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Contact: Cindy Parmenter
Director of Communications
(303) 692-2013 - Office
(303) 891-8382 – Pager
Lori Maldonado
Public Information Specialist
(303) 692-2028 – Office
(303) 921-8598 – Cell
For Immediate Release Thursday, September 9, 2004
Colorado Tuberculosis Programs Receive National Award
DENVER – Public health programs in Colorado, which ensure treatment of
persons with new, active cases of tuberculosis, were among nine programs
recently honored nationally for completing treatment for such individuals
within 12 months.
The awards, for work performed in 2001 the last year for which complete
data was available, were presented at the National Tuberculosis
Controller’s Workshop held in Atlanta to programs that completed 90
percent of the required treatment within 12 months. Colorado completed 92
percent of its treatment within that period.
Of the local programs in Colorado, the El Paso County Health Department,
the Mesa County Health Department and the Weld County Health Department
completed treatment for 100 percent of the newly active cases of
tuberculosis, reported to their departments, within 12 months. El Paso
County had seven cases; Mesa County, four; and Weld County, 10.
The Denver Metro Tuberculosis Clinic, serving Adams; Arapahoe; Boulder;
Broomfield; Denver; Douglas; and Jefferson counties, managed 96 of the 138
tuberculosis cases reported in Colorado in 2001. Ninety percent of their
cases completed therapy within 12 months.
Other public health programs that contributed to Colorado’s success in
treating tuberculosis cases included Costilla County Nursing Service;
Elbert County Public Health; Gunnison County Public Health; Larimer County
Department of Health and Environment; Las Animas-Huerfano Counties
District Health Department; Montrose Health and Human Services; Otero
County Health Department; Pueblo City-County Health Department; Rio Grande
County Public Health; and the Saguache County Public Health Nursing
Service.
Honored in addition to the Colorado program were programs in the states of
Arkansas, Delaware, Indiana, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont; in the City
of San Francisco; and in Puerto Rico. The nine programs honored were
selected from among 68 programs evaluated.
Barbara Stone, the manager of the Tuberculosis Program at the Colorado
Department of Public Health and Environment, who accepted the award in
behalf of the several Colorado public health agencies, said, “Finding and
treating active tuberculosis is our top priority. The credit for this
award goes to our hard-working, local health partners who performed the
day-to-day work to achieve this goal.”
Stone also explained, “Treatment of tuberculosis is complex. A usual case
is treated for six months with four different drugs. To ensure complete
treatment for this disease, health agencies use directly observed therapy.
This is therapy in which each dose of medication is delivered to the
patient in person and observed by health care workers.”
Dr. Ned Calonge, the state’s chief medical officer who is based at the
Department of Public Health and Environment, said, “This award recognizes
the dedicated work of our local public health partners throughout the
state. It is these professionals, who commit to supporting the completion
of tuberculosis therapy to assure both the health of the affected
individual and the protection of our communities from what remains an
important public health threat.”
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