SR 11 Summary

• The Arkansas Senate commemorates the 100th anniversary of the State Board of Health, which was permanently established on February 25, 1913, to address sanitation and water purification.

• The State Board of Health is empowered to create rules and regulations for public health protection, sanitation improvement, disease prevention and control, quarantine enforcement, and chemical exposure regulation.

• The Department of Health employs public health professionals in medicine, nursing, education, nutrition, epidemiology, toxicology, engineering, and sanitation disciplines.

• Over the past 100 years, the Board of Health and Department of Health have contributed to a 25-year increase in life expectancy for Arkansans through initiatives including safe food and water, disease control, vaccination programs, prenatal care improvement, and oral health fluoridation.

• The resolution honors the ongoing mission of the State Board of Health and Department of Health to protect and improve the health and well-being of all Arkansans.