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Health Highlights

May Observances

Asthma Awareness Month

National Arthritis Month

National Bike Month

National Stroke Awareness Month

Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month

World Asthma Day, May 1

National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, May 2

National Nurses Week, May 6-12

Melanoma Monday, May 7

National Alcohol and Other Drug-Related Birth Defects Week,
May 13-19


National Nursing Home Week,
May 13-19


National Women's Health Week,
May 13-19


HIV Vaccine Awareness Day,
May 18


National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day,
May 19


EMS Week, May 20-26

Click It or Ticket, May 21-June 3

Don't Fry Day, May 27

Hurricane Preparedness Week, May 27-June 2

World No Tobacco Day, May 31

If you helped clean up the oil spill, click here.
ADPH Notices
  • 2011 Annual Report - Our 2011 Annual Report is now available online.

  • GuLF STUDY - Did you help clean up the oil spill? The GuLF STUDY is a health study for workers and volunteers who helped clean up after the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

  • Resolution Praises ADPH - The Alabama House of Representatives adopted House Resolution 318 commending ADPH for its efforts to implement a policy for birthing hospitals to perform noninvasive pulse oximetry testing of newborns to detect critical congenital heart disease prior to hospital discharge.

  • Call For Poster Abstracts - The Office of Women's Health is pleased to announce the call for poster abstracts for the Fifth Annual Women's Health Update.

  • County Health Department Websites - Websites for county health departments in Area 3 and Area 10 are now online.

  • Establishment Closings - ADPH is now reporting closings of food service establishments and lodging and body art facilities online.

  • Alabama Seafood Testing - To ensure the safety of our seafood, the Alabama Departments of Agriculture and Industry (ADAI), Conservation and Natural Resources (Marine Resources Division) (ADCNR/MRD), and Public Health (ADPH) have instituted a three-year seafood testing program in cooperation with British Petroleum.

  • Cancer Control Plan for 2011-2015 - The Alabama Comprehensive Cancer Control Coalition has unveiled its five-year cancer control plan.

  • Notifiable Disease Rules - ADPH has updated the Notifiable Disease Rules and launched an awareness campaign "DETECT, TEST and REPORT Notifiable Diseases" to all notifiable disease reporters.

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ADPH Events

May 18

National Employee Health and Fitness Day Walk

May 19

Annual Women's Health 5K Run and One-Mile Mother-Daughter Walk

June 12

ADPH Volunteer Symposium

August 3

Annual Women's Health Update


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How do I...
Message from the State Health Officer

Embrace Preventive Measures To Limit Disease and Prevent Early Death

Each year, chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes are responsible for millions of premature deaths and cause Americans to miss 2.5 billion days of work, resulting in lost productivity totaling more than $1 trillion. The theme of National Public Health Week 2012 is "A Healthier America Begins Today: Join the Movement." National Public Health Week 2012 is April 2-8.

We are met with a growing public health problem. If we fail to embrace preventive measures to limit disease and early death, the toll, measured in lives lost and health care dollars spent, is only going to get worse in the years to come.

The focus of National Public Health Week is improved awareness of the need for preventive measures to ensure longer and healthier lives. We know that many illnesses and deaths can be prevented. If Americans did simple things—exercised more frequently, had healthier diets, avoided alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, practiced proper hand-washing and food preparation, practiced safe sex, and provided proper treatment to those suffering from mental illnesses—we could dramatically reduce the burden of disease and death moving forward, helping to save lives.

For example, reducing foodborne illness by just 10 percent would keep about 5 million Americans from getting sick each year. Cigarette smoking, which is the most common form of tobacco use, causes approximately 443,000 deaths and costs about $96 billion in medical expenditures and $97 billion in productivity losses in the United States annually.

Continued - Read More