Author Archives: cmshp

A Quick Look at Contraceptive Access in Mississippi

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By Eden Blackwell

Women in Mississippi give birth to around 38,000 babies per year on average (though the number is declining in step with birth rates around the region and nation).  As explained earlier in the Center’s Unintended Pregnancy in Mississippi issue brief, the state has a high rate of unintended pregnancy, and the majority of those are mistimed, meaning that a great many of the pregnancies that happen each year are occurring earlier than women planned.  Implications for these … Read more...

Childhood Obesity in Mississippi: Prevalence and Trends

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The Child and Youth Prevalence of Obesity Study (CAYPOS) has been conducted biennially from 2005 through 2017 by researchers from the University of Southern Mississippi, led by Principal Investigator Dr. Jerome Kolbo.  The multi-year study uses school nurses to collect height and weight measurements on a representative sample of public school students statewide in grades K through 12 in order to determine the prevalence of obesity among public school students and examine trends.  One of the key findings of the … Read more...

Mississippi Highlighted in the Plan to Eradicate HIV/AIDs

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By Zach Smith

In the Trump administration’s most recent fiscal year (FY) 2020 budget approximately $291 million dollars has been allocated to defeat the HIV/AIDs epidemic in America.  With the advancements in HIV antiretroviral therapy (ART) and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medications, individuals with HIV can live long, healthy lives and the risk of infecting others is dramatically reduced. Additionally, the CDC has been able to identify the most at-risk geographic and demographic areas with the greatest need of additional … Read more...

Welcome to Policy Points

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By Zach Smith and Eden Blackwell

Data, always key in the Center’s work, have been the cornerstone of successful public health interventions since John Snow saved the lives of hundreds in London’s 1854 cholera outbreak through the data-informed removal of the handle from a single water pump.  Incidences of cholera pin-pointed on a map led to a targeted intervention and policy that had broad, life-saving effect.

In present day, big data are being mined from more and more sectors expanding … Read more...

Mississippi Medicaid Costs Attributable to Tobacco

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The negative effects of tobacco usage on health have been well studied, and there is a growing body of evidence documenting the increased risk for specific diseases associated with tobacco use. This higher risk calculates into greater health care costs for treating these diseases, much of which is paid by public programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. The Center for Mississippi Health Policy commissioned researchers with The Hilltop Institute at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County to review Mississippi Medicaid … Read more...