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| April 30, 2012- In This Issue |
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Home
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Commissioner Delivers Keynote |
Nurse is Immunization Champion |
Child Occupant Safety Program |
Exec Chef Holly Chute |
Nutrition Extra Mile Award |
Hopes to Attract Males |
STD Awaredness Month |
PHBRIEFS |
PHNEWS |
PHRECIPE |
PHTRAINING |
PHEVENTS
Commissioner Delivers Keynote at Annual Meeting
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Brenda
Fitzgerald, M.D., Public Health Commissioner
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The 83rd annual Georgia Public Health Association
two-day conference was held at the Crowne Plaza Ravinia
April 12 and 13. This year's theme was "Healthy
Georgians Living in Healthy Communities." Hundreds of members gathered to discuss and learn more
about how public health professionals in Georgia can
work together to ensure our people live and work in
healthy communities all across the state. As the director of the Department of Public Health and
State Health Officer, Brenda Fitzgerald, M.D., received
a very warm welcome as the opening keynote speaker. Dr.
Fitzgerald energized the crowd as she compared Public
Health to a bear waking up from hibernation. "We've been asleep for a while. We are a little lean.
But we are awake and ready to work hard to protect the
health of the people of Georgia!" Dr. Fitzgerald went on to describe the public health
crisis of our time - obesity - by sharing startling
statistics.
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Public Health Nurse Named Immunization Champion
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Nancy Stackhouse, LPN, Cherokee County
Health Department
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Reviewing, inspecting, and managing more than 7,000
immunization certificates at over 100 sites - including
schools, pre-kindergarten, and day care facilities - is
no easy task, but you wouldn't know it based on the ease
with which nurse Nancy
Stackhouse handles the job. A
licensed practical nurse for the Cherokee County Health
Department, Stackhouse was named a CDC Childhood
Immunization Champion for 2012.
The CDC Childhood Immunization Champion Award, given
jointly by the CDC and the CDC Foundation, honors
individuals who are doing an exemplary job or going
above and beyond to promote or foster childhood
immunizations in their communities.
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The Child Occupant Safety Program Reminds Drivers of Dangers of
Leaving Children in Cars
 April
is Distracted Driver Awareness Month. Distractions include cell
phones, busy work and personal lives, schedules to think about,
grocery lists, and more. Distractions exist with the important
task of driving, as well as active supervision and care of
children.
During 2011, news reports indicated three children were left
unattended in hot vehicles and died of heat stroke in
Georgia. Nationally, 49 children died in 2010 and 33 in
2011. The Department of Geosciences with San Francisco
University reports that 547 children have died from heat
stroke since 1998 and half of those were under the age of
two. Fifty two percent were forgotten by the caregiver and
30 percent were playing unattended in the vehicle.
We must take the initiative and increase knowledge regarding
the dangerous consequences of leaving a child inside of a
vehicle unattended. While there may be a reason a caregiver
momentarily leaves a child alone in a vehicle, there are
more reasons to consider this a dangerous behavior,
especially during hot months in Georgia.
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Executive Chef Holly Chute Partners With Public Health on Cooking
and Eating Healthy
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From left, Department of Agriculture Commissioner
Gary Black, Executive Chef Holly Chute and
Department of Public Health Commissioner Brenda
Fitzgerald.
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The Georgia Department of Public Health, in collaboration with
the Georgia Department of Agriculture, hosted a lunch and learn
cooking demonstration for Public Health employees on April 17, featuring Executive Chef Holly Chute from the
Governor's Mansion.
The event was organized in support of InSTEP - Insulin Support,
Tips and Exercise Program - to encourage employees to eat
healthy, remove white hazards from their diet and get moving
throughout the work day. More than 50 participants, along with
Commissioner Brenda Fitzgerald, walked from 2 Peachtree to the
brand new kitchen at the Department of Agriculture. They were
greeted with more than the appetizing smell of onions, herbs and
spices - they also were introduced to simple meals which can
quickly be prepared for family and friends.
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Rosemarie B. Newman Nutrition Extra Mile Award
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Donna Wilson, East Central Public Health District
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Donna Wilson received the Rosemarie B. Newman Nutrition Extra
Mile Award at the Georgia Public Health Association Awards
Luncheon on April 13. This award recognizes a public health
employee for making significant contributions in the delivery of
nutrition services in the community. Donna was nominated by Dot
Hart, nutrition services director, for her passionate and
dedicated service to the East Central Public Health community in
the area of breastfeeding promotion.
To name a few of her accomplishments, in the summer of 2011,
Donna, with assistance from the members of the CSRA
Breastfeeding Coalition, Inc., wrote a grant to increase
breastfeeding support projects in the Central Savannah River
Area.
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Clayton Board of Health Hopes to Attract Males with Sports-Themed
Clinic
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Clayton County Board of Health Director Alpha Fowler
Bryan, M.D. (second from right), explains "The
Locker Room" male clinic concept to visitors during
the clinic's grand opening. Photo by Curt Yeomans
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Getting fathers, brothers or significant others to take their
health seriously may be easier, thanks to the Clayton County
Board of Health.
The board's newest male health initiative, The Locker Room,
began serving males between the ages of 11 and 45 in April.
"Our goal in launching The Locker Room is to provide an
inviting, familiar atmosphere for men interested in receiving
and in need of health department services," said Alpha Fowler
Bryan, M.D., district health director.
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Georgia Recognizes Importance of STD Awareness Month
 April
is Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Awareness Month, and this
year, there are many reasons for the Department of Public Health
STD Office to continue their hard work to call attention to the
impact of STDs and to promote STD testing across the state.
Treating STDs like gonorrhea is becoming increasingly difficult.
Traditionally, when someone contracts gonorrhea, he or she can
go to a health care provider and get tested and treated with
antibiotics.
Now, doctors are finding that gonorrhea no longer responds as
well to available antibiotics. It is necessary for public health
professionals to educate people to prevent STDs like gonorrhea
from occurring in the first place, or treat them quickly so they
are not spread through the population.
Every year STDs cost the U.S. healthcare system $17 billion-and
cost individuals even more in immediate and long-term health
consequences, including infertility.
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Home
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Commissioner Delivers Keynote |
Nurse is Immunization Champion |
Child Occupant Safety Program |
Exec Chef Holly Chute |
Nutrition Extra Mile Award |
Hopes to Attract Males |
STD Awaredness Month |
PHBRIEFS |
PHNEWS |
PHRECIPE |
PHTRAINING |
PHEVENTS
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