A federal funding freeze would have major impacts on Arizona public health programs
AZ legislator takes aim at ultra-processed food in public schools
Traditional healing is close to being covered by Medicaid in Arizona
Republicans follow lead of RFK Jr. with effort to ban SNAP users from buying soda, candy
Trump administration’s website purge shocks health providers
Rental assistance proposed for people facing short-term hardship | Arizona Capitol Times
The 23rd annual American Lung Association “State of Tobacco Control” report was released this week – which evaluates states and the federal government on the proven-effective tobacco control laws and policies necessary to save lives. The report serves as a blueprint for what state and federal leaders need to do to cut the death and disease caused by tobacco use.
In the report, the Lung Association assigns letter grades, A through F, to the state and federal policies best proven to prevent and reduce tobacco use.
From the report: Arizona Highlights | State of Tobacco Control | American Lung Association
This year’s report highlights tobacco industry aggression at the state and federal level to protect its profits at the expense of the public’s health. These include tobacco industry efforts to stop former President Biden from ending the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars as well as industry efforts at the state level to stop proven-effective policies to prevent and reduce tobacco use.
The report also shows states’ progress or lack thereof on implementing policies to reduce tobacco use and help people end their addiction to tobacco.
The American Lung Association calls for the following actions to be taken by Arizona’s elected officials:
During the 2024 legislative session, the Lung Association in Arizona worked on legislation to create a statewide tobacco retail licensing system, raise the sales age of tobacco products to 21, and to include electronic smoking devices in the Clean Indoor Air Act. Unfortunately, the bill did not get a hearing.
There were also bills introduced by the tobacco industry. One bill would have created an e-cigarette product registry based on U.S. Food and Drug Administration pre-market tobacco application status that was pushed by the industry in multiple states.
A second bill would have defined heated tobacco products and taxed them at a small rate. The Lung Association opposed both bills, and, thankfully, neither bill ultimately advanced to the Governors’ office.
During the 2025 legislative session, the American Lung Association will again work diligently to educate our lawmakers on the enormous negative economic impacts that tobacco use has on Arizona.
Creating a tobacco retailer licensing system and opposing all forms of statewide preemption on tobacco product sales laws will continue to be a priority.
The rapid growth of AI tools has prompted public health organizations to explore their potential. While some may go ahead too quickly by adopting AI without fully developed rationale, others may hesitate due to uncertainty or challenges in the evolving field.
Addressing these challenges requires a thoughtful, multipronged approach — including well-designed policies — to ensure responsible and effective AI use while mitigating potential drawbacks.
To support these efforts, Developing Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policies for Public Health Organizations: A Template and Guidance offers a comprehensive and adaptable framework to help organizations craft or refine their AI policies.
It was developed by a collaboration between the Kansas Health Institute, Health Resources in Action and the Wichita State University Community Engagement Institute.
As part of this project, three key documents were developed that were used to inform the development of this document, Developing Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policies for Public Health Organizations: A Template and Guidance.
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Norovirus is a highly contagious virus that leads to inflammation of the stomach and intestines, resulting in symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, and stomach pain.
Tracking norovirus is difficult because diagnosing it requires a very specific stool test (not the easiest thing to collect from a norovirus patient) and the illness isn’t required to be reported – meaning the state and county health departments don’t have good data to track its spread.
There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence from emergency departments around Arizona that norovirus is definitely going around.
Norovirus in Arizona: What to know about the stomach bug
Norovirus spreads rapidly through several routes:
The virus can survive on surfaces for a long time and only a few viral particles are needed to cause infection.
Norovirus can wreak havoc in places like senior independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing, so it’s super important for leadership at these kinds of facilities to take quick action when there’s a sign that the virus has gotten a toe hold in the facility.
Note: ADHS regulations require licensed healthcare facilities and assisted living to implement stringent infection and disease control measures to prevent the spread of norovirus.
Norovirus presents a significant health risk, particularly in communal living environments, which also have people who have a high risk of complications and who can easily get dehydrated.
Note from the Field: The Pima County Health Department is team is actively investigating unknown gastrointestinal outbreaks in congregate care settings and schools, ensuring that samples are sent for testing to confirm etiology.
They work closely with the Consumer Health and Food Safety team whenever permitted food establishments may be involved. Additionally, they are providing ongoing education to our community partners and constituents and have responded to multiple media inquiries to raise awareness.
While individual case investigations are not required for non-outbreak cases, they frequently reach out to assess whether individuals work in sensitive occupations or belong to sensitive populations. This helps them implement appropriate public health measures when necessary.
The House and Senate Health and Human Services Committees are finally starting to have robust agenda. Multiple bills in each of those committees this week. Nothing earthshatteringly good or bad though – although we have signed up in support or opposition to some of them. Probably won’t ask to testify in committee though.
Here’s a link to our latest tracking worksheet – when you click on the bill number it should take you to the actual bill.
If your work depends on federal public health data, now is the time to act. In the two weeks since President Trump took office, multiple federal websites have already removed key reports, datasets, and surveillance tools that public health practitioners and nonprofit organizations rely on. More and more data are being deleted from servers in several agencies daily – even hourly.
If you use these resources, don’t assume they’ll still be there next week or that some archive website will have captured and preserved them — download and save them now before it’s too late.
Examples of some of the most at-risk resources include:
These aren’t just abstract concerns. If (when) these resources disappear, Arizona’s public health professionals and nonprofits will lose the ability to track trends, advocate for funding, and implement evidence-based programs.
Set aside time today to download the reports and datasets you use. Save them in multiple locations and share copies with colleagues. If you wait, you may find yourself scrambling to recover information that’s already gone.
Public health depends on data, and right now, that data is at risk. Don’t procrastinate—act now to protect the resources we need to keep Arizona healthy.
Last week Mr. Trump signed the “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” executive order, repealing Executive Order 11246 from 1965, which mandated equal employment opportunities and prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin for federal contractors.
Executive Order 11246, As Amended | U.S. Department of Labor
The revocation of EO 11246 will be damaging to fairness & workplace equality. For the last 60 years this order has improved diversity and prevented some discriminatory practices in the federal government and federal contractors.
Its repeal green lights discrimination in hiring practices, allowing biases to influence employment decisions and potentially marginalizing qualified individuals from underrepresented groups (damaging the social determinants of health and health equity).
The Order even tells the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to stop promoting diversity and holding contractors accountable for affirmative action – a move to extinguish initiative-taking measures that have addressed systemic inequalities in the workplace.
This week, the new U.S. president signed an executive order titled “Unleashing American Energy,” which freezes already approved investments in electrification infrastructure. While the order claims to prioritize energy independence and economic growth, Section 7, which pauses federal investments in electrification projects, could severely undermine U.S. efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
Unleashing American Energy – The White House
Electrification is a cornerstone of transitioning to a lower-carbon economy. Investments in electric vehicle charging stations, grid modernization, and clean energy infrastructure are essential to cutting emissions from transportation and energy production—the two largest sources of greenhouse gases in the U.S. Freezing these projects halts progress on these fronts, leaving the country reliant on outdated, fossil-fuel-intensive systems.
Expanding charging networks is critical to encouraging widespread adoption. Without federal support, many rural and underserved areas will remain charging deserts, discouraging potential EV buyers and prolonging reliance on gas-powered vehicles.
The same applies to modernizing the electrical grid, which is essential for integrating renewable energy sources like wind and solar. A pause on grid upgrades delays the transition to cleaner energy and increases the risk of power outages as demand continues to rise.
By hitting pause on electrification, this executive order will leave the U.S. stuck in neutral while the rest of the world speeds ahead on the road to clean energy.
