Latest California Healthline Stories
San Diego County’s 10-Year Public Health Initiative Shows Early Progress
Live Well, San Diego! is a 10-year public health project that calls on a wide range of community stakeholders to make changes both within and outside of the health care delivery system to reduce the burden of chronic disease. Three years in, county health officials are preparing to demonstrate the program’s effectiveness.
Invasive Mosquito Risks Spread of Dengue and Yellow Fever Diseases in Calif.
Kim Keyser of the San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control District, Scott Morrow of the San Mateo County Public Health Department, Steve Mulligan of the Fresno County Consolidated Mosquito Abatement District and Russell Parman of the Santa Clara County Vector Control District spoke with California Healthline about the growing threat of several deadly tropical diseases in California, including dengue fever and yellow fever, because of the introduction of an invasive mosquito to the state.
Water Woes All Over California Policy Map
Water issues — from pollutants in drinking water to delayed funding of water projects and controversial relocation plans — are pervasive in California and probably will be for years to come, bringing with them direct and indirect public health repercussions.
Can Health Reform Help Reduce Violence?
Under the Affordable Care Act, more money and resources may be available for California communities to implement policies aimed at reducing street crime and domestic assault.
Getting Dental Care to Pregnant Women
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists announced new national guidelines for care this week that include an emphasis on providing dental care for pregnant women — something California advocates have been working on for years.
Public Health Agencies Under Pressure To Curb Growing Valley Fever Threat
Robert Levin of the Ventura County Public Health Department and George Rutherford of UC-San Francisco spoke with California Healthline about the growing concern among state and federal officials over the spread of valley fever in California.
Task Force To Examine Developmental Centers
Diana Dooley, secretary of the state’s Health and Human Services agency, yesterday announced formation of a task force to take a hard look at the viability of closing four developmental centers in California.
“I don’t know if the four developmental centers we operate can all close,” Dooley said. “I want to hear from the stakeholders with an open mind. Clearly there is a problem with these centers, but we also have to address the fiscal issues. If they cannot operate, then we should look at a timeline for closing them.”
Developmental centers in California have come under fire recently — with allegations of chronic abuse of patients, investigations by multiple government agencies and loss of federal certification. The state has taken a number of steps, particularly at Sonoma Developmental Center, to investigate possible abuses and improve safety of the centers’ clients.
Health Care Issues High on Latino Community Agenda
Health care was a focal point when leaders of Latino community organizations met in Sacramento last week to launch the “California Latino Agenda,” a statewide campaign to unite leadership, establish goals and lobby for policy positions.
Assembly Approves Race, Ethnicity in Quality Reporting
The Assembly yesterday passed a bill that requires state officials to include race and ethnicity when compiling health care quality data.
AB 411 by Assembly member Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) would not create any kind of difficulty for state officials, since that data already exists, according to Pan. The point is to make state officials use it, Pan said.
“It’s similar to the way MRMIB (Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board) used to analyze Healthy Families data,” Pan said. “This is a vital thing that we need to do.”
$2-Per-Pack Tobacco Tax Clears First of Legislative Hurdles
A new bill proposing to raise the state tax on tobacco by $2 per pack of cigarettes cleared its first two committees in the California Legislature last week. The tax would push the price of cigarettes beyond $8 a pack and move California from 33rd in the country to fourth in tobacco taxation.