Georgia PH week [Jan. 17, 2012]

January 17, 2012- In This Issue
Home | Csukas Named MCH Director | Lessons Learned | Maximize Prevention | Environmental Health Data | Service to Honor King | Teen Drinking and Cancer | PHBRIEFS | PHRECIPE | PHTRAINING | PHEVENTS | PHNEWS
Dr. Csukas Named MCH Director
The New Year has already brought exciting changes to many programs at the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH). Seema Csukas, M.D., Ph.D., is the new Interim Director of the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) program and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) at DPH. Dr. Csukas comes to this position from her previous role as medical director for MCH at DPH where she focused on programs that address maternal health, improved birth outcomes, child health, early intervention programs, children with special healthcare needs and injury prevention. She is a board-certified pediatrician and a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
"I am very excited about my new role and continuing the great work happening in the programs," said Dr. Csukas. "We want to achieve measurable improvement in the health of infants, children, women, fathers and families in Georgia. We want our public health programs to be accessible to Georgians and

we want to continue to establish Public Health as a health and safety resource for all of the state."
"Our goals will require ongoing collaboration with other programs within public health as well as with other state agencies, nonprofit and private organizations, the medical community and communities all across Georgia," said Dr. Csukas. "It is a great time to be a part of public health."

DPH Program Consultant Brings Lessons Learned Home from Britain

In July 2011, I was awarded the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) Sabbatical Exchange Award. The NEHA Sabbatical Exchange is a prestigious two to four week professional development opportunity to observe international environmental health practices, policies and methods, and to share American expertise with professionals in Canada or Britain. Each year, one Environmental Health professional is selected from a nationwide pool of applicants. NEHA provides funding to cover the award winner's travel. I chose to conduct my sabbatical for three weeks in Britain to study landfills and brownfields in a high precipitation, high groundwater table island environment.

In Georgia, as in many areas of the United States, many environmental health issues

arise as populations expand and contract (or vacate). Public Health is impacted by these

population shifts as land use changes, and the potential for exposure to environmental contamination is evaluated. In Georgia, the state Environmental Protection Division (GEPD) reports that the number of closed, unlined, leaking municipal waste landfills with

A photo taken by Campbell through a window in Blackburn, England shows the borough's high density
of industry and residents.

known groundwater contamination increased from 42 in 1995, to 126 in 2009. Also, the amount of waste being disposed of in lined,

regulated landfills has increased from 45 percent (1994) to 98 percent (2002), and in coastal Georgia and other regions where

hydrogeology is complex, land use is heavily regulated and waste is commonly shipped inland, with limited locations available for

landfills.

As populations expand from cities into suburbs, water quality is at risk when the numbers of new septic systems increase additional pavement and road construction changes the natural surface water patterns, and additional sewage and solid waste is created. As populations contract and move back into cities, the number of people living near brownfields increases, causing potential for residents' exposure to chemicals in soil, groundwater and indoor air.

Changes in Service Delivery Maximize Prevention Opportunities

Recently, 64 representatives from all 18 health districts including nurses, case managers, clinicians, communicable disease specialists and program consultants gathered with CDC staff in Macon for the Georgia Department of Public Health's (DPH) annual Program Collaboration and Service Integration (PCSI) Conference. For two days, November 29-30, participants attended sessions with the goal to ensure that Georgians receive the best preventive service and treatment possible whenever they interact with providers of Public Health services.

Staff from many DPH program areas, including the STD, TB, HIV, Refugee Health, Family Planning and Immunization offices attended the conference to learn how program collaboration and service integration can directly benefit DPH programs.

PCSI aims to maximize the health benefits that individuals receive from prevention services

Participants from the Program Collaboration and Service Integration Conference. L-R Carla Alexander-Pender, DPH Division of Health Protection, STD Office; Monica Vargas, DPH Division of Health Protection, Refugee Health Office; Darryl Mitchell, District 3-1; Rhonda Burton, DPH Division of Health Protection, STD Office.

through increasing service efficiency by combining, streamlining, and enhancing prevention services; maximizing opportunities to screen, test, treat, or vaccinate those in need of these services; improving the health of populations negatively affected by multiple diseases; and enabling service providers to adapt to and keep pace with changes in diseases epidemiology and new technologies.

To view photos from the conference, please click here.

A Statewide Solution for Environmental Health Data
Over the past five years, the Environmental Health program (EH) of the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) and environmental health staff in every county have been making steady progress to implement a statewide solution for data recording, reporting, and analysis needs, known as the Environmental Health Information System (EHIS). EH's progress to date could not have happened without the active cooperation and dedication provided by the Environmental Health Specialists, administrative support staff, and their respective managers across Georgia. Their actions provided the momentum needed to drive this project.
Currently, the state-managed EHIS provides for the essential data management needs for most of the state with 131 counties using the state-managed EHIS .Locally-managed

systems are in use in the other counties. Eventually, these local systems will provide data to populate the state EHIS to allow a complete picture of Georgia's environmental public health. This is in concert with the Information Services project and the DPH data vision. This vision is to ensure that DPH data is administered locally, tracked globally and shared appropriately.
Georgians Use Service to Honor King
"Life's most persistent and urgent question is: 'What are you doing for others?'"
Each year, Georgians answer this question posed by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by coming together on the King Holiday to serve their neighbors and communities. Taking place each year on the third Monday in January, the MLK Day of Service is the only federal holiday observed as a national day of service - a "day on, not a day off."
On Wednesday, January 12, state leaders and King's family members, including Dr. Christine King Farris, Ph.D., King's only living sibling, gathered together for the 27th year at the Capitol to celebrate the life and legacy of the civil rights icon.
Dr. Christine King Farris, Ph.D., Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s only living sibling, listens as Governor Deal talks about her brother's legacy.
Harvard Study Ties Teenage Drinking to Breast Cancer Risk
In what is likely to be a much talked-about report, a study led by a Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital

biostatistician has found that drinking alcohol as a teenager may increase the risk of developing breast cancer later on, for women with the disease in their families. The study is being published in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society .

Dr. Catherine Berkey, of Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, studied which childhood and adolescent risk factors might increase the incidence of benign breast disease among girls with a family history of breast cancer. Benign breast disease is a risk factor for breast cancer, researchers say. Berkey and her team found there was a significant association between the amount of alcohol consumed as adolescents and further increased risk of getting benign breast disease as young women.

"Our study suggests that adolescent females already at higher risk for breast cancer, in light of their family history, should be aware that avoiding alcohol may reduce their risk for benign breast disease as young women, which might be accompanied by reduced breast cancer risk later in life" Berkey said in a statement.

Teenage alcohol consumption is linked to a higher risk of breast cancer in a newly published study, conducted by
Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital.

PHRECIPE
Fettuccini with Spinach Pesto Servings: 4 Click Here for Full Recipe

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