AJ Pyle - Clark County

Brad Towle

Manager of Biostatistics Department

Nevada Department of Public Health

             One health concern in the Clark County area is the air quality.  There is often a haze that surrounds the city.  One thing mentioned by Brad Towle who is the Biostatistics manager in the Nevada Department of health was the legislation before the state congress right now.  Policies are being discussed to determine if there is any way to reduce the emissions in Clark County further.  The poor air quality surrounding the city has been linked to a wide range of health concerns including infections in the kidneys and respiratory problems.

                An increasing number of reported cases of sexually transmitted diseases have been noticed in the past year in the Clark County area.  Syphilis has been the most common STD among the general populous. When I asked Brad what types of steps can or are being taken to rectify the situation his answer was “education education education.” The Nevada Department of Health is encouraging more middle schools to include a larger section about the risks of unprotected sex in their health classes. The opt out options presented to parents of students in the class are also being limited.

                The number of inoculated children has seen a decline.  This trend is being seen in many other cities and Mr. Towle attributed it to a few factors. Most of these factors boil down to false or misleading information. Many parents don’t inoculate their children thinking that there is no need, since so few cases of the diseases are reported each year. There has also been a movement among individuals led by Jenny McCarthy which believe that inoculations cause autism in young children. There is little to no scientific evidence that this is the case though.  The Department of Health is working hard to ensure the correct information is available everyone to correct this problem.

                Home hospice has seen a major increase in the past 5 years. This is evidence by the increasing number of licenses applied for each year by those wishing to enter this market.  Since Clark County has many retirement communities there are many that may be in need of extra care, but are not willing to admit themselves into a full time nursing home.  Although this has been a successful endeavor in getting many elderly people the care they need, it is a worry that in some situations the care may not be sufficient. In cases where emergency care is needed there has also been a lack of communication between hospice providers and the medical professionals in the hospitals.

                Mr. Towle also mentioned that Clark County follows many of the same national health trends.  One of these that have become particularly prevalent is the alcohol and tobacco use by minors. Statistics have shown that this is a decreasing trend, but it is still among the top trends that health officials would like to work at eradicating.  When I asked what specifically was being done to target those teens in the Clark County area Mr. Towle said they are running media campaigns, pushing for stricter penalties and less access for minors.  Mr. Towle said that it is one of the greatest struggles a health department can face. 

                Among all of the things I spoke to Mr. Towle about the common theme I found in each of his answers was education.  There aren’t many things that a health department can do to eliminate a health concern, but educating individuals is one of them.  It was part of every single answer he gave to fixing the problem or situation.  We discussed the “This is Public Health” Campaign and he loved it. Raising awareness is the start to any battle in confronting the health risks that plague our communities.