Forest of the Rain Productions
and
The University of Charleston School of Pharmacy
Presents
Safe Medication Use (#IWillTakeMyMeds)
Hosts, Dr. Susan M. Gardner and Dr. Sarah Embrey
Topic
Harm Reduction
Wednesday, February 28, 2018 – 7:30pm —Hosts Dr. Susan Gardner and Dr. Sarah Embrey discussed Harm Reduction. Their – Special guests include Dr. Christine Teague, Clinical Pharmacist Specialist, Infectious Diseases at Charleston Area Medical Center; Mrs. Tina Ramirez, Director of Prevention and Wellness (Kanawha and Putnam Counties) Kanawha Charleston Health Department and Putnam County Health Department; and Dr. Lindsay Acree, Pharmacist and Assistant Professor at the University of Charleston School of Pharmacy.
One only needs to turn on the evening news to witness the devastating effects of the opioid epidemic our country is facing. And nowhere is the epidemic for prevalent than our home state of West Virginia.
WV ranks first among all states in regard to overdose deaths of all ages. The overdose rate in WV increased 605% between 1999 and 2010 (double the national average).
In addition, we know that:
The treatment costs for these diseases are astronomical and could create not only a public health crisis but an economic one for our state.
Tonight’s guests will share their expertise on harm reduction as a means to get patients into recovery and stop the spread of these diseases.
One only needs to turn on the evening news to witness the devastating effects of the opioid epidemic our country is facing. And nowhere is the epidemic for prevalent than our home state of West Virginia.
WV ranks first among all states in regard to overdose deaths of all ages. The overdose rate in WV increased 605% between 1999 and 2010 (double the national average).
In addition, we know that:
- According to the CDC, 28 of WV’s 55 counties in WV (including Kanawha County) are at risk for HIV/HCV outbreak largely due to intravenous drug use.
- Hepatitis C is the number one infectious disease killer in the U.S.
- In WV, rates of acute hepatitis B increased 220% over seven years—14 times the national average. In Kanawha County alone there was a 322 percent increase in hepatitis B cases from 2012 to 2015.
- WV ranks number one in the nation for the incidence of NAS. (The program provides access to both condoms and long acting birth control to help curb the prevalence of NAS babies born in WV hospitals.)
The treatment costs for these diseases are astronomical and could create not only a public health crisis but an economic one for our state.
Tonight’s guests will share their expertise on harm reduction as a means to get patients into recovery and stop the spread of these diseases.
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Dr. Christine Teague
For the last twenty-three years, Dr. Teague has served as a clinical pharmacist specialist in Infectious Diseases with a focus on HIV/HCV at Charleston Area Medical Center (CAMC) in Charleston, West Virginia. Since 2001, Dr. Teague has served as program director of CAMC’s Ryan White Part C Early HIV Intervention Services Program and was previously co-director of CAMC’s Antimicrobial Stewardship Program. She began providing mobile harm reduction clinics in remote southern WV counties in collaboration with WV Health Right in the fall of 2017. She holds adjunct clinical pharmacy faculty positions with both the West Virginia University School of Pharmacy and University of Charleston School of Pharmacy. Dr. Teague earned a BS Degree in Pharmacy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Doctor of Pharmacy Degree from the Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University. She completed a residency in Infectious Diseases Pharmacotherapy from the University of Rhode Island and later received a Master of Public Health degree from West Virginia University.
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Tina Ramirez
Tina Ramirez is the Prevention and Wellness Director at Kanawha-Charleston Health Department (KCHD) in Charleston WV & Putnam County Health Department (PCHD) in Winfield WV. She is the director for the harm reduction/syringe service program at KCHD. Tina received her undergraduate degree in Biology from West Virginia University in 1992. Upon graduating, she began working in the medical sales field where she found her passion for public health. Tina is passionate about reducing incidence of substance-related health and social harms, including transmission of blood-borne pathogens through substance abuse. |
Dr. Lindsay Acree
Dr. Lindsay Acree is a 2013 graduate of the University of Charleston School of Pharmacy. She is currently an assistant professor and practicing pharmacist at the school and works directly with the Kanawha Charleston Health Department’s Harm Reduction Program. Lindsay also works in partnership with the health department to deliver Naxolone training in the community.
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