Each day, more than 3,200 people younger than 18 years of age smoke their first cigarette and the tobacco industry is using old marketing tactics for new products. Evidence indicates that the more young people are exposed to cigarette advertising and promotional activities, the more likely they are to smoke, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office on Smoking and Health. Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), commonly known as e-cigarettes, are some of the newer products on ...

On Thursday, September 3, ANTHC Environmental Health and Engineering and the City of Ouzinkie held a dedication ceremony for the Kelly Larson Memorial Dam. During the ceremony, a plaque was unveiled honoring Kelly Larson, an ANTHC Senior Project Manager who passed away in 2012 and led the charge in delivering clean and reliable drinking water to the Spruce Island community. The $2.3 million project replaced a deteriorating wooden dam, constructed in 1986, with a new, state-of-the art concrete faced rock-fill ...

When the new patient housing facility opens on the Alaska Native Health Campus in Anchorage, the ANTHC facility will also be home to Alaska’s first Ronald McDonald House on the top floor of the six-story building. ANTHC and Ronald McDonald House Charities® of Western Washington & Alaska (RHMC) will expand their current partnership to provide programming and activities that enhance the “home away from home” environment for families of pediatric patients at the Alaska Native Medical Center. The partnership with ...

The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) identified a cluster of invasive Group A Streptococcus infections caused by a new strain (emm-type, emm-26) and released an Alaska Public Health Advisory notice.  This strain was recently described in several media stories and has led to 4 deaths in Fairbanks and Anchorage. A predominant number of these cases have affected the local Anchorage homeless population. Group A Streptococcus (Strep) may cause a wide range of illness, including colonization without illness, ...

A team of ANTHC staff recently visited the southwest Alaska village of Newtok, which is in the process of moving nine miles downriver to Nelson Island and a new village site, Mertarvik. The move will help ensure the sustainability and safety of the community, which currently faces frequent storm-driven erosion. Staff from various departments completed a multipurpose site visit, serving ANTHC’s commitment to a holistic approach to community planning, infrastructure design and providing health services to the people of Newtok. ...

As ANTHC’s latest sanitation project in Angoon nears completion, critical infrastructure upgrades are beginning to improve quality of life for the whole community. Angoon’s new, custom-built septic tank and outfall pipe are up and running, diverting waste from sensitive areas previously impacted by deficiencies in the old system. Mabel Jack, a community Elder whose yard had suffered wastewater discharges for years, enjoys a clean property. Area birds that formerly fed in contaminated areas are no longer enticed by wastewater spills. ...