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Surgeon General Supports Needle Exchanges To Limit Disease From Opioid Crisis
By: Mary Meehan | Ohio Valley ReSource
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U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams threw his support behind syringe exchange services as an important tool to address the Ohio Valley’s high risk of needle-borne disease associated with the opioid epidemic. Adams visited Florence, in northern Kentucky, for an event to encourage more people to get trained to administer the overdose-reversal drug naloxone. Dressed in a full,… Read More
Exchange of Ideas: How A Rural Kentucky County Overcame Fear To Adopt A Needle Exchange
By: Mary Meehan | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Greg Lee, Kentucky’s HIV/AIDS educator, starts the town hall on a somber note. “How many people in this room know someone who has died of an overdose death?” It is a standing-room only crowd. Most hands go up. “Amazing,” he says, sadly. The meeting is at the Bourbon County Public Health Department, just next to… Read More
Fracking Waste Disposal: Still A Hot Mess
By: Mary Meehan | Ohio Valley ReSource
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The slogan for Estill County is “where the bluegrass kisses the mountains.” But since 2015 the county, population 15,000, is widely known as the place where radioactive material generated by the oil and gas industry in a process known as fracking was dumped near some schools. As the Ohio Valley ReSource reported in 2016, tons of waste from the drilling… Read More
Trump’s First Year Leaves Obamacare on Life Support in Ohio Valley
By: Mary Meehan | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Remember the American Health Care Act, the Better Care Reconciliation Act, or the Obamacare Repeal and Reconciliation Act? They were among the many Congressional proposals to end the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. If 2017 was the year of endless Obamacare debates, 2018 could be the year when we see the effects on… Read More
Restricted Right: Ohio Valley Women Face Abortion Barriers
By: Mary Meehan | Ohio Valley ReSource
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A small gaggle of reporters points their microphones at reproductive rights activist Marcie Crim as she bluntly decries the shrinking access to abortion in the region. Crim stands just a few feet from the open door of the office of Governor Matt Bevin near the Capitol rotunda. Crim and Bevin may be physically close in… Read More
Tobacco’s Toll: New Push To Stop Smoking In Country’s Sickest States
By: Mary Meehan | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Hundreds of kids scurrying to buses are oblivious to a sign above them declaring Bourbon County High School “100 percent Tobacco Free.” But upstairs in the library, sophomore and anti-smoking advocate Jacob Steward unfurls a six-foot scroll with earth-toned papers trapped between clear sheets of laminate. He begins reading the anti-smoking slogans he’ll post around… Read More
The Big Latch: Rising Breast-feeding Rates Could Boost Region’s Health
By: Mary Meehan | Ohio Valley ReSource
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Edwin Hall is dressed in a footed onsie covered in the pastel shades of monkeys and hippos. Although Edwin’s just seven weeks old he already tells his mom when he’s hungry with a sharp and persistent yelp. Soon after he gets her attention, Edwin is practicing his sucking technique. His mom, Sarah, with the dazed… Read More
Appalachian Health Falling Further Behind
By: Mary Meehan | Ohio Valley ReSource
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A new report shows just how far Appalachia has fallen behind the rest of the country on key health measures such as rates of cancer, heart disease and infant mortality. Researchers say the region’s health gap is growing and they hope the data they’ve compiled will spur new approaches to health care. The 400-page report from the Robert… Read More
Memory Sunday: Churches Spread Alzheimer’s Awareness
By: Mary Meehan | Ohio Valley ReSource
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The church choir in bright blue robes swayed and testified on a hot summer Sunday. Pastor Anthony Everett, in his own robe of orange and brown, preached to his “saints” of Wesley United Methodist Church and they called back their approval with a staggered chorus of “Amen!” But this Sunday, Memory Sunday, was different. Half… Read More
After Obamacare: Disability Services At Risk In Medicaid Changes
By: Mary Meehan | Ohio Valley ReSource
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The young man with dimples and an easy smile stood in front of an audience seated in folding metal chairs. Jake Parsons talked a little about his life, and how, as someone living with a disability, he’s able to do what he does. “I’m 24 years old. I am a member of the Kentucky… Read More