Public Health Officials Take Swing At Broader Culture, Stigma That Supports Spread Of STDs
LA health officials say that it's clear the traditional ways of preventing disease — patients seeing a doctor regularly to get screened and treated — have not been working. So the county recently created a Center for Health Equity to evaluate the way certain public health issues are intertwined with social factors such as income and racial discrimination.
Los Angeles Times:
STDs In L.A. County Are Skyrocketing. Officials Think Racism And Stigma May Be To Blame
Los Angeles County launched a Center for Health Equity in October to address the idea that “health predominantly happens outside the health care setting,” said its director, Heather Jue Northover, at a recent meeting. “It happens where we live, work, play and pray.” The center will target five health disparities, including high rates of STDs among certain minority groups. (Karlamangla, 5/7)
In other public health news —
Ventura County Star:
Xanax And Other Benzodiazepines Raise New Worries In Ventura County
As anxiety about opioid deaths in Ventura County storms on, health and law enforcement leaders worry, too, about the pills that serve as second punch, sidekick and accessory. “Xanax is probably the hottest thing on the (street) market aside from heroin and fentanyl,” said Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Matt Young, citing instances where pills are brought in from China, laced with a street opioid and sold as a black market version of the drug. “Sometimes, they’re deadly.” (Kisken, 5/5)
Peninsula Press:
California Tackles Air Pollution Disparities With Data, Policy Efforts
While California holds a reputation as a leader in environmental policy, it still ranks worst out of all 50 states for average public exposure to particulate matter pollution — tiny particles measured in microns, a millionth of a meter — largely due to the state’s topography and population density. California is also home to seven of the 10 U.S. metropolitan areas with the highest short-term levels of particle pollution. (Salian, 5/4)
Capital Public Radio:
New Campaign Tackles Incarceration, HIV Rates Among Women Of Color
Black and Hispanic women are overrepresented in U.S. prisons, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. And women of color make up roughly 80 percent of all women with HIV, despite making up only 40 percent of the female population. A private philanthropy called the California Wellness Foundation is giving out $13 million this spring to help nonprofits change those trends. (Caiola, 5/4)