Sixteen community health centers in Illinois will receive $9.5 million to expand mental health and substance use disorder services. [Health News Illinois]

Last week, the Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced $240 million for more than 400 community health centers.

“Health centers have a proven record of success in reaching underserved communities,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “This funding expands their access to essential behavioral health services that will benefit entire communities.”

See the awardees.

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In Vermont, there’s been a 22% decline in drug deaths in 2024. In King County, Washington, the first half of the year saw a 15% drop. Ohio? Thirty-one percent fewer overdose deaths so far. And Missouri had a 34% decrease in the second quarter.. [Nice News]
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Those places have all been hotspots in the opioid epidemic, and the sudden, swift declines seen this year could indicate a national street drug death drop of around 15% — higher than the CDC’s recent estimate of 10.6%, a rate already being celebrated as a win.
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That’s according to Nabarun Dasgupta, an expert at the University of North Carolina. He recently released an analysis of the “unprecedented” numbers, which could correspond to 20,000 fewer deaths in 2024. “This is exciting,” Dr. Nora Volkow, head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, told NPR. “This looks real. This looks very, very real.”
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It’s not just researchers who are seeing the trend: The people working to fight the epidemic on the ground are noticing changes, too. “A year ago when overdose deaths continued to rise, I was really struggling with hope,” said Brad Finegood, who directs the overdose crisis response in Seattle. He added: “Today, I have so much hope.”

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More from CDC>

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The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, a division of HHS, has partnered with other federal agencies and health systems to create a national safety alliance as part of broader commitments from the federal government to reduce preventable harm and improve care quality industrywide. [Beckers Clinical Leadership]

The alliance was among efforts shared at the White House Sept. 17 during a forum on patient safety hosted by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology — a working group of more than two dozen thought leaders in the academic, government and private sectors. AHRQ first shared the concept of a national safety alliance in 2023, with more details emerging at the forum. 

Eight things to know:

1. The National Action Alliance for Patient and Workforce Safety is a collective of federal agencies, heath systems, medical associations, policymakers and patient groups that will work together to apply evidence-based harm reduction strategies across all populations and settings, according to an AHRQ overview. The first area of focus will be hospital care settings.

2. The alliance will rely on a total-systems approach to safety improvement and align with the  National Action Plan to Advance Patient Safety, which aims to reduce preventable harm by 50% by 2026. Participating systems will conduct a baseline safety assessment to identify priority areas for improvement. Through the alliance, they'll have access to implementation support, funding opportunities and other resources to support improvement efforts.  

3. On Nov. 1, the alliance will release an initial version of a dashboard to monitor the nation's progress toward eliminating preventable patient and workplace harms across all settings.

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Firearm homicides are a leading cause of death in the US among individuals younger than 44 years,¹ with over 21 000 deaths from mass shootings between 2014 and 2022.² In response to the 2018 Parkland high school shooting that killed 17 people, Florida’s legislature enacted a red flag law permitting the temporary removal of firearms by law enforcement officers from individuals posing a danger to themselves or others. Florida is one of the few politically conservative and largely profirearm states to pass a law restricting gun ownership.^3 [JAMA]

Research into how red flag laws affect firearm-related homicide mortality is scant, with inconclusive findings.⁴ However, red flag laws may reduce firearm-related suicide mortality.^4,5 We estimated the association between Florida’s red flag law enactment and firearm and nonfirearm homicide and suicide rates.

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A growing number of U.S. adults are hesitant to get recommended vaccines this fall, a new survey found. [Fox News]

The poll, which included 1,006 people, found that only 43% of respondents have gotten or plan to get the COVID vaccine.

Only a slight majority (56%) of adults said they have gotten or plan to get the flu shot this fall.

COVID VACCINE DISTRUST GROWING AMONG AMERICANS, SURVEY FINDS: ‘SHOULD BE A PERSONAL CHOICE’

The poll also found that 37% of those who have gotten vaccines in past years plan to skip the shots this season. 

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COVID-19 isn’t slowing down. In at least 42 states, COVID cases, emergency room visits and hospitalizations all spiked this summer. In June, more than 1 in ­50 Americans 65 and older went to an ER and were diagnosed with COVID, more than double last summer’s rate, a rise ­attributable to the highly contagious ­omicron strains known as FLiRT. [AARP.ORG/Bulletin] 

FLiRT strains account for the majority of new cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Summer spikes happen when people huddle inside in air-conditioning for Father’s Day, graduations and similar events. But older Americans should be concerned about what lies ahead. For the past two years, COVID infections among people 65 and older were highest between Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day, peaking around Christmas each year. “It is likely we will see more cases as we move into fall/winter,” says Pragna Patel, M.D., senior adviser for long COVID at the CDC. For the past two winters, more than 1 in every 20 Americans 65 and older wound up in an ER with COVID symptoms.

FLiRT variants spread easily, having mutated to evade some antibodies. They don’t appear to cause more serious symptoms—doctors see everything from mild colds to severe respiratory infections. It’s not that they’re any less deadly, but most of us have acquired a certain degree of immunity to COVID-19.

Still, older adults remain at risk. Early this summer, hospitalization rates for those 65 and older were roughly 14 times higher than for adults under 50, according to the CDC. For older Americans, then, protecting ourselves is critical. Here’s how.

▶︎ Get your vaccinations up to date—pronto. Vaccination is still paramount for preventing COVID and decreasing the risk of severe illness and death, says Sara F. Martin, M.D., medical director of the Adult Post-Acute COVID Clinic at Vanderbilt University. If you’re due for your next shot, there’s no reason to wait: Updated 2024–2025 COVID vaccinations from Moderna, Novavax and Pfizer are expected to roll out this month. Medicare Part B continues to cover the vaccine, as do most insurers, but it’s best to check in advance. Some insurers only cover the vaccine when it’s administered in network. And yes, it’s safe to get your flu shot at the same time.

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Information about homicides is released daily by the city of Chicago. The release of homicide victims’ names is delayed by two weeks to allow time for the victims’ families to be notified of a death by Chicago police. [Chicago Tribune]

The homicide figures do not include killings that occurred in self-defense or in other circumstances not measured in Chicago police statistics. Homicide data from the Illinois State Police, which patrols the city’s expressways, also is not included here.

After a two-year spike during the pandemic and national outrage over police accountability, Chicago began to see a decline in homicides in 2022. Homicide and nonfatal shooting totals fell again in 2023, but the city was roiled by robbery and carjacking crews responsible for an overall uptick in violence.

Data, which is updated on this page weekly, is through Sept. 14, 2024.

The number of people slain so far in 2024: 412.

That’s 41 fewer people killed when compared with 2023.

Austin leads all community areas with the most homicides so far in 2024 — 37.

Where each homicide has occurred so far in 2024 (through Sept. 14)

Sources: City of Chicago, Tribune reporting

Chicago’s homicide victims in 2024 are often young, Black and male.

Most homicide victims in Chicago died as the result of gunshot wounds.

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After over two years on the job, Department of Public Health Director Dr. Sameer Vohra last week laid out steps public health needs to take to address the challenges it faces. [Health News Illinois]

Vohra told members of the State Board of Health that IDPH is working during this relatively “calm” period post-pandemic to build the future foundation of the agency.

One step they're taking is to improve preparedness for any future outbreaks or novel pathogens. As an example, Vohra noted a new variant of mpox has started to spread in Africa and Europe. IDPH is evaluating its ability to respond if and when it comes to Illinois.

“Those efforts include making sure the state has the necessary resources to address the latest pathogens, as well as the community partnerships in place to aid in any response,” he said.

Another key is to “modernize” the public health system, including data management.

IDPH is also building up the public health workforce. And Vohra said they want to better invest in communities. 

He wants to improve community relations, a common refrain from the agency coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vohra said public health is “introducing ourselves again to the public.” 

Those efforts are not just to address mistrust of health officials and vaccines, but also to forge bonds with individuals and community organizations in areas that the health system has historically underserved.

And, while terms like “social determinants of health” have become more common, health officials need to better explain them to the general public, Vohra said. 

“We cannot do all of it by ourselves, but what we can do is be in a position where we are communicating that strategy of what public health is and what a public health approach is … so that we hit the root causes of many of the challenges that we face,” he said.

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Stress levels among modern-day parents appear to be growing at an alarming rate — so much so that U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy recently issued an advisory calling parental stress an urgent public health issue.   [ The Hill]

Parents in 2024 are handling the traditional challenges of child care while dealing with stressors “previous generations didn’t have to consider,” Murthy, who is a father himself, said in the advisory.  

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The national official poverty rate (11.1%) was lower than the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) (12.9%) in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's report, Poverty in the United States: 2023, released on Tuesday. [US Census Bureau]

However, an analysis of 3-year averages of poverty rates by states shows the SPM rate was lower than the official rate in 32 states.

The two poverty measures provide distinct indicators of U.S. economic well-being.

The SPM broadens the official poverty measure by accounting for government programs designed to assist low-income families that are not included in the official poverty measure while also including federal and state taxes and necessary expenses.

Continue reading to learn more about the national and statewide SPM rates.

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