January is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, dedicated to encouraging women to take action and protect themselves in the New Year. The start of a new year is the time that many reflect on their health. To start the year right, we encourage women to contact their health care provider to schedule a Pap test to check for cervical cancer. This screening is an important part of a woman’s health care routine, yet one that many overlook. It is important to remember that cervical cancer is a preventable disease.

Risk Factors for Cervical Cancer:

• The most important risk factor for cervical cancer is infection with human papillomavirus (HPV), a common sexually transmitted infection.
• Women are at increased risk of developing cervical cancer if they engage in sexual intercourse at an early age or have multiple sexual partners.
• Women who smoke are twice as likely as non-smokers to develop cervical cancer.
• HIV or Chlamydia infection can contribute to the risk for cervical cancer.

Rockingham County Department of Public Health will use Cervical Cancer Awareness Month as an opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of screening and prevention of cervical cancer.  There will be information pertaining to cervical cancer on display and free to clients who visit the health department.

If you are a woman that is sexually active or over age 21, talk to your health care provider about scheduling a cervical cancer screening today. Early detection is your best protection!

Rockingham County Department of Public Health offers free cervical cancer screenings, education and referral services to eligible women through the NC Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Program (BCCCP).  To learn more about the NC BCCCP and eligibility requirements visit www.bcccp.ncdhhs.gov or www.rockinghamcountypublichealth.org or call 336-342-8141.

Rockingham County Department of Public Health

PO Box 204, Wentworth, NC 27375

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 18, 2012

 

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  Click For More Information
To view additional Upcoming Event Flyers,
Visit the UPCOMING EVENTS flyer page
on Rockingham Update.

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WHEN – Thursday, January 5, 2012 6:00 pm

WHERE – Osborne Baptist Church, 326 E. Stadium Dr. Eden, NC 27288

The world’s largest grassroots fundraising movement, Relay For Life mobilizes communities throughout the country to celebrate people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and provide participants with an opportunity to fight back against the desease. Relay brings together friends, families, businesses, hospitals, schools, faith-based groups…people from all walks of life – all aimed at furthering the American Cancer Society’s vision of creating a world with less cancer and more birthdays.

Relay For Life began in 1985 with one man who walked and ran around a track for 24 hours and raised $27,000 for the American Cancer Society. This year, Relay For Life will take place in nearly 5,100 communities in the United States and 20 other countries and will raise funds to support the Society’s mission of saving lives by helping people stay well, by helping people get well, by finding cures and fighting back. In 2011, the Relay for Life of Rockingham County raised $204,668 and the 2012 goal is to raise $205,500.

HOW – To join a Relay For Life in your Community, Call 1-800-227-2345, or visit RelayForLife.org.

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Eden Drug, 103 W. Stadium Drive in Eden, NC

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The cooler winter months are a good time for radon testing because doors and windows of homes are kept closed most of the time, according to Ted Nelson, Environmental Health Director.

Radon is a natural radioactive gas that is invisible, odorless and tasteless, and it can become a health hazard when it accumulates inside homes. It comes from the breakdown of uranium in soil, rock and water. Radon usually enters homes through cracks in foundations and openings around plumbing, ductwork and drains. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States. When inhaled, radon releases radioactive particles that can damage lung tissue.

Rockingham County is a Zone 1 county for radon gas – a county that has a predicted average indoor level or radon greater than the EPA action level, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Radon Zone Map of North Carolina shows Rockingham County as the only county east of the mountains with an average radon level greater than four picocuries per liter, the EPA action level where remediation should be started.

Activated-charcoal radon test kits are available now on the first floor of the Governmental Center in Wentworth. Contact the Environmental Health office to purchase the test kits or for information about other options. The kits are being sold for $10.00 each. A test packet is left in the home for four to seven days, and then it is mailed to a lab where the amount of radon is determined and a report is mailed back to the homeowner. A follow-up test kit may be purchased if the radon level is above four picocuries.

If a high level of radon is detected, there are remediation methods which include improved home ventilation systems, and sealing home foundations or cracks in basement floors.

Rockingham County Department of Public Health

Wentworth, NC 27375

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: December 22, 2011

Winter: A good time to test for radon gas in homes

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Give-A-Life Blood Drive Dec. 21st

Free Incentives for Donors!

WENTWORTH, NC (Dec. 15, 2011) – Accidents and medical emergencies don’t take holidays! Blood is desperately needed every minute and every day!

This urgent message is being communicated to Rockingham County Governmental employees and residents to participate in the Give-A-Life Blood Drive, Dec. 21st, Rockingham County Governmental Center, 371 NC Hwy. 65. Look for the Mobile Blood Hound in front of the Governmental Center, Wednesday, from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The public is invited to join Rockingham County employees to donate much-needed blood.

Donors will receive a free ceramic bowl, spoon, a famous recipe, and be eligible to win Delta Airline Tickets.

The Mobile Blood Hound can take four donors every 15 minutes which means 16 donors per hour. Donors are asked to please schedule an appointment with Cindy Herring in Legal at 336.342.8374 or Mark Holzer in Safety/Risk Management at 336.342.8265.

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MEDIA RELEASE

 Release Date: October 31, 2011

Project Lifesaver

The Municipalities of Reidsville, Eden, Madison and Mayodan are proud to announce to its citizens details about a new program called “Project Lifesaver.” Citizens who are enrolled in Project Lifesaver will wear a small personal transmitter around the wrist or ankle that emits an individualized tracking signal. If an enrolled client goes missing, the caregiver notifies their local Police Department, and a trained emergency team responds to the locations where the client was last known to be located. Most who wander are found within a few miles from home, and search times have been reduced from hours and days to minutes. Recovery times for clients who wander away average 30 minutes, which is 95% less time required using Standard Search and Rescue methods.

The primary mission of project Lifesaver is to provide timely response to save lives and reduce potential injury for adults and children who wander due to Alzheimer’s, autism, and other related conditions or disorders.

The task of searching for wandering or lost individuals with Alzheimer’s, Autism, and Down syndrome, Dementia or other cognitive conditions is a growing problem.

Without effective procedures and equipment, searches can involve multiple agencies, requiring hundreds of Officers, countless man hours and thousands of dollars. More importantly, because time is of the essence, every minute lost increases the risk of a tragic outcome.

Grant funds provided by the Reidsville Area Foundation and the Bureau of Justice Assistance will allow this service to be provided free of charge to those who qualify. For those citizens who are interested or would like additional information, please contact your local Law Enforcement Agency or the Rockingham County Social Services Department.

This FREE event will take place at the Friendship Center, 5118 NC Hwy 770, Stoneville, NC 27048 on Thursday, November 17th from 5:00-8:00pm and will recognize November as National Caregivers Month. Call (336) 627-3900 or (336) 573-1300 no later than November 14th to confirm that you will be attending.

Free transportation will be available for this event, provided by RCATS. If you need transportation please call 34R-CATS (347-2287) by November 11th.

Caregivers of Rockingham County, Inc. is a non-profit organization that provides non professional volunteer services to the elderly and disabled in Rockingham County. Aging, Disability and Transit Services is a private nonprofit agency dedicated to assisting and linking senior adults, people with disabilities and their families with information, opportunities and services that promote and enhance quality of life, and to meeting the local transportation needs of Rockingham County citizens. This mission is accomplished through providing an array of community services including Home Health (CAP-DA, Home & Community Block Grant), Meals on Wheels, Meals With Friends Nutrition Sites, Adult Day Care, RCATS Public Access Transportation, and Advocacy and Referral Services.

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WENTWORTH, NC – (Oct. 27, 2011) – Rockingham County Code Enforcement/ Sheriff’s Office along with Reidsville Police Department held a successful Operation Medicine Drop Event yesterday. The final count of dosages turned in was 11,361. This is an increase from the earlier (March-2011) event where 11,202 dosages were collected.

Rockingham County Code Enforcement Officer Kelly Howell and Reidsville Police Officer Tim Altizer collected the unused, expired prescriptions in the Rockingham County Governmental Center lobby. Officers said prescription drug abuse ranks right behind the No. 1 form of drug abuse, marijuana.

The drugs collected during the Operation Medicine Drop Event will be packaged and stored in the evidence room until they are transported to the N.C. SBI Field Office in Greensboro. The medicines collected statewide will be destroyed in a state approved incinerator.

This take-back event offered citizens a safe, secure way to dispose of their medications. Unintentional poisoning from prescription medications has been on the rise in North Carolina since 1999, for nearly 4,500 people have died from prescription poisoning. The Operation Medicine Drop Event offered citizens this free and convenient option for disposing of their prescription and over-the-counter medications to protect their families and the environment.

Click To Enlarge

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(Raleigh, NC) – North Carolinians can safely dispose of old prescription and over-the-counter drugs October 29 at locations statewide, Attorney General Roy Cooper said today.

Cooper, the State Bureau of Investigation, local law enforcement agencies, Safe Kids North Carolina, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration are teaming up to sponsor prescription drug take-back events as a part of the National Take Back Initiative.

“Prescription drugs can be every bit as dangerous as street drugs when abused or misused,” Cooper said. “To protect your family, clean out your medicine cabinet and dispose of old medications at an event near you.”

Operation Medicine Drop aims to cut down on prescription drug abuse by encouraging people to properly dispose of old drugs that they no longer need. Cooper encouraged all North Carolina sheriffs and chiefs of police to plan prescription take-back events in their communities in cooperation with local non-profits and other groups. More than 150 events are scheduled statewide. See the complete list of events for times and locations.

In Rockingham County there are two events scheduled:

•October 26th, 9am – 1pm – Rockingham County Public Health Department, 371 NC 65, Wentworth

• October 29th, 10am – 2pm – Layne’s Pharmacy, 509 Van Buren Rd, Eden

In March, 143 local law enforcement agencies helped collect more than 4.6 million doses of old prescription and over-the-counter drugs as a part of Operation Medicine Drop.

Fatal drug overdoses are a leading cause of death in North Carolina, second only to motor vehicle accidents. Some states have seen fatal drug overdoses move into first place as the leading cause of death due to accident, and preliminary data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control indicate that drug deaths now outnumber deaths caused by car wrecks, fueled largely by an increase in prescription drug overdoses.

In North Carolina alone, the number of deaths from unintentional overdoses has risen 400%, from 228 in 1997 to 902 in 2006. North Carolina is on pace to have 1,000 or more overdose deaths this year.

Data from North Carolina and other states demonstrate that prescription drugs kill more people than illegal drugs. Prescription and over-the-counter medications cause more than three-fourths of all unintentional poisonings in North Carolina, according to the N.C. Division of Public Health. Commonly abused prescription and over-the-counter drugs include painkillers, anti-anxiety drugs, stimulants, and cough and cold medicines.

Prescription drugs abuse is increasingly common among teenagers because the drugs are incorrectly perceived as less dangerous than street drugs and because they are often easier to obtain.

“Many people mistakenly think that because something is a prescription drug, it’s safe. But prescription drugs can be highly addictive and even deadly,” Cooper said. “That’s why it’s so important to make sure your prescriptions don’t fall into the wrong hands.”

According to the National Center on Addiction and Drug Use at Columbia University, nearly nine million 12-17 year olds in the United States report that they can get prescription drugs illicitly within one day and 5 million say that they can get them within one hour. Two-thirds of teens who misuse prescriptions report that they get the drugs from their home or from a friend’s home.

State Bureau of Investigation agents who investigate prescription drug related crimes have seen a 400 percent increase in cases over a five year period. Agents with the Diversion and Environmental Crimes Unit investigate cases of prescription drug misuse, fraud and theft statewide and focus especially on doctors, nurses, pharmacists and others who abuse their positions to divert drugs from lawful use.

Prescription and over the counter drugs collected by law enforcement agencies on October 29 will be turned over to the SBI for safe disposal. The SBI and DEA will destroy the drugs safely using incinerators approved by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

More information about Operation Medicine Drop is available at www.ncdoj.gov.

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Press release reposted from NCDOJ

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