News Details

Solano County public health awarded $3.69 million grant for chronic disease prevention

September 25, 2014

SOLANO COUNTY – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Thursday that Solano County Public Health is the recipient of a three-year, "Partnerships to Improve Community Health" (PICH) grant totaling $3.69 million to prevent chronic diseases in Solano County.

The PICH grant awards are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services initiative, administered through CDC, to support public health efforts to reduce chronic diseases, promote healthier lifestyles, reduce health disparities and control health care spending.

“These funds will make our community a healthier place to live, work, and raise a family," said Congressman Mike Thompson (CA-5). "By reducing chronic illnesses and promoting healthy lifestyles we can lower the costs of health care spending and save lives.”

“We are extremely pleased to be selected from applicants nationwide for this highly competitive grant,” said Michael Stacey, MD, MPH, Deputy Health Officer and Chief Medical Officer. “This money will support innovative efforts with our chronic disease prevention and tobacco education partners to increase access to healthy foods and beverages, increase tobacco and smoke-free environments and provide free Healthier Living workshops to the public.”

Solano Public Health (SPH) has named the funded project, “Partners for Healthy Solano” (P4HS) and will officially launch on Sept. 30. A substantial portion of the funds will be used to contract with local partners, including community-based organizations, businesses, non-profits and schools who have the capacity to join SPH work on policies and systems that enhance the health of entire communities.

“Public policies can profoundly improve health behaviors, environments, and thus the overall health of our community,” said Linda Seifert, Chairperson of the Solano County Board of Supervisors.

In this country, chronic diseases account for 7 out of every 10 deaths and more than 80 percent of the $2.7 trillion our nation spends annually on medical care.

“Current spending on medical care is not sustainable,” said Robin Cox, Health Promotion and Community Wellness Bureau Chief and Principal Investigator for Solano's PICH grant.  “The PICH grant provides an opportunity to mobilize our communities to create environments that support healthy choices.”

“I’m excited for Solano County in earning this important grant,” said Congressman John Garamendi. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Chronic illnesses lead to deteriorating lifestyle outcomes and expenses that are passed to us all.  The front line to combat these illnesses is through prevention and education.”

“In Solano County, 27 percent of all adults are obese, 9.8 percent are diabetic and 21.3 percent still smoke compared to the state rate of 14 percent,” said Cox.  “Unless we, as a community, take decisive action to decrease these rates, for the first time in U.S. history, the current generation of children may have a lower life expectancy than their parents.  We want our children to have a better quality of life and look forward to using these funds to create environments that support health and increase healthy options and choices.”