Prevention Matters

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued updated Sexually Transmitted Diseases Treatment Guidelines—2010. The guidelines appear in the December 17, 2010 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) Recommendations and Reports.

The Guidelines, which were previously issued in 2006, are based on newly available evidence and serve as a source of clinical guidance and advise health care providers on the most effective treatment regimens, screening procedures, and prevention and vaccination strategies for STDs. The new guidelines include expanded STD prevention recommendations, including HPV vaccination; revised guidance on the diagnostic evaluation and management of syphilis; revised gonorrhea treatment regimens; and other topics.

Over 19 million cases of STDs occur in the United States each year, with a disproportionate share among young people and racial and ethnic minority populations. The estimated annual direct medical costs of treating STDs and their sequelae are $16.4 billion. Left untreated, STDs can cause serious health problems ranging from infertility to increased risk of HIV infection. Partnership for Prevention is working through the National Chlamydia Coalition (NCC) to address the continued high burden of chlamydia infection, especially among women age 25 and under. For more information on the NCC, visit www.prevent.org/ncc.

The Guidelines are available at www.cdc.gov/std/treatment/2010/. For more information, contact 800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636) or e-mail cdcinfo@cdc.gov.


Susan K. Maloney, MHS
Managing Senior Fellow and Senior Program Officer

Partnership for Prevention is pleased to announce 2011 funds for the current ActionToQuit state grantees. Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New England, New York and Virginia will receive $15,000 for the continuation of efforts made in 2010 to increase access to tobacco cessation treatments through policy and system change. Funds are to be used primarily for the implementation of the state strategic plans developed during the first year of the program.

Next month, Partnership will also award a second round of ActionToQuit grants to three new states. With generous funding from Pfizer Inc. and the Pfizer Foundation, Partnership for Prevention is working to dramatically increase access to and use of proven tobacco cessation treatments through this grant program. This will be accomplished through strengthening of state level alliances for tobacco cessation. These alliances will chart a course for increasing coverage for these services in States, strengthen quitlines, work with health systems/employers/insurers, and promote the importance of tobacco cessation. As a result, utilization of these treatments will increase and tobacco use will decline.

To learn more about the ActionToQuit state grant program and the 2010 projects, please visit http://actiontoquit.org/stateprojects/.


Brandi Robinson
Tobacco Control Program Associate

"Best and Worst News for Prevention” is based on a purposive sample consisting of expert staff members who each week choose to share their opinions on the best and worst news for prevention.

BEST

N.J. National Guard could serve as a national model for mental health care

During a visit to Trenton in August, the nation's top military officer turned to his hosts in the New Jersey Army National Guard, noting the group's success in monitoring and treating the mental well-being of the state's citizen-soldiers. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, then asked for more information. It wasn't an idle inquiry. At a time when suicides in the military have soared to record levels, New Jersey is one of just six states in which no Guard members have taken their own lives since 2002. While the Department of Defense mandates some mental health programs, New Jersey has gone further, marshaling state resources and assembling a network of private practitioners to treat distressed Guard members or their family members. The state's primary tool is a 24-hour helpline that's both confidential and independent of the military. Operated by the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and funded by the state, the helpline is staffed by veterans and therapists. They counsel soldiers and their relatives, make referrals for treatment and, in the most critical cases, summon help. They also make callers aware of resources available to them, including Department of Veterans Affairs programs, family assistance centers and individuals who can help process claims with the VA.

The New Jersey Guard has deployed more than 11,000 soldiers since 2002, with the biggest mobilization -- just over 2,800 soldiers -- spanning 2008 and 2009. Shortly after that contingent returned, calls to the helpline jumped 20 percent, said Cherie Castellano, the line's director. More recently, she said, therapists fielded two consecutive calls from suicidal veterans.


WORST

Prescriptions for Stimulants, Painkillers Soaring Among Youth


The number of prescriptions for controlled medications such as opioids and stimulants has nearly doubled in adolescents and young adults since 1994. The trend, reported in the December issue of Pediatrics, mirrors a similar increase in misuse of these drugs, with adolescents and young adults' illicit use of prescription drugs now outstripping all other illicit drug use except marijuana. The researchers couldn't attribute the increased misuse directly to more prescriptions, but did urge both physicians and patients to be vigilant when considering the use of drugs such as Oxycontin or Ritalin.


The “Best and Worst” awards are announced each week in “Prevention Matters,” the blog of Partnership for Prevention. "Best and Worst News for Prevention” is based on a purposive sample of expert staff members who each week choose to share their opinions on the best and worst news for prevention. More information is available at http://www.prevent.org/.

National Chlamydia Coalition (NCC) member, Dr. Alwyn Cohall has been named today’s Huffington Post’s Greatest Person of the Day. Dr. Cohall is a pediatrician who has dedicated his career to improving the health and lives of the children in Harlem. He is a Professor of Clinical Public Health and Pediatrics at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and New York Presbyterian Hospital.

Dr. Cohall represents the American Academy of Pediatrics on the NCC and is an active participant in the public awareness committee. Through the Harlem Health Promotion Center and Project STAY, Dr. Cohall is tackling many of the major health problems faced by his community's youth. His work and dedication is truly an inspiration to us all. Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition, Dr. Cohall!

Mara Leff
NCC Intern
Partnership for Prevention

The National Chlamydia Coalition (NCC) recently launched its new Facebook page. The page features the coalition’s mission and goals and links to NCC resources. It will be updated with news and interesting information on chlamydia, preventive services, other STDs, adolescent health, and related topics.  Check out the latest post on a creative chlamydia screening and surveillance initiative in the United Kingdom. To support the NCC on Facebook simply visit our page and click the “like” button. Don’t forget to share it with your friends and colleagues.

Partnership for Prevention was an invited guest at the December 2 launch of Healthy People 2020, with both Jonathan E. Fielding, MD, MPH, MBA, Chair, Partnership for Prevention, who also serves as Chair of the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives for 2020 and Catherine M. Baase, MD, Global Medical Director, Dow Chemical and Secretary of the Board of Directors, making remarks.

Healthy People 2020, the ambitious agenda for improving the nation’s health, are the result of a multiyear process that reflects input from a diverse group of individuals and organizations. Healthy People provides science-based, 10-year national objectives for improving the health of all Americans. For decades, Healthy People has established benchmarks and monitored progress over time in order to:

• Encourage collaborations across sectors. 
• Guide individuals toward making informed health decisions. 
• Measure the impact of prevention activities. 

Healthy People 2020 strives to:

• Identify nationwide health improvement priorities. 
• Increase public awareness and understanding of the determinants of health, disease, and disability and the opportunities for progress. 
• Provide measurable objectives and goals that are applicable at the national, State, and local levels. 
• Engage multiple sectors to take actions to strengthen policies and improve practices that are driven by the best available evidence and knowledge. 
• Identify critical research, evaluation, and data collection needs. 

For further information, please visit http://healthypeople.gov/2020/ where users can tailor information to their needs and explore evidence-based resources for implementation.

"Best and Worst News for Prevention” is based on a purposive sample consisting of expert staff members who each week choose to share their opinions on the best and worst news for prevention.

BEST

Study Finds Big Strides Made in Treating Leukemia, Lymphoma in Past Decade

Clinicians have made remarkable advances in treating blood cancers with bone marrow and blood stem cell transplants in recent years, significantly reducing the risk of treatment-related complications and death, a new study shows.


Between the early 1990s and 2007, there was a 41 percent drop in the overall risk of death in an analysis of more than 2,500 patients treated at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, a leader in the field of blood cancers and other malignancies.


WORST

Diabetes Epidemic Will Hit Half of U.S. by 2020


More than half of all Americans may develop diabetes or prediabetes by 2020, unless prevention strategies aimed at weight loss and increased physical activity are widely implemented, according to a new analysis.


These efforts could in theory also save about $250 billion in health care costs in the next 10 years, suggests the analysis published by UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform & Modernization, a specialized center within UnitedHealth that focuses on health care reform issues.


The “Best and Worst” awards are announced each week in “Prevention Matters,” the blog of Partnership for Prevention. "Best and Worst News for Prevention” is based on a purposive sample of expert staff members who each week choose to share their opinions on the best and worst news for prevention. More information is available at http://www.prevent.org/.