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LEADERSHIP AGENDA

OPERATIONAL SCAN

DEPARTMENT PERFORMANCE

Public Health

Thomas Newton, Director

Mission Statement:
Promoting and protecting the health of Iowans.

Immunization for children
Dental services for Medicaid-enrolled children (1-20 years)
Lead-poisoned children
Iowa adults who smoke

•  Performance Plan - How we measure our progress


•  Strategic Plan - How we plan for progress


•   Performance Report - How we report our progress


• Department Home Page - Learn more about this department

Why this is important:
Vaccines protect all Iowans. When vaccination levels are high, the few who can't be vaccinated (those who are too young, have allergic reactions, etc) are often protected because they are surrounded by vaccinated persons (herd immunity). Despite exceptional progress, Iowa must intensify efforts to increase vaccination, especially for children in poverty. Pockets of need still exist in both urban and rural Iowa. Children with disabilities are at greater risk and need to be targeted to get vaccinations when needed. These areas are crucial because of the potential for disease outbreaks.


What we're doing about this:
The Iowa Department of Public Health's Immunization program works to prevent diseases for which there is a vaccine by working with public and private health care providers across the state. The immunization Registry Information System (IRIS) collects immunization histories to ensure children are appropriately immunized. The system contains over 1,400,000 patients and 11,800,000 vaccine records. IRIS is used at more than 585 health care provider sites in Iowa. The registry permanently keeps immunization records that may be needed later in one's life for post-secondary education or employment and prevents giving unnecessary immunizations.

IDPH distributes vaccines to local health departments to ensure Iowa children get the vaccinations they need. Particular focus is on children that have no health insurance or are underinsured, are American Indian or Alaskan Natives, or are enrolled in Medicaid. Quality assurance visits are conducted twice a year at local health departments and annually at over 500 Vaccines for Children private providers to assess the handling, storage, and administration of vaccines. When a vaccine preventable disease is reported, IDPH provides consultation and personnel assistance to local health agencies.

Why this is important:
Good oral care is critical for children. The first comprehensive study on the nation's oral health released recently by the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General calls dental and oral diseases a "silent epidemic," even in children. The report states that more than 51 million school hours are lost annually to dental-related illness. Oral health problems can impact self-esteem for children and lead to problems eating, speaking and learning.


What we're doing about this:
Through IDPH supported programs, Iowa dental hygienists in public health settings are providing dental decay prevention services, including screenings, cleanings, fluoride varnish coatings, and dental decay sealants to protect children's teeth. IDPH pilot programs like Iowa Access to Baby and Child Dentistry (ABCD) and "Healthy Smiles" show great potential to improve child dental care. Community-specific strategies and resources are helping decrease dental visit no-shows. Home visitors are trained to take decay prevention information to families in their communities.

Why this is important:
Lead has adverse effects on nearly every part of the body. It is especially harmful to the developing brain and nervous system of children under the age of six years. This damage can be stopped if a child's exposure to lead is reduced. However, the damage cannot be reversed. Yet, only 67% of Iowa's current 6-year-olds had their blood tested for lead poisoning before their 6th birthday. And, of those tested, 6.6% were lead-poisoned - more than four times the national average. Iowa's children are at high risk for lead poisoning because nearly 40% of Iowa's housing was built before 1950, when the use of lead-based paint was common. Young children living in these homes are lead-poisoned when they put paint chips in their mouths or when they get house dust or exterior soil on their hands and put their hands in their mouths. It is important to test all Iowa children under the age of 6 years for lead poisoning because most lead-poisoned children do not have obvious symptoms.


What we're doing about this:
Screening (testing the blood-lead levels of) children, assuring proper treatment, identifying the source of lead hazards, and assuring that the hazards are properly eliminated prevents the damage to the developing child from getting worse. Primary prevention activities by the Iowa Department of Public Health and local public health departments, such as public education and outreach about the dangers of childhood lead poisoning, have improved the awareness of parents and caregivers and helped parents reduce the damage to their children if they are identified as lead poisoned. More Iowa parents now understand the dire consequences of childhood lead poisoning and are familiar with the ways to prevent it from occurring.

Why this is important:
Tobacco remains the leading preventable cause of death, responsible for 87% of lung cancers, 81% of lung-disease deaths, and 21% of heart disease deaths. Annual smoking-related health care costs in Iowa are more than $937 million ($277 million for Medicaid). For every 1,000 Iowa youth prevented from smoking, future healthcare costs drop by about $16 million. For every 1,000 Iowa adults who quit, future costs drop by about $8 million. State tobacco control programs have been shown to save $2 to $3.50 in healthcare costs for every $1 spent.


What we're doing about this:
The Division of Tobacco Use, Prevention, and Control is promoting partnerships among state government, local communities, and the people of Iowa to foster a social and legal climate in which tobacco use becomes undesirable.

The Division uses evidence-based strategies to 1) Provide community-based tobacco prevention and cessation services in 94 of Iowa's 99 counties; 2) Prevent youth from starting to use tobacco with Just Eliminate Lies, Iowa's youth-led effort to stop tobacco sales to minors; 3) Help adults and youth quit using tobacco by offering free smoking cessation counseling through Quitline Iowa; 4) Reduce exposure to environmental tobacco smoke; and 5) Reduce disparities in the impact of tobacco use by offering Priority Populations grants to support tobacco prevention activities in diverse and high-risk populations.

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