Health Topics A - Z

Find It Fast

About the Department

Directions

Disclaimer

Mission, Vision, History

QuickPhone Index

Advisories and Updates for Health Care Providers

Communicable Diseases

Immunization

Food Safety

Communicable Disease Information

Beach Closings / Openings

Job Postings

Lead Poisoning Prevention

Licensee Verification

Licensing Boards and Professions

Programs and Services

All Programs and Services

Community, Family Health and Equity

Communicable Diseases

Environmental and Health Services Regulation

Phone Index
Find a Department of Health phone number fast!

Subscribe to our Information Feeds!

No Smoking Complaint Form Download this form to file a complaint. Find out more about the Smokefree Public Place and Workplace Law.

updated August 28, 2008

Welcome to the Rhode Island Department of Health Website

Our Mission
is to prevent disease and to protect and promote the health and safety of the people of Rhode Island.

I Want To...	Online Services
Get a copy of a birth, death or marriage certificate Find the survey score of a nursing home Find out about food recalls in the Rhode Island area Request information from the Health Department File a complaint against a health professional File a no-smoking complaint	View Food Safety Inspection Reports Renew your Health Professional License Verify the license of a health professional Order educational materials online Download mailing lists and labels

Features

Hospital Conversions / Mergers Program

Quit Smoking Now! 1-800-TRY-TO-STOP 1-800-879-8678 trytostop.org

Information regarding Fire Safe Cigarettes
The Department of Health is postponing implementation of Fire Safe Cigarettes regulations indefinitely. Do not submit certifications until directed to do so via this web site. Please check this site periodically for updates regarding an implementation date. Questions may be directed to Jan Shedd, Team Lead for Health Promotion and Wellness at 402-222-5927.

Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program Draft State Plan
The goal is to launch and sustain a statewide coordinated effort to prevent and control heart disease and stroke. The program is committed to furthering policies and systems that: sustain individual behavior change, enhance access to effective medical care, and improve health status with a special focus on the elimination of racial and ethnic disparities in heart disease and stroke prevention. See also: Stroke Task Force Report to the General Assembly

State HEALTH Laboratories: Laboratory Services 2007
This report was developed to provide a consolidated overview of the diverse laboratory services provided by the State Health Laboratories, a division of the Rhode Island Department of Health.

Food Safety Inspections
Health Department food safety inspection reports completed since January 2007 are available online for all retail establishments including restaurants, markets and health care facilities. These reports consist of all inspection types including routine and reinspections, illness investigations and preoperational inspections. Some inspections may not contain violations.

Health and Medical Headlines

Reuters Health
Yahoo Health
CDC
NIH
WHO

Reuters Health

Independent WHO study backs universal health care

GENEVA (Reuters) - Major inequalities in health and life expectancy persist worldwide, according to an independent World Health Organization commission which on Thursday called for all countries to offer universal health care.

HIV spreads in NY at three times the U.S. average

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Yorkers are contracting HIV at three times the national rate, the city health department said on Wednesday, attributing the difference to New York's large population of high-risk groups such as gay men and blacks.

Cervical cancer advances give hope to poor

LONDON (Reuters) - New screening tests and effective vaccines from Merck & Co and GlaxoSmithKline make tackling cervical cancer in poor countries a real possibility for the first time, researchers said on Thursday.

Yahoo Health

Cells change identity in promising breakthrough (AP)

AP - Talk about an extreme makeover: Scientists have transformed one type of cell into another in living mice, a big step toward the goal of growing replacement tissues to treat a variety of diseases.

In NYC, new HIV infections 3 times national rate (AP)

AP - New data show New York City residents are contracting the virus that causes AIDS at three times the national rate.

Police: Disabled Palestinian siblings hidden away (AP)

AP - A Palestinian couple locked their disabled son and daughter away for decades out of fear they would ruin the marriage prospects of a healthy child if discovered, police said Wednesday.

CDC

CDC Recommends Shingles Vaccine

People age 60 and older should be vaccinated against shingles, or herpes zoster, a condition often marked by debilitating chronic pain...

New CDC Study Finds Arthritis Can be a Barrier for Adults Seeking to Manage Diabetes through Physical Activity

More than half of adults with diagnosed diabetes also have arthritis, a painful condition that can be a barrier to physical activityâ€”an important health strategy for managing diabetes...

Falls a Leading Cause of Injury-Related Emergency Department Visits for Infants Each Year, CDC Study Shows

Half of the estimated 328,500 infants 12 months of age or younger who were treated for injuries in hospital emergency departments each year from 2001 to 2004 were injured as a result of a fall, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

NIH

Low Levels of Brain Chemical May Lead to Obesity, NIH Study of Rare Disorder Shows

A brain chemical that plays a role in long term memory also appears to be involved in regulating how much people eat and their likelihood of becoming obese, according to a National Institutes of Health study of a rare genetic condition.

Common Treatment to Delay Labor Decreases Preterm Infants' Risk for Cerebral Palsy

Preterm infants born to mothers receiving intravenous magnesium sulfate -- a common treatment to delay labor -- are less likely to develop cerebral palsy than are preterm infants whose mothers do not receive it, report researchers in a large National Institutes of Health research network.

NHGRI Seeks DNA Sequencing Technologies Fit for Routine Laboratory and Medical Use

The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), today awarded more than $20 million in grants to develop innovative sequencing technologies inexpensive and efficient enough to sequence a person's DNA as a routine part of biomedical research and health care.

WHO

Inequities are killing people on a "grand scale" reports WHO's Commission

28 August 2008 | GENEVA -- A girl in Lesotho is likely to live 42 years less than another in Japan. In Sweden, the risk of a woman dying during pregnancy and childbirth is 1 in 17 400; in Afghanistan the odds are 1 in 8. These "social determinants of health" have been the focus of a three-year investigation by an eminent group of policy makers, academics, former heads of state and former ministers of health which has presented its findings to the WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan.

The face of cancer is changing

27 August 2008 -- For public health, the complexity of cancer control has increased enormously following the shift of the disease burden from wealthy to less affluent countries. Cancer causes around 7.9 million deaths worldwide each year.

Floods in West Africa raise major health risks

19 August 2008 -- Rising flood waters across West Africa are intensifying health risks for millions of people, and adding to the impact of the food price crisis. International aid is needed since heavy rains could exacerbate health threats for conditions including malaria, diarrhoea and other potentially fatal communicable diseases.

Adult Influenza Immunization Program

Enroll Here

In the News

Department of Health Issues West Nile Virus Prevention Advisory Media Release: August 28, 2008

Tuna Salad Recall Expanded Media Release: August 14, 2008

Stop & Shop Announces Voluntary Recall of Tuna Salad Media Release: August 12, 2008

Food Advisory for Ground Beef Purchased from Whole Foods Market Media Release: August 7, 2008

Food Recalled Due to Norovirus Contamination Media Release: August 7, 2008

Stray Kitten in Cranston Tests Positive for Rabies Media Release: August 7, 2008

Food Recalled Due to Norovirus Contamination Media Release: August 7, 2008

Breastfeeding Increasingly Matters to Rhode Island Businesses Media Release: July 31, 2008

Update in Salmonella Saintpaul Outbreak Media Release: July 22, 2008