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Roanoke health director warns of persistent premature death gap, spotlights TB, STIs and local interventions
Summary
Dr. Cynthia Morrow, health director for the Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts, told council that Roanoke City’s premature‑death rate lags state and national benchmarks and highlighted active tuberculosis cases, rising sexually transmitted infections and local programs to expand clinical services and prevention.
Dr. Cynthia Morrow, health director for the Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts, briefed the Roanoke City Council on the locality’s health benchmarks, saying Roanoke fares worse than Virginia and the U.S. on premature deaths and several key health measures.
"Our job in public health is to assess our community, to develop policies and programs to serve our community, and to assure that those programs and policies are impacting positively the community's health," Morrow said as she opened her presentation, which drew from the County Health Rankings.
Morrow identified heart disease and cancer as leading causes of premature death and cautioned that COVID‑era data require careful interpretation. She said the district has seen a 33% increase in clinical services compared with pre‑COVID levels, driven in part by expanded testing and distribution of life‑saving medications such as naloxone.
On tuberculosis, Morrow distinguished between high counts of latent‑TB testing and the smaller number of active cases that pose the greatest transmission risk. "Focus on the 8," she said, referring to eight active cases that require close case management and directly observed therapy; she explained the broader 1,200 figure reflected testing and preventive work.
Morrow asked council to consider continued local support for comprehensive case management for TB patients, noting some households need help staying home during required isolation. She said the state provides some support but local year‑end settlement funds have previously been used to assist affected families.
On sexually transmitted infections, Morrow said syphilis rates are an urgent marker of failing access and prevention systems and that expanded clinic access and testing can increase reported case counts even as they improve detection. She said the health district has distributed about 3,800 period kits to Roanoke City high school girls and is pursuing, but has not yet secured, grants to fund evidence‑based sexual‑health education with schools.
Morrow also reviewed population‑health efforts, including hiring community health workers and distributing blood pressure cuffs and produce vouchers to residents in two high‑hypertension census tracts. She described ongoing work on substance‑use disorder response and naloxone distribution.
Councilors asked technical questions about TB testing methods, Lyme disease trends and whether the county‑level statistics referenced were state or locality data; Morrow said some slides referenced Virginia data and offered to provide more granular, city‑specific numbers on request.
The presentation concluded with Morrow offering to return for a dedicated session on funding and education partnerships if council desired further detail.
