Baltimore City Health Department

Baltimore City Health Commissioner Leana Wen, M.D. is reminding Baltimoreans of the dangers of alcohol use during cold weather. Baltimore remains under a Severe Code Blue declaration through 12 p.m. Saturday; the wind chill this evening will be around zero degrees and temperatures are expected to remain dangerously cold through approximately lunchtime on Saturday.  There have been 8 deaths in Baltimore due to hypothermia this season and 31 statewide. Alcohol intoxication was a contributing factor in half of the deaths in Baltimore.  “Drinking alcohol can be life-threatening for individuals in temperatures that are this low,” Dr. Wen said.  

Baltimore City Health Commissioner Leana Wen, M.D. today applauded two congressional leaders, including Maryland Representative Elijah E. Cummings, for their inquiry into increasing prices charged by one manufacturer of naloxone. Increasing the availability of naloxone, a medication used to safely reverse opioid overdoses, is a key component of Baltimore’s strategy to combat overdose deaths.

Baltimore City Health Department's "Staying Alive Program" has trained more than 12,000 people to use Naloxone in the program's 11 years. Naloxone, also known as Narcan, is a heroin overdose reversal drug. "Some of these individuals don't have to die. We have drugs out here--Naloxone--that can save a lot of lives," Needle Exchange Program Acting Director Derrick Hunt said. "A lot of our success comes from taking our services to the individuals."

In light of the cold weather causing water main breaks and broken water pipes across the city, the Baltimore City Health Department (BCHD) is issuing a reminder that all food service facilities must have operating hot and cold water readily available according to state regulations.  “Having both hot and cold running water is essential for any business that is preparing or serving food to the public,” said Baltimore City Health Commissioner Leana Wen, M.D

Rebecca Dineen isn't surprised unintended teen pregnancies in Baltimore City are going down. In fact, she's part of the group responsible for the 32.6 percent drop since 2009.  "One of the biggest issues in Baltimore City was an equity of access issue to all contraceptive methods," said Dineen, of B'more for Healthy Babies, an initiative of the Baltimore City Health Department.

Baltimore's teen pregnancy rate dropped by nearly a third from 2009 to 2013, far surpassing the city's goal for reducing the rate, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake plans to announce today. "One of our top priorities in public health in the city is teen pregnancy," said Leana Wen, Baltimore City health commissioner. "I think it is a testament to what can happen in our city when all of us work together on this common goal."

A new study led by American Cancer Society researchers and published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that smoking may be linked to more diseases, and more deaths, than previously estimated. Dr. Leana Wen says there is still a long way to go with education and public policies to get those numbers down. She said the challenge with getting people to stop smoking is not only about addiction. 

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Health Commissioner Leana Wen, M.D. joined with youth advocates to announce a significant reduction in Baltimore’s teen birth rate.

With dangerously cold weather expected to continue for several more days, the Code Blue alert has been extended through 10 a.m. Wednesday, February 25.

With temperatures expected to fall below zero tonight and wind chills descending into the negative teens for the next two nights, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is urging all city residents to take precautions to avoid serious health and safety consequences through the weekend.