Rhonda M. Medows, MD, Commissioner	Sonny Perdue, Governor

Georgia's Youth Tells the Flu to "Shoo"

ATLANTA – The Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH) is pleased to announce the 2009 Shoo Flu, Shoo Art Contest to Georgia’s youth.  The contest is sponsored by DCH’s Roll Up Your Sleeve campaign.  The goal is to establish an open dialogue and create awareness among young people about protecting themselves and staying healthy during flu season.

“In the midst of seasonal flu and novel H1N1 flu, we want our children to remain healthy and informed about ways to stay healthy and flu-free during the school year,” said Dr. Rhonda Medows, DCH Commissioner.  “We are pleased to have the support of the state Department of Education in this endeavor.  Together, we are offering a way for our youth to learn through creativity.”     

The contest is open to Georgia students in grades K through 8, including private and home-school students.  Interested students should submit individual works of art in the form of paintings or drawings using crayons, markers, pencils/colored pencils, or pens that depict ways to stay flu-free.  Entries must be postmarked by November 6, 2009, and include a signed entry form. 

"The Georgia Department of Education and DCH have been working closely to educate and inform school officials, students and parents about ways to stay healthy and avoid the flu," said State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox.  "This contest is a great opportunity for students to put that knowledge to work and express themselves through art."

Entries are submitted into a category based on the student’s grade in school (Grades K-2: Category I; Grades 3-5: Category II; Grades 6-8: Category III) and will be judged based on originality and artistic merit.  The top 10 entries in each category will be posted on georgiahealthinfo.gov where visitors can vote for their favorite work of art.  The top four entries in each category will be featured in a 2010 calendar. 

To learn more about the 2009 Shoo Flu, Shoo Art Contest, including contest rules and entry form, visit www.georgiahealthinfo.gov.

About Georgiahealthinfo.gov

Georgiahealthinfo.gov is a statewide health information Web site that provides Georgians with free access to cost and quality data for health care services within Georgia.  DCH  launched the site in December 2008 and developed a grassroots marketing campaign during February 2009 to promote it to Georgians across the state.  Georgiahealthinfo.gov is easy, convenient and user-friendly and allows consumers to compare costs for prescription drugs and common outpatient and hospital procedures in their area by simply entering their zip code, city or address.  Consumers have access to information on over 20,000 physicians licensed in the state of Georgia through the Composite State Board and over 189 hospitals.  Consumers can also view and compare health plans for Medicaid, PeachCare for Kids^TM and seven commercial insurance providers including Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia, Cigna, Coventry, Humana, Kaiser and United Healthcare.  And the newly added long-term care section allows consumers to search for long-term care facilities within the state and compare them according to cost and quality.  Consumers can also learn about proper nutrition, exercise, and diseases and conditions, and obtain the location and driving directions to hospitals, pharmacies and outpatient centers from their homes using a mapping function.

About Roll Up Your Sleeve

Roll Up Your Sleeve is a DCH campaign to highlight the importance of Georgians within high-risk categories to get a seasonal flu and/or novel H1N1 vaccination, discuss how everyone can prevent the spread of the flu viruses, and understand the steps to take if they have symptoms.  The Roll Up Your Sleeve campaign materials area available at each of the 18 health districts.  The campaign also includes a PSA featuring Atlanta Falcons’ Ovie Mughelli, which can be viewed at  http://dch.georgia.gov/00/channel_title/0,2094,31446711_148313393,00.html.