Health Department Needs to Act Like One.

The City of El Paso has complete control and responsibility for all health issues in ElPaso County. One would hope that this would be a step up. But, following the haphazard course followed by previous departments headed by both the City and the County; this Public Health Department has gotten off to a rocky and neglegent start.

The El Paso region is not only next to a huge poverty strickened third world city in Cd. Juarez and the tendency would be to be satisfied with making El Paso a second world city. But, that tendency should be monitored and all efforts need to make sure that El Paso and the health of its residents experience a first world quality of life.

That doesn't mean spending as much on services as Portland, Austin or Phoenix. It means unifying the residents to rise together through community education and interaction.

Because of being on the border, El Paso has a bulls eye on its health. Also it is so complex with mountains, deserts and river valleys there are a myriad range of health issues to contend with daily. Therefore, you would think that public health would be one of our highest priorities.

But, the new Public Health Department that the City of El Paso took over has started off by falling flat on its face.

Recently the PHD released information that an El Pasoan had been diagnosed with the deadly West Nile Virus and was hospitalized. While that is not unusual for June, the shocking news was that the PHD had not even detected mosquitoes in the area with the virus.

Upper Valley Beacon has for years been informing our readership as early as April that West Nile Virus and other neurological diseases carried by mosquitoes are present much sooner than the health departments in the region detect it through tested mosquitoes or are willing to make it public.

But, for the PHD not to have even found an infected mosquito by June is negligent. Either that or they were detected and the information was not released. Two years ago we heard from a vector control worker that West Nile had been detected but it was not released to the public. When the Upper Valley Beacon made it public, Dr. Magana denied it and then released shortly afterward that West Nile had been found in mosquitoes.

The PHD should be informing the public as we do about WNV as soon as the weather warms up as WNV will always be with us as it is fully entrenched in our region and carried by birds in and out of our region.

The PHD even offered an explaination... make that excuse. Their vector control staff to could not catch mosquitoes in the field because of the "wind and rain". In case they didn't know early mornings are not windy and it hasn't been raining until a couple of weeks ago due to the drought.

For the new director, Michael Hill, to put out a press release with that excuse is a bad sign of dangerous health issues to come. Grab your lucky charm and hold tight.

Let us know if you hear of some good or bad action by the PHD.

  Prepared by WestsideReader staff.