Georgia PH week [Mar. 18, 2013]

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Improving Georgia WIC
State staff briefed on upcoming program changes

Leaders within

the Georgia

Submit your story suggestions, Department of

ideas, comments or a story of Public Health

your own!

(DPH) are now in

the final stages



of transforming the state's WIC

In This Issue

program in an effort to create

Improving Georgia WIC

new efficiencies and improve services. They're changes DPH's

Agencies Await Sequestration commissioner labels "vital and necessary" within a program helping

DPH Employee Puts Health First

303,000 mothers and children secure the nutrition and counseling they need to grow healthy and succeed.

Manager Wins Humanitarian Award

Kids Stand Up to Tobacco World TB Day
Suicide Rates Highest in Spring App Helps Smokers Quit

"On day one of becoming a new department, it was clear WIC required attention," said DPH Commissioner Brenda Fitzgerald, M.D., who immediately began making changes once public health was elevated to departmental status in July 2011.

PHEVENTS



Health Agencies Await Sequestration

Inaugural State of Public Health

Conference The inaugural 2013 State of Public Health Conference will be March
21 at the UGA Hotel and Conference Center in Athens. Tyler Norris, vice president of Total Health Partnerships at

The state Department of Public Health said Tuesday that it expects funding reductions from sequestration, but added that it's unclear so far how much money or what programs will be cut.

Kaiser Permanente, will give the keynote presentation, along with
DPH Commissioner Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, who will give the plenary presentation. The event is sponsored by the Georgia Public

And the timeline for decisions on federal reductions is also unknown, said Kate Pfirman, chief financial officer of Public Health, at an agency board meeting Tuesday.

Health Training Center and the UGA College of Public Health. Click here for more information.

Sequestration, or the "sequester,'' is a series of automatic cuts to government agencies, resulting from

One Health Symposium The University of Georgia

the federal debt ceiling compromise of 2011.

Biomedical and Health Sciences Areas expected to see large cuts in federal health spending include

Institute and Faculty of Infectious maternal and children's health, mental health, and community

Diseases, along with the

health centers, according to a Stateline article. State and local

University of Liverpool, will host agencies that receive federal funding, meanwhile, are facing

the first international One Health uncertainty as federal departments figure out the cuts.

Symposium March 21-23 at the

UGA Center for Continuing



Education. The event will bring

together researchers, human and
animal health care practitioners, DPH Employee Puts Health First

clinicians and experts in microbiology, infectious diseases,

Chance of stroke motivates Kilgour to change

disease ecology, human and lifestyle

veterinary medicine, environmental health, public health, health policy and wildlife to discuss disease diagnosis and health practice. "Breaking Barriers and Crossing Scales" is this year's
theme. Microbiome, hostpathogen-host interactions and biodiversity and infection will be discussed during the forum. Click
here for more information.

Kimberly Kilgour, 52, has a busy schedule as a preacher's wife, mother and full-time manager in the Immunology Unit at the Georgia Public Health Laboratory (GPHL). In 2010, Kilgour's schedule became even busier when her mother, Arlena, 76, had a stroke and moved in with her

12th Annual Parks & Greenspace Conference

daughter after extensive rehabilitation.

The 12th annual Parks & Greenspace Conference will be March 25 at Atlanta Botanical Gardens. Richard Jackson, M.D., MPH, is the keynote speaker. Jackson is professor and chair of the Department of Environmental
Health Sciencces at UCLA's Fielding School of Public Health.
Conference activities include breakout sessions, a Beltline

She tried to juggle the demands of home, work and church -- all at the expense of her health.

Kilgour's first reality check was during a 2011 visit to her doctor after a colonoscopy. The follow-up results were great

Walking helps Kimberly Kilgour and her mother, Arlena, improve their overall physical and mental health. Kilgour's
mother had a stroke in 2010.

but she was bothered by her weight gain.

walking tour and picnic lunch in

the garden. Click here for more

information.

Southwest Health District 8-2 Nurse

Childhood Obesity Day Voices for Georgia's Children will

Manager Wins Humanitarian Award

host United Against Childhood

Obesity Day at the Capitol March Registered nurse Denise

27 from 9 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. The Linnenkohl, who has overseen

event is designed to build

the Colquitt County Health

awareness among state legislators Department since 2007, was

about the prevalence of childhood presented with the 2013

obesity in Georgia and the need Walter Harrison Humanitarian

to reverse the problem.

Award at the Colquitt

Regional Medical Foundation

2013 Dr. Daniel S. Blumental gala recently at the Colquitt Annual Public Health Summit County Arts Center.

Morehouse School of Medicine's Dr.

Daniel S. Blumental Annual Public The Walter Harrison Health Summit, "Preventing Humanitarian Award was
Obesity through the Life Stages," established to recognize and

Jim Lowry, left, president of the Colquitt Regional Medical Foundation, and Dr. Seth
Berl, right, 2012 Walter Harrison Humanitarian Award recipient look on as

will be April 2-3, 2013. DPH honor an individual

Denise Linnenkohl accepts this year's award.

Commissioner Brenda Fitzgerald, healthcare worker who

M.D., is a featured speaker. Click demonstrates a commitment to compassionate healthcare service

here for more information. and community outreach.

Disaster Preparedness for Faith-based Communities



The first 72 hours, a free disaster preparedness summit for leaders

Kids Stand Up to Tobacco

of faith-based communities will on Kick Butts Day
be April 11 from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. at

Changing a Generation Church, 3350 Greenbriar Parkway in Altanta. Click here for more information.

Saying no to tobacco saves lives, no matter what tools and tactics tobacco companies use to get people

Free Exercise Classes DPH offers group exercise classes every day at 2 Peachtree. Classes include dance, kickboxing, yoga,
walking and more. Classes are open on a first come, first served basis and there is no need to preregister. Download the monthly

hooked on their products. That's the message kids will hear on Kick Butts Day, a national observance encouraging kids and teens to speak out about the dangers of smoking and the methods of tobacco companies.

Students at Mableton Elementary School in

schedule. Submit Calendar Entries to

Sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Kick

Cobb County learned about the chemicals used to make cigarettes on Kick Butts Day in
2012.

communications@dhr.state.ga.us Butts Day falls this year on

March 20, and groups in

Georgia will join others across the U.S. who are hosting events to

PHTRAINING

raise awareness of the problem of tobacco use in their communities, encourage youth to stay tobacco-free and to urge elected officials

Excel Working with Multiple Worksheets

to take action to protect youth from tobacco and secondhand smoke.

March 21

9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.



Excel Charts March 26
10 a.m.-12 p.m.

March 24 is World Tuberculosis Day
DPH participating in annual awareness walk

Excel Data Management & Pivot Tables March 26
1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
For employees not at 2 Peachtree, classes can be attended remotely, but employees must be registered
48 hours prior to class. Register for all classes through SABA (2 Peachtree attendees register for "Instructor-Led" and remote attendees register for "Virtual" classes). Contact Lisa Miller
if you have questions.
Look for Word & PowerPoint classes in April and Access classes
in May.
Submit Calendar Entries to communications@dhr.state.ga.us

Roughly one-third of the world's population is estimated to be infected with the bacteria causing tuberculosis (TB). And in 2011, there were almost 1.4 million tuberculosisrelated deaths worldwide.

March 24 is World

Tuberculosis Day and the

Georgia Department of

Public Health (DPH) will

DPH's Tuberculosis Program staff.

join the National

Tuberculosis Controllers Association and others March 23 for the

seventh annual Tuberculosis Awareness Walk to raise awareness of

the disease.

PHNEWS


Suicide Rates Highest in Spring

City's New Drink Rules Add Wrinkle to Coffee Orders

Groups work to provide resources and erase stigma

Posters on Teenage Pregnancy Draw Fire
Sex Ed Without Condoms? Welcome to Mississippi

Spring arrives March 20 and many will appreciate the sunshine and warmth it brings after winter's gloom. But for some, spring brings dark, desperate feelings.

Hardening of the arteries common

in ancient mummies

It's a cruel incongruity, but spring is

typically the season when suicide

rates spike. Data from the National

Center for Health Statistics show

PHRECIPE

routine rises in suicide rates in the U.S. anywhere from March to June

nearly every year since 1999.

Carol Koplan, adjunct assistant professor at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health, said scientists have speculated for years on a number of causes, everything from the biological effects of sunshine to the psychology of loneliness.


App Designed to Help Smokers Quit

Quick and Easy Creamy Tomato Mushroom Pasta Serves 3
Click Here for Full Recipe

National Cancer Institute's QuitPal is a free smartphone app to support smokers working to become smoke-free. The interactive app was developed using proven quit strategies and tools to help change behavior and assist with giving up smoking.

PHWEEK
Editor Nicole Price
Content Coordinator Connie F. Smith
Sr. Graphic Designer Ginny Jacobs
Interim Web Developer Jimmy Clanton, Jr.
Editorial & Design Team Tammy Beasley Carrie Gann Eric Jens Nancy Nydam Sandra Roberts Suleima Salgado
Director of Communications Ryan Deal

Click here to download the app.


Georgia Public Health Observances | March 2013

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