Health
This summer marks thirty years since the first AIDS diagnosis. Since then, advancements in anti-retroviral drugs used to treat the disease and better disease management practices have rolled out every few years. But until 2004, the way that health providers tested for HIV, the infection that causes AIDS, remained the same. Now, clinics can deliver results instantly, and that has big implications.
Seventeen teenagers from across Richmond listened to a panel of health care professionals Wednesday at the as they all shared stories about working in the medical profession and what schooling it took to get there.
Activists, led by Barbara Becnel, gathered in Richmond to learn how to successfully advocate for the abolition of capital punishment. California leads the nation in awarding the death penalty, and Contra Costa County’s court system is among the state’s frequent users of the death sentence.
Summers are meant for swimming holes, drive-in movie theaters and cross-country road trips. Going to a hospital usually doesn’t make a summer to-do list, especially when the visit entails delicate surgeries with sharp, steely knives. But for three low-income, uninsured Contra Costa County residents, surgery was a dream come true.
The line outside Richmond Municipal Auditorium was long Wednesday morning. Real long. It ran in and out the front door as nearly 860 pairs of feet waited patiently for the day to begin. For these Contra Costa County residents it was a time to reacquaint themselves with county services.
An event aimed at helping Contra Costa County’s burgeoning homeless population is expected to draw nearly 1,000 people to the Richmond Municipal Auditorium Wednesday
Rates of whooping cough in California have continued to climb this year, and in Contra Costa County, infection rates are lining up to top last year’s record-breaking number of cases, according to the county’s health department. There have been 83 confirmed cases of whooping cough, also known as pertussis, since January. Last year, the county saw more than 200 infections.
Richmond and Oakland students recently graduated from a new college certificate program designed to teach violence prevention skills.
In July the city will approve a new general plan, a huge policy document that will shape the future of the city for the next couple decades. The draft plan adds a unique element to the plan that focuses city policy on efforts to improve the health of Richmond residents, putting the city at the forefront of combining city policy and public health.