Community News

ATLANTA, GA – July 26, 2023 – Suicide is a leading cause of death and a serious public health problem in the U.S. A suicide is a death caused by a self-inflicted injury with the intent to die. A suicide attempt is also caused by a self-inflicted injury with the intent to die but does not result in death. Many factors can increase a person’s suicide risk such as child abuse, bullying, or sexual violence.

Some facts about suicide (from 2020 data):

• Over 1 million people attempted suicide and almost 46 thousand people died as a result.
• It’s the 9^th leading cause of death for people ages 10-64 and the 2^nd leading cause of death for people ages 10-14 and 25-34.
• Rates are higher in the non-Hispanic Native American/Native Alaskan group, the non-Hispanic White group, males, persons aged 85 and older, veterans, people who live in rural areas, miners, construction workers, and persons who identify as LGBT.
• Firearms are used in more than 50% of suicides.
• Rates are lower in North Carolina (13.2 per 100,000) than nationally (13.5 per 100,000)
• In 2018, rates were 50% higher in Buncombe County than in North Carolina

According to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health

• Almost 13% of adolescents ages 12 to 17 had serious thoughts of suicide
• Almost 5% of adults ages 18 and older had serious thoughts of suicide

The impact of suicide and suicide attempts can result in serious emotional, physical and economic harm. People who attempt suicide and survive may have long-term health problems like depression and serious physical injuries. Family and friends of persons who die by suicide may develop mental health concerns. The economic affect from suicide and nonfatal suicide attempts was estimated in 2019 to cost the nation $490 billion in medical costs, work loss, quality of life and value of life.

A comprehensive public health approach can result in suicide prevention. Suicidal thoughts and behaviors have been shown to decrease with having easy access to health care, a supportive family and community support.

Listen to the full report below:

Contact: Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

ASHEVILLE, NC – July 26, 2023 – The COVID-19 metrics are on the CDC’s COVID Dashboard.

• For the week ending on July 8^th, Hospital admissions are at a low level in every county in North Carolina and almost 100% of the counties in the U.S. Buncombe County’s COVID-19 hospitalizations have remained the same
• For the week ending on July 15^th, there were fewer than 10 deaths due to COVID last week in North Carolina, the lowest level of 6 groups.
• Emergency room visits for COVID-19 are minimal in North Carolina for the week ending on July 15^th.

Wastewater monitoring can be used to provide early warning for COVID outbreaks. The Buncombe & Henderson counties wastewater data for the week ending on July 12^th is on the North Carolina COVID Dashboard.

• The number of viral gene copies in each water sample is at a dark blue level representing the lowest level of 5 groups.
• The number of viral gene copies in each water sample over the past 15 days is at a decreasing rate of change, the lowest negative rate of change from 5 possible levels.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services wants everyone to know that:

• COVID-19 can affect people differently. Some people have mild symptoms like a cold and others have more severe symptoms like a bad case of the flu. Some effects can be long-lasting.
• Older adults and immunocompromised people are at a higher risk of developing severe illness and being hospitalized. The CDC recommends that people in these groups get an updated COVID-19 bivalent booster because it gives added protection.

The Department of Health and Human Services recommends:

• Stay up-to-date with COVID-19 vaccines
• For extra protection, wear an efficient medical grade mask
• People who are positive for COVID-19 or do not feel well should stay home
• People with any COVID symptoms should get tested
• If you test positive, your doctor may recommend medical treatment

More and more Americans have developed some immunity to COVID-19 from immunizations and previous infection. New variants continue to infect people with the most at-risk groups more susceptible to severe illness.

Listen to the full report below:

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

WASHINGTON, DC – July 13, 2023 – On July 13^th, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the medicine Opill as the U.S.’s first birth control pill to be sold over-the-counter. This means that the pill can be obtained without a prescription. It is expected to be available to consumers by early 2024. There are no age restrictions to purchase this medicine. Many medical organizations including the American Medical Association, the leading professional society for obstetricians and gynecologists, and the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine, and numerous reproductive rights groups support selling Opill without a prescription. The FDA had assessed that Opill was safe, effective, and easy for women of all ages to use correctly. The United Kingdom and some countries in South America, Asia, and Africa allow nonprescription contraception pills.

Opill (generic name is norgestrel) is a contraceptive medicine that is taken once a day. It is one of many hormone-based birth control pills which are the most common form of birth control in the U.S. The French drugmaker, HRA Pharma, manufactures the medicine. It has been available by prescription in the U.S. for 50 years. Many health care providers feel that hormone-based birth control medicine is more effective than all other nonprescription choices in preventing unexpected pregnancies. Americans will be able to obtain Opill online and at pharmacies, grocery stores, and convenience stores.

Frederique Welgryn, HRA’s chief strategy officer, said “For a product that has been available for the last 50 years, that has been used safely by millions of women, we thought it was time to make it more available.”

There should be fewer barriers to obtaining an oral contraception medicine. Women will be able to get the medicine without first seeing a health care provider. Studies have shown that teens, women of color, and low resource women are less likely to be able to access oral birth control by prescription. Changing from prescription to over-the-counter status should improve access to the medicine for these groups.

Increasing access to over-the-counter birth control pills, should reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and improve maternal and perinatal outcomes. Unplanned pregnancies are associated with delayed prenatal care, a higher rate of preterm delivery, and adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes. The FDA says that almost one-half of the yearly pregnancies in the U.S. are unexpected. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation study found that one-third of women who uses birth control pills missed a dose because they couldn’t get a timely appointment to get a prescription from a health care provider.

Kelly Blanchard, president of an advocacy group that helped form Free the Pill, a coalition of more than 200 organizations, said “Amid nationwide attacks on reproductive rights, we celebrate this victory for equity, evidence-based research, and reproductive freedom.”

Listen to the full report below:

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

RALEIGH, NC – July, 2023 – North Carolina cannot expand Medicaid until the Republican-dominated General Assembly can decide upon the 2023-24 state budget. A state Medicaid expansion bill was passed by the General Assembly and was signed by the Governor on March 27^th_. However, the bill is tied directly to agreeing upon the 2023-24 state budget. The House and the Senate have been negotiating over the budget for months and no deal had been reached before the beginning of the new fiscal year on July 1^st. Therefore, it is imperative that the General Assembly agree upon the state budget in order for six hundred thousand under-resourced North Carolinians to have access to health care, including almost 17 thousand people from Buncombe County. Any raises for state employees including teachers and the police are also on hold until the budget is passed. A deal is likely to be reached in mid-August after the legislators return from their summer vacation and political conferences.

House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger have told reporters that the impasse is due to decisions about taxes and budget reserves. The Democrat legislators have been very critical of the Republicans legislators for the delay. Representative Jason Saine, a Republican from Lincolnton and the House head budget writer, says that the delay is about the Republicans being ‘pragmatic’ and working through the budget process. There is no possibility of a government shutdown because the new fiscal year spending rolls over at the previous year’s amount.

North Carolina is waiting to be the 40^th state to expand Medicaid. There are now 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid as recommended in the Affordable Care Act of 2010 and left to each state to decide in a subsequent Supreme Court ruling.

Attorney General Josh Stein, who is running for Governor in 2024, told the Charlotte News & Observer that he is “disappointed by what appears to be a lack of concern for the real priorities of the people of North Carolina.”

Listen to the full report below:

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]