Working long hours and multiple shifts, Baltimore City's Animal Control officers and staff respond to the health and safety of some of Baltimore's most vulnerable residents -- animals. As the Baltimore City Health Department advances its mission to pursue health equity for all citizens and residents of Baltimore, the department has facilitated and supported trauma-informed trainings across multiple systems and settings. Adopting a trauma-informed approach means taking into account the prevalence of trauma in populations, recognizing and understanding the role that trauma plays in the lives of the individuals being served and engaged, responding by putting knowledge into practice and resisting re-traumatization. 

On Monday afternoon, Dr. Wen joined Karen DeSalvo, Acting Assistant Secretary for Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, John Auerbach, Director of Policy at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and health directors across the country in Washington, DC at the Public Health 3.0 conference.

In Baltimore, violence has become a near-daily occurrence. In 2015, for example, this city of more than 620,000 people saw 344 homicides.

The surest way to achieve success is to model those who are already successful. That's why lawmakers and public health officials in Ohio and Kentucky should be paying close attention to how Baltimore is dealing with the problem of heroin and other illicit drugs.

In the Enquirer's series, "Lessons from Baltimore," reporter Terry DeMio details how that city, which has a heavily addicted population, is battling the opioid epidemic with a great degree of success. This editorial board has applauded the ongoing efforts and collaborations among regional health agencies to combat this deadly scourge, but we've also been clear that greater investment needs to be made in treatment and prevention. Admittedly, there are political and economic differences that make a direct comparison between Baltimore and Greater Cincinnati difficult, but nonetheless there are takeaways our region could learn from.