Every year, the Covington County Children’s Policy Council recognizes a business for their efforts in drug prevention.

The Dose of Prevention Award is an award given for being an active partner in prevention of prescription pill abuse.

This year’s winner was Andalusia Health.

“We give this award to an entity that’s proactive in helping us in any kind of drug prevention,” Susan Short, the director of the CCCPC, said.

“Andalusia Health has done this through a booklet that provides information to parents describing what some drugs look like, what to look out for and even what the drug use policies are for each school system.”

The booklet also contains information on recognizing the signs of addiction and the effects of drugs on adolescent brains.

“Our mission is to make our community healthier and prevention is one of those ways,” John Yanes, Andalusia Health CEO, said in accepting the award.

“This is a Grassroots effort and has been done at several of the hospitals I have been at. The booklet includes pictures to help parents identify drugs. We’ve reached out to local school systems about illicit drugs, alcohol and tobacco.”

There were more than 2,400 booklets sent to parents with children aged from fifth to 12th grade in Covington County.