Health Observance

August is Valley Fever Awareness Month

"People who work outdoors in California’s Central Valley and other locations, especially workers who dig or disturb soil, are at risk for Valley Fever. Valley Fever is caused by inhaling fungal spores found in the soil in certain parts of the Southwest U.S., including the Central Valley.

National Women’s Health Week is an observance led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health. The goal is to empower women to make their health a priority. National Women’s Health Week also serves as a time to help women understand what it means to be well. 

National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week is October 23-29.

Here are some simple things you can do to help protect your children:

• Get your home tested. Have your home inspected if you live in a home built before 1978.
• Get your child tested. Even if your young children seem healthy, ask your doctor to test them for lead.
• Get the facts. Visit leadfreekids.org or call 1-800-424-LEAD.

Why do we have Farmworker Awareness Week? Because farmworkers feed the world. We demand just living and working conditions for farmworkers and an end to unfair treatment under the law. We demand fairly harvested food. Farm work is the third most dangerous job in the U.S., yet the people who plant and harvest our fruits and vegetables lack many of the basic worker protections that most of us take for granted. Things like overtime, unemployment insurance, even protection when joining a union are not guaranteed under federal law.

Cancer is a leading cause of death around the world. The World Health Organization estimates that 84 million people will die from cancer between 2005 and 2015. Nearly 70 percent of all new cases are expected to occur in low and middle-income countries, where the resources available for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer are often limited or nonexistent. Help raise cancer awareness and encourages continued endeavors to prevent, treat, and cure cancer.

Why be a Donor? The need is great and growing. Almost 95,000 people are in need of an organ for transplant. Approximately 35,000 children and adults in our country have life-threatening blood diseases that could be treated by a marrow/blood stem cell or cord blood transplant. Every two seconds someone in America needs blood, more than 39,000 units each day, according to the American Red Cross.

A day when Americans nationwide will take women’s health to heart by wearing red to show their support for women’s heart disease awareness. The Red Dress®, the national symbol for women and heart disease awareness, was created by The Heart Truth® in 2002 to deliver an urgent wakeup call to American women. Join The Heart Truth on National Wear Red Day to help spread the critical message that "Heart Disease Doesn't Care What You Wear—It's the #1 Killer of Women.

February is National Wise Health Consumer Month! The event was established to give more visibility to the importance of medical self-care and wise consumer programs.

Developing good habits at an early age and scheduling regular dental visits helps children get a good start on a lifetime of healthy teeth and gums.

Visit MCN's dental page for information on dental issues specific to the migrant and underserved populations.