Health Beat: Are You Getting Enough Sleep?

Editor’s note: Each Wednesday, Talk Business & Politics provides “Health Beat,” a round-up of health-related topics in our email newsletter, which you can sign up to receive daily for free here.

WAPO: ARE YOU GETTING ENOUGH SLEEP?
The Washington Post examines a new documentary on the health problems created by a lack of sleep among Americans. It could be a new national epidemic that is presenting serious health risks to citizens. From The Post:

 You just enjoyed a long Thanksgiving weekend, so presumably you’re fairly well-rested, right? If not, prepare to be scared by some facts unleashed in a new National Geographic Channel documentary.

The two-hour “Sleepless in America,” a collaboration by NatGeo, National Institutes of Health and The Public Good Projects, debuted on Sunday night. The gist: Everyone is tired. No one gets enough sleep. And then this: Chronic sleep deprivation could have irreparable damage to your health.

NatGeo airs many documentaries, but with this one, they combined a timeless issue with a very timely topic: A lack of sleep hits close to home for pretty much everyone these days. “Sleep right now is one of those conversations that’s long overdue,” Army Surgeon General Patricia Horoho says in the film. “But it’s getting the national attention that it needs.”

Read more about the documentary at this link.

TOBACCO TAXES HOLDING STEADY AT 5-MONTH MARK
There’s an interesting note in the latest revenue report from the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration regarding tobacco taxes. The tobacco tax funds a number of state health programs.

Comparing year-over-year tobacco tax collections for the five-month period rom July 2014 to Nov. 2014, the tax has raked in $94.6 million. One year ago during the comparable period, tobacco taxes brought in $94.3 million, meaning the tax has been essentially flat. In November 2013’s revenue report, tobacco taxes were trending $3 million lower from the previous year, roughly down 3%.

However for the full fiscal year that ended in June, tobacco taxes fell further compared to the previous year – down $11.1 million or -4.8%. In the fiscal year prior to that, tobacco taxes declined $9.6 million, or -4.0%.

Current trends suggest the tax may be leveling off and not headed for a further decline in the current fiscal year. We’ll continue to monitor.

FORT SMITH SETTLES CLEAN WATER ACT FOR AT LEAST $205 MILLION
A possible agreement between the city of Fort Smith and the Department of Justice related to Clean Water Act violations with the city’s water and sewer system will require at least $205 million in capital improvements and could see a doubling of water and sewer rates for city residents and business owners.

It was just about two months ago that Fort Smith City Administrator Ray Gosack came to the city’s Board of Directors and told them negotiations between the city and the U.S. Department of Justice over the city’s continued violations of the federal Clean Water Act had broken down and the city should expect a federal lawsuit to be filed.

Gosack sang a different tune Monday (Dec. 1) when he brought to the Board a proposed settlement agreement between the city and the DoJ that would have the city investing nearly $205 million in capital improvements to its sanitary sewer system while at the same time paying about $300,000 in fines for violation of the Clean Water Act.

Outgoing Attorney General Dustin McDaniel played a pivotal role in potentially settling the issue. Read more from The City Wire at this link.

UAMS TO HOST EBOLA PREPAREDNESS SYMPOSIUM
A symposium entitled “What Businesses Should Know About Ebola Preparedness” will be presented Dec. 16 at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).

The symposium will be 8:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the 12th floor auditorium of the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute. The cost to attend is $50, which includes lunch and handout materials. Registration is open now and available online here.

The symposium is intended for corporate representatives from human resources, health and safety departments, legal departments, loss control and risk management, and executives. The event is being presented by the UAMS Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health in partnership with the Arkansas Department of Health, the Centers for Toxicology and Environmental Health and the Rose Law Firm.