Arizona health department gets $2M grant to fight heat-related issues
Mar 9, 2022, 4:25 AM
(Getty Images Photo/Drew Angerer)
(Getty Images Photo/Drew Angerer)
PHOENIX — The Arizona Department of Health Services has received a $2 million federal grant to protect residents against heat dangers during the summer.
The Building Resistance Against Climate Effects grant from the Centers for the Disease Control and Prevention is aimed at fighting climate hazards that put more than 14,000 people in the hospital during the 2010s.
ADHS’ Extreme Weather and Public Health Program will get $400,000 a year over the next five years for the plan.
The program will partner with organizations across the state, along with the health departments in Maricopa and Pima counties, to implement new interventions.
“The initiative is designed to build public health resilience against climate hazards,” ADHS Interim Director Don Herrington said in a press release.
Of the 14,000 people hospitalized between 2010-2020 for heat-related illnesses, 2,431 died, according to the release.
The grant was received in collaboration with UArizona and Arizona State University.
