Presentation: Roosevelt health indicators overall positive

PORTALES - Trends in health indicators for Roosevelt County were overall positive in the past several years, but there's still work to be done in areas like obesity, sexual health, chronic lower respiratory disease and suicide- and alcohol-related deaths.

That's according to a presentation by representatives of the New Mexico Department of Health in Tuesday morning's Roosevelt County Commission meeting in Portales.

Comparing statewide trends with the southeastern New Mexico counties of Roosevelt, Curry, Lea, Quay, Chaves, Eddy, De Baca and Lincoln, NMDoH regional epidemiologist Francisco Mimica told commissioners their county showed positive trends on seven out of 12 health indicators in 2017.

Roosevelt County had the lowest rate of drug overdose deaths in the region, with an age-adjusted average of 12.1 per 100,000 between 2013-17. Curry County was next lowest with a rate of 15.4, compared to a statewide rate of 24.6. Opioid-related deaths decreased, Mimica said, while methamphetamine-related deaths were on the rise. He said the difference was that there isn't an effective way of reversing an overdose of the latter.

Averaged for a population of 100,000, suicide deaths had increased from 17.3 in 2011 to 30 in 2017 while alcohol-related deaths rose from 29.6 to 34.6 between the same years. Statewide both figures also increased in those years, for suicide from 20.3 to 23.2 and for alcohol from 53.4 to 66.8. Suicides in Roosevelt County, then, exceeded the state average in 2017 but were just over half of the state's rate of alcohol-related deaths in that year.

Overall the rate of deaths from unintentional injuries in Roosevelt (49.2) and Curry (57.4) are the lowest regionally and well below the state average (66.1) but still exceed the national average (47.4) in the years 2013-17. For the southeast region De Baca County's rate is almost twice the state average, with 125.3 deaths per 100,000 population.

To the counterpoint of a low rate of drug overdose deaths, Roosevelt County had the highest rate regionally for chronic lower respiratory disease deaths from 2015-17. That average of 88.5 such deaths per 100,000 nearly doubles the state average of 44.2 and places Roosevelt County third statewide for that health indicator.

Births to girls aged 15-19 decreased statewide, and in southeastern New Mexico counties, but meanwhile incidences of certain sexually transmitted infections Curry and Roosevelt counties exceeded the figures statewide and regionally. NMDoH documented close to 800 cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis per 100,000 population in both counties in 2017, compared to approximately a statewide average of 650.

"The kids are not getting pregnant (as much), but they're getting infected with (sexually transmitted) disease," Mimica said. "They found different ways to have sex."

The last issue discussed in the presentation was obesity. The percentage of obese high school students increased from 16.5% in 2011 to 24.1% in 2017, while the percentage of obese adults increased from 28.4% to 30.9% in the same years. In both cases that is slightly higher, and presenting officials Tuesday were careful to point out that they consider obesity less of an issue in itself but a concern due to its enhancement of risk factors for chronic conditions later in life.

Commissioners Matthew Hunton and Tina Dixon were not present at the meeting. Also in Tuesday's meeting:

• Approval of the disposal by public auction of a water trailer from the road department, which officials said was rusted beyond repair and was better put toward salvage.

• Approval of a grant for $9,425 toward litter control and beautification from the state tourism department's "Clean and Beautiful" program.

• Approval of a bid award to Wagner Equipment Co. to purchase two motor graders for a total of $489,206, of which $450,000 is supplied by a capital outlay allocation.

• In their reports, county manager Amber Hamilton and Dennis Lopez spoke to forthcoming work from the state's Dept. of Transportation on Main Street between 1st and Commercial streets, expected to start Oct. 15 and last about a week.

• No action from an executive session of approximately 10 minutes.