This weekend is Mayor Catherine E. Pugh’s Spring Clean Up, which is a perfect reminder to take important steps to ensure that your home and community are healthy and safe. Zika season is right around the corner. Mosquitos can transmit Zika, West Nile, and other diseases, and the best way to prevent them is to stop them from breeding in the first place by removing any standing water from your property. Do a survey of your yard and make sure there are no empty flower pots, trash lids, or other containers that can harbor standing water. If you need assistance to eliminate standing water in your neighborhood, call 311 to report it.

Spring cleaning is also a good time to clean out your medicine cabinet. This Saturday is National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, and today, I joined Baltimore City Police Commissioner Kevin Davis, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration Don Hibbert, and other leaders across the city to encourage residents to safely dispose of unused medications at one of the 10 permanent take-back boxes located at police stations across the city. Residents can drop off unused and unwanted medications year-round, no questions asked.     

As an emergency physician, I have treated young children who accidentally take their parents’ or grandparents’ prescription medications, often with fatal consequences. I’ve seen how opioids can be misused and lead to the disease of addiction. Keeping these medications out of reach can save lives.

As we fight the opioid epidemic, we are honored to share our work with leaders across the country, including U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy. As his tenure as Surgeon General ends this week, we thank him for his service. We thank Dr. Murthy for his commitment to fighting disparities, raising awareness about the opioid epidemic, and improving physical and emotional well-being. All of us in Baltimore will remember his visit and how he inspired us with compassion, humanity, and love. We are proud of him and thank him for his unwavering compassion and dedicated service.

We must join together in love—and in our fight for justice, equity and doing what is right for our country.

Sincerely,

Leana Wen, M.D., M.Sc.

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