Oklahoma State Department of Health

FOR RELEASE: March 25, 2004
CONTACT: Pamela Williams
Office of Communications
405/271-5601

Media Advisory

Eighth Annual State of the State’s Health Report To Be Unveiled Friday

What:	News Conference - 2004 State of the State’s Health Report - will be released by the Oklahoma State Board of Health
When:	Friday, March 26, 11 a.m.
Where:	Blue Room, State Capitol
Featuring:	James M. Crutcher, M.D., M.P.H. State Commissioner of Health Oklahoma State Department of Health Gordon H. Deckert, M.D. Member & Past President Oklahoma State Board of Health Neil Hann, M.P.H. Chief, Community Development Service Oklahoma State Department of Health
Background:	The State Board of Health’s 2004 State of the State’s Health Report: A Lifetime of Prevention, marks the eighth annual report submitted to the citizens of Oklahoma by the State Board of Health.

In this year’s report, the Board suggested that health improvement initiatives that focus on prevention are key to improving the health of all Oklahomans. The Board identified these seven prevention priorities: nutrition and obesity, physical activity and fitness, tobacco use prevention, injury and violence prevention, immunization and infectious diseases, planning for healthy families, and public health systems development.

Included in the report for the first time is a State of the State’s Health Report Card, which charts Oklahoma’s current status in each of the prevention priorities.

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