Arkansas Department of Health100 Years of Service

1913 - 2013

The mission of the Health Department is to protect and

improve the health and well-being of all Arkansans.

Life Expectancy

100 years of public health

advancements have added more than

25 years to our life expectancy

in the United States.

Disease Control

Immunizations

Sanitation

Maternal/Child

Health

Safer Food

Safe Drinking Water

Early Threats of Infectious Diseases

Early focus was response to infectious diseaseso Yellow Fevero Hookwormo Malariao Smallpoxo Tuberculosiso Polio

Kickapoo Medicine Company Products

Site of First Boards of Health

1832 – the first cityBoard of Health

1913 – the first permanent State Board of Health

The Old State House Museum300 W Markham, LR. AR 72201

Permanent Board Created

The Rockefeller Foundation awarded a$1 million grant to 11 southern states & the Sanitary Commission for the Eradication of Hookworm Disease

Three conditions to qualify:

1. Publicly funded Board of Health2. Public Health Laboratory3. Bureau of Vital Statistics

John D. Rockefeller

By John Singer Sargent 1917 PD-US

Vital Records

The first recorded

death certificate in

Arkansas

Malaria

From 1915 to 1917A campaign to rid Crossett, Ark. of malaria by eliminating or controlling the breeding sites of mosquitoes led to a drop in physicians’ calls for malaria from a high of 2,500 to only 200 –a 92 % decrease.

Influenza

More than 675,000 Americans and 40 million people worldwide died from influenza

7,000 Arkansans died from the flu and its complications

Only the Black Death killed more people (14th

Century)

The Great Pandemic of 1918

Tuberculosis

By the 1960s,Arkansas led the nation in tuberculosis treatment innovations.

Drs. Paul Reagan, Joseph Bates & William Stead

HIV/AIDS

First diagnosed in 1981, HIV/AIDS has taken the lives of more than 2,800 Arkansans

CDC has estimated that approximately 55,000 – 58,500 (U.S.) persons become infected with HIV each year

The AIDS Quilt

Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Before World War II, syphilis was the 4th leading cause of death in the U.S., behind tuberculosis, pneumonia and cancer .

By the beginning of WWII, Arkansas had a rate of syphilis twice the national rate.

Immunizations

Vaccines work really well

Environmental Health

1911-12 – Nearly half of the 7,500 rural Arkansas homes had outhouses without protection from flies, insects, fowl and animals.

1935-42 – Works Progress Administration & the Health Department built 51,418 free privies.

After WWII, as more people moved into rural areas without sewer systems, septic tanks were the method for waste disposal.

Septic tank malfunctions led to the need for installation requirements and regulation.

Environmental Health

Safe Drinking Water

Only in the past 100 years has safe

drinking water been a true reality

to the vast majority of people

in the United States.

Safer Food

1893 – Arkansas’s 1st law on safe foods

1906 – U.S. Meat Inspection Act authorized Secretary of Agriculture to require meat inspections

1917 – Legislation required inspections of all food establishments

Oral Health

Tooth decay has long been one of the most widespread health conditions in Arkansas.

Not having enough teethwas a leading cause of military rejection duringboth World Wars.

Oral Health

Every $1 invested in water fluoridation

saves approximately $38 in unnecessary

dental treatment costs

Super Tooth says:Give tooth decay the one-two punch – water fluoridation and dental sealants!

Local Public Health

It was the absence of, and insufficient access to, physicians in rural Arkansas that helped

solidify the importance of local nurses in the minds

of rural Arkansans.

Ruth Anderson, one of the first two nurses hired by the Board of Health

in 1925

Hometown Health Improvement

HHI Coalitions

Identify local health challenges & develop solutions

Facilitate planning

Provide technical assistance to communities

Connect communities with resources

Family Health

Early 1900s – For every 1,000 live births, 100 infants died before age five. One in nine women died of pregnancy-related complications.

Several federal programs were created for women and children including:

Sheppard-Towner Maternity and Infancy Act - 1921

Title V of the Social Security Act – 1935 Title X Family Planning Services and Population Research Act - 1970

1926 – Arkansas reported 4,000 midwives living in the state

1940 – Arkansas was 3rd in the nation for midwife-attended births, nearly one-fourth of all births

Today – A Lay Midwife Advisory Board licenses Arkansas midwives

Advances in Midwifery

Traveling Arkansas, midwives with their support van & driver; c. 1920s (Michael B. Dougan, Encyclopedia of Arkansas History

& Culture)

Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC)

1974 – The Arkansas WIC program began in 14 counties

1979 – Every county LHU provided WIC services

2004 – ADH WIC served 89,113 participants

2008 – Arkansas’s WIC Farmers Market began

2013 – AR WIC is using social media such as Facebook™ & texting for outreach & education

Chronic Diseases

Nutritional deficiencies early 1900s:

Pellagra Rickets

Chronic diseases today:

Heart Disease and Stroke Diabetes Hypertension

Cancer

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U.S.

About one-half of all men and one-third of all women in the U.S. will develop cancer during their lifetimes.

1945 – Act 277 established a free-standing Cancer Commission with a hospital-based Statewide Cancer Registry

1970s – Bureau of Cancer & Special Services

1992 – Department received federal funding to create a breast and cervical cancer program

1994 – New central cancer registry implemented by Health Department

1999 – BreastCare program fully operational

2001 – Arkansas Cancer Plan developed

Tobacco

In 1964 – U.S. Surgeon General issued report on dangers of smoking/lung cancer

1993 – Tobacco Prevention and Education Program established

1998 – Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) reached

2006 – Clean Indoor Air Act prohibited smoking in indoor workplaces and public areas

A 1926 ad targeting women, an untapped market at the time (Leggett &

Myers)

1881 – Advent of a cigarette-making machine

WWI and WWII – Free cigarettesprovided to servicemen

Arkansas Trauma System

Injury is the #1 killer of Arkansans between the ages of one and 44

In 2010 Arkansas’s injury death rate was 31% higher than the national average

Today Arkansas has 58 designated trauma centers

The ‘golden hour’ is the time period following traumatic injury when there is the highest likelihood that prompt medical treatment will prevent death.

Minority Health & Health Disparities

Arkansas’s history of slavery, segregation, and discrimination played a role in the health of minorities

In the last 30 years significant changes occurred to address health disparities 1991 – Arkansas Minority Health

Commission and Office of Minority Health

1997 to 1998 – Study examining factors affecting Latino access to public health care

2011 – Acts 790 & 798 health equity 2011 – Joseph Bates Outreach clinic

opened to serve Marshallese and Hispanics

Minority Health & Health Disparities

Individuals living in red counties have an average life expectancy of 10 years less than individuals living in the green counties

Marshallese Consul GeneralCarmen Chong Gumat home in Springdale

Emergency Preparedness

1973 – Radiation surveillance at Arkansas Nuclear One

1980 – Department’s nuclear planning and response program began

1980 – Titan II missile explosion

1985 – Chemical Stockpile and Emergency Preparedness program created

1945 – Cold War & Civil Defense

1959 – Radiological monitoring activities

Arkansas City, during the1927 flood.

All Hazards Preparedness

2002 – Division of Bioterrorism started (now Public Health Preparedness and Emergency Response Branch)

September 2005 – Hurricane Katrina evacuee assistance

AR 240 Bridge at Caddo Gap after flash floods swamped Albert Pike Campground

2009 – Ice storm, H1N1 influenza pandemic

2010 – The Albert Pike Campground flood

Arkansas Public Health Laboratory

1913 – First public health laboratory located in Old State House Museum

1969 – Laboratory opened in its current location

2001-03 – Testing for possible anthrax demonstrated current laboratory was substandard for testing of bioterrorism agents.

Arkansas Public Health Laboratory

2006 – State-of-the-art public health laboratory - performs about 600,000 medical tests annually

Looking Ahead

• Role of public health continues to evolve

• Today, a wide range of physical, mental, and social factors are being addressed For more information, go to www.healthy.arkansas.gov