Category: Healthy People and Prevention
ANTHC celebrates 10 year anniversary of tobacco-free campus
This November marks the Alaska Native Health Campus’ 10-year anniversary of becoming a tobacco-free campus. The Alaska Native Health Campus has been 100 percent tobacco free since 2006 and will celebrate this achievement on Nov. 17 in conjunction with the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout. The American Cancer Society began celebrating the one-day Great American Smokeout event in the 1970s primarily as a way to encourage current tobacco users to make a plan to quit, or to go completely ...
Even healthy people need to protect themselves against the flu
As flu season begins, it is important to know the health benefits of getting an annual flu shot versus myths about the vaccine. Myth: I am healthy, so there is no need for me to get a flu vaccine. Fact: It is true that the flu vaccination is routinely recommended for people who have a chronic illness. But anyone – even healthy people – can benefit from being vaccinated. Current guidelines suggest that children ages 6 months to 19 years ...
New treatment for hepatitis C infection now available at ANMC
Since 2013, more effective drug therapies for treating hepatitis C have increased the rate at which our people are completing treatment that leads to a cure for the deadly virus. Joining a family of highly effective direct acting antiviral therapies available at ANMC is a newly licensed drug consisting of sofosbuvir and valpatasvir (Epclusa®, Gilead Sciences, Inc.). This is a fixed-dose combination tablet that covers six hepatitis C virus genotypes and is approved for use in persons with serious liver ...
ANTHC’s Tobacco Prevention and Control program offers an annual Tobacco Treatment Specialist (TTS) training for those interested in becoming Certified Tobacco Treatment Specialists. This five-day intensive training teaches health care professionals the necessary skills to provide effective, evidence-based interventions for individuals who are ready to quit using tobacco. This year’s training took place Sept. 26-30 and 40 health care professionals from 16 communities across the state attended including Dental Health Aide Therapists (DHATs), Community Health Aide Practitioners (CHAPs), Behavioral Health ...
Free flu vaccines are now available for our people throughout the state. It is important for all people to get vaccinated for the flu to protect ourselves, as well as our family, coworkers and community. In addition, influenza poses a greater risk to certain people like pregnant women, children and Elders – they are all at high risk for flu-related complications. ANMC offers the quadrivalent flu vaccine that protects against many forms of the flu virus that may occur in ...
A cancer diagnosis impacts not only the individuals but entire family and support systems. When a loved one dies, there are few grief support resources available to families living in our rural communities. To address the need for grief support for young children aged 6 to 12, the ANTHC Cancer Program created a one-day grief camp called Camp Coho. Funded by ANTHC’s Healthy Alaska Natives Foundation, the Cancer Program offered the fifth annual Camp Coho on Saturday, Oct.1 in Anchorage. ...