OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The head of the Centers for Disease Control is coming to Oklahoma to discuss how to improve the health of its residents.
CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden will speak in Oklahoma City Thursday as part of the Public Health Grand Rounds lecture series sponsored by the University of Oklahoma College of Public Health and OU Medicine.
Frieden will discuss what it will take to improve health care in the nation and in Oklahoma, which has some of the worst health rankings in the country.
Rankings released in December by the United Health Foundation listed Oklahoma 43rd in the nation in the wellness of its citizens. Officials say the rankings are pulled down by high rates of smoking, obesity and sedentary lifestyles that result in thousands of premature deaths every year.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.