Monday, June 27, is National HIV Testing Day

Public Health to Offer Anonymous HIV Counseling and Testing in Urbana, Rantoul, Danville and Decatur

June 27 is National HIV Testing Day, and the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District and the Champaign County Public Health Department are working together to bring anonymous HIV counseling and testing to several local communities.

Begun by the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA-US), National HIV Testing Day is meant to encourage those at risk of becoming infected to receive voluntary HIV counseling and testing.

Since 1981, more than 30,000 Illinoisans have been diagnosed with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Of that figure, about 53 percent have died. The number of Illinois cases is the sixth highest total in the U.S., trailing New York, California, Florida, Texas and New Jersey.

On June 27 the Health District’s Division of HIV/STD/TB Prevention & Management will offer anonymous HIV tests in Urbana, Danville and Decatur:

•  From 8-11 a.m. at the Health District satellite office, 217 N. Broadway, in Urbana.
• From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Vermilion Garden Apartments, 1213 Garden Drive, Danville.
• From 9 to 10:30 p.m. at the Flashback Lounge, 2239 E. Wood St., Decatur.

From 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. at the Firehouse Bar, 550 N. Morgan St., Decatur.

The Champaign County Public Health Department will offer anonymous HIV counseling and testing from 1 to 4:30 p.m. at the Health District satellite office, 520 E. Wabash St., Rantoul.

The Macon County Health Department 217-423-6988 and the Vermilion County Health Department 217-431-2662 offer confidential HIV counseling and testing. The Community Health Improvement Center in Decatur 217-422-9117 offers anonymous HIV counseling and testing. Call for more details.

For more information about National HIV Testing Day, contact the Health District’s Division of HIV/STD/TB Prevention & Management: 217-239-7827.

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Health District Board Supports Smoke-free Resolution

Champaign-Urbana and Champaign County Public Health United on Support

“A healthy workplace is an essential part of the public health equation.”

-- Dave King, Public Health Administrator

Champaign, IL – The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District’s Board of Health has voted to sign a resolution supporting the prohibition of smoking in public places and in places of employment in Champaign and Urbana. The Champaign County Board of Health also supports the resolution.

“Both boards of health are united on their support of any initiative to prevent disease and protect public health. That is our mission,” said Dave King, Public Health Administrator.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has found that second-hand smoke cannot be reduced to safe levels in businesses, even with the most sophisticated ventilation systems. Workers in smoke-filled businesses are at a greater risk for heart attacks, cardiovascular disease, cancer and respiratory disease. Patrons of such businesses may also suffer the ill effects of exposure to second-hand smoke.

“A healthy workplace is an essential part of the public health equation,” said Mr. King.

The text of the resolution, sponsored by the C-U Smokefree Alliance, is provided below.

Resolution to Eliminate Secondhand Smoke in Public Places

Whereas, the U.S. Surgeon General has determined that simple separation of smokers and nonsmokers within the same air space does not eliminate the exposure of nonsmokers to secondhand smoke.

Whereas, numerous studies have found that tobacco smoke is a major contributor to indoor air pollution, and that breathing secondhand smoke is a cause of disease in healthy nonsmokers, including heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease and lung cancer. The National Cancer Institute determined in 1999 that secondhand smoke is responsible for the early deaths of 65,000 Americans annually.

Whereas, the Environmental Protection Agency has determined that secondhand smoke cannot be reduced to safe levels in businesses by high rates of ventilation. Air cleaners, which are capable of filtering the particulate matter and odors in smoke, do not eliminate the known 5,000 chemicals - including arsenic, cyanide and formaldehyde and other toxins - in secondhand smoke.

Whereas, employees who work in smoke-filled businesses suffer a 25-50% higher risk of heart attack and higher rates of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer, as well as increased acute respiratory disease and measurable decrease in lung function.

Whereas, smoke-filled workplaces result in higher worker absenteeism due to respiratory disease, lower productivity, higher cleaning and maintenance costs, increased health insurance rates, and increased liability claims for diseases related to exposure to secondhand smoke.

Whereas, there is conclusive proof that smokefree air laws do not have adverse economic consequences for businesses subject to them; moreover, there is much evidence that smokefree air laws have a positive economic effect on those businesses.

Be it therefore resolved, that the undersigned organization endorses the C-U Smokefree Campaign, which will work to:

• Protect the public health and welfare by prohibiting smoking in public places and places of employment

• Guarantee the right of nonsmokers to breathe smoke-free air. Be it therefore resolved, that the undersigned organization will:

• Inform its members and the general public of its endorsement of this Resolution

• Inform local elected officials of its endorsement and urge its members to do the same.

  Champaign-Urbana Public Health District

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Download 2005-06-20-Smokefree-Resolution-PR

It’s National Infant Immunization Week

Public Health Provides Hundreds of Infant Immunizations Each Year in Champaign County

The last week of April is National Infant Immunization Week, an annual observance that highlights immunizations as an important way to protect children from a dozen potentially life-threatening diseases.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) launched the second decade of the observance this week, and hailed immunization as one of the ten great public health achievements of the 20th century.

• In March of this year the CDC reported that rubella is no longer a major health threat to expectant mothers and their unborn children, thanks to immunizations.

• April, 2005 marks the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the polio vaccine. In 1955, the Illinois state legislature passed a $1 million emergency appropriation to buy and freely distribute the Salk polio vaccine. The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District began polio vaccinations the same year.

• Today the world is free of smallpox; polio could soon be eradicated worldwide; rubella, once a major cause of birth defects, has been eliminated in the U.S.; and diseases and death from diphtheria, tetanus, measles, mumps, hepatitis B, and Haemophilus influenzae type b are at or near record lows.

The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District and the Champaign County Public Health Department are leading providers of infant immunizations in Champaign County. Between April 1, 2004 and March 31, 2005, the Health District gave more than 400 immunizations to 276 infants up to one year of age.

The Champaign County Public Health Department provides funds for immunizations to adults and children who live in Champaign County but outside Champaign-Urbana. About 36 percent of the child immunizations administered in the last year went to county residents.

“We are now protecting children from a dozen vaccine preventable diseases,” said Public Health Administrator Dave King. “Thousands of children have been vaccinated over the years in Champaign County, and countless cases of disease, disability and death have been prevented.”

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Download 2005-04-27-Infant-Immunizations-PR