Twin Cities Public Health

The Chicago Tribune has a great op-ed piece today on food insecurity in the United States—and issue we most commonly associate with foreign countries. However, as the country prepares for Thanksgiving, it’s worth noting that 14 percent of U.S. households lack access to adequate food, a number that jumps to more than 23 percent when households with children are factored in.

In other words, nearly one in four families in the United States is considered food insecure. That’s an outstanding (and quite frankly, shameful) statistic.

Chandi Edmonds: “In a recent study, an association was found between children with substandard meals and cognitive impairment. Other findings show that children in food-insecure households have higher odds of being in fair or poor health, have up to 2.6 times higher odds of having asthma and up to three times higher odds of having anemia.”

During this season of giving, I have to ask myself: can we really not do any better than this?

A panel of medical professionals and treatment experts packed a room at the Mill Casino-Hotel in Coos Bay last week, as officials discussed the ever-growing problem of heroin abuse in the region and Oregon as a whole.

Coos Bay World: “The National Survey on Drug Use and Health in 2011 estimated 246,300 Oregonians self-reported using prescription pain relievers non-medically, meaning there was no legal prescription or medical need and instead they were used for recreational abuse and dependence purposes. According to a more recent survey, Oregon ranked first for past-year use of non-medical painkillers in 2013 and second in 2014.”

The Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) issued a statement in support of President Barack Obama’s recent remarks on prescription drug abuse prevention at a community forum in West Virginia.

The statement reads in part:

“We commend the President for speaking out on this important issue, which is devastating families and communities across our nation. The community forum underscored the importance of reducing the stigma around substance abuse addictions and the need for all sectors of society to work hand-in-hand in comprehensive solutions.”

In his 2016 fiscal year budget, President Obama set aside $133 in new funding to addressing the current opioid epidemic across the United States. This includes more resources for prescription drug overdose strategies, focusing largely on prevention.

 

Oregon has been named one of 16 states across the nation to receive federal funding through a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant that aims to combat opiate abuse and overdoses—which are reaching epidemic levels. According to Street Roots, the goals of the grant include reducing the use of Oxycontin and similar medications and eliminating overlapping prescriptions where ever possible.

According to one Multnomah County official, there were 109 involving opiates in 2014, with about half of those incidents involving prescription drugs.

The grant award comes at the same time the Oregon Health Authority launches its State Health Improvement Plan, which has similar goals of reducing opioid overdoses across the state. Both the CDC grant and the OHA will help make naloxone, an opiate overdose reversing drug, more accessible throughout the region.