Questions answered by Lamar Paris, County Commissioner
Q. Do you have any statistics on how healthy Union County is?
A. Yes, we recently received statistics on public health rankings published by the Partner Up! For Public Health Campaign. The report pulls together county-level public health data from a variety of existing public sources and organizes it in a system that makes it easy to pull county-specific reports and compare the health of citizens in any county with the remainder of the state and the nation. The report can be found online at www.togetherwecandobetter.com.
Q. So how does Union County rank compared with the rest of the state?
A. While Georgia as a whole, ranks poorly nation wide, Union County ranks 12th best among Georgia’s 159 counties in the report. While this is good, it should be a lot better. The County also ranks healthiest, in the top 25 percent of all counties, in poverty, unemployment, obesity, STDS, teen births, life expectancy, diabetes, asthma, and cardiovascular deaths. However, it ranks in the bottom 25 percent of all counties for the uninsured. This typically means extra financial pressure on our health care facilities.
Q. How does The Partner UP! compile these statistics?
A. The Partner Up! Database and interactive map aggregates a total of four social determinants, six health indicators and five health outcomes for each of Georgia’s 159 counties. The social determinants measure educational attainment, poverty, crime, and unemployment. The health indicators examine the number of persons per physician and the prevalence of adult obesity, sexually transmitted diseases, low birth weight, the uninsured, and teen births. Health outcomes focus on average life expectancy, adult diabetes, adult asthma hospitalization and cancer and cardiovascular disease related deaths.
Q. What does the report say about the health of Georgia?
A. Charles Hayslett, spokesman for the Partner Up! Campaign states, “The simple fact of the matter is that Georgia has been losing ground in virtually every public health ranking for most of the past decade.” He further stated, “It’s not our purpose to embarrass any area or put any counties in a negative spotlight but, we’ve concluded that we have to call attention to the extent and gravity of Georgia’s health problems before we can expect local and state leaders to address them.”
The Report shows that, as a state, Georgia rates worse than the rest of the United States in 13 of the 14 included measurements. In addition, 60 percent of Georgia counties rate worse than the United States in 10 or more of these measurements. While Union County ranks very good in Georgia, Georgia ranks so poorly that our rates are worse than the U.S. in 8 categories.
Q. What else does the report say about Georgia and Union County?
A. Here are some other disturbing revelations:
- Eighty-nine percent of Georgia counties have more obese adults than the U.S. average of 26.3 percent. 26.6 percent of Union County adults are considered obese.
- Ninety-one percent of Georgia counties have a lower life expectancy than the U.S. median of 76.5 years. However, Union County’s life expectancy is 76.9 years.
- Two-thirds of Georgia counties have a worse rate of death from cancer than the U.S. average of 178.4 deaths per 100,000. Union County’s rate is 182.3 deaths per 100,000.
Q. What can be done to improve these statistics?
A. One of the problems is money. According to the Partner Up! For Public Health campaign, since 2000, Georgia’s population has grown 20 percent, but per capita state spending for the public health system has been cut 21 percent. Today, per capita state spending on public health in Georgia is down to about four cents per person per day, among the lowest in the nation.
Most recently, in the FY2011 budget, the Georgia Division of Public Health’s (DPH) general fund budget was cut from $158.6 million to about $148.9 million, a reduction of about $9.75 million.
Summary
We all realize that our state and nation is in a financial crisis when trying to balance budgets. However, we must also realize that if we do not have our health, we have nothing. One problem is that there are differing opinions on what decisions need to be made to have a healthier state and nation. We are mostly dependent on our politicians, scientists and health professionals to find the best solutions. If those solutions include additional cost, then the public has to be willing to carry part of that burden. It is easy to suggest that we slash the budget on every item across the board, but when it involves our health, I think we should tread lightly. While you often hear me talk about our exceptional quality of life in Union County, poor health can destroy your quality of life in a heartbeat.
Q. Can Union County government do anything to assist the public with their health?
A. As part of our annual budget, our Health Department is vital to our community health. It is funded 1/3 by the county, 1/3 by the state and 1/3 by fees. Each year the state lowers its contribution to local health departments and this coming year will be no exception. We have furloughed employees, cut the number of employees, and frozen wages to the point that if we are going to keep our health department open, it will require additional local funding. As the state legislature continues to cut funding and not raise revenues, many of these costs are simply being passed down to the local taxpayers.
Q. Does our Recreation program contribute to our community health?
A. It certainly does. In an age where computer and hand held games are dominating our youth’s spare time, it is encouraging to see that the fastest growing activity at Meeks Park is our sports programs for our youngest youth, ages 9 and under. I have been a lifelong advocate of recreation and sports being vitally important to our citizens, for not only the social and teamwork advantages, but for the improved health of our entire population. In an effort to emphasize the importance of exercise activity, we have put a concentrated effort into constantly expanding our walking/jogging trail complex at Meeks Park. There is no better health exercise for adults and kids than a regular walking program, and no better or more beautiful walking trails than at Meeks Park.
We encourage everyone that when this awful winter weather subsides, to make a goal of going to Meeks Park at least three times a week to walk. You will be amazed at how this will benefit your health and mental attitude.
We are also working on some walking trail maps that will give you detailed information about the different trails in the park and how long they are. We look forward to seeing you at Meeks Park!!!