Wine, Women, and Shoes featued on In Wine Country - 1/9/08

Check it out! In Wine Country, a weekly series airing on NBC stations that brings the unique wine country lifestyle home to you, featured Planned Parenthood: Shasta-Diablo's Wine, Women and Shoes event. Last year's event was held at the Honig Winery in the gorgeous Napa Valley.

Watch the video at the In Wine Country Web site!

World AIDS Day March in Redding A Success! - 12/12/07

To commemorate World AIDS Day, Planned Parenthood: Shasta-Diablo health centers offered free or low-cost HIV screenings. In Redding (Shasta county), a march was held to raise awareness about HIV prevention, celebrate the strength of those living with HIV/AIDS, and to remember those we've lost. 35 people participated in the march which ended at the Planned Parenthood health center in Redding where HIV screenings were made available. Here are some of the pictures from that great event:

Teen Births Are On The Rise, But California Remains Low - 12/6/07

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that teen births in the United States are on the rise, but California still remains the lowest in the nation. Planned Parenthood: Shasta-Diablo (PPSD) has the largest community service and education department in the country, focusing on the prevention of teen pregnancy, transmission of sexually transmitted infections and HIV, and the need for abortion. Visit PPSD's Web site for more information about our education programs.

Report: U.S. teen births rise

By MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer1 hour, 33 minutes ago

The nation's teen birth rate has risen for the first time in 14 years, according to a new government report.

The birth rate had been dropping since 1991. The decline had slowed in recent years, but government statisticians said Wednesday it jumped 3 percent from 2005 to 2006.

"It took us by surprise," said Stephanie Ventura of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a co-author of the report.

The birth data for 2006 also showed births to unmarried mothers hit a new record high, and the overall birth rate has climbed to its highest level since 1971.

The teen increase was based on the 15-19 age group, which accounted for about 99 percent of the more than 440,000 births to teens in 2006.

The rate rose to 41.9 live births per 1,000 females in that age group, up from 40.5 in 2005
Benefits are big when kids stop having kids

By Daniel Weintraub - dweintraub@sacbee.com

Published 12:00 am PST Sunday, November 25, 2007
Story appeared in FORUM section, Page E4

Births to teenage mothers – one of the leading causes of social dysfunction – have dropped dramatically since 1991, and the rate in California is now the lowest ever recorded for the state, according to a new study. This trend, which has received relatively little notice, appears to be both a product of a cultural shift and the harbinger of more to come. It is great news.

The children of teen mothers are widely believed to be less healthy, more prone to abuse, poorer, less educated, more often placed in foster homes and more likely to become criminals. One state study put the price to taxpayers for just some of these problems at more than $1 billion a year.

But all of that might soon be changing. Teen birth rates have fallen dramatically in the past 15 years, according to a new report by Hans Johnson of the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonpartisan research organization. From a peak of about 74 births per 1,000 teens aged 15 to 19 in 1991, the rate by 2005 had dropped to 38 per 1,000 teens. And the rate is dropping for all ethnic groups.

The rate for whites has declined from 43 per 1,000 teens to 15. For blacks, it has plunged from 105 to about 40. For Asians, it has dropped from 30 to 12. And among Latinas, the teen birth rate has declined from 119 per 1,000 teens in 1991 to about 67 today.

While as a group Latinas still have the highest teen birth rates, by far, their experience is a big part of this story. A surge in the number of young Latina immigrants after changes in U.S. immigration laws in the 1980s contributed to a big increase in teen births here. As men who were here illegally gained legal status, many brought their families to join them from their native countries.

The girls who were part of that immigration wave came from a culture where young mothers and large families were the norm, and they helped drive up fertility rates and teen birth rates in California. The teen birth rate had reached a low of 48 per 1,000 teens in 1984. But by 1991 – five years after the last big amnesty for illegal immigrants – the teen birth rate in California was at a new high.

"There was a catch-up effect," Johnson says. "It was a mini-baby boom."

But most of the Latino women coming of age today were either born in the United States or grew up here. As they assimilate, they are picking up the norms of the dominant culture, having fewer children and having them later in life.

The immigrant experience, however, does not explain why rates for blacks and whites are also plummeting.

One explanation for that phenomenon is the increasing acceptance of sex education, birth control and abortion. Birth control experts have lauded California for having the best sex education and birth control programs in the nation. Those programs have likely helped persuade many girls to postpone motherhood.

Another is welfare reform. Changes in federal and state laws in the mid-1990s put time limits on public assistance for poor women with children and required that able-bodied recipients to go to school or work. Teen birth rates were already dropping by the time those laws kicked in, but making it less attractive for poor young women to have children has probably contributed to the decline.

The overriding factor may simply be the cultural changes that have come with the economic emancipation of women. A generation ago, it was still common for teenage girls to marry young and have children, putting off a career for many years and perhaps forever. Today, though, a majority of college students are women, women are in the work force in record numbers and economic opportunity for women has improved tremendously. Every teenage girl sees this. For more and more of them, it has become the norm.

"When you look at where teen birth rates are high and where they are low, you see they tend to be lowest in places that have the best economic outlook," Johnson said. "When kids look to their future, they look around, and if they are in a place where economic opportunity is available, and where economic opportunities have increased for women, that plays a role."

The implications are enormous. When kids stop having kids, everyone benefits. The children eventually born to those mothers when they are more mature and economically secure are generally better off and better cared for. And when they grow up, they are less likely to be a burden on society and a source of growing costs for taxpayers. They are probably less likely to have kids while teens themselves, which further nips the destructive cycle in the bud.

At a time when we are bombarded by bad news on every front, the downward trend in teen births seems indisputably positive. It's something that needs to be celebrated and reinforced so that it continues.

About the writer:

• Call The Bee's Daniel Weintraub, (916) 321-1914. Readers can see his blog about health care at www.sacbee.com/healthcare.

PPSD Gets Grant To Combat HIV/AIDS in Solano County - 11/30/07

Vallejo sorority gets AIDS grant

By SARA STROUD/Times-Herald staff writer

Article Launched: 11/30/2007 08:52:27 AM PST

Two agencies will be doing more to combat HIV/AIDS within Solano County with the help of grants from Kaiser Permanente.

In time for World AIDS Day - which is Saturday - Kaiser announced the allocation of $70,000 in grants: $45,000 of which will go to Planned Parenthood Shasta Diablo, while $25,000 will go to Delta Sigma Theta Sorority's Vallejo chapter.

"It's an awesome program. It's done some really good things," Kaiser Permanente community benefits specialist Cynthia Verrett said of the funding, which is part of $1.3 million in grants distributed statewide.

Each of the recipient programs focuses on at least one of the following areas: HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention, screening and diagnosis, or treatment, Verrett said.

Planned Parenthood will use its funds to help implement rapid HIV testing at its Vallejo, Fairfield, Vacaville and Napa locations.

The goal is to increase HIV screening to meet Center for Disease Control guidelines, which call for routine testing all adults regardless of perceived risk level, said Planned Parenthood vice president of medical services Phyllis Schoenwald.

Unlike traditional testing, which can take up to a few weeks to get results, rapid test outcomes are available in a matter of minutes.

"It speeds up the whole process. The whole point is to get people into care earlier," Schoenwald said.

Delta Sigma Theta sorority's funds will be used to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS in Vallejo schools.

Both Planned Parenthood and Delta Sigma Theta have received Kaiser grants in years past and have been very successful, Verrett said.

E-mail Sara Stroud at sstroud@thnewsnet.com or call 553-6833.

Vacaville Reporter speaks out about SB 94 and AB 629 - 10/17/07

Here is an excellent editorial from the Vacaville Reporter on how the Governor's signing SB 94 and AB 629 will help reduce the number of sexually transmitted infections that have recently been growing amongst teens.

Eye-opening accuracy
New legislation may address STD rates
Vacaville Reporter
Article Launched: 10/16/2007 07:56:18 AM PDT

The figures are astounding: Nearly a quarter of Solano County's high school and college age residents may have suffered new cases of sexually transmitted diseases in 2005, according to a study released last week by the California Public Health Institute.

Researchers were quick to point out that the figures don't necessarily represent any increase in disease rates - just more accurate calculations.

By applying the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's new method of calculating STD rates to California and its counties, researchers estimated that 20.6 percent of the state's 15- to 24-year-olds suffered more than 1.1 million new infections that year - more than 10 times higher than previously believed. The cases represent a lifetime treatment cost of $1 billion.
The new calculations showed that in Solano County, the 15,440 STD cases were equivalent to 23.8 percent of the young population. Lifetime treatments costs were estimated at $13 million.

The study focused on eight major STDs: chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, genital herpes, HPV, hepatitis B, trichomoniasis and HIV. Health care providers are required to report to the state some diseases, such as HIV. Others, such as HPV, or human papillomavirus, which may account for more than half of the estimated cases in the new report, are not subject to mandatory reporting. Hence the need to find better ways to estimate their frequency.

Researchers hope that developing a more realistic outlook on the frequency of STDs might result in more practical measures to detect, treat and prevent their spread.

It is fitting, then, that among the bills signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this past weekend were two that could have some effect on this problem.

Senate Bill 94 will increase the amount that MediCal pays to providers of family planning services - services that include identifying and treating STDs. The additional $24 million going to those providers may bring up to $64 million in additional federal funds to the clinics, enabling them to resume services that have been cut in recent years as they struggled to make do on a reimbursement rate that hadn't changed since 1985. To his credit, Solano's own state Sen. Michael Machado helped push this bill through the Legislature.

Assembly Bill 629, the "Sexual Health Education Accountability Act," requires that sex education in all public schools be comprehensive, medically accurate and age appropriate. Accurate education has helped California make good progress in reducing the teenage pregnancy rate. Perhaps more attention on STDs in the curriculum can help slow their spread.

Unfortunately, the governor chose to veto Assembly Bill 1429, a measure carried by Solano County Assemblywoman Noreen Evans that would have required most insurance companies to cover the costs of vaccinating women against HPV, which can lead to cervical cancer. The vaccine is essential to reducing future rates of HPV.

In a signing statement attached to the veto, the governor said: "While I support increased access to preventive services, I cannot support this bill as it may contribute to rising premiums. Further, a mandate is not necessary as this vaccine is already routinely provided by health plans and insurers. Mandating its coverage is unnecessary, restrictive and may increase costs." It's questionable reasoning, though. If health care providers are already providing this vaccine, then there should be no increase in costs.

Still, two out of three isn't bad. And with a better picture of the STD situation among young people, coupled with funds and mandates to address it, perhaps California can reduce the infection rate.

U.S. death rates from cancer falling - prevention, early detection credited - 10/16/07

Did you know that Planned Parenthood is the largest cancer screener in the country?

Here is an article from the San Francisco Chronicle about how early detection and prevention is credited for lower cancer death rates.

U.S. death rates from cancer falling - prevention, early detection credited

Denise Grady, New York Times

Monday, October 15, 2007

Death rates from cancer have been dropping by an average of 2.1 percent a year recently in the United States, a near doubling of decreases that began in 1993, researchers are reporting.

"Every 1 percent is 5,000 people who aren't dying," said Dr. Richard Schilsky, a professor of medicine at the University of Chicago and president-elect of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. "That's a huge sense of progress at this point."

Much of the progress comes not from miracle cures, but from more mundane improvements in prevention, early detection and treatment of some of the leading causes of cancer death - lung, colorectal, breast and prostate tumors. Years of nagging and pleading by health officials are finally beginning to pay off, experts say, in smoking cessation and increased use of mammograms, colonoscopies and other screening tests for colorectal and prostate cancer.

But the new statistics also contain bad news: American Indians and Alaska Natives in some regions are not benefiting from the same improvements as the rest of the population, and have higher rates of preventable cancers and late-stage tumors that would have had a better prognosis had they been detected sooner. Some groups within those populations have high rates of smoking. Researchers attribute the problems to poverty, lower education levels, and lack of insurance and access to medical care.

About 1.8 million of the 3.3 million American Indians and Alaska Natives receive their medical care through the Indian Health Service, but its facilities generally do not treat cancer. Outside contractors provide cancer treatment, but to get it, patients may have to navigate complicated rules and restrictions.

"The concern we have is that much of the progress we've attained in reducing death rates comes from tobacco control, screening and access to timely and high-quality treatment, and those positive effects are not being seen in all populations in the U.S.," said Elizabeth Ward, director of cancer surveillance for the American Cancer Society.

The new information, in an annual report from the cancer society, the National Cancer Institute and others, is being published online today - at www.interscience.wiley.com/cancer/report2007 - and in the Nov. 15 issue of the journal Cancer.

In the United States, cancer remains the second leading cause of death after heart disease, with 559,650 deaths expected this year.

But overall, death rates from cancer have been dropping by an average of 1.1 percent a year since 1993.

The report, using a statistical technique to analyze death rates, finds that the rate of decline deepened recently, averaging 2.1 percent a year from 2002 to 2004, the latest dates for which statistics are available.

"I'm hopeful that these improvements will serve to at least partially satisfy the cynics who have questioned whether the investment in cancer treatment has borne fruit," said Dr. Neal Meropol, director of the gastrointestinal cancer program at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. "In my view, these numbers are starting to highlight the advances that have been made."

In men, death rates decreased for most cancers, but went up for esophageal and liver cancer.

In women, death rates also dropped for most common cancers, but increased for liver and lung cancer. Lung cancer rates are still increasing for women because they started smoking, and quit, later than men did. But the death rate in women is increasing more slowly than in the past.

"What we think the statistics show now is that the epidemic of lung cancer in women has peaked, and we hope we'll start seeing a downturn," Ward said.

The report found that the incidence of both breast and ovarian cancer has decreased in the past few years. Researchers think the decline may be attributable in part to a sharp drop in hormone use after menopause, a response to a landmark study in 2002 that found the drugs increased the risk of breast cancer.

The American Cancer Society has said that lack of access to medical care is a major obstacle to reducing death rates. It recently began an advertising campaign to publicize the problem.

"Access to care truly is the message," said Dr. Patricia Ganz, director of cancer prevention and control research at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCLA.

Meropol of the Fox Chase Cancer Center said: "What jumps out is that we really still have a long way to go.

"In spite of improvements, it's still a minority of individuals in our country that undergo screening for colon cancer," he said. "If everyone were screened appropriately, these incidence numbers would fall even more dramatically annually."

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/15/MNNFSPVIL.DTL

This article appeared on page A - 4 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Governor Signs TWO Critical Pieces of Legislation - 10/15/07

Good News! Governor Schwarzenegger signed two critical pieces of legislation affecting Planned Parenthood!

SB 94 ensures Planned Parenthood can continue to provide quality healthcare to those who need it by increasing Medi-Cal provider reimbursement rates for vital family planning services. The Medi-Cal provider reimbursement rate had only seen one increase in twenty years. Because of this, Planned Parenthood has had to turn away 10,000 patients a year due to the lack of funding to hire staff to meet the needs of these patients.

AB 629 ensures state money will only be spent on medically accurate, effective sex education! Despite comprehensive sex education laws in California, some public funds were being spent on inaccurate, biased programs often in the most underserved communities that have the greatest health disparities and the least access to quality sexual health information. AB 629 promotes healthy communities by funding accurate, reliable information about preventing unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections.

Thank you to all the dedicated Planned Parenthood: Shasta-Diablo volunteers and activists who wrote thousands of letters, made hundreds of phone calls and came to several key visibility events. It is supporters like you who made this bill a priority in the State Legislature and got it signed into law by the Governor! Thank you and congratulations!