United States Surgeon General Honorable Vice Admiral Jerome M. Adams, MD, MPH, was the featured presenter for Public Health Grand Rounds held at the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH).
In his talk, entitled “Better Health through Better Partnerships,” Adams discussed the importance of partnerships in public health. He also talked about his recent public health advisory that urges more Americans to carry naloxone, a lifesaving medication that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
Naloxone is already carried by many first responders, such as EMTs and police officers. The surgeon general is now recommending that more individuals, including family, friends, and those who are personally at risk for an opioid overdose, also keep the drug on hand.
“We were honored to host Dr. Adams today and to hear from him about opioid abuse, an issue that affects numerous Arkansans and their families,” said Nathaniel Smith, MD, MPH, State Health Officer and Director of the Arkansas Department of Health. “This issue, like many public health issues, must be addressed through multiple partnerships on the local, state, and national levels.”
Adams oversees the operations of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, which has 6,500 uniformed health officers who serve in nearly 600 locations around the world.
He is a board-certified anesthesiologist. Adams served as the Indiana State Health Commissioner from 2014 to 2017. He was also an associate professor of clinical anesthesia at the Indiana University School of Medicine and a staff anesthesiologist at Eskenazi Health, where he was chair of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee.
A guest of the ADH, The University of Arkansas for the Medical Sciences (UAMS), and the Arkansas Minority Health Commission (AMHC), Dr. Adams, whose motto is “better health through better partnerships,” is committed to maintaining strong relationships with the public health community and forging new partnerships with non-traditional partners, including business and law enforcement. He was the key speaker at the annual AMHC conference.
The ADH, the Fay Boozman College of Public Health at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement jointly sponsor the Public Health Grand Rounds each week to provide continuing education to medical professionals across the state.