Message From the Director

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Welcome to Shasta County Public Health's web site!

To further our mission of "Working with communities to protect and improve health," we offer services on this web site that you can use to protect and improve the health of your family and your community.  Hopefully you will find a lot of helpful information about the county's health status, services we provide, and action you can take to ensure good health for all. Improving the health of a community is only successful when the community is involved, and you are an important part of the community, whether you are a resident, coalition member, partner, employee, or community leader.

Shasta County Public Health's role in protecting citizens has never been more important. In the early 21st century there's no shortage of new public health threats: bioterrorism, West Nile Virus, SARS, childhood obesity, and more. We have an obligation to ensure the public's safety. It's also important to keep these new risks in check because, despite these threats, the real picture is much brighter. In most cases, Shasta County is healthier than it's ever been. And that's something to celebrate.

Diseases that plagued us back in the 1950s, such as polio and smallpox, are eradicated in the U.S. And many other diseases--measles, mumps, pertussis, rubella--are all but gone, thanks to mass vaccination programs. We still face other communicable diseases, but at a fraction of the numbers we saw 50 years ago.

Americans' life expectancy has increased from 68.2 years in 1950 to 77.2 years in 2001. We're living longer and with fewer health ailments than ever before.

It's important to remember there are still significant infectious disease challenges, beyond threats of bioterrorism. AIDS and Hepatitis C were unheard of 50 years ago, but are serious threats today. And the numbers of reported Chlamydia infections are up.

In recent decades, public health efforts have shifted to preventing chronic diseases and injury. More than 80% of deaths in Shasta County each year are due to chronic diseases, and the death rate from unintentional injuries is twice as high in Shasta County as in California. The rate of suicide, an intentional injury, is twice as high in Shasta County than in California.

To address ever increasing chronic disease, Shasta County Public Health established as top priorities for this decade the reduction of tobacco use and alcohol abuse, improvement of nutrition, and increased physical activity for all ages.

For more than 50 years, dedicated professionals in the community and in this department have helped Shasta County residents lead healthy and productive lives. The focus has changed, but our vision of healthy people in healthy communities remains the same.

I hope you find this web site helpful and informative. We're always looking to improve upon it, so please give us your ideas.

Here's to optimal health for all!

Sincerely,

Donnell Ewert MPH
Director
Shasta County Public Health