Message from the Commissioner:

Dear friends and partners,

Another great week in Baltimore!

This week we continued our efforts to raise awareness about the disease of addiction and the lifesaving drug naloxone, as I joined national leaders for a Congressional briefing hosted by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), urging Congress to introduce policies that will expand access to the medication. Earlier in the week, I had the opportunity to share BCHD’s public health approach to recovery with renowned experts working on addiction and mental health at the 29th Annual Tuerk Conference and led a naloxone training with journalists from across the country during the kickoff for the National Press Foundation’s Discussion on the Opioid Epidemic.

Meanwhile, our Safe Streets teams brought Youth Violence Prevention Week to a close with a community basketball tournament that came down to an thrilling overtime game.

Thank you for your support as we work to build a healthier Baltimore!

With all my best,

Leana Wen, M.D. M.Sc.

Agency News

BCHD Joins NACCHO for Congressional Briefing on Naloxone Access

This morning, the Baltimore City Health Department joined elected leaders and experts for a Congressional briefing hosted by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), to educate members and staff about efforts being implemented in Baltimore to combat the opioid abuse epidemic and urging Congress to introduce policies that will expand access to naloxone.

Dr. Wen took the opportunity to highlight our aggressive opioid overdose prevention campaign, including efforts to:

• Promote a citywide effort to expand the use of naloxone, training more than 8,000 residents in 2015, including in public markets, in drug court, and with police officers.
• Issue Maryland's first “Standing Order,” enabling Dr. Wen to prescribe naloxone for all of Baltimore City’s 620,000 residents; and
• Introduce a first of its kind online naloxone training to further reduce barriers to this lifesaving medication.

During the briefing, Dr. Wen was joined leading experts from across the country, including:

• Rep. Robert J. Dold (R-IL);
• Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA);
• Laura Hanen, MPP, Chief of Government Affairs, National Association of County and City Health Officials;
• Fred Wells Brason II, President/CEO, Project Lazarus, Wilkes County, NC; and
• Susan McKnight, MPH, CAADC, MAATP, Substance Abuse Program Coordinator, Lake County Health Department, IL

We were proud to stand before our federal partners to share the lessons we have learned in Baltimore and to call on leaders in Congress to support policies that will enhance community-based efforts to end this public health emergency!

Dr. Wen Opens the National Press Foundation Opioid Discussion

Move over March Madness! Safe Streets Hosts ‘Play for Peace’ Basketball Tournament

BCHD Takes the Stage at 29th Annual Tuerk Conference

Next B’More Health Talks: Friday April 29th

Dr. Wen returns to WUSTL for Business of Medicine Course

Dr. Wen had the honor of returning to her alma mater (and Special Assistant Shirli Tay’s future alma mater), Washington University in St. Louis, for a packed visit this week! Dr. Wen taught an interactive session at WUSTL where she shared her background and vision for health and discussed he diverse options available when pursuing a medical career. 

Later in the day, she hosted Grand Rounds to discuss the power of public health and the importance of community advocacy. While in the neighborhood, Dr. Wen visited the St. Louis Health Department, to our meet our Midwest counterparts and share the exciting  work we are doing at BCHD around violence prevention, substance abuse and treatment, mental health, chronic disease, and more.

Learn More About the State of Health in Baltimore!

This spring, conversations across our city are focusing on the state of the economy, public safety, and education. These are all essential issues, but there is another critical topic that cuts across all of them: health.

BCHD’s winter white paper is a comprehensive summary of key issues, services, and policies at the health department, including (1) essential background information on key topics from behavioral health to chronic disease; (2) our accomplishments over the past year; and (3) our aspirations for the future.

We believe in openly sharing the progress we have made towards our top health priorities within the city, and encourage you to review the paper and to share it with anyone that you believe would benefit from viewing this content!

Later this spring, we look forward to engaging you and other partners in developing Healthy Baltimore 2020, which will build upon the content in this white paper to present a five year blueprint for health and well-being in the city.

Zika Update

Events

Prayer for Peace

Along with leaders of Jewish, Muslim, and other Christian churches, the Archdiocese of Baltimore will co-host an evening of interfaith prayer for peace in Baltimore on Monday, April 25th. The event will take place at 7 p.m. at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Health Commissioner Dr. Wen will be in attendance. All are welcome. Parking is in the Franklin St. parking garage.

For more information, visit http://www.archbalt.org.

Baltimore-wide Diabetes Prevention Events

Prediabetes is a condition in which individuals have high blood glucose or hemoglobin A1C levels, but not high enough to be classified as diabetes.  If prediabetes goes untreated, individuals may develop diabetes and increase their risk of other chronic diseases such as heart attack, stroke, and kidney failure.

The Baltimore City Health Department Office of Chronic Disease Prevention, in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, has been working diligently to expand the National Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) throughout Baltimore City.

The National Diabetes prevention program is a lifestyle change program that provides tools to help people reach their goals toward living a healthier life. The program includes:

• Trained lifestyle coach
• Weekly exercise activities
• Nutrition and exercise log to track progress
• Stress management strategies.

Anyone can check if they are at risk of having Prediabetes by taking the CDC recognized Prediabetes screening test. There are a number of locations in Baltimore City that offer DPPs for high risk individuals. See the flyer for more details or visit the Diabetes Prevention website at health.baltimorecity.gov/chronic-disease-prevention/diabetes-prevention.

MAMCD Annual Spring Conference

The Maryland Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development is excited to introduce their annual spring conference: Life Matters: Meeting the Mental Health Needs in Urban Communities. We will be hearing from Kevin Shird, Author and Activist and Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, CMO and Assistant Commissioner for Clinical Services at the Baltimore City Health Department.

This event is open to counselors, educators, students, and community members alike and will be hosted on Saturday, April 16th from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Bowie State University, CLT Building Room 102 at 14000 Jericho Park Road.

Take Steps to End HIV/AIDS Walk 2016

Get Pump’d for the Purse & Pumps 1 Mile Awareness Walk

News Clips

• Baltimore Sees Hospitals As Key To Breaking A Cycle Of Violence
• Hospitals Eye Community Health Workers To Cultivate Patients’ Successes
• Cherry Hill looks forward after resolution of massive federal gang case
• Sugary drinks: a sickeningly sweet issue
• Highlights from the Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit
• The fed's new 'war on drugs': Obama proposes $1.1 billion to expand care for opioid addicts
• Here's how one city is responding to the opioid epidemic
• Wendy Holdren's update from Day 1 of "Confronting the Opioid Epidemic"
• Op-Alt: Harm reduction is key to addressing public health crisis of addiction

We want to hear from you! Have a unique talent? Doing great things in the community? Have you made a healthy lifestyle change? To nominate yourself or a colleague to get featured in the newsletter just contact BCHD2@baltimorecity.gov. Thank you!

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