The Constitutional Revision Commission (CRC) of Florida meets once every 20 years to examine the Florida Constitution and propose changes. During 2017-2018, they held more than 15 public hearings across the state to identify issues that matter most to Floridians, ultimately resulting on the CRC’s recommended changes to the Florida Constitution. On May 9, 2018 the [...]
The FYTS is a school based survey that is administered January through February every year. This survey tracks indicators of tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke among Florida public middle and high school students in all 67 Florida counties. Schools and classrooms are randomly selected and survey responses are anonymous. Each county in Florida is [...]
This year, on November 15, the American Cancer Society is holding their 43rd annual Great American Smokeout (GASO). This event encourages current smokers to take action and steps towards quitting tobacco and living a healthier life. Providers, employers, and other organizations host many different events in honor of this day, and they all encourage current smokers [...]
Human Papillomavirus, commonly known as HPV, is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections in the United States and the leading cause of cervical cancer in women. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 79 million Americans are currently infected with HPV and about 14 million become infected with the [...]
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute (UWPHI) have collaborated to bring the County Health Rankings and Roadmaps report for 2018. These rankings compare counties within each state on more than 30 health-influencing factors such as education, jobs, and access to quality healthcare. They provide overall rankings for each county [...]
You are probably familiar with cigarettes and tobacco dip. It’s been around for a quite a while. You might have even recently heard of electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes, but do you know what JUUL is? No fret, I hadn’t heard of JUUL or how widespread it was until a couple of weeks ago. Let’s go [...]
Most people know that tobacco causes a variety of health problems and that nicotine, the addictive chemical found in cigarettes, is at the root of many of these health problems. However, this wasn’t always public knowledge. Researchers were hired by tobacco companies to study nicotine and its effects but weren’t allowed to publish their findings. Earlier [...]
April 15-21 is National Volunteer Week. To kick things off, we are highlighting a program in the community that SRAHEC started in 2015 to help the homeless and near-homeless in Gainesville quit tobacco. The transient nature of homelessness makes it challenging to get a good estimate of the number of homeless individuals in the U.S. Estimates [...]
“Ensuring the Right to Health” is the theme of the final day of National Public Health Week. This topic falls under the mission of Suwannee River AHEC “to promote and provide access to quality health connections in our community.” American Public Health Association has identified three pillars for ensuring the right to health which include: access [...]
National Public Health Week 2018 is underway. Today’s focus is Behavioral Health, a dimension of health that Suwannee River AHEC is well versed in. American Public Health Association’s emphasis on behavioral health revolves around the prominent opioid epidemic. Opioid addiction is killing thousands of Americans each year—91 people each day (Behavioral Health, n.d.). Though the opioid [...]