Health agencies band together

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Several regional health agencies are hoping to band together and concentrate on some of the health problems -- like cardiovascular problems -- faced by residents of this area.

Egyptian Health Department, Healthy SI Delta Network, Ferrell Hospital, Southern Illinois Healthcare and others are looking at forming an as-of-yet unnamed umbrella group to focus on problems in Saline, White and Gallatin counties. A meeting of the health care-related organizations and other groups on Wednesday in Harrisburg was the launch point for the umbrella group.

"We all have the same issues here and there is strength in numbers," Jamie Byrd, director of public health at Egyptian Health Department, said.

The issues include cardiovascular problems, obesity, cholesterol and relatively poor diet -- all of which are found in higher percentages in the three-county target area than statewide.

Elizabeth Cook of Ferrell Hospital presented statistics gathered by Health SI Delta Network that underline some of the chronic health problems in Southern Illinois and the three-county area. Statewide, the heart disease mortality rate is 172 per 100,000 people; in the 16 southernmost counties of Illinois the rate is 238 per 100,000, or 30 percent higher. High blood pressure rates hover around 40 percent for adults in Saline, Gallatin and White counties.

"Saline has the honor of the highest blood pressure in the region," Cook said.

Obesity rates in Illinois are between 20 and 25 percent; in Gallatin County the obesity rate for people older than 35 is 39 percent. Saline and White counties are lower than Gallatin, but still higher than the state average, Cook said.

The three target counties double the state's rate for diabetes -- Cook said diabetes rates in White, Gallatin and Saline counties are second, third and fourth among Illinois counties.

The list goes on -- Saline, Gallatin and White counties have much higher unhealthy cholesterol rates, higher rates of people who consider themselves in poor health, lower rates of people who partake in physical activity and lower percentages of people who report healthy diets.

Objectives of the health coalition -- besides picking out a name or logo in the next couple months --- include reducing the prevalence of obesity to 25 percent; increasing overall physical activity; increasing the number of adults eating appropriate amounts of fruit and vegetables from 17 percent to 25; percent and reducing tobacco use to 18 percent from 23.2 percent.

Byrd set 2015 as a date for achieving the goals. Modest reductions in six years don't sound ambitious at first blush, but the numbers are rising. Meeting the goal involves stopping the upward trend and then reducing overall rates, Byrd said.

It will also involve an action plan, media campaign and public education.

"We have to be able to do more than sit down and meet. We need a plan for action," Byrd said.