DOVER – Did you know that In the U.S., where you live, your income, education, race and access to health care may mean as much as a 15-year difference in how long you will live? The Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH) wants to help ensure conditions where everyone has the opportunity to be healthy. During National Public Health Week (April 3-9, 2017), the DPH is joining the American Public Health Association (APHA) by encouraging Americans to do their part to help the United States become the healthiest nation by 2030.

“Our vision is to create the healthiest nation in one generation,” said Dr. Karyl Rattay, director for DPH. “Improving social and environmental conditions can dramatically improve public health. Making nutritious foods available to families reduces their chances of chronic disease and helps to send their children to school ready to learn. Installing sidewalks and marking crosswalks can reduce pedestrian fatalities and increase physical activity. Living in violence-free communities reduces injuries and stress and also encourages people to be physically active outside. We have so many opportunities to make a difference.”

Here are ways to get involved and advocate for a healthier Delaware:

• Start a community garden, open a food pantry, or ask existing local stores to provide more fresh produce. Increasing opportunities for Americans to consume healthy foods helps reduce hunger and promotes healthy nutrition, helping them avoid developing diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or becoming obese. According to the 2015 Delaware Behavioral Risk Factor Survey (BRFS), only about 15.2 percent of Delaware adults reported eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables daily. Try the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s healthy eating tool, Choose My Plate. Find Delaware’s community Farmers Markets at http://dda.delaware.gov/marketing/FarmersMarketsGuide.shtml. Want to do more? Volunteer at a local food bank!
• Be more physically active. According to the APHA, nearly half of U.S. adults did not meet 2014 recommended guidelines of 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate physical activity per week. The U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommends that adults should do at least 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate or vigorous physical activity a week. Adults should also do muscle-strengthening activities at least two days a week. Only 20.2 percent of Delaware adults met those guidelines in 2015, according to the BRFS. Too much to fit in?
  • Start exercising in smaller increments.
  • Try being physically active for even a small amount of time every day or, at least 30 minutes three times a week.
  • Find fitness inspiration at http://www.getupanddosomething.org/ and http://dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dph/dpc/getfit.html. J
  • oin the APHA’s 1Billion Steps Challenge for Public Health Week.
  • Join the Motivate The First State campaign. This is a public-private partnership that has inspired thousands of Delaware residents to be more physically active and healthier. Through its free online social network participants can log a wide range of healthy activities and earn points that are converted to charitable donations that support several Delaware statewide organizations.
• Avoid tobacco or vaping. Tobacco use is the leading is the leading underlying or contributing cause of premature death in Delaware and smoking causes lung and other cancers, heart disease, stroke, emphysema, COPD, and other lung diseases. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in Delaware. Delaware women rank fifth-highest and men rank sixteenth-highest for national lung cancer mortality (http://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dph/dpc/cancer.html). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), liquid vaping cartridges contain nicotine and other toxic chemicals. Delawareans age 18 and older who want to quit can call the Delaware Quitline at 1-866-409-1858.
• Avoid alcohol, or at least drink it in moderation. Do not engage in binge drinking or drink at all if pregnant.
• Never use illegal drugs and take prescription opioids (pain medication) exactly as prescribed. Know the signs of addiction and the challenges created by addictive behaviors summarized in the U.S. Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health of 2016. To learn about regional detox and treatment resources visit www.HelpishereDE.com and go to the “I am Here” tab and select ‘Resources’. Persons without computers in New Castle County can call the 24/7 Crisis Hotline at 800-652-2929; in Kent and Sussex counties, call 800-345-6785.
• When new communities are planned, review land use plans to ensure that the communities are walkable, bikeable, and offer public transit stops. Know what designs work best at the Delaware Office of State Planning Coordination’s webpage: http://stateplanning.delaware.gov/.
• Support your child, grandchild, relatives or neighbors in their educational journey to ensure that everyone graduates from high school. High school graduates tend to live longer and be healthier than students who drop out. Be in constant contact with your child’s teachers, ask how their day was, and help out with homework. Don’t have children in school? Volunteer as a mentor. If a student is having trouble in school, their teachers, guidance counselors, school based health centers, and others may be able to help. Didn’t finish school? Drop-outs who want to earn their high school diplomas can enroll in the James H. Groves Adult High School or call 302-857-3340.
• Learn about the social determinants of health and how they impact where we live, work, and play. Poverty, deplorable living conditions, homelessness, high school drop-outs, and racism negatively impact health and can be reversed. Encourage a health-in-all-policies approach with transportation, housing, education, and law enforcement agencies. A great place to start is by reading the Health Equity Guide for Public Health Practitioners and Partners published by DPH and the University of Delaware.

For more information about how you can make a difference, visit the American Public Health Association’s website. You can also follow them on Twitter at https://twitter.com/nphw and join them for their #NPHWChat on April 5.

The Delaware Division of Public Health achieved national public health agency accreditation in 2016. DPH received its five-year accreditation from the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB). Delaware is the only accredited state health agency in the Mid-Atlantic region. Accreditation satisfies a goal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which identified accreditation as a key strategy for strengthening our nation’s public health infrastructure.

A person who is deaf, hard-of-hearing, deaf-blind or speech-disabled can call the DPH phone number above by using TTY services. Dial 7-1-1 or 800-232-5460 to type your conversation to a relay operator, who reads your conversation to a hearing person at DPH. The relay operator types the hearing person’s spoken words back to the TTY user. To learn more about TTY availability in Delaware, visit http://delawarerelay.com.

Delaware Health and Social Services is committed to improving the quality of the lives of Delaware’s citizens by promoting health and well-being, fostering self-sufficiency, and protecting vulnerable populations. DPH, a division of DHSS, urges Delawareans to make healthier choices with the 5-2-1 Almost None campaign: eat 5 or more fruits and vegetables each day, have no more than 2 hours of recreational screen time each day (includes TV, computer, gaming), get 1 or more hours of physical activity each day, and drink almost no sugary beverages.

DOVER – You’d like to quit smoking. You’ve been meaning to quit but you just haven’t picked a date yet. How about Thursday November 17, 2016? That’s the date set by the American Cancer Society for its Great American Smoke Out!

The Division of Public Health (DPH) is encouraging you if you smoke, or you know someone who smokes, to use the date to create a quit smoking plan. By quitting, even for one day, smokers take an important step toward a healthier life and reducing their risk of cancer, diabetes, lung disease, and heart disease.

About 40 million Americans still smoke cigarettes, and tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the world. In Delaware, cigarette smoking adults was at an all-time low of 17.4 percent, according to the 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Survey (BRFS). And that means that nearly one in five Delawareans still smokes, risking their health and the health of those around them every day.

While cigarette smoking rates have dropped nationally since the 1960s, cigar, pipe, and hookah – other dangerous and addictive ways to smoke tobacco – are very much on the rise. Additionally, though smoking among teens is also at an all-time low, DPH is aware of the increasing use of electronic vaporizing devices (e-cigarettes) among that population. Delaware public high school students reporting “current use” of e-cigarettes through the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) jumped from 2.1 percent in 2012 to 23.5 percent in 2015, and approximately 40.5 percent of Delaware public high school students said they have tried e-cigarettes.

In 2014, Delaware banned the sale of e-cigarettes to minors and in 2015, Delaware’s Clean Indoor Air Act was expanded to include prohibiting the use of e-cigarettes and other electronic vapor devices in workplaces and indoor public places.

“Smoking kills people – there is no “safe” way to smoke tobacco,” said Department of Health and Social Services Secretary Rita Landgraf. “I am proud to say Delaware has been a leader in the effort to create healthy, smoke-free, indoor workplaces and public places for our citizens, but we must continue the fight. Too many people still smoke and too many teens are experimenting with e-cigarettes. ”

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 85 percent to 90 percent of lung cancers are caused by tobacco use. DPH continues to remind smokers of the dangers of secondhand smoke, both to children and other adults. Secondhand smoke can also aggravate the symptoms of asthma and COPD.

“Lung cancer remains the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Delaware and the nation. Quitting tobacco and other smoking products isn’t easy, but it’s worth it,” said DPH Director Dr. Karyl Rattay. “It’s a process that starts one day at a time, and the Division of Public Health has a variety of resources to help you start and be successful in your journey to leading a tobacco-free life.”

The Delaware Quitline provides free tobacco cessation counseling services for Delaware residents who are 18 years of age and older. When a person calls the toll-free Quitline number (1-866-409-1858), they have the option to receive cessation counseling over the phone and, unique to Delaware, can opt to receive counseling in person by a local health care professional trained in cessation. Some participants may qualify for free pharmaceutical cessation aids such as patches, gum, nasal spray and prescription medicines. Since its inception in 2001, there have been over 100,000 calls to the Quitline with over 50,000 enrolling in cessation services. Through November 2016, all participants enrolled in either phone or face-to-face counseling can receive free pharmaceutical cessation aids while supplies last.

For those who may need some assistance and don’t feel the Quitline is right for them, QuitSupport.com offers a free web-based option. This online cessation counseling service makes quit coaches available to provide tips on quitting tobacco. For individuals under the age of 18, Not- On-Tobacco (NOT) is a cessation service available at most school wellness centers. Contact 1-800 LUNGUSA for more details on the NOT program.

There are many benefits to quitting tobacco products, some which can be noticed right away:

• Food tastes better.
• Your sense of smell returns to normal.
• Your breath, hair, and clothes smell better.
• Your teeth and fingernails stop yellowing.
• Ordinary activities leave you less out of breath (for example, climbing stairs or light housework).
• You can be in smoke-free buildings without having to go outside to smoke.

Within minutes of smoking your last cigarette, your body begins to recover. Here are some short, and long-term health benefits:
• 20 minutes after quitting – Your heart rate and blood pressure drop.
• 12 hours after quitting – The carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal.
• 2 weeks to 3 months after quitting – Your circulation improves and your lung function increases.
• 1 to 9 months after quitting – Coughing and shortness of breath decrease. Tiny hair-like structures that move mucus out of the lungs (called cilia) start to regain normal function in your lungs, increasing their ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs, and reduce the risk of infection.
• 1 year after quitting – The excess risk of coronary heart disease is half that of someone who still smokes. Your heart attack risk drops dramatically.

Quitting also helps stop the damaging effects of tobacco on how you look, including premature wrinkling of your skin, gum disease, and tooth loss.

For more information about tobacco cessation, visit DPH’s Tobacco Prevention and Control Program.

A person who is deaf, hard-of-hearing, deaf-blind or speech-disabled can call the DPH phone number above by using TTY services. Dial 7-1-1 or 800-232-5460 to type your conversation to a relay operator, who reads your conversation to a hearing person at DPH. The relay operator types the hearing person’s spoken words back to the TTY user. To learn more about TTY availability in Delaware, visit http://delawarerelay.com.

Delaware Health and Social Services is committed to improving the quality of the lives of Delaware’s citizens by promoting health and well-being, fostering self-sufficiency, and protecting vulnerable populations. DPH, a division of DHSS, urges Delawareans to make healthier choices with the 5-2-1 Almost None campaign: eat 5 or more fruits and vegetables each day, have no more than 2 hours of recreational screen time each day (includes TV, computer, gaming), get 1 or more hours of physical activity each day, and drink almost no sugary beverages.

DOVER – The Division of Public Health (DPH) is helping the Delaware Quitline celebrate a major milestone this month. The Quitline has now been helping Delaware smokers break their addiction for the past 15 years.

The Delaware Quitline is a toll-free tobacco cessation hotline (1-866-409-1858) that provides tobacco users (including e-cigarette users) the option of receiving counseling by phone or in person. Health care professionals trained in cessation counseling are available statewide for in-person counseling. All Quitline services are free to Delaware residents 18 years of age and older.

For eligible smokers, the Quitline also provides Food and Drug Administration-approved prescription cessation aids and non-prescription nicotine-replacement therapy such as patches, gum, and lozenges. To celebrate the 15-year anniversary, while supplies last, cessation aids will be available, free, to all participants who enroll in one of the Quitline counseling programs.

“This is a significant event in our tobacco prevention efforts and we are so pleased to be able to offer additional assistance to those who want to engage in healthier lifestyles and stop smoking,” said Dr. Karyl Rattay, DPH Director. “Quitting smoking is one of the most important things a person can do to reduce their cancer risk. Additionally, we must continue to work with Delawareans on making overall healthier lifestyle choices, such as getting regular physical activity, and eating healthy diets, especially those high in fruits, vegetables and whole grains and low in added sugars like sugar sweetened beverages.”

Since it began in February 2001, the Delaware Quitline has served more than 49,000 Delaware adults. Of those, more than 36,000 received telephone counseling, and almost 13,000 received face-to-face counseling. Additionally, 25 percent of those who responded to the follow-up survey, conducted seven months after services are provided, reported that they had not smoked in the past month.

During the past decade, Delaware has implemented the comprehensive Tobacco Prevention and Control Program statewide, and youth smoking rates have declined. High school students reporting “current cigarette smoking” is at an all-time low of 9.9 percent according to the 2015 Delaware Youth Risk Behavior Survey. This is a 69.3 percent decrease since 1999. However, the percentage of Delaware adults who reported that they currently smoke was 19.9 percent, according to the 2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Survey. This percentage has remained statistically unchanged for the past four years.

Lisa Moore, the Division’s Tobacco Prevention and Control Program manager, said, “While the high school data is still promising, we must be diligent in addressing tobacco use at all ages – and we must do everything possible to help smokers who want to quit. Tobacco use is still the leading cause of preventable death in Delaware and the United States,” Moore said. “Prevention is key, however, the Delaware Quitline is a useful resource for those who already smoke and need help quitting.”

The Quitline also has special programs for pregnant smokers and smokeless tobacco users and has counselors who speak Spanish. The Delaware Quitline is a Division of Public Health program managed through a contract with Alere Wellbeing. It is funded in part by grants from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Delaware Health Fund. For more information about the Delaware Quitline, visit: http://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dph/dpc/quitline.html.

A person who is deaf, hard-of-hearing, deaf-blind or speech-disabled can call the DPH phone number above by using TTY services. Dial 7-1-1 or 800-232-5460 to type your conversation to a relay operator, who reads your conversation to a hearing person at DPH. The relay operator types the hearing person’s spoken words back to the TTY user. To learn more about TTY availability in Delaware, visit http://delawarerelay.com. Delaware Health and Social Services is committed to improving the quality of the lives of Delaware’s citizens by promoting health and well-being, fostering self-sufficiency, and protecting vulnerable populations. DPH, a division of DHSS, urges Delawareans to make healthier choices with the 5-2-1 Almost None campaign: eat 5 or more fruits and vegetables each day, have no more than 2 hours of recreational screen time each day (includes TV, computer, gaming), get 1 or more hours of physical activity each day, and drink almost no sugary beverages.

DELAWARE TO OFFER LUNG CANCER SCREENING

DOVER – The Division of Public Health’s Screening for Life Program will now cover lung cancer screenings for Delawareans who qualify for the Screening for Life Program. The Screening for Life Program covers breast, cervical, colorectal, and prostate cancer screenings for uninsured or underinsured Delawareans who are not eligible for Medicaid or the ACA Health Insurance Marketplace.
The screening — known as a low-dose CT scan — aims to catch lung cancer early, when it is most treatable. Lung cancer, which is the No. 1 cancer killer of Delaware men and women, accounts for more than 30 percent of all cancer deaths. The screening is available to current and former smokers deemed at high-risk for lung cancer. This includes men and women who:
· Currently smoke or quit smoking within the last 15 years
· Smoke or have smoked the equivalent of a pack a day for 30 or more years
· Are 55 to 80 years of age
These high-risk individuals should visit www.HealthyDelaware.org/lung or call 302-401-4212 to speak with a screening nurse navigator, who serves as a guide through the entire process. Across the state, Christiana Care Health System, Bayhealth Medical Center, and Beebe Healthcare will offer the screening. When compared to standard chest X-rays, the National Lung Screening Trial found low-dose CT scans lower the risk of dying from lung cancer by up to 20 percent. Delaware acted quickly on the findings.

“Our task now is to not only educate current and former smokers, but also healthcare providers,” says Dr. Stephen S. Grubbs, an oncologist at Christiana Care Health System who also serves as the chair of the Delaware Cancer Consortium’s Early Detection and Prevention Committee.
In a combined effort, the Screening for Life Program and the Delaware Cancer Consortium aim to add Delaware to the list of states with the lowest rates for cancer incidence and mortality. The program started with breast and cervical screenings in 1997, later adding colorectal in 2007 and prostate in 2009, all of which directly impacted Delaware’s cancer incidence and mortality rates. Comparing the years 1995 to 1999 and 2005 to 2009, the state’s cancer mortality rate decreased by 18.7 percent, 50 percent greater than the national rate. With the new lung cancer screening added to the program, Delaware now offers screenings to the uninsured or underinsured for all five of the most common cancer killers.
A person who is deaf, hard-of-hearing, deaf-blind, or speech-disabled can call the DPH phone number above by using TTY services. Dial 7-1-1 or 800-232-5460 to type your conversation to a relay operator, who reads your conversation to a hearing person at DPH. The relay operator types the hearing person’s spoken words back to the TTY user. To learn more about TTY availability in Delaware, visit delawarerelay.com.

Delaware Health and Social Services is committed to improving the quality of the lives of Delaware’s citizens by promoting health and well-being, fostering self-sufficiency, and protecting vulnerable populations. DPH, a division of DHSS, urges Delawareans to make healthier choices with the 5-2-1 Almost None campaign: eat 5 or more fruits and vegetables each day, have no more than 2 hours of recreational screen time each day (includes TV, computer, gaming), get 1 or more hours of physical activity each day, drink almost no sugary beverages.

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Rita Landgraf, Secretary
Jill Fredel, Director of Communications
302-255-9047, Cell 302-357-7498
Email: jill.fredel@delaware.gov

Delaware Health and Social Services – Division of Public Health