Prevention Matters

A community prevention program that cut teen drinking by more than a third was named Partnership for Prevention's "Best Prevention Idea of the Week," while low reimbursement rates for vaccines that are forcing doctors to opt out of offering them was named “Worst Prevention Idea of the Week.”

The Best/Worst Idea awards are a regular feature of Prevention Matters , the blog of Partnership for Prevention. Each week, Partnership for Prevention's staff will choose the designees based on nominations of items in the previous week's news submitted by members, staff and the public at large. To submit a nomination or for more information, contact Damon Thompson at dthompson@prevent.org.


BEST

Community Prevention System Cuts Teen Binge Drinking Rate by More Than A Third
http://ow.ly/oPO4

Rates of binge drinking were 37 percent lower among eighth-grade students in communities in seven states that used a prevention system designed to reduce drug use and delinquent behavior compared to teenagers in communities that did not use the system. Eighth graders in the towns that offered the Communities That Care prevention system also had significantly lower levels of alcohol and smokeless tobacco use and engaged in fewer delinquent behaviors. Under the program, each town assesses the risk factors that contribute to local drug use and delinquency and select two to five of them as their top priorities. They were then given information about scientifically tested programs that addressed each of their priority risk factors, selected programs they would use, and were trained in implementation.


WORST

Rising Vaccine Costs Force Doctors to Slash Vaccines Use
http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/08/news/economy/health_care_vaccinations/index.htm?cnn=yes

CNN recently reported that the nation’s pediatricians are increasingly not offering vaccines because their costs have risen above the reimbursement offered by most insurers. For example, one doctor says the chicken pox vaccine runs about $115, but insurers only cover between $68 to $83 of that. “It's not clear exactly how widespread vaccine cutbacks are, but in a recent industry survey, 5% of pediatricians and 11% of physicians indicated that they're seriously considering no longer offering immunizations,” CNN reported.