Kentucky has made progress in achieving the goals of the kyhealthnow initiative, Lieutenant Governor Crit Luallen said Friday at a Capitol press conference.
“Kentucky is finally moving the needle on the most debilitating health challenges,” Luallen said, noting that the overall health status of the state has not improved in 25 years.
Luallen touted progress made on the goals of the initiative and released the final progress report to the administration of Gov. Steve Beshear:
Reduce the rate of the uninsured to less than 5 percent: Luallen said the rate of uninsured Kentuckians has dropped nearly 6 percentage points, with 8.5 percent of Kentuckians left uninsured in 2014, down from 14.3 percent.
Reduce Kentucky’s smoking rate by 10 percent: The adult smoking rate fell from 26.5 percent to 26.1 percent, and youth smoking dropped to 16.9 percent, from 17.9 percent at the start of the initiative, Luallen said.
Reduce the rate of obesity among Kentuckians by 10 percent: The state’s obesity rate fell from 33.6 percent to 31.6 percent, allowing the state to drop out of the top 5 states with highest percentage of obese residents.
Reduce cancer deaths by 10 percent: Cancer deaths have dropped from 207.5 people per 100,000 in 2010 to 201.2 people per 100,000 in 2014, she said.
Reduce cardiovascular deaths by 10 percent: The incidence of cardiovascular deaths dropped from 271.7 per 100,000 in 2011 to 260.3 per 100,000 in 2014, according to Luallen.
Reduce the percentage of children with untreated dental decay by 25 percent and increase adult dental visits by 10 percent: Luallen said various state programs have helped to reach the number of children through dental visits.
Reduce deaths from drug overdose by 25 percent: While the data does not show progress, Luallen said Senate Bill 192, the heroin bill, during the 2015 legislative session, will help the state move in the direction of reducing drug overdose deaths.
[small][well]News article reposted from the Kentucky Medical Association page[/well][/small]
