Alabama Department of Public Health

Thursday, the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH), Office of Oral Health, is offering public water systems the opportunity to compete for fluoridation grants to initiate, update or expand community water fluoridation. ADPH is offering a total of $100,000 to fund the one-year grants, with the maximum allowable award being $25,000 per water system. “In … Continued

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill that requires child sex offenders to be chemically castrated once released from prison. The bill, House Bill 379, applies to sex offenders over the age of 21 whose victims are between the ages of 13 and 7. This reversible procedure purports to include the administration of medication — … Continued

The Senate Health Committee was briefed Wednesday on the measles epidemic that is gripping the nation and Alabama’s measles status. “We are hearing more and more measles discussion in our state,” said Health Committee Chairman Jim McClendon, R-Springville. “We asked Dr. (Scott) Harris to update the committee on this.” Harris is the Alabama public health … Continued

The Alabama Department of Public Health is currently researching a growing outbreak of hepatitis A in DeKalb and Jackson counties. Cherokee and Marshall counties have also been affected by potentially linked outbreaks. “Hepatitis A vaccination and proper hand washing will significantly reduce the spread of this virus in these counties and are important measures to … Continued

Recent changes to the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) means that the state of Alabama is going to have to shoulder substantially more of the cost for the program. An estimated 220,000 children receive their health insurance through the CHIP program, which is managed by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama (BCBSAL) and marketed under … Continued

By Brandon Moseley Alabama Political Reporter On Thursday, August 8, the Alabama Department of Public Health issued a message to primary care providers in Alabama to report any suspected Ebola cases and to collect specimens from any suspected patients for testing.  At this point in time, there have been no known cases of the disease … Continued

Staff Report On Monday, Senator Roger Bedford (D-Russellville) and Representative Todd Greeson (R-Ider) passed SB22, which will greatly benefit breast cancer patients in the state of Alabama. The passing of this legislation coincides with Congressman Leonard Lance’s (R-NJ-07) reintroduction of the “Breast Cancer Patient Education Act”. SB22 requires the Alabama Department of Public Health to … Continued

By Brandon Moseley Alabama Political Reporter Influenza is hitting Alabama and most the country unusually hard this year.  Reports of influenza have been higher than the state’s baseline for seven straight weeks.  More samples of suspected influenza cases have been turned in to this point, than in all of the 2011/2012 flu season. Symptoms of … Continued