Outliers: Lights, action, CDC!

It's not all public health wonk work at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Seems the federal agency has won the grand prize at a film festival. Not quite Cannes, but cheers, nonetheless.

The CDC and the Safe Injection Practices Coalition took the honors last week at the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology's third annual film festival in conjunction with the group's 40th annual conference in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The winner is “Safe Injection Practices—How to Do it Right.” The video—which runs a little more than 4 minutes and can be viewed on YouTube—portrays the experiences of Joe, an animated character with hip pain who acquires an infection from unsafe injection practices. As the narrator explains, the bacteria from an already-used vial “easily hitched a ride” with the injection into Joe's hip.

“Given the impact of unsafe injection practices have on the spread of infections, we feel that this video can be a great tool to raise awareness among healthcare providers and consumers,” Karen Hoffman, chair of the APIC 2013 Annual Conference, said in a news release.

And if you're in the mood for more healthcare on the silver screen, the AFI Docs Film Festival's lineup includes nine documentaries on healthcare and mental health themes. The fest runs June 19-23 at various locations in Washington, D.C., and will feature the latest from Academy Award-winning director Barbara Kopple, “Running From Crazy.” The film looks at the family of author Ernest Hemingway and their struggles with mental illness and substance abuse. Other films delve into late-term abortion providers, Alzheimer's disease, traumatic brain injury and the uninsured. More info at afidocs.com.

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