The mission of the Division of Disease Control and Prevention is to promote health and reduce the leading causes of death, disease, and disability in Utah. The Division of Disease Control and Prevention works with and for other state, local, and private entities to:
- Identify and epidemiologically characterize communicable diseases, human health effects of environmental health hazards, occupational risks of public health concern, injuries, chronic diseases, and risk factors for chronic diseases.
- Develop and coordinate public health reporting systems, control measures and prevention activities.
- Conduct environmental sanitation policy.
- Provide comprehensive public health laboratory testing and technical consultation.
- Operate a statewide medical examiner system.
During the 2015 General Session, the Legislature appropriated for Fiscal Year 2016, $93,535,900 from all sources for Disease Control and Prevention. This is a 106.5 percent increase from Fiscal Year 2015 revised estimated amounts from all sources. The total includes $13,961,600 from the General/Education Funds, an increase of 10.6 percent from revised Fiscal Year 2015 estimates.
In addition to statewide compensation and internal service fund cost increases, the following appropriation adjustments were made during the 2015 General Session:
How does Utah's Health Indicators Compare to the Rest of the Nation?
The Trust for America's Health (http://healthyamericans.org/states/?stateid=UT) reports the following health indicators for Utah as compared to the rest of the nation:
Disease Outbreaks in FY 2014
Below is a list of some of the disease outbreaks the Division managed in FY 2014:
- Pertussis - statewide, multiple clusters among families and schools
- Healthcare-associated infections - clusters of influenza, stomach flu, and some drug-resistant pathogens
- Gonorrhea - increase in cases of 96% to 1,240 over FY 2013 level of 633. The increase in women has been 130% compared to 78% for men.
- Salmonella - outbreaks associated with live poultry, junior livestock show, and raw milk
- Q Fever and Tularemia - during spring and summer months investigated cases of diseases that pass between animals and humans
- Pneumonia - 47 case cluster in a healthcare facility
- Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus - investigated 10 suspected cases
Cancer Screening Results
The Department of Health pays for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screenings for uninsured low income individuals in higher risk groups. In FY 2014 the Department of Health paid $1,391,500 total funds (about $178,700 state funds) for screenings for 8,898 adults which resulted in a diagnosis of cancer 0.7% (less than 1%) of the time or 66 times (54 breast, 12 cervical, and 0 colon).
Percentage of Escherichia Coli and Listeria Foodborne Pathogens With DNA Analysis Completed Within 96 Hours
The Division of Disease Control and Prevention encompasses the following programs: Director's Office, the Public Health Laboratory, Epidemiology, the Office of the Medical Examiner, and Health Promotion.
Because of the Department's budget reorganization in FY 2011, some of the detail between FY 2010 and FY 2011 nonlapsing balances do not tie out by line item. For analysis of current budget requests and discussion of issues related to this budget click here.
COBI contains unaudited data as presented to the Legislature by state agencies at the time of publication. For audited financial data see the State of Utah's Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports.