a miracle. Her name means
'giver of life' and she makes us appreciate the
gift of life so much more."
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Combating Child Obesity a Priority
The devastating facts on diabetes are about as awful
as they come. Diabetes is a chronic disease that
often leads to blindness, nerve damage, kidney
failure and even death. It plagues our state and
causes more deaths each year in the United States
than breast cancer and AIDS combined.
By the time we reach age 65, statistics from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
statistics indicate half of us will have diabetes or
pre-diabetes. And yet, all too often, we overlook
the most important fact - overwhelmingly, the vast
majority of cases are entirely preventable.
Many Americans believe that diabetes is strictly
genetic, and we have little control over whether
the condition will develop. This is likely true
for genetically influenced Type I diabetes in
which a faulty immune system affects insulin
production. Insulin is critical in regulating
blood glucose levels. While the exact cause that
triggers Type I diabetes is unclear, we do know
that Type I diabetes accounts for only 5 percent
of diabetes cases in the United States. Enter
Type II.
An astonishing 95 percent of all diabetes cases
are Type II. Millions of Americans are living
with this chronic disease, and the most
important causative factors are poor diet and a
lack of physical activity. If you think this is
familiar to another issue we in Georgia struggle
with, you're absolutely right. Obesity is a
major physical indicator that someone might have
pre-diabetes or diabetes. We must focus on our
future.
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DPH recognizes National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day as an
Opportunity to Encourage African Americans to Get Tested for
HIV
African Americans
face the most severe burden of HIV of all
racial/ethnic groups in the United States.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), despite representing only 14
percent of the U.S. population in 2009, African
Americans accounted for 44 percent of all new
HIV infections in that year.
In Georgia, African
Americans represented 30 percent of the total
population in 2009, but 74 percent of all diagnosed
HIV cases. Compared with members of other
races and ethnicities, African Americans account for
a higher proportion of HIV infections at all stages
of disease - from new infections to deaths.
On February 7,
2012, DPH will join the nation in recognizing
National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD)
as a national HIV testing and treatment
community mobilization initiative targeted to
reach African Americans in the United States.
There are four specific focal points: education,
testing, involvement, and treatment.
Educationally, the
focus is to get African Americans educated about
the basics of HIV/AIDS in their local
communities. Testing is at the core of
this initiative, as it is hoped that African
Americans will mark February 7th of every year
as their annual or bi-annual day to get tested
for HIV. This is vital for those who are
sexually active and those at high risk of
contracting HIV.
When it comes
to community and organization leadership,
getting African Americans involved to serve
as community advocates and volunteers to
encourage others to get educated and tested
for HIV is a key focus area. And
finally, getting those living with HIV or
those who recently tested positive for the
virus connected to treatment and care
services is paramount.
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Effingham County Health Department Gives Kids a Boost
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Representatives from the Effingham County Health
Department and Georgia State Patrol check to
make sure car seats are properly installed and
provide eligible community members with booster
seats. |
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death
in children ages 3 - 8. Most of the fatal or serious
injuries could have been prevented had they been
using a car seat correctly or at all. In an
effort to educate and promote the new Georgia child
passenger safety law, a statewide partnership with
support from the Governor's Office of Highway Safety
between the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH),
the Office of Injury Prevention, and the Georgia
State Patrol (GSP) to educate parents on Georgia's
car seat and booster seat law was created - Give
Kids a Boost Campaign. This partnership worked
together to promote and provide education on the new
law requiring children up to eight years old to be
in an approved car seat and installed in the back
seat. The new state law took effect July 1, 2011.
The previous law only required children to age six
to ride in a car seat.
The local Health Districts planned back to school
Immunization events with GSP education and
distribution of booster seats. This combined two
important issues to protect Georgia's children. Each
Health District was provided a booster seat
educational program and fact sheet handout for
parents/caregivers on the new law. Each GSP Post was
provided booster seats for distribution at these
events. More than 125 events took place around the
state and over 2,300 booster seats were distributed
to families. Most events were held in July and
August of 2011, immediately following when the new
law went into effect.
The law brings Georgia in line with the age
recommendations the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA). Georgia is
already one of 47 states that require booster
seats or other appropriate devices for children
who have outgrown their car seats but are still
too small to use an adult seat belt safely.
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Heart Health in Fulton County: Time for Action
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Local hospitals and organizations set up
booths at the Healthy Heart Coalition of
Fulton County kickoff to educate
participates about heart health. |
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of
death in Fulton County for both men and women.
Nearly 30 percent of all deaths in Fulton County
were due to cardiovascular disease in 2008.
In an effort to increase awareness of
cardiovascular disease, the Fulton County
Department of Health and Wellness organized the
Healthy Heart Coalition (HHC) of Fulton County
to develop an effective, multifaceted approach
to promote heart health while creating
opportunities for further collaborations.
HHC kicked off its initiative on Nov 15, 2011 at the
Roswell-Alpharetta Recreation Center. There were a
total of 60 participants at the meeting from various
sectors. Chad Neilson, an epidemiologist with the
Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH), talked
about the status of heart health in Fulton County
and Mr. Michael J. Miller from the Brown & Miller PR
firm shared with the participants the tactics he had
to play to get the menu labeling law passed in the
state of California. The featured guest speakers,
Chad Neilsen, DPH; Michael J Miller, Brown Miller
Communications, Inc.; and William Riner, Rural Metro
EMS shared perspectives for improving poor health
outcomes through education and social media
marketing.
"Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer
in Fulton County," stated Dr. Matthew McKenna,
Medical Director, Fulton County Health &
Wellness. "And although we seem to be heading in
the right direction in some way, we need to have
further discussions to figure out what to do
about the things that are headed in the wrong
direction."
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Commissioner Brenda Fitzgerald, M.D., along with
representatives from Georgia's emergency
management agencies joined Governor Nathan Deal
to proclaim the week of Feb. 6-10, 2012, as
Severe Weather Awareness Week in Georgia.
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Georgia is no stranger to the effects of severe weather. The
beginning of 2011 brought with it snow and ice that
paralyzed the northern third of the state of several days.
Fifteen people were killed and 143 injured across the state
when tornadoes struck in April. Even though we've had mostly
mild weather so far this year, 2012 started off with a
tornado that struck Gordon County, damaging over 100 homes.
The Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) encourages all
Georgian's to make sure their families are prepared for
severe weather.
Commissioner Brenda Fitzgerald, M.D., along with the Georgia
Emergency Management Agency/Homeland Security (GEMA), the
National Weather Service (NWS) and Georgia's local emergency
management agencies joined Governor Nathan Deal to proclaim
the week of Feb. 6-10, 2012, as Severe Weather Awareness
Week in Georgia. The goal of the week-long observance is to
encourage Georgians to practice emergency preparedness and
response procedures for all types of severe weather events
that occur in the state.
The proclamation took place at the Capitol just days
after devastating tornadoes struck our neighbor,
Alabama. The severe weather in Alabama was a strong
reminder to everyone in Georgia about the power of
Mother Nature.
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PHRECIPE |
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Chickpea Burgers & Tahini Sauce
Rather than a heavy, fried falafel, here's an updated version of
this pocket sandwich: a light chickpea patty served in a whole-wheat
pita with a flavorful but light tahini sauce.
Servings: 4
Active Time: 25
minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Click Here for Full Recipe
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Home
|
Forging Hearts of Iron |
Combating Child Obesity |
DPH recognizes National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day |
Effington Co. Health Dept. Gives Kids a Boost |
Heart Health in Fulton County |
Severe Weather Emergency Kit
|
PHBRIEFS |
PHRECIPE |
PHTRAINING |
PHEVENTS
|
PHNEWS
|
|
