On October 26th, Dr. Wen and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake introduced a bill that will impose harsh punishments on businesses caught selling synthetic drugs in Baltimore City. 

Synthetic drugs, especially synthetic marijuana, or spice, are a growing threat across the country and the city.  Stores that are caught selling these dangerous substances will be fined $1000 per packet and risk losing their license.

The drugs are often marketed under false names and labeled as not safe for human consumption to avoid regulation.  ER doctors across the country have seen a rise in the number of patients reporting complications due to synthetic drug consumption.

Dr. Wen and the Mayor were joined by Dr. Nilesh Kalyanaraman, Chief Medical Director for Healthcare for the Homeless and a local store owner.

On Wednesday October 14th, hundreds of Baltimore families gathered at the National Aquarium to celebrate B'more for Healthy Babies' (BHB) 6th anniversary.  Over 2,500 residents joined Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Commissioner Wen to commemorate BHBs's efforts to ensure babies are born at a healthy weight, full-term and ready to thrive in healthy families.

Since the program's inception, infant mortality has dropped by 28 percent to a record low.  Disparities between black and white infant deaths have also significantly decreased.  And as a result of B’More for Healthy Babies, the teen birth rates in the city have dropped by an unprecedented 32 percent.

Earlier in the day, the Baltimore City Health Department and its partner, CareFirst, were presented with the Spirit of Service Award by the Healthy Teen Network for B’More for Healthy Babies.

Baltimore City launched a new, single phone number  for Baltimore City residents to use for substance use and mental health crisis calls, services and treatment, and information.

Baltimore City residents in need of help can now reach a trained professional 24 hours a day, 365 days a year on the Crisis, Information & Referral Line at 410-433-5175.  This vital resource for those in crisis was a key recommendation in the Mayor's Heroin Treatment and Prevention Task Force.

The Crisis, Information & Referral line allows us to deliver life saving crisis treatment and connect patients to the treatment they need. 

Please help us spread the word!

Dr. Wen and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake announced over $1.5 million dollars in federal grant funding for violence prevention initiatives in the city, including funds to support the expansion the successful, evidence based violence intervention program Safe Streets to a new site in Sandtown-Winchester.

"Just like the flu or another infectious disease, violence is contagious," Dr. Wen said. "But just like another disease, we can also prevent and treat violence using evidence and science."

Last year, 2,500 people died from opioid overdoses in the United States. In many states, more people died from overdose than from car accidents, homicides or suicides.  Heroin has been a public health crisis in Baltimore for years but the overdose epidemic is spreading across the country. 

Dr. Wen took the stage at TEDxMidAdlantic to inform audiences about this overdose epidemic and the potential for the drug naloxone to combat the epidemic and save thousands of lives.

"If people we dying of measles or Ebola at the same rate they were dying of overdose, wouldn't we consider this to be a disease of epidemic proportions? Isn't it time for us to base our medical decisions on science, not stigma?"

Dr. Wen brought the conversation to Baltimore and spoke about the unrest and the inextricable link between poverty, drug use and addiction.

"Unless we change our understanding of drugs, our policing policies won't change and our inequalities will grow."

The last week in October is National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week (NLPPW), a weeklong event designed to raise awareness about the threat that lead poisoning poses to our children and our communities. In recognition of this year's theme: "Lead-Free Kids for a Healthy Future," BCHD has focused on the importance of the many ways parents can reduce a child's exposure to lead and prevent its serious health effects.

Throughout the week, BCHD helped host events across the city, including free screenings, lead-awareness community events, and educational campaigns, as well as a Blood Lead Testing Health Fair hosted by Mayor Rawlings-Blake, BCHD, and Green & Healthy Homes Initiative on Friday, October 30th

While Baltimore City has made great strides in reducing lead poisoning, thousands of children remain at risk of exposure to lead. This week must be a reminder that our work is not done until no child in Baltimore suffers from lead exposure.

Dr. Leana Wen testified before both a State and City panel on the Mayor’s Heroin Treatment and Prevention Task Force Report, urging both the Maryland General Assembly and Baltimore City Council to support the report’s recommendations. The recommendations are focused on harm reduction by increasing access to naloxone, increasing access to treatment and fighting stigma. 

Since issuing the report in July, BCHD has trained more than 5,000 residents in the use of the lifesaving drug naloxone. In October Dr. Wen issued a "standing order" to expand access to naloxone across Baltimore City to make it easier for those at risk to get naloxone at their local pharmacy.  In addition, earlier this month,  Dr. Wen spread awareness about the potential lifesaving properties of naloxone by leading a demonstration on the National Mall  in front of tens of thousands people.

Dr. Wen demonstrated to members of the General Assembly and City Council how to use naloxone on Councilman Robert Curran, who was a great actor!  

BCHD welcomed representatives from the World Bank and members of the Jamaican delegation for a "Knowledge Exchange and Study Tour" with the Office of Youth Violence Prevention to learn about successes and challenges in addressing youth violence in Baltimore.

The World Bank came to Baltimore as they consider how to develop innovative, multi-dimensional approaches to entrenched problems of violence, social exclusion, and urban decay in cities around the world.

To kick-off the exchange, Dr. Wen highlighted BCHD's efforts to combat the epidemic of violence among our city’s young people through innovative public health programming, highlighting our recently announced "Words Not Weapons" campaign and the city's B'more for Youth Violence Prevention Blueprint. Thanks to Olivia Farrow for representing the city's Office of Youth Violence Prevention!

In observance of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Office of Chronic Disease Prevention hosted a Breast Cancer Awareness and Support Breakfast on Thursday October 22nd.

Later that day City Hall, Dr. Wen joined Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to celebrate survivors and to encourage women to have routine breast cancer screenings.  Women shared personal and inspiring stories of survival and strength. The event ended with a commemorative dance with dancers in pink. 

Health conscious employees rejoice as Baltimore City rolls out new vending machines with healthier choices, starting with all city agencies.

These new machines will have 50 percent healthier food options available. The default offerings for vending machines have long been sugary candy and snacks with empty calories, contributing to unhealthy snacking habits. Many of the snacks sold in vending machines, such as candy and soda, have been shown to contribute to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay. 

Offering healthier options in the work place has been shown to contribute to healthier eating habitats. We are striving to make the healthier choice the easy choice and offering nutritious options for our employees is an important step!

We hope you’ll join us for our next B’More Health Talk on Friday, December 11th from 12:30-1:30 pm.on the topic of sugar-sweetened beverages.

B'More Health Talks is our Biweekly virtual town hall meetings to give leaders in our community a platform to engage with key issues. 

Our first October B'More Health Talk was on the relationship between of mass incarceration and "tough on crime" politics and public health issues ranging from substance use disorders, violence and mental health.   On our second B'more Health Talks our panelists discussed food access  in Baltimore City as a social justice issue.

There are no B'more Health Talks for the month of November, but we hope you will join us for our next B’More Health Talk on Friday, December 11th!

You can listen in by calling 605-562-3180 and using the access code 117-245-291 and tweet-chat live with the hashtag #BMoreHealthTalks.

In the meantime, we hope you will email us at bmoreheard@baltimorecity.gov with suggestions, ideas, or comments for this and future episodes.

To listen to our previous episodes, please visit: www.soundcloud.com/bmorehealthtalks

Dr. Wen met with clergy and members of the faith community at Zion Baptist Church as part of a Fellowship Revival on October 14 to discuss health issues in our city, including youth health and wellness, substance abuse, and violence prevention.

The conversation focused on the many services the Health Department provides and was a great opportunity to strengthen ties with our faith community, an integral group here in Baltimore.

More than 3,000 people—and their pets— came out to celebrate the 11th Annual BARCStoberfest! As always the day was full of great food, vendors, pet adoptions, entertainment, and animal activities.

The proceeds from BARCStoberfest will go to finding homes for the over 12,000 homeless animals that come to BARCS.  

Chief of Staff Lori Partin, Assistant Commissioner Mary Beth Haller, and the Animal Control team represented BCHD in our mission to care for all of our residents in Baltimore City.

Dr. Wen guest-lectured at the University of Maryland Carey School of Law course: "Freddie Gray's Baltimore: Past, Present and Moving Forward." The course examines the recent unrest itself as well as problems in policing; criminal justice; housing; health care; education; poverty; and community development and joblessness.

The day’s class focused on the public health implications closely tied to the unrest.

“Violence, poverty and health disparities are closely tied to substance use and mental health problems, as well as historical policies of mass arrest and incarceration,”Dr. Wen said. "By better understanding the public health disparities across our city, we can take the steps we necessary to heal our city.”

The course is designed to catalyze additional academic, clinical and advocacy reforms to combat systemic trends of inequality across Baltimore City. 

On November 1st, Dr. Wen was invited to speak as guest lecturer at the University of Baltimore as part of a series titled “Divided Baltimore: How Did We Get Here? Where Do We Go?”  

The lecture, which was open to the public and meant to serve as a community forum, examined racism as a social construct and how policies have shaped the development of Baltimore over the years.

Dr. Wen’s opening  statement framed the conversation about health disparities: “A person’s zip code affects their health even more so than their genetic code.”  The lectures were followed by a lively round of Q and A.