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What should be done when your state leads the nation in rates of childhood obesity? That was the question various attendants sought to answer at "Childhood Obesity in Louisiana," a conference sponsored by the Environment and Health Council of Louisiana and the Louisiana Council on Obesity Prevention and Management.
The Department of Health and Hospitals urges citizens to be aware, but not concerned, about the spread of an atypical strain of pneumonia that began in Southeast Asia and possibly could spread to other parts of the world.
A newly released reported by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured shows that Louisiana has made significant reductions in its number of uninsured children. In fact, the report showed that Louisiana was the state with the greatest improvement. The report, titled "Health Insurance Coverage in America: 2001," was based on federal census estimates compiled through the end of the 2001 calendar year.
Louisiana leads the nation in childhood obesity. However, various health and physical fitness organizations throughout the state are looking to slim down the problem. The Environment and Health Council of Louisiana, in conjunction with the Louisiana Council on Obesity Prevention and Management, will sponsor a statewide conference to discuss factors that lead to childhood obesity and explore solutions. Conference attendants will look into the benefits of long-term prevention options, such as better health and fitness classes and nutrition programs implemented in schools.
Each year, more than 200,000 Americans die of complications from diabetes, and the disease claims lives in Louisiana at the highest rate in the country. In an effort to raise awareness about the disease, the Department of Health and Hospitals’ Office of Public Health has launched a public education campaign this week, titled “Diabetes: The Silent Killer.”
The Department of Health and Hospitals awarded grants to 11 health care providers throughout the state, giving them financial assistance to enhance or expand their community-based primary and preventive care services.
Beginning Saturday, approximately 83,000 LaCHIP and Medicaid patients who reside in Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Martin and Vermilion parishes will be linked to a doctor who will coordinate their medical care.
A new Centers for Disease Control report warns that toxins from environmental tobacco smoke (or secondhand smoke) are absorbed by children at rates more than double what adults absorb. Toxin absorption rates were reported in the CDC’s Second National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals released in January.
State health care workers will hold a press conference to discuss results of the 2003 Synar Report.
The Department of Health and Hospitals announced Monday that effective March 3, Medicaid will pay for eight prescriptions per patient per month. However, the proposed plan allows physicians to override a patient’s limit if that person is dependent on multiple medications. DHH also has initiated a new Web-based tool that allows physicians and pharmacists access to the prescription history of Medicaid patients, ensuring that informed medical decisions are made when any prescription is ordered.
The Department of Health and Hospitals’ Office of Public Health will offer the media a chance to experience the process health care workers undergo to receive a smallpox vaccine Thursday, Feb. 13, when the statewide inoculation program begins. This opportunity will include the screening process, counseling and a simulated vaccine demonstration.