Prevention Matters

New Partnership for Prevention Case Study: Colorado’s Tobacco Cessation Leadership

2011-05-09T07:01:00.000-07:00

Partnership for Prevention published a state case study telling the story of Colorado’s journey toward comprehensive tobacco cessation coverage. Entitled “A Collaborative Approach to Meeting the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendations on Tobacco Cessation Screening and Intervention”, it describes how the Colorado Tobacco Cessation and Sustainability Partnership worked closely with public and private health plans to provide coverage for tobacco treatment. As a result, the majority of Colorado smokers have access to free or low-cost evidence-based cessation services and support for the state’s QuitLine has been enhanced. Advances were made in spite of decreased state tobacco control program funding.

Leaders in many states have begun to work with health plans to discuss the provision of preventive services. As the implementation of federal health reform moves forward it is Partnership’s hope that states can benefit from Colorado’s pioneering work in advancing tobacco cessation treatment. As states and territories progress toward a more integrated approach to preventive health, the Colorado Tobacco Cessation and Sustainability Partnership model for engaging health plans to implement USPSTF recommendations for cessation coverage can be applied to other preventive health services.

Mother’s Day Health E-Cards

2011-05-06T12:20:00.000-07:00

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has over 100 E-Cards with healthy messages about smoking cessation, heart health, women’s health and many more. Send one to your mom for Mother’s Day to show her how much you care about her and her and wellbeing.

For STD Awareness Month, MTV Debunks Sex Myths

2011-04-26T12:55:00.000-07:00

Despite education and awareness efforts, many myths about sex persist in our culture, particularly among young adults. Tonight, in accordance with the GYT: Get Yourself Tested campaign and STD Awareness Month, MTV will air the Top Ten Most Outrageous Sex Myths. The show will debunk sex myths such as: “pulling out” is an effective prevention method against pregnancy and STDs; oral and anal sex aren’t really “sex”; if a woman is taking birth control pills, she doesn’t need to worry about STDs; STD testing is for cheaters; and many others. Check out the trailer for tonight’s show here or go to http://www.gytnow.com/ to learn more. And tune in tonight, April 26th, to MTV at 8:30 ET/PT to watch the show!

Partnership CMO Interviewed for STD Awareness Month

2011-04-25T07:29:00.000-07:00

Partnership for Prevention’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Jason Spangler, was interviewed by Luis Perez and Shantell Jamison on Chicago Public Media’s Vocalo Overdrive about STD prevention and sexual health. The key message of the interview was the importance of getting screened for STDs. Dr. Spangler also discussed providing a continuum of care, privacy issues, shifting away from fear-based health messages, and why the STD prevalence is so high. Overall, Dr. Spangler emphasized the need to make prevention a priority, discussing how only a small percentage of health care funding actually goes into prevention. You can listen to the entire broadcast here. For more information on STD awareness month visit the National Chlamydia Coalition or the GYT campaign.

Jacky Fontanella
Partnership for Prevention Intern

Consequences of Too Much Salt

2011-04-15T12:38:00.000-07:00

Consumption of excessive sodium is a direct cause of hypertension, which affects nearly 1 in 3 Americans. CDC’s next Public Health Grand Rounds, entitled Sodium Reduction: Time for Choice, will be webcast live from CDC headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia on Thursday, April 21st at 1 p.m. (EDT) at www.cdc.gov/about/grand-rounds. Dr. Darwin Labarthe, Director of CDC’s Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Division, will lead a discussion with other experts on the consequences of too much sodium in the diet and the regulatory and technological context for the use of salt in our food supply. The session will also review current sodium control efforts such as the National Salt Reduction Initiative and food procurement policies, and separate fact from fiction to support actions needed to address this very real public health burden.

Controlling the amount of sodium is not as simple as removing salt shakers from tables. Much of the sodium in food comes from processing and restaurant use. A multi-pronged strategy is needed to address the health consequences of excessive sodium. Tune in to the CDC webcast to learn the facts and options for addressing this critical issue.

Improve the Health and Well-being of your State

2011-04-05T13:09:00.000-07:00

Healthways CEO Ben Leedle, Jr. was joined today by Dan Buettner, Blue Zones founder and The New York Times best-selling author of Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest and Thrive-Finding Happiness the Blue Zone Way, on Capitol Hill for an educational seminar focused on health and well-being.

Ben Leedle opened the seminar with an overview of Healthways dedication to making the world a healthier place by being a leading provider of programs that maintain or improve public and personal health and well-being.

He demonstrated how, through their simulation model, Healthways is able to profile various populations to determine how that population will “age” in five years. Predicting health outcomes in a community allows Healthways to determine the most costly health related conditions for that population. Behavior change initiatives can then be added to the model to determine what kind of impact they will have on slowing the “aging” process of that population.

Teaming up with Blue Zone’s founder Dan Buettner, Healthways and Blue Zone have created Healthways Blue Zones Vitality City in the South Bay area of Los Angeles. Dan Buettner, an internationally recognized researcher, explorer and author implemented a successful prototype Blue Zone community in Albert Lea, MN. By applying the nine lifestyle characteristics, Power 9, Mr. Buettner and his team were able to improve the lives of individuals living in Alber Lea, MN.

This same principal will be applied to the South Bay area of Los Angeles with support from Healthways. Mr. Buettner ended the seminar on an enthusiastic note by illustrating the importance of how changing people’s environments can have, through his experience, the most impact on an individual’s health.

Is your Community Healthy?

2011-03-31T08:07:00.000-07:00

The passage of the Affordable Care Act created a renewed emphasis on community prevention and population health. With the Prevention and Public Health Fund and the Community Transformation Grants, resources are now available to improve the health of communities around the country. But how do you know how healthy your community is?

On Wednesday, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (http://www.rwjf.org/) and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute (http://uwphi.pophealth.wisc.edu/) released the 2011 County Health Rankings (http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/). The County Health Rankings are a key component of the Mobilizing Action Toward Community Health (MATCH) project—a nationwide call to action for improving community health—first released last year. The rankings generate 50 state reports, ranking each county within the 50 states according to its health outcomes and the multiple health factors that determine a county’s health. The four different types of health factors are health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and the physical environment. Specific county-level data (as well as state benchmarks) are also available. The Rankings are built on America’s Health Rankings, an annual comprehensive assessment of the nation’s health on a state-by-state analysis, which is published jointly by United Health Foundation, the American Public Health Association and Partnership for Prevention.

Many counties around the country have used the Rankings to implement strategies and initiate interventions to positively influence health factors and improve their health outcomes. One specific example is Wyandotte County, Kansas, where Mayor Joe Reardon worked with other local stakeholders to create a Healthy Communities initiative after seeing his state’s low rank in last year’s County Health Rankings report.

A new development with this year’s Rankings is the launch of an innovative tool, the County Health Calculator (http://chc.humanneeds.vcu.edu/). The calculator is a new interactive online application that simulates the affect of higher levels of education and income on health in a county. It was developed by Center of Human Needs at Virginia Commonwealth University (http://humanneeds.vcu.edu/) with funding by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Read more on Partnership’s community prevention efforts here.

Women’s Health Care and the Affordable Care Act

2011-03-24T13:09:00.000-07:00

Only one year after the landmark legislation was signed, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is already improving women’s access to high quality, affordable health care. When the law is fully implemented in 2014, it will signify the greatest leap forward for American women’s health in decades.

New protections for women under the ACA include:

Improved Access to Affordable Coverage: Under the ACA, adolescents and young adults up to age 26 may now remain on their families’ plans. Due to substantial new tax credits, more small businesses are now offering health care coverage to their employees. And beginning in 2014, expanded Medicaid eligibility means improved access to healthcare coverage for lower income women and families.
Free Preventive Care: Under the ACA, women receive recommended preventive services without copayments or deductibles. This includes U.S. Preventive Services Task Force A- and B-rated services such as mammograms, screenings for cervical cancer and chlamydia, prenatal care and more.
The End of Gender-Based Discrimination: Before the ACA, women could be charged higher premiums than men for the same insurance policy. Beginning in 2014, it will be illegal for insurance companies to charge women higher premiums on the basis of gender.
Being a Woman is No Longer a Pre-Existing Condition: Before the ACA became law, insurers could deny women coverage for “pre-existing conditions” such as pregnancy, Cesarean sections, and breast cancer. Beginning in 2014, insurers cannot deny coverage to anyone based on pre-existing conditions. Already under the ACA, children cannot be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
The End of Lifetime Limits: Under the ACA, insurance companies cannot place a lifetime limit on the amount of coverage an individual receives. Beginning in 2014, annual limits are banned as well.

For more information about the important rights and benefits the ACA provides for women and their families, see healthcare.gov’s new page on Women and the Affordable Care Act.

FDA Advisory Committee Recommends Removal of Menthol Cigarettes

2011-03-21T12:44:00.000-07:00

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) recently concluded that the “removal of menthol cigarettes from the marketplace would benefit public health in the United States.” This recommendation to the FDA is based on prevailing science surrounding menthol cigarettes. Although menthol cigarettes do not contain more toxins, they increase the number of young people who try cigarettes and the number of children who become regular smokers, increasing overall youth smoking. Menthol cigarettes have also been found to be more appealing to African-Americans and therefore contribute to higher smoking rates and decreased cessation among this population.

The TPSAC final report is set to go through a systematic review by experts from the FDA Center for Tobacco Products. They are to take into account menthol cigarettes’ risks and benefits to the population, effects on overall smoking initiation and cessation rates, achievability, and consequential effects that may arise, such as demand for contraband. The FDA intends to provide its first progress report on the review in about 90 days.

Partnership for Prevention supports the TPSAC’s recommendations and urges the FDA to take action to ban menthol to curb the uptake of smoking by youth and promote cessation among other high-risk groups. The tobacco industry’s incessant marketing of menthol cigarettes to youth, African Americans and other communities are threats to the public’s health. We are hopeful that the FDA will recognize the harmful impact of menthol cigarettes on the health of the nation and employ the committee’s advice.

Harmeet Singh
Tobacco Control Team

Happy Anniversary to the Affordable Care Act

2011-03-21T08:49:00.000-07:00

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) will celebrate its one year anniversary March 23, 2011. Signed into law last year, the ACA puts into place comprehensive health insurance reforms designed to lower health care costs by enhancing the quality of health for all Americans.

The ACA’s small business provisions focus on finding ways for business owners to reduce their heath care costs by ensuring their employees have access to quality, affordable health insurance.

Small business provisions include:

Small Businesses with fewer than 25 full time employees may qualify for the business tax credit.
Employer-based health plans that provide health insurance to retirees aged 55-65 can get financial help through the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program.
Insurance companies will no longer be able to deny individuals with a pre-existing condition, who may now be eligible to join the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan.
Employees can receive recommended preventive services like mammograms and flu shots without any additional cost to the employee.
Insurance companies are prohibited from capping the dollar amount of care an employee can receive in a lifetime, or dropping coverage due to a mistake on your application when you get sick.
Insurance companies must spend at least 80% of premium dollars on healthcare.

Currently four million small business owners have been able to claim a tax credit up to 35% of their health insurance costs. But tax credits are not the only benefit for small business owners. By 2014, small businesses will be able to increase their buying power through state-based health insurance marketplaces. Employers will be able to identify health insurance plans that better meet their needs. The ACA has allowed small business employers to provide health benefits to their employees.

Throughout this week the Small Business Majority will host a series of roundtables and webinars designed to better understand what the ACA has meant to small businesses. Today, the Secretary of the U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius will kick off the series in Ohio. The Secretary will join The Consortium of African American Organizations and the National Policy Director of the Small Business Majority.

IOM Report Offers to Help Focus Healthy People 2020 Efforts to Improve Americans' Health

2011-03-17T11:31:00.000-07:00

Healthy People 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' master plan for improving the health of the American population over the next decade, covers 42 topics and nearly 600 objectives. A new report from the Institute of Medicine singles out 12 indicators as immediate, major health concerns that should be monitored and 24 objectives that warrant priority attention in the plan's implementation.

The report updates and expands on the 10 leading health indicators that served as priorities for Healthy People 2010. The recommendations on what should be the priorities for the latest version of this decadal health plan reflect the consensus of a committee comprising population health experts, epidemiologists, health statisticians, and others. Indicators provide yardsticks that health experts and policymakers can use to measure progress, and objectives set out clear, concrete goals for improvements.

The 12 recommended indicators include measures of access to care and quality of health care services, healthy behaviors, injury, physical and social environments, chronic disease, mental health, responsible sexual behavior, substance abuse, tobacco use, and healthy births.

The 24 objectives that the committee identified are:

•      Increase educational achievement of adolescents and young adults.
•      Increase the proportion of people with health insurance.
•      Increase the proportion of people with a usual primary care provider.
•      Increase the proportion of people who receive appropriate evidence-based clinical preventive services.
•      Reduce the overall cancer death rate.
•      Reduce the number of days the Air Quality Index exceeds 100.
•      Increase the proportion of children who are ready for school in all five domains of healthy development: physical development, social-emotional development, language, cognitive development, and approaches to learning.
•      Reduce pregnancy rates among adolescents.
•      Reduce central-line-associated bloodstream infections.
•      Improve the health literacy of the population.
•      Reduce coronary heart disease deaths.
•      Reduce the proportion of people with hypertension.
•      Increase the proportion of sexually active people who use condoms.
•      Reduce fatal and nonfatal injuries.
•      Reduce the proportion of people who experience major depressive episodes.
•      Reduce low birth weight and very low birth weight.
•      Reduce the proportion of obese children and adolescents.
•      Reduce consumption of calories from solid fats and added sugars by people age 2 and older.
•      Increase the proportion of adults who meet current federal guidelines for aerobic physical activity and for muscle-strengthening activity.
•      Reduce the proportion of people engaging in binge drinking of alcoholic beverages.
•      Reduce past-month use of illicit substances.
•      Increase the proportion of adults who get sufficient sleep.
•      Reduce tobacco use by adults.
•      Reduce the initiation of tobacco use among children, adolescents, and young adults.

Affordable Care Act Prevention Benefits Increasing Access, Lowering Costs for People with Medicare

2011-03-17T08:36:00.000-07:00

Partnership for Prevention is pleased to learn that in only two months over 150,000 Medicare beneficiaries have received the annual wellness visit authorized in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This good news comes on the heels of an HHS report earlier this week indicating that those over 65 are not getting the preventive services they need. Click here for HHS news release.

The ACA requires a health risk assessment (HRA) for Medicare beneficiaries to assist in developing personalized prevention plans. Partnership has been working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) to develop guidance for implementing this important tool. Specifically, Partnership organized and helped lead a Public Forum meeting in response to a Federal Register Notice for public comments and submitted, with Thomson Reuters, a report that CDC will use to inform CMS on the development of guidance for the HRA.

For additional information about Partnership’s work on the annual wellness visit and HRA, please click here or contact Jason M.M. Spangler, MD, MPH, FACPM, Chief Medical Officer, Partnership for Prevention, jspangler@prevent.org.

Older Adults Lack Preventive Care

2011-03-16T09:43:00.000-07:00

Adults over the age of 65 are not getting the preventive services that they need, according to a report released by the Department of Health and Human Services on Monday. The report found that preventive services, including vaccinations, tobacco cessation, and screening for cancer, diabetes, lipid disorders, and osteoporosis are underutilized. The report emphasizes that adults over 65 should be taking advantage of preventive services on a regular basis, and notes that many beneficiaries don’t know what services are covered by Medicare.

As a provision of the Affordable Care Act, certain USPSTF A and B recommended preventive services are covered without cost sharing by Medicare patients. In order to promote uptake of preventive services, including those services that are currently underutilized, Medicare has instituted an annual wellness visit. The wellness visit will allow Medicare beneficiaries access to preventive services on a regular and continued basis. It will be based on a detailed Health Risk Assessment (HRA), which allows patients and providers to create a personalized prevention plan. Partnership for Prevention, along with the CDC, has assisted the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in the effort to design and implement the HRA by interviewing and convening a group of HRA experts.

Medicare coverage, along with outreach and education for the annual wellness visit, will help to bring awareness to the need for and use of preventive services for those over the age of 65.

Rebecca Doigan, MPH
Research Fellow and Program Associate

Public Health Groups Call on Major League Baseball to Ban Tobacco…You Can Too

2011-03-14T06:59:00.000-07:00

As one of the most popular sports in the United States, baseball is a highly integral and influential part of American culture today. Unfortunately, tobacco companies thrive on Major League Baseball players, who are the most prominent spokesmen for smokeless tobacco. The very heroes that many people, especially young kids, look up to are conveying a dangerous message that promotes a behavior that leads to mouth diseases, cancers, and heart attacks.

Despite the sufferings of Babe Ruth and Tony Gwynn with cancer, MLB players, coaches, and managers continue to chew tobacco all season long. It doesn’t seem like a coincidence that smokeless tobacco use among high school boys has increased by 36% in the past seven years.

In a January article in the Washington Post, Washington Nationals superstar pitcher Stephen Strasberg recalls how he began using smokeless tobacco as a teenager to better emulate the ballplayers he idolized. Strasberg is attempting to quit tobacco and his goal was to be tobacco free by spring training. Not only is Strasberg quitting because of the many health risks associated with tobacco use, but he also doesn't want kids who want to be like him to see him chewing.

The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and nine supporting organizations are calling upon MLB and the Players Association to ban all tobacco use on the field and in the dugout in their upcoming contract negotiations. The contract to be signed will be in place for five seasons, so taking action now is crucial.

Tobacco use has already been banned in the minors, the NCAA and the National Hockey League. It is time that MLB does the same.

Join the Campaign’s efforts to Knock Tobacco Out of the Park by sending a message to Major League Baseball denouncing smokeless tobacco.

Harmeet Singh
Tobacco Control Team

Doctors Urge Indoor Tanning Ban for Minors, Smoking Linked to Infant Heart Defects named “Best/Worst News for Prevention"

2011-03-07T07:34:00.000-08:00

"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

Doctors Urge Indoor Tanning Ban for Minors

U.S. tanning salons should close their doors to minors to protect them from skin cancer, a group of 60,000 pediatricians said Monday in a new policy statement. With the move, the American Academy of Pediatrics joins the World Health Organization (WHO), the American Academy of Dermatology and other groups that are already pushing for a ban. Since 2009, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a part of the WHO, has classified tanning beds as cancer-causing. Research shows people who start going to tanning salons before age 35 have a 75-percent increase in their chances of developing melanoma, the deadliest type of skin cancer.

WORST

Smoking Linked to Infant Heart Defects

A pregnant woman who smokes in her first trimester is much more likely to have an infant with a congenital heart defect, U.S. health officials say. A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta found tobacco exposure is associated with a 20 percent to 70 percent increased risk of certain types of defects such as those that obstruct the flow of blood from the right side of the heart into the lungs and openings between the upper chambers of the heart.

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/.

Partnership Presents Worksite Wellness Information at YMCA’s Conference Addressing Childhood Obesity

2011-02-23T13:48:00.000-08:00

Kathie Ruffatto, Partnership’s Program Associate for Worksite Health, co-presented with Bill Sells ,Vice President, Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association at the YMCA State Wide Pioneering Healthier Communities Conference today. The YMCA State Wide Pioneering Healthier Communities Initiative was launched in 2008 at local and state levels in six states and in 32 communities. This year Illinois, Michigan and Ohio have been selected to join the movement to create healthier communities through policy, systems and environmental change strategies.

Participants from each state were able to attend various break-out sessions on different topics. The focus of Kathie and Bill’s break out session was how employers and employees can increase their health through worksite wellness policies. Bill Sells discussed the importance of physical activity both in the workplace and the community and how the workplace can influence one another. He emphasized that creating a culture of health amongst the nation’s youth should be top priority for policymakers.

Kathie followed Bill’s presentation by highlighting the significance of good nutrition in workplaces and underscored the important role CEOs and top management play in creating environments conducive to good health. With new Leading by Example publications, Kathie was able to give specific examples of successful nutrition policies from the featured companies.

The presentations spurred a lively discussion on the importance of worksite wellness and how they could help support businesses within their communities. Questions ranged from transportation to program and/or policy implementation. All of these communities are or will begin to take great strides in removing barriers so that their citizens can be healthy. They are taking an important first step in understanding what it takes to create a culture of health.

Berries May Offer Protection Against Parkinson's Disease, Energy Drinks May Hurt Kids named “Best/Worst News for Prevention"

2011-02-23T07:08:00.000-08:00

People who eat foods rich in antioxidants called flavonoids, especially berries, may be protecting themselves from developing Parkinson's disease, a new study suggests. In addition to berries, flavonoids are found in a variety of foods such as apples, chocolate, and citrus fruits. These compounds have been touted as protective against some diseases because of their antioxidant effects, researchers say.

However, not all flavonoids are created equal. Only those known as anthocyanins, found in berries and other red/purplish fruits and vegetables, protected both men and women, according to the results of this study, which was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health..

WORST

Energy Drinks May Hurt Kids

Energy drinks such as Red Bull, AMP and Rockstar have no health value and may even harm some children and teens, a new review finds. The increasingly popular, highly caffeinated drinks are especially risky for children with heart abnormalities, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or other health or emotional problems, said Dr. Steven E. Lipshultz, co-author of the study, published online Feb. 14 in the journal Pediatrics.

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/.

Smokefree for Life – “Congratulations, Mr. President”

2011-02-10T13:05:00.000-08:00

The Associated Press (“Obama has kicked smoking habit, first lady says”) reported earlier this week that President Obama had “given up smoking.” The source for the report wasn’t the White House Press office but First Lady Michelle Obama. Mrs. Obama confirmed that the President had successfully quit smoking and had been smokefree “almost a year.”

This is wonderful news for the Obama family and for millions of Americans who struggle to quit smoking and wonder if they will ever be successful.

The President’s success sends an unmistakable message of hope to those struggling to quit. Now children whose parents smoke can refer to the President’s example and his struggle. Quitting is possible…even if you are President of the United States.

In a recent meeting of Partnership’s ActionToQuit state grantees, the news from Mrs. Obama was greeted with much excitement and admiration. In a letter of congratulations to the President these state tobacco cessation leaders wrote: “Your experience in quitting smoking gives hope to millions who struggle with their (tobacco) addiction. Your example – that quitting … is possible with the right combination of therapy and family support will encourage others to make the effort and realize the success, even in one of the world’s most stressful jobs.”

The ActionToQuit members joined Partnership VP Diane Canova in urging the President to take pride in his accomplishment and “consider sharing your experience to help other smokers seek out the smoke-free pathway to a longer, healthier life.”

The President’s experience with quitting tobacco is all too human. Quitting takes time. His example demonstrates perseverance and should encourage all of us to redoubling our efforts to expand access to tobacco cessation and encourage the types of social and family supports that increase smoking cessation success. The Affordable Care Act expands access to tobacco cessation through health insurance plans including Medicare and Medicaid. The new Prevention and Public Health Fund will make financial assistance available to help communities promote health and wellness including preventing and reducing tobacco use. These are important tools that can accelerate progress towards a healthier, smokefree nation.

But let’s not underestimate the important motivational role that examples of successful quitters can play. We hope the President’s struggle and his success will motivate others to successfully quit.

Breast-Feeding Counters Effects of Childhood Cancer, Smoking & Obesity Slowing US Life Expectancy named “Best/Worst News for Prevention"

2011-02-08T06:46:00.000-08:00

Breast-feeding may help reduce some long-term negative side effects of cancer treatment in women who survived childhood cancer, according to a new study.

The findings suggest that making women aware of the benefits of breast-feeding should be part of routine recommendations for a post-cancer healthy lifestyle, said Susan W. Ogg and colleagues from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.

WORST

Smoking, Obesity Slowing U.S. Life Expectancy Gains: Report

Longevity isn't increasing as fast in the United States as it is in other developed countries, says a new report that points a finger at high rates of smoking and obesity.

For 25 years, U.S. life expectancy at age 50 has increased, but more slowly than in most of the other 21 countries studied, including Japan and Australia, notes the report from the National Research Council, an arm of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

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/.

NEW HHS Report Finds Lower Premiums for Families, Businesses Under Affordable Care Act

2011-01-28T11:22:00.000-08:00

Today, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius released a report highlighting the health insurance premium and out-of-pocket savings families and businesses can receive under the “Affordable Care Act” in 2014. Between 1999-2009 premiums more than doubled by rising over $7,500 for families that get their health insurance through an employer.

The report outlines several of the provisions the “Affordable Care Act” has and will implement. Provisions already in progress include new resources for states to improve their review of proposed health insurance premium rate increases and the eligibility for small businesses to receive tax credits that covers up to 35 percent of insurance costs of their employees.

The provisions for families that will be implemented disclose the importance of State-based Health Insurance Exchanges to middle-class families and tax credits that reduce cost sharing. Small businesses will also experience significant cost savings. By 2014, small businesses on average could save up to $350 per family policy and will be eligible for tax credits up to 50 percent of premiums. All businesses will likely see lower premiums of $2,000 per family by 2019.

Partnership for Prevention’s new Leading by Example The Value of Worksite Health Promotion to Small and Medium Sized Employers publication provides real examples of successful worksite health promotion programs for small to medium sized employers. The employers highlighted in this publication have taken the initiative to reduce health care costs by increasing the health of their employees. The publication can be downloaded at http://prevent.org/Initiatives/Leading-by-Example.aspx.

For more information please visit:
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2011pres/01/20110128a.html

10,000 Steps a Day Leads to Better Insulin Sensitivity, Smoking Causes Damage in Minutes named “Best/Worst News for Prevention"

2011-01-25T09:59:00.000-08:00

Building up to 10,000 steps a day can help control weight and may reduce diabetes risk, suggests new research in the journal BMJ.

Of 592 middle-aged Australian adults, those who increased the number of steps they took during a five-year period and built up to 10,000 steps per day had a lower body mass index, less belly fat, and better insulin sensitivity than their counterparts who did not take as many steps daily during the same time period. Of 592 middle-aged Australian adults, those who increased the number of steps they took during a five-year period and built up to 10,000 steps per day had a lower body mass index, less belly fat, and better insulin sensitivity than their counterparts who did not take as many steps daily during the same time period.

WORST

Smoking 'causes damage in minutes', US experts claim

Smoking damages the body in minutes rather than years, according to research in the US. The report, published in Chemical Research in Toxicology, shows that chemicals which cause cancer form rapidly after smoking.

Scientists involved in the small-scale study described the results as a stark warning to people considering smoking. Anti-smoking charity Ash described the research as "chilling" and as a warning that it is never too early to quit.

The long term impact of smoking, from heart disease to a range of cancers, is well known. This study suggests the damage begins just moments after the first cigarette is smoked.

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/.

KC Health Dept Hands Out Flu Shot Vouchers, Youths With STDs May Not Admit They Had Sex named “Best/Worst News for Prevention"

2011-01-10T12:06:00.000-08:00

If you are uninsured in the metropolitan area and still need a flu shot, the Kansas City Health Department has a deal for you: It is handing out 25,000 vouchers for free vaccinations at Walgreens pharmacies. Walgreens donated 350,000 of the vouchers to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The department is distributing them to Kansas City and more than a dozen other areas nationwide where there are disparities in vaccination rates and opportunities to address them.

“They’re targeting people who wouldn’t usually get a flu shot; they don’t have insurance or their insurance doesn’t cover it,” said the Health Department’s Jeff Hershberger. The department last week began handing out thousands of vouchers to community organizations.

WORST

Youths With STDs May Not Admit They Had Sex: Young People Not Always Truthful About Sexual Activity, So Routine STD Screenings Are Needed

Young people who say they’ve abstained from sexual intercourse may not be telling the whole truth, an important finding in the ongoing battle against the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Researchers at Emory University in Atlanta examined data on 14,012 young adults in their early 20s, who completed a computer-assisted interviewing survey and provided a urine specimen aimed at detecting three common STDs: chlamydia, gonorrhea, and trichomoniasis.

More than 10% of the young people found to have at least one of the STDs had reported not having penile/vaginal sexual intercourse in the past 12 months. This suggests that routine screening of STDs may be a better way to reduce transmission of diseases.

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/.

Partnership Announces 2011 ActionToQuit Grantees

2011-01-07T12:03:00.000-08:00

Partnership for Prevention has awarded three new ActionToQuit State Grants to Georgia, Iowa and Michigan for the implementation of innovative strategies to increase access to tobacco cessation treatments. Funds are to be used primarily for the development of state alliances/summit meetings and the creation of strategic plans. The projects will range from focusing on employer groups and health care systems to increasing cessation coverage for Medicaid recipients.

The six original ActionToQuit grantees - Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New England, New York and Virginia – have also received funds to continue efforts made in 2010. Funds will be used to the implement the state strategic plans developed during the first year of the program.

With funding from the Pfizer Foundation, Partnership hopes to dramatically increase access to and use of proven tobacco cessation treatments through this grant program. The focus of the ActionToQuit State Grants is system and policy change in tobacco cessation which will be accomplished through the 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 2011 projects, please visit http://actiontoquit.org/stateprojects/.

Partnership Gives Comments to U.S. Food and Drug Administration

2011-01-06T13:58:00.000-08:00

Partnership for Prevention is pleased to submit these comments to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in regard to required textual warnings and accompanying graphics to be displayed on cigarette packages and in cigarette advertisements.

Partnership commends the FDA on the development of the new graphic health warnings. We urge the FDA to proceed with the implementation of the warnings without delay. The tobacco industry will inevitably work to impede and overturn the plans for the new health warnings on cigarette packages and advertisements, to take effect 15 months after issuance of this final rule. However, it is crucial that the FDA stay the course. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 46 million people (aged 18 years and older) in the United States currently smoke cigarettes. Each day in the U.S., approximately 3,450 young people between 12 and 17 years of age smoke their first cigarette, and an estimated 850 youth become daily cigarette smokers. These statistics make it clear that more needs to be done to reduce the initiation of tobacco use and the prompt enforcement of this Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act requirement will be a step in the right direction. These graphic health warnings will not only help young people to never start smoking, but also be beneficial in helping adults to quit.

Partnership for Prevention also strongly supports that 1-800-QUITNOW be required on all cigarette packages as a way to offer help to smokers who want to quit. A report released by the North American Quitline Consortium in 2010 showed that the total number of tobacco users accessing quitline services in FY 2009 was 515,000 (representing 1.2 percent of smokers), an increase of 129.7% over the FY 2005 level of 224,000. Quitlines are being used now more than ever so including the national access number on cigarette packages would be a simple and practical way to aid smokers who want to quit.

We thank you for the opportunity to comment on the cigarette warning labels and for your consideration of our views. Please contact David Zauche, Managing Senior Fellow & Senior Program Officer, at (202) 375-7807 or dzauche@prevent.org for further information or assistance.

CDC Issues Updated STD Treatment Guidelines

2010-12-17T10:50:00.000-08:00

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 Announces Continuation Grants for ActionToQuit State Projects

2010-12-15T07:39:00.000-08:00

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

NJ National Guard model for mental health care, Prescriptions for painkillers, stimulants soaring among youth named “Best/Worst News for Prevention"

2010-12-13T10:30:00.000-08:00

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/.

NCC Member Named Huffington Post’s “Greatest Person of the Day”

2010-12-08T11:10:00.000-08:00

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 NCC Makes Its Facebook Debut

2010-12-06T13:33:00.000-08:00

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.

Healthy People 2020

2010-12-03T14:25:00.000-08:00

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.

Progress made in treating leukemia/lymphoma, Diabetes will hit half of US by 2020 named “Best/Worst News for Prevention"

2010-12-02T14:03:00.000-08:00

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/.

Be Thankful for…

2010-11-23T13:34:00.000-08:00

...antibiotics and STD screening.

This week CDC released its annual sexually transmitted diseases surveillance report, which showed that chlamydia and syphilis rates in the U.S. continued to rise in 2009. However, gonorrhea reached its lowest level in almost 70 years. All three STDs can be easily treated with antibiotics but can have serious consequences, including infertility and organ damage, if left untreated.

According to the report, chlamydia rates increased by 3% last year, with 409 cases per 100,000 people—representing an all-time high for reported chlamydia infections. The rate increased by almost 20% since 2006. On a positive note, CDC believes that the increase is likely attributed to expanded screening, and not an increase in the disease.

Unfortunately, large disparities still exist among racial and ethnic minority groups, with young African Americans baring a large burden of the disease.

STD screening can help detect disease early and, combined with treatment, is an effective way to protect a person’s health and reduce transmission to partners. One of the continuing problems is that less than half of the people who should be screened for STDs, do so. To help improve screening, as well as prevention and treatment of chlamydia, Partnership for Prevention convenes and leads the National Chlamydia Coalition, whose mission is to reduce the rates of Chlamydia and its harmful effects among sexually active adolescent and young adults.

Great American Smokeout Event, Number of Uninsured Rises named “Best/Worst News for Prevention"

2010-11-23T12:08:00.000-08:00

Get ready, get set, quit! Thursday marks the annual Great American Smokeout, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, which urges all smokers to lay off the habit for at least 24 hours. There have been dramatic changes in attitudes about smoking and a large decrease in smoking rates since the Smokeout was first held in 1977. The annual event includes local and nationwide events meant to encourage smokers to quit for at least one day in the hope that they may decide to permanently kick the habit. The Smokeout has helped focus attention on the dangers of tobacco use and contributed to a "cultural revolution" in tobacco control, says the American Cancer Society. Between 1978 and 2009, the percentage of adults who smoke in the United States fell from 34 percent to 21 percent, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

WORST

Number of Uninsured Rises, Report Says

The number of uninsured adults in the United States continues to rise, with one in four adults under 65 reporting they were without health insurance at some point in the last year, according to a recent report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 50 million adults said they were uninsured for at least some time. The report is based on a survey conducted between January and March.

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/.

6 Pillars of Successful Worksite Wellness Programs

2010-11-19T11:50:00.000-08:00

Worksite wellness programs can be successful if implemented and executed correctly, a new study suggests. The study identifies six pillars that create a successful, strategically integrated wellness program regardless of an organizations size that include topics like multilevel leadership, alignment, and communication. The study examined 10 organizations across a variety of industries whose wellness programs have systemically achieved measurable results.

Worksite wellness programs have a history of being effective at increasing employee health while decreasing health care cost. Since 1995, Johnson & Johnson’s employee wellness program has cumulatively saved the company $250 million on health care, and from 2002-2008 the return was $2.71 for every dollar the company spent. Other organizations have had similar results with their worksite wellness programs. MD Anderson Cancer Center within the last 6 years was able to decrease lost works days by 80%, and the software firm SAS Institute was able to lower voluntary attrition to just 4% with their worksite wellness program.

Partnership for Prevention also recognizes the importance of worksite wellness programs with our Leading by Example initiative. The initiative includes publications designed to increase CEOs and CFOs understanding of the importance of worksite wellness programs by highlighting companies with exemplary comprehensive worksite wellness programs. Two new publications each featuring 16 companies will be released in the upcoming months.

For more information on the study please click here.

Katherine Ruffatto
Worksite Health Program Associate

FDA's Graphic Warning Labels on Cig Packs, Alarming Suicide Rate Among Soldiers named “Best/Worst News for Prevention"

2010-11-16T10:28:00.000-08:00

A series of gruesome pictures depicting emaciated lung cancer patients, a dead body in a morgue, a baby confined to a respirator (presumably the result of secondhand smoke) and other consequences of smoking that will appear on the outside of cigarette packages will hopefully shock people into quitting the habit or not starting in the first place, U.S. officials announced Wednesday, November 10.

WORST

Florida researcher looks for answers to alarming suicide rate among soldiers

American soldiers are killing themselves at the highest rate since the U.S. Military started keeping records and the trend is getting worse.

Military leaders say they are desperate to take action on the problem so the federal government is awarding a $17 million grant to Florida State and the Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center for a suicide prevention program.

FSU's Professor Thomas Joiner is an internationally renowned expert on suicide who will help lead the military's effort to prevent suicides.

Joiner says there's a new trend of suicide in the military. The suicide rate among soldiers used to be lower than the general population. Joiner says now it's higher at an average of 12.5 suicides per 100,000 soldiers.

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/.

FDA Invites Comments on New Graphic Warnings on Cigarette Packages

2010-11-10T13:46:00.000-08:00

Wow….New graphic cigarette health warnings … FDA wants to know what you think.

At a press conference this morning (November 10, 2010) Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius helped unveil a “comprehensive tobacco control strategy that includes proposed new bolder health warnings on cigarettes and advertisements. In 2009 President Obama signed into law the “Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act” (Public Law 111-31) which required that the Food and Drug Administration add “nine new larger and more noticeable textual warning statements and color graphic images depicting the negative health consequences of smoking.” The Notice of Proposed Rule Making includes 36 proposed images that are a remarkable and long overdue improvements over the warnings Congress required on cigarette packages and advertising ,back in 1984. The FDA is also conducting an extensive 18,000 person consumer test of the proposed graphic images to help identify the nine that will most effectively help current smokers quit and discourage potential new smokers from starting. The results of the FDA’s consumer research will also be released shortly and public comment will be solicited.

The current deadline for public comment on the proposed 36 images is January 9, 2011. The wording of the nine warnings was specified by the Congress when it enacted Public Law 111-31. These warnings include:

‘‘WARNING: Cigarettes are addictive."
‘‘WARNING: Tobacco smoke can harm your children."
‘‘WARNING: Cigarettes cause fatal lung disease."
‘‘WARNING: Cigarettes cause cancer."
‘‘WARNING: Cigarettes cause strokes and heart disease."
‘‘WARNING: Smoking during pregnancy can harm your baby."
‘‘WARNING: Smoking can kill you."
‘‘WARNING: Tobacco smoke causes fatal lung disease in nonsmokers."
‘‘WARNING: Quitting smoking now greatly reduces serious risks to your health."

The challenge for the FDA is to identify graphic images that best amplify the statutorily mandated wording of the cigarette warnings. Federal law also requires that the warnings and graphic images make up the top 50 percent of the front and back of cigarette packages.

FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said it best: “When the rule takes effect, the health consequences of smoking will be obvious every time someone picks up a pack of cigarettes. This is a concrete example of how FDA’s new responsibilities for tobacco product regulation can benefit the public’s health.

So….take a few minutes to check out the FDA’s proposed new labels.

If you have family and friends who smoke…show them the new labels… get their advice and then tell the FDA.

The FDA has given us all an opportunity to play an important role, individually and collectively, in fighting the nation’s leading cause of premature death and preventable illness. Stronger health warnings, especially if they are accompanied by the 1 800 QUIT NOW cessation number, can help more smokers get access to effective cessation medications and discourage thousands of young people from striking the first match of what can become a lifelong, life threatening addiction.

Lets get to work. Tell the FDA what you think.

E Ripley Forbes
Director, Government Affairs

Drinking Beet Juice May Fight Dementia, Higher-Income Parents Forgoing Kids' Vaccinations named “Best/Worst News for Prevention"

2010-11-09T10:44:00.000-08:00

Drinking beet juice increases blood flow to the brain in older people, a finding that suggests the dark red vegetable may fight the progression of dementia, a new study shows.

Beet roots contain high concentrations of nitrates, which are converted into nitrites by bacteria in the mouth. And nitrites help open blood vessels in the body, increasing blood flow and oxygen to places lacking in oxygen.

WORST

Many Higher-Income Parents Forgoing Kids' Vaccinations: Report

Vaccination rates for children insured by commercial plans dropped almost four percentage points between 2008 and 2009, even though the rate of children on Medicaid getting vaccinated is rising.

"Rates had been gradually improving in the commercial plans. This was the first time we'd seen a drop -- and it was a pretty big drop," said Sarah Thomas, vice president of public policy and communication for the National Committee for Quality Assurance, which recently released its annual State of Health Care Quality report.

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/.

ActionToQuit Tobacco Cessation Summit in Nevada

2010-11-09T06:57:00.000-08:00

The Nevada ActionToQuit state summit was held in Reno on October 21, 2010. Led by the American Lung Association in Nevada, the summit brought together a diverse group of stakeholders to develop a state plan to reduce tobacco prevalence in Nevada by improving access to cessation treatments.

The summit opened with the State Health Officer as the keynote speaker to set the tone for the event. As noted by the keynote and other presenters, Nevada has a smoking prevalence rate of 21.5%. And of those smokers surveyed, 75% of them wish to quit. For every dollar Nevada spends on providing tobacco cessation treatments, it has an average potential return on investment of $1.31.

Panelists at the summit were all asked the following questions to help facilitate the formation of priority topics and inform the group strategic planning: 1) Please describe how your company or organization provides tobacco cessation services; 2) What impact has tobacco cessation had on your company, organization, or community?; 3) What are the barriers to people accessing tobacco cessation services?; 4) What other actions need to be taken to increase cessation in Nevada?; and 5) What do you think should be our priorities as we develop a statewide cessation plan for Nevada?

Following the presentations, participants at the summit prioritized areas and voted for the following workgroup topics: youth access, closing gaps in access, economic impact, educating officials, and expanding awareness of cessation. The 66 attendees choose which workgroup they wanted to participate in for the remainder of the afternoon and began to develop recommendations for the statewide plan, which will be available early in the new year.

The Nevada summit was a great first step to engage stakeholders in leading the way in increasing access to tobacco cessation treatment and ultimately decreasing tobacco use across the state.

Partnership Expresses Serious Concern that NIH Reorganization Could Endanger Tobacco Research

2010-11-05T10:02:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week leaders from six of the nation’s most respected public health organizations expressed concerns about a recommendation to “move the majority of all tobacco related research at the NIH into a proposed addiction institute…” In a letter to NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins, the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, LEGACY and Partnership for Prevention stressed that the proposed move “poses considerable risks to the ongoing efforts by the Department of Health and Human Services to reduce tobacco use.”

The November 2nd letter was sent in response to recommendations of the NIH’s Scientific Management Review Board which recommended the merger of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Historically, leadership on tobacco research has been championed by the National Cancer Institute and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Additionally, neither NIAAA nor NIDA have a significant tobacco research portfolio. The proposed merger of NIAAA and NIDA did not specifically assess the scientific value of transferring the tobacco research portfolios that have driven much of the our nation’s successful policy work and cessation advances over the past thirty years. The letter notes that transfer of tobacco research from NCI and NHLBI to a new entity generally unfamiliar with tobacco science will “create uncertainly about future funding for tobacco-related research…(i)t would also convey the impression … that the NIH considers the tobacco problem solved or that it is now less important to NIH.”

These leaders make a thoughtful and compelling case that removal of tobacco research from the protection and guidance of NCI and NHLBI is premature. In the absence of carefully study, such a move potentially endangers the nation’s continued progress to reduce tobacco use and help the Food and Drug Administration develop and execute a research agenda that will support its life saving regulatory mandates. This issue could have a profoundly negative impact on the quality and relevance of the excellent tobacco work currently underway in NIH’s flagship institutes.

The letter urges Dr. Collins to “postpone any action to include tobacco-related research in the proposed new institute” and to “initiate a review of (NIH’s) current tobacco research portfolio and determine what additional research is necessary to fully support the Administration’s efforts to reduce tobacco use. Such a review would also help inform your decision about whether a reorganization of tobacco research is appropriate.”

There is an old wisdom ... “if it ain’t broke…don’t fix it.” Tobacco continues to represent the nation’s leading cause of premature death and preventable illness. We have made remarkable progress in the decades since Surgeon General Luther Terry alerted the nation to the adverse health effects of smoking. Now is not the time to endanger continued progress in the vital public health work that NCI and NHLBI led tobacco research has supported over the decades. Requesting a thorough study of this issue seems a reasonable course of action for Dr. Collins to endorse.

E Ripley Forbes
Director, Government Affairs

ActionToQuit Tobacco Cessation Summit in Colorado

2010-11-04T12:11:00.000-07:00

In October, Partnership for Prevention sponsored Colorado’s ActionToQuit tobacco cessation summit in Denver. The event brought together organization, agencies, advocates, and leaders to discuss tobacco cessation policy strategies. The state-level summit was convened by the Colorado Tobacco Education and Prevention Alliance, which received a grant from Partnership for Prevention to develop a state action plan for tobacco cessation.

Colorado’s target audience is the 700,000 uninsured persons in the state, whose collective smoking rate is 32%, compared to 18% in the general population. At the summit, this new alliance of organizations learned about current tobacco cessation coverage gaps and shortly will create a comprehensive strategic plan for the state’s uninsured. Colorado has made great strides in smoke-free air, tobacco tax, and insurance coverage for privately insured and Medicaid populations – assisting the uninsured population is now the top priority to drive down smoking prevalence.

The uninsured in Colorado are similar to those nationwide – higher smoking rates, more in-home smoking, less access to treatment, and less success at quitting. Two thirds of the adult smokers in Colorado are in the lower socioeconomic strata. The touch points for the uninsured are emergency departments, federally qualified health clinics, and other safety net clinics, but cessation treatment is not likely to be offered through these channels, at present. Smoking related health costs for the state total $1.3 billion annually, including $300 million in Medicaid costs.

The Colorado team has held key informant interviews and roundtable meetings in addition to the state summit. The target groups involved are:

Medical providers/professionals serving the uninsured
Mental health and substance abuse treatment providers and professionals
Advocacy/policy organizations and funders serving the uninsured
Cessation/addiction experts
Media professionals with knowledge of reaching low income populations (focus on increasing utilization)
Uninsured Coloradans
Health plans
Colorado health systems experts
Workforce/employee/employer organizations serving/employing the uninsured

This ActionToQuit summit was an excellent first step toward the alliance’s goal of making Colorado the best state in the USA for tobacco cessation treatment.

Kids benefit from strength training, Preschoolers get too much screen time named “Best/Worst News for Prevention”

2010-11-02T11:30:00.000-07:00

While strength training was once doubted to benefit kids, a new research review confirms that children and teenagers can boost their muscle strength with regular workouts.

The findings, researchers say, support recent recommendations from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) that kids strength-train two to three times a week -- though only under professional supervision. In years past, there were concerns that school-age children and teenagers might run a high risk of injuring themselves through strength training, which can be performed using free weights, exercise machines, elastic bands or the body's own resistance.

WORST

U.S. Preschoolers Getting Too Much Screen Time: Combined hours between home and day care often exceed recommended 2-hour daily limit

Two-thirds of preschoolers in the United States are exposed to more than the maximum two hours per day of screen time from television, computers, video games and DVDs recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, a new study has found.

Researchers from Seattle Children's Research Institute and the University of Washington looked at the daily screen time of nearly 9,000 preschool-age children included in the national Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort, an observational study of more than 10,000 children born in 2001.

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/.

ActionToQuit Tobacco Cessation Summit in New England

2010-10-28T07:32:00.000-07:00

Partnership for Prevention’s ActionToQuit summit for the New England area was held on October 19 in Framingham, Massachusetts. The event brought together organizational representatives, leaders, and advocates from six states to learn about and discuss tobacco cessation policy strategies. The summit was convened by the American Lung Association, which received a grant from Partnership for Prevention to develop an action plan for tobacco cessation in New England.

David Zauche, Senior Program Officer at Partnership for Prevention, presented on the ActionToQuit Program and addressed the impact of health reform on tobacco cessation policies. He emphasized the need to strengthen cessation coverage for Medicaid beneficiaries. As of 2010, federal health reform mandates that all pregnant women insured under Medicaid be eligible for cessation treatment at no cost to them. While this is a step forward, Partnership for Prevention advocates that this benefit be extended to all Medicaid subscribers, providing barrier free access to comprehensive treatments for all tobacco users.

The focus of this summit was the Massachusetts Medicaid benefit, which the other five New England states will attempt to replicate. Lois Keithly, Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program, and Ayesha Cammaerts, formerly of MassHealth’s Office of Clinical Affairs, presented information on the outstanding Massachusetts initiative, which shed light on several previously unanswered questions:

If a tobacco cessation benefit is offered and promoted heavily, will a large number Medicaid subscribers use it?
If they use the benefit, will a large number quit smoking?
If this occurs, can there be positive short term benefits as well as long term?

The results were remarkable. Over a thirty month period 75,000 Medicaid subscribers in Massachusetts used the tobacco cessation benefit, and 33,000 quit smoking. The smoking rate for this population dropped from 38% to 28%, representing a 26% decrease. Additionally, significant decreases were seen in hospitalization rates for heart disease.

The key to the success of this program, at least in great measure, was the heavy statewide promotion of the benefit and aggressive encouragement of smokers to use it. Various media were used to reach the Medicaid population: television, radio and transit ads ran for over a year and there was direct education campaign to health care providers and medical societies. Consumer awareness of the cessation benefit in the Medicaid population reached 75%.

While the surprising success of the Massachusetts experience is unique, many states will begin to replicate the program in the near future. At this summit, teams of advocates from the other five New England states are already busy organizing their own state summits, action plans, and advocacy campaigns.

Surgery checklist saves lives, no decrease in sodium intake named “Best/Worst News for Prevention”

2010-10-27T07:49:00.000-07:00

Answering such basic questions from surgery checklists — and involving everyone as a team, even patients — saved lives in Veterans Affairs hospitals, according to one of the most rigorous studies of patient safety in the operating room.

Surgery deaths dropped 18 percent on average over three years in the 74 VA hospitals that used the strategy during the study. Surgery team members all created checklists and discussed them in briefings before, during and after surgery. That's a somewhat novel concept in a setting where the surgeon has traditionally called all the shots.

WORST

Americans Still Reaching for the Salt Shaker

Despite constant pleas by public health experts to hold the salt, the sodium intake of the U.S. population hasn't decreased over the past 46 years, according to a new review.

Most of us eat a lot more sodium than is recommended, says researcher Adam Bernstein, MD, ScD, a research fellow in the department of nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.

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/.

Aspirin Use for Primary Prevention Shows Big Savings

2010-10-22T07:45:00.000-07:00

A new study printed in Current Medical Research and Opinion found that aspirin use for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) could produce overall savings of $79.6 million dollars over 10 years for a base population of 1 million patients, while use for secondary prevention shows a savings of $32.2 million. Aspirin use for primary prevention was also shown to save $29 million in out of pocket costs, which is an immediate benefit for patients.

The study measured cost savings associated with aspirin use for the prevention of CVD. Savings are seen if this preventive service was increased to reflect current guidelines with the greatest savings for primary prevention (i.e. in those patients without CVD, but at risk). Current clinical guidelines recommend aspirin use for the primary prevention of heart disease in men and stroke in women.

In addition to producing millions of dollars in savings, the study reported that aspirin use for primary prevention of CVD would prevent 1273 heart attacks, 2184 angina events, and 565 ischemic strokes in a base population of 1 million patients. Aspirin use for the primary prevention of CVD is not just financially valuable – it saves lives.

Partnership for Prevention supports aspirin use for the primary prevention of heart disease and stroke. Partnership convenes the Aspirin Task Force (ATF), a multidisciplinary group of experts committed to promoting aspirin use for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. The ATF supports the USPSTF recommendations, and encourages men and women to speak to their health care provider to decide if aspirin use is right for them.

In addition to the aspirin initiative, Partnership’s National Commission on Prevention Priorities (NCPP) has identified aspirin use for primary prevention as one of the highest value clinical preventive services. In fact, the NCPP reports that if 90% of those who were recommendation to use aspirin did use aspirin, 45,000 lives per year would be saved.

This study, along with Partnership’s initiatives, shows the importance of aspirin use for the primary prevention of heart disease and stroke. In particular, the study reinforces the value of utilizing preventive services to benefit our healthcare system and society as a whole.

Celebrating Safe Teen Drivers

2010-10-21T13:21:00.000-07:00

This week – October 17-23 – has been designated as National Teen Driver Safety Week. And, we have a good reason to celebrate – today’s edition of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report states that in 2009 there were approximately 500 fewer teen deaths in motor vehicle crashes. During 2004-2008, the percentage of drivers aged 16-17 years involved in fatal crashes decreased by 36%.

However, we can’t be too joyful. In 2009, about 3,000 teens died in motor vehicle crashes – still the leading cause of death for teens.

The numbers do illustrate the value of teen driver safety programs, graduated driver licensing and more involved parents. Evaluations of the graduated driver license programs show a 20-40 percent reduction in crash risk for the youngest drivers.

The watch word – keep it up! The programs and policies in place are working. Communities need to continue to proactively enforce minimum drinking age laws, blood alcohol levels, and safety belt laws. Ongoing evaluation of value of anti-texting laws needs to occur as well to assess impact of distracting driving on teen motor vehicle crashes.

Diane Canova
VP, Policy & Programs
Partnership for Prevention

Mobile Health Management

2010-10-21T12:45:00.000-07:00

Think about how often you use your mobile phone and how many “apps” you’ve downloaded. Folks promoting health and wellness believe this could be a good way to engage people and to encourage healthy living. But, what do mobile phone users think? Not too much, judging by a recent survey conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Only 9 percent of mobile phone users indicated that they use phone apps to help track or manage their health.

Despite low usage now, public health officials remain optimistic that mobile technology is a good way to reach young people, as well as African Americans and Latinos. Like pedometers, scales and journals, mobile apps can assist in tracking food intake, exercise or smoking cessation. They can also provide reminders for medication usage and doctor’s visits. As more mobile applications become available, it will be interesting to see how these tools can assist health decision-making.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/10/20/130703545/for-many-of-us-health-apps-are-just-not-part-of-our-routine

Diane Canova
VP, Policy & Programs
Partnership for Prevention

ActionToQuit Cessation Summit in Orlando, Florida

2010-10-20T10:58:00.000-07:00

Partnership for Prevention’s fourth ActionToQuit state summit was held on October 14 in Orlando, Florida. Led by the American Lung Association in Florida, the event brought together 65 organizational representatives, leaders, and advocates committed to saving lives and improving health through tobacco cessation at the one of the newest facilities in Orlando, the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Center at Lake Nona. The Orlando event was unique in that about 190 participants from 27 remote locations across Florida tuned into the summit virtually and participated in workgroups of their own to begin to develop a strategic plan for the state to increase access to tobacco cessation treatments.

The summit continued to take advantage of technology and social media throughout the day, encouraging participants to “tweet” updates from the summit with their Smartphone and to send in questions for presenters by email and text messages. On-site participants were polled on a variety of issues after each presenter using electronic polling keypads which allowed for the results to be displayed for the audience in seconds. These additional features of the Florida summit were definitely value-added and made for increased dialogue and participation.

As noted in the presentation given by Dr. Thomas Brandon, Director of the Tobacco Research & Intervention Program at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa, 17.5 percent of adults in Florida are current cigarette smokers. While over a span of 10 years at least 2-3 people die from shark attacks, 10 die from alligator attacks, and 10,000 people are murdered, tobacco use will kill 300,000 individuals.

Jennifer Singleterry, Manger of Cessation Policy at the American Lung Association, pointed out that smoking not only costs Florida thousands of lives each year, but there are also significant economic costs incurred. Each year Florida suffers $4.4 billion in workplace productivity losses; $7.9 billion in costs of premature death; and $7.3 billion in direct healthcare expenditures. These outrages losses, coupled with the prevalence of morbidity and mortality due to tobacco use, continue to make the case for providing a comprehensive cessation benefit in the state of Florida. For every $1.00 spent on providing cessation treatments, Florida has the potential to see an average return of $1.24.

Diane Canova, Vice President of Policy & Programs at Partnership for Prevention provided the presentation on health reform and what it means for tobacco addiction treatment. She stressed that tobacco cessation offers the highest value of all preventive services, receiving the top rating by the National Commission for Prevention Priorities for health impact and cost effectiveness. She also noted the recent expansion of Medicare coverage for cessation counseling to all tobacco users and other key provisions in the Affordable Care Act. The take-away message was that implementation of expanded coverage is key and we must keep tobacco a prominent priority in community prevention to truly drive down the number of tobacco users.

After the morning presenters, summit participants were divided into workgroups to begin making recommendations for the following audiences to ensure that they receive or provide comprehensive tobacco cessation coverage in the state of Florida: 1) healthcare industry; 2) government employees; 3) Medicaid recipients; and 4) businesses. The larger group reconvened at the end of the day to report out on the recommendations and everyone was pleased by the thought and work that had been put into them in such a short amount of time.

The American Lung Association in Florida and its partners will take the next step in the development of the statewide plan by gathering all the information received at the summit and choosing the recommendations that will hopefully lead to all employees in the state having comprehensive coverage. We look forward to seeing Florida’s plan sometime in December and helping them to implement their plan in the upcoming year.

Brandi Robinson
Tobacco Control Program Associate

ActionToQuit Tobacco Cessation Summit in Buffalo, New York

2010-09-30T12:41:00.000-07:00

Partnership for Prevention’s second ActionToQuit state summit was held on September 28 in Buffalo, New York. The event brought together organizational representatives, leaders, and advocates committed to saving lives and improving health through tobacco cessation. The summit was led by the New York State (NYS) Smokers Quitline, which received a grant from Partnership for Prevention to develop a state plan for tobacco cessation.

David Zauche, Senior Program Officer at Partnership for Prevention, provided the keynote address at the Buffalo summit. He stressed that tobacco cessation offers the highest value of all preventive services, receiving the top rating by the National Commission for Prevention Priorities for health impact and cost effectiveness. He noted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendation that tobacco cessation services be covered benefits for all employees, and he explained how federal health reform will positively impact cessation in the nation.

Currently there are 2.7 million smokers in New York State. Leaders from the state quitline and other agencies and organizations set an ambitious goal of reducing that number by one million by the year 2014. This would entail reducing the adult smoking prevalence from 18% to 12%. Fortunately, most cessation indicators are moving in the right direction in New York.

There have been steady increases in the past decade in the percentage of smokers receiving assistance from their health care provider
Similar increases have been seen in the percentage of smokers making a quit attempt
The NYS Smokers Quitline is heavily promoted, providing free telephone and online cessation services and free medications to thousands of people each year
Paid media campaigns reinforce the need to quit and cessation centers exist to provide additional help

However, there is one cessation area in need of strengthening -- health plan provided and employer supported comprehensive treatment benefits. Among the primary barriers smokers face when attempting to quit are a lack of insurance coverage, co-pays for these services, and annual limits on quit attempts. Thus, the Buffalo summit focused on the need for all employees in the state to have comprehensive coverage for cessation treatments when they choose to quit smoking.

According to a September 2010 American Lung Association study, tobacco use costs the United States economy $301 billion per year in health care expenditures, workplace productivity losses, and premature death. New York State’s share of this is about $20 billion annually. This remarkable toll will be a motivating factor for elected officials, insurers, health care systems, and other state leaders in the continuing dialog about health reform and cost containment. Tobacco cessation policies, especially those related to insurance coverage within health plans and workplaces, must be implemented to save lives and contribute to the bottom line.

Partnership joins national health leaders in advocating EPA authority to support public health

2010-09-29T11:06:00.000-07:00

In a strongly worded letter to President Obama and Members of the US House and Senate, Partnership for Prevention joined key national and state public health leaders in supporting the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) effort to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change. The September 28 correspondence advised US political leaders to “fully support the EPA in fulfilling its responsibilities” and oppose “any efforts to weaken, delay or block the EPA from protecting the public’s health from these risks.”

The letter acknowledges “the threat to public health posed by climate change” and urged support for “measures that will reduce these risks and strengthen the ability of our local, state and federal public health agencies to prepare for and respond to the impacts of climate change.”

In addition to Partnership for Prevention, national organizations signing the letter included American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Preventive Medicine, American Lung Association, American Medical Association, APHA, ASTHO, NACCHO, NALBH, Trust for America’s Health and over 100 public health organizations representing 37 states.

E. Ripley Forbes
Director, Government Affairs

Celebrate Your Heart

2010-09-27T11:59:00.000-07:00

September 26, 2010 marked the 10th anniversary of World Heart Day. Organized by the World Heart Federation, including the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology, World Heart Day calls attention to the death and disability caused by heart disease and stroke. Most people now understand that cardiovascular disease is the world’s leading cause of death and most people can identify at least some of the contributing risk factors – high cholesterol, high blood pressure, tobacco use. While we can name the threats, we are slower to recognize and embrace the policies and actions to prevent heart disease and stroke. Controlling diabetes, stopping tobacco use, eating more nutritiously and being more physically active are all important ways to help your heart stay healthy.

This year’s World Heart Day focus was workplace wellness. Most working adults spend the majority of their day at work and what we do at work affects our heart health. One of Partnership’s signature programs, Leading by Example (LBE) promotes workplace health through CEO to CEO engagement. Our LBE publications highlight the efforts of leading companies to build and support a healthy workforce.

Make your heart a 365 day project. Incorporate healthier practices while at work and home. Those working virtually or at home aren’t off the hook. Take a walk, put down the candy bar or cigarette and think about other ways to protect your heart during your work day.

For more information on Leading by Example click here, and for worksite health click here.

Diane Canova
VP, Policy and Programs
Partnership for Prevention

Bill to Add Free Water to School Menus, Costs of Obesity named “Best/Worst News for Prevention”

2010-09-27T11:39:00.000-07:00

The bill introduced in California to require schools to provide free drinking water in eating areas was named the “Best News for Prevention” while the new report showing the high price of obesity was named the “Worst News for Prevention.”

BEST

Bill seeks to add free water to school menus

In many California school cafeterias, there's no free water to drink. Surprised?

"Everyone I talked to says, 'You're kidding,' " said state Sen. Mark Leno (D- San Francisco).

Leno has introduced legislation to change that. His bill requiring schools to offer drinking water at no charge to students has passed the Senate and Assembly and awaits the governor's signature — a fairly sure thing because the governor sponsored the bill.

"As we all know, young people are constantly bombarded by advertisements and pressure from their peers to consume junk beverages that are high in calories and sugar. Yet many students do not have access to free, fresh drinking water at lunchtime," Leno said in material promoting his bill.

WORST

Obesity hurts your wallet and your health

Obesity puts a drag on the wallet as well as health, especially for women.

Doctors have long known that medical bills are higher for the obese, but that's only a portion of the real-life costs.

George Washington University researchers added in things like employee sick days, lost productivity, even the need for extra gasoline — and found the annual cost of being obese is $4,879 for a woman and $2,646 for a man.

That's far more than the cost of being merely overweight — $524 for women and $432 for men, concluded the report being released last Tuesday, which analyzed previously published studies to come up with a total.

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/.

ActionToQuit Tobacco Cessation Summit in Virginia

2010-09-22T12:31:00.000-07:00

Partnership for Prevention’s first ActionToQuit state summit was held on September 21 in Richmond, Virginia. The event brought together some sixty organizational representatives, leaders, and advocates committed to saving lives and improving health through tobacco cessation.

Over one million Virginians are current smokers, and 60% of them attempted to quit in the past year. This decade the smoking rate in the state declined steadily, while the quit attempt rate increased. The tobacco control community has given first priority to tax increases and smoke free public places, and many successes have been realized. But policy and system changes to advance tobacco cessation have not kept pace. Because of this, many people who want to quit have not had access to treatments that have been proven to work.

This summit was an outstanding example of state leaders coming together to solve a problem, in this case a deadly problem. If advocates are serious about significantly decreasing the smoking rate and its corresponding mortality, then change must occur. That’s why discussions centered on:

expanding Medicaid coverage in Virginia for tobacco cessation
working with hospitals and health centers to routinely identify and treat tobacco users
urging all employers and private health plans to offer coverage
securing additional funding for the Virginia telephone quitline
convincing thought leaders and elected officials that cessation treatments are high value, saving lives and money

One other central theme at the summit was the need for expansion of cessation services to the behavioral health/mental health community, which has a smoking rate much higher than the national average. In fact, though this group only accounts for 22% of the U.S. population, they consume 44% of the nation’s cigarettes. This prime audience has long been ignored for fear that treating their tobacco addiction would interfere with other treatments. People with serious behavioral health disorders on average die 25 years earlier than the general population, in great measure because of the high smoking rate.

Virginia was the first summit held in ActionToQuit funded states. The other summits, in Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New England, and New York, will be held in the coming month. The Virginia summit was sponsored by the Virginia Partnership for Tobacco Cessation, whose four organizational members are: Prevention Connections, the American Cancer Society, the Alliance for the Prevention and Treatment of Nicotine Addiction, and Partnership for Prevention.

David Zauche
Senior Program Officer
Partnership for Prevention

Defeated Johanns Amendment, Low Consumption of Fruits and Veggies named “Best/Worst News for Prevention”

2010-09-20T10:46:00.000-07:00

The defeat of the Johanns Amendment was named the “Best News for Prevention” while the report showing that Americans are not eating enough fruits and veggies was named the “Worst News for Prevention.”

BEST

Senate Defeats Effort to Eliminate Prevention and Public Health Investment Fund

On a procedural vote of 46 to 52, the Senate today defeated an effort to eliminate the Prevention and Public Health investment fund; one of the signature initiatives Partnership and other prevention advocates worked to include in the recently passed health reform legislation.

“We are grateful the Senate has affirmed the value of investing in evidence-based programs to help individuals and families live healthier lives. The passage of health reform represented an important compact with the American people to transform our current sick care system into a health care system that places value on keeping people healthy,” said Robert J. Gould, President and CEO of Partnership for Prevention.

The Johanns (R-NE) Amendment was offered to HR 5297, the “Small Business Jobs and Credit Act.” The amendment proposed to offset the costs of eliminating a tax code reporting requirement by eliminating funding Congress reserved to support community-based programs to reduce chronic disease rates, address health disparities and strengthen the “evidence-base for effective prevention programming.” Had the amendment passed, over $10 billion in prevention funding would have been cut from vital public health and prevention programs.

WORST

Americans still skipping fruits, veggies

Most Americans still don't eat vegetables often enough, and fruit consumption is actually dropping a little, according to a new government report released Thursday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that last year about one-third of U.S. adults consumed fruit or fruit juice at least twice a day. That's down slightly from more than 34 percent in 2000.

Only about 26 percent ate vegetables three or more times a day, the same as in 2000. The statistics come from a national telephone survey of hundreds of thousands of Americans..

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/.

Study Shows that Covering Smoking Cessation Will Save States Money

2010-09-16T09:34:00.000-07:00

The American Lung Association released the results of a nation-wide study Tuesday showing that investing in smoking cessation services saves lives and money. Researchers at Penn State University studied the costs and benefits of behavioral and pharmacologic programs to determine if the costs of making smoking cessation programs available on the state-level could be justified by the benefits. The study specifically took into account the costs that smoking cessation would have on each state, such as lost tax and retail revenue, as well as the benefits each program would have. Researchers focused on the state-level, since it is ultimately the state that is responsible for insurance regulation and coverage decisions.

Researchers conducted a cost-benefit analysis on smoking cessation treatments, which included nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), bupropion, and varenicline, both with or without smoking cessation counseling. Benefits included in the analysis were a reduction in direct and indirect medical expenses, as well as increased workplace productivity and a reduction in premature deaths. Costs included in the analysis were the direct costs of the smoking cessation programs, lost tax revenue and lost revenues to retailers and distributors.

Results from this study showed that the annual direct costs to the economy due to smoking were greater than $298 billion. Among these direct costs were workplace productivity losses of an estimated $67.5 billion, premature death losses of $117 billion, and medical expenditures of $116 billion. While a pack of cigarettes on average costs $5.51, taking into account these medical costs and productivity losses, a pack would cost approximately $18.05.

While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Health and Human Services have issued recommendations on smoking cessation, access to these treatments is not guaranteed and many payers do not provide coverage for smoking cessation. The health benefits of smoking cessation have been known for some time, but there is now economic justification as well. Now it’s time to urge states to take action. If states offer coverage for smoking cessation they will realize health and financial benefits. Researchers have estimated that with every dollar states spend on smoking cessation, they will save on average $1.26. Partnership for Prevention urges all states to join Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon and Pennsylvania in expanding comprehensive coverage to Medicaid recipients to save lives and money.

Katie Burggraf
Tobacco Control Team
Partnership for Prevention

New Baby Carrot Campaign, Eligible Kids Missing from Medical Programs named “Best/Worst News for Prevention”

2010-09-14T13:32:00.000-07:00

The new baby carrot campaign to get people excited about eating their vegetables was named the “Best News for Prevention” while the report showing that five million eligible children in the U.S. are not enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP was named the “Worst News for Prevention.”

BEST

Oh snap! New baby carrot campaign mimics junk food

Baby carrot farmers are launching a campaign that pitches the little, orange, crunchy snacks as daring, fun and naughty — just like junk food.

A group of 50 producers hopes the 'Eat 'Em Like Junk Food' effort starting next week will double the $1 billion market in two or three years.

The goal is to get people to think of baby carrots as a brand they can get excited about — not just a plain, old vegetable. A website, www.babycarrots.com, features metal music and deep male voices chanting "Baby. Carrots. Extreme." On social networking site Twitter, the campaign's account suggests people eat them "like there's no tomorrow (maybe there won't be...)"

WORST

Medical programs missing millions of kids: report

An estimated five million uninsured children in the United States were eligible for Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) but were not enrolled in either plan, according to a new report.

The study published last Friday in the journal "Health Affairs" recommended policy reforms and broader efforts to get uninsured children into government medical programs, including the use of income tax data for automatic enrollment.

An estimated 7.3 million children were uninsured on an average day in 2008 and 65 percent of them were eligible for Medicaid of CHIP coverage, the report said.

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/.

Obama Declares Sept. “National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month,” Partnership Sponsors Congressional Briefings on the Epidemic

2010-09-09T13:30:00.000-07:00

President Barack Obama issued a Proclamation from the White House earlier this month declaring September “National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month.” He said childhood obesity was a national crisis “with nearly one in every three of America's children being overweight or obese” and noted that obesity affects children in every state, that “particular racial and ethnic groups are more severely impacted” and that “obesity can be influenced by a number of environmental and behavioral factors, including unhealthy eating patterns and too little physical activity at home and at school.”

The President acknowledged that more must be done “to halt and reverse this epidemic, as obesity can lead to severe and chronic health problems during childhood, adolescence and adulthood, including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and asthma.” Nearly $150 billion is spent annually on obesity-related medical conditions. “This is not the future” he added “to which we want to consign our children, and it is a burden our health care system cannot bear.

Partnership believes the Proclamation is a timely and important opportunity to remind Americans of the goals and accomplishments of the First Lady’s "Let's Move!" initiative to combat childhood obesity. “Let’s Move” is an historic public health campaign guided by the recommendations of a Task Force on Childhood Obesity which was charged with review of all programs and policies relating to child nutrition and physical activity and development of a national action plan to maximize federal resources and set concrete benchmarks that can end childhood obesity in a generation. The Task Force has produced a report containing a comprehensive set of recommendations and “strategies to address childhood obesity, including providing healthier food in schools, ensuring access to healthy affordable food, increasing opportunities for physical activity, empowering parents and caregivers with better information about making healthy choices, and giving children a healthy start in life.”

Reducing the incidence of childhood obesity will not be easy or quick. While this crisis has been building for three decades growing awareness and resolve across all sectors of our country provide hope that the President’s goal of reducing childhood obesity to 5% by the year 2030 is achievable.

“Our history shows that when we are united in our convictions, we can safeguard the health and safety of America's children for generations to come. When waves of American children were stricken with polio and disabled for life, we developed a nationwide immunization program that eradicated this crippling disease from our shores within a matter of decades. When we discovered that children were going to school hungry because their families could not afford nutritious meals, we created the National School Lunch Program. Today, this program feeds more than 30 million American children, often at little or no charge. When we work together, we can overcome any obstacle and protect our Nation's most precious resource -- our children. As we take steps to turn around the epidemic of childhood obesity, I am confident that we will solve this problem together, and that we will solve it in a generation.

Partnership for Prevention, the Congressional Prevention Caucus and the Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association are sponsoring two Capitol Hill briefings on September 21 to broaden the awareness of legislators and congressional staff about the threat childhood obesity poses to our nation. The briefings, “Eliminating Childhood Obesity: Developing National Consensus on a Prescription for Change” will include presentations by some of the nation’s most distinguished medical leaders including:

Ursula Bauer, PhD, Director, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Joe Thompson, MD, MPH, Surgeon General for the State of Arkansas and Director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity

Laura Hayman, PhD, RN, Associate Dean for Research and Professor of Nursing in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Boston

These briefings are open to the public. Anyone interested in attending can send their contact information and indicate whether they will attend the House or Senate briefing to meetings@prevent.org

Declines in Adult Smoking Prevalence Have Come to a Halt

2010-09-09T12:06:00.000-07:00

This week’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) was dedicated to new and disappointing findings in tobacco control. In addition to the article on secondhand smoke exposure, referenced in a Partnership blog posted yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also published, “Vital Signs: Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults Aged ≥ 18 Years – United States, 2009.” Researchers at the CDC used data from the 2009 National Health Interview Survey and the 2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to determine adult smoking prevalence rates on both the national and state level.

Researchers found that in 2009, 20.6% of adults in the U.S. were current smokers. For the purposes of this study, cigarette smokers were defined as “adults aged ≥ 18 years who reported having smoked ≥ 100 cigarettes in their lifetime and now smoke every day or some days.” Among these smokers, 78.1% reported smoking every day and 21.9% reported smoking on some days. Results also showed that smoking prevalence varied greatly among different subgroups of the population. Men (23.5%) had a higher smoking prevalence than women (17.9%); non-Hispanic whites (22.1%) and non-Hispanic-blacks (21.3%) had a higher smoking prevalence than Hispanics (14.5%) and Asians (12.0%); and smoking prevalence was higher in the Midwest (23.1%) and South (21.8%) and lowest in the West (16.4%). In addition, there were great variations in smoking prevalence rates among individuals with different education levels. Overall smoking prevalence was found to generally decline with increasing education. Nearly half of all adults who obtained a General Education Development certificate were current smokers, while (49.1%) compared to 5.6 %of people with a graduate degree (5.6%). Researchers also found smoking prevalence to be higher among those living below the federal poverty line (31.1%) than among those at or above the poverty level (19.4%).

The 2009 smoking prevalence rate of 20.6% means that we will not be able to meet our Healthy People 2010 goal of reducing adult smoking prevalence to less than 12%. Results from this study also show that having any decline in smoking prevalence among adults is unlikely since data analyzed in this study show that declines have stalled during the past five years, with no significant difference between smoking prevalence rates in 2005 (20.9%) and 2009 (20.6%).

Partnership for Prevention believes this report provides significant evidence to support the notion that more efforts are needed to help reduce the prevalence of this leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the U.S. A closer look at various subgroups reveals that we have many disparities we need to focus our tobacco control efforts on, such as education and income level, in order to drive smoking prevalence down. Partnership for Prevention advocates for price increases, comprehensive smoke-free policies, and anti-tobacco media campaigns in addition to ensuring that all smokers have access to tobacco cessation treatment they need to quit.

Katie Burggraf
Tobacco Control Intern
Partnership for Prevention

A Decline in Secondhand Smoke Exposure: Is This Enough?

2010-09-08T13:16:00.000-07:00

A person’s decision to light up can have serious consequences for their health, but also for the health of those around them. Secondhand smoke is known to cause heart disease and lung cancer in nonsmoking adults but also to cause sudden infant death syndrome, acute respiratory infections, middle ear disease, exacerbated asthma, respiratory symptoms, and decreased lung function in children. Given these health hazards, how effective are our nation’s safeguards at preventing this secondhand exposure?

This week’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), “Vital Signs: Nonsmokers’ Exposure to Secondhand Smoke – United States, 1999-2008,” provides the answer to this question by determining the proportion of the nonsmoking population who are exposed to secondhand smoke and by analyzing past trends in secondhand smoke exposure as determined by the 1999 to 2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. Study results showed that the prevalence of secondhand smoke exposure among nonsmokers declined from 52.5% during the 1999-2000 survey to 40.1% during the 2007-2008 survey.

Despite this significant decrease in secondhand smoke exposure, this decline was only present for nonsmokers who did not live with a smoker in their home and also was not significant for non-Hispanic whites. This decline has also been shown to fluctuate from year to year and to be quite inconsistent. Furthermore, disparities among secondhand exposure still exists and study results have shown that exposure during every survey cycle is greater among men than among women; among non-Hispanic blacks than among non-Hispanic whites and Mexican-Americans; among children and youth than among adults; and among those below the federal poverty line than among those at or above the federal poverty line. What is most impressive, however, is that despite this decline in secondhand smoke exposure, 88 million nonsmokers who are above the age of three were still exposed to secondhand smoke during 2007-2008 and among these 88 million, 32 million were America’s children and youth (ages 3-19 years).

The results reported in this MMWR have major implications for public health practice and policies. Partnership for Prevention advocates for increases in state, local, and voluntary smoke-free policies in order to make this decline in secondhand exposure consistent and to eliminate existing disparities, especially among youth and children. Currently only twenty-four states and the District of Columbia have comprehensive smoke-free laws covering workplaces, restaurants, and bars. Complete state-wide bans are needed in order to reduce secondhand smoke exposure and protect the American public.

Homes were also shown to be a major source of secondhand smoke exposure, especially for children. Following the American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. Public Health Service’s recommendation, Partnership for Prevention supports efforts to increase clinician interventions for those parents who smoke. It is recommended that these parents not only get help in quitting smoking, but are also educated about the harms of secondhand smoke.

The Healthy People 2010 goal of reducing secondhand smoke exposure among the nonsmoking population to less than 56% has been accomplished. However, there are still a vast number of Americans who are exposed to the potential dangers of secondhand smoke. With more smoke-free policies and a greater emphasis on preventing at-home exposure, we can do a better job of safeguarding America’s nonsmokers.

Katie Burggraf
Tobacco Control Team
Partnership for Prevention

New Medicare Coverage for Tobacco Cessation Counseling, Stalling Youth Smoking Rates named “Best/Worst News for Prevention”

2010-09-08T07:56:00.000-07:00

The new Medicare benefit that provides coverage for tobacco cessation counseling to all smokers was named the “Best News for Prevention” while the stalling of youth smoking rates in recent years was named the “Worst News for Prevention.”

BEST

Expanding Coverage: Medicare Offers New Tobacco Cessation Counseling Benefit

Although teen smoking rates dropped in the past decade, they have stalled in recent years, which means increased tobacco prevention efforts are needed, a new U.S. government study shows.

Between 2000 and 2009, cigarette smoking rates declined from 28 percent to 17.2 percent among high school students, and from 11 percent to 5.2 percent among middle school students, said researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

However, they noted that the declines between 2006 and 2009 were not statistically significant -- from 19.8 percent to 17.2 percent among high school students and from 6.3 percent to 5.2 percent among middle school students.

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/.

Tobacco Use among School Students Declines Over Past 10 Years, but Current Rates of Decline are Slow

2010-08-31T10:03:00.000-07:00

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, during 2000-2009, the prevalence of current tobacco use among middle school students declined (15.1% to 8.2%), as did current cigarette use (11.0% to 5.2%) and cigarette smoking experimentation (29.8% to 15.0%). The August 27, 2010 report also showed similar trends for high school students, with current tobacco use declining from 34.5% to 23.9%; current cigarette use from 28.0% to 17.2%; and cigarette smoking experimentation from 39.4% to 30.1%.

These trends in tobacco use among youth were analyzed from data from the 2000-2009 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) which collects information on tobacco use and related behaviors and attitudes from middle school and high school students. The NYTS includes measures on prevalence of youth tobacco use, smoking cessation, tobacco-related knowledge and attitudes, access to tobacco, media and advertising, and secondhand smoke exposure and has been conducted approximately every 2 years since 2000.

Although tobacco use decreased over the past ten years for these groups, progress was stalled between 2006 and 2009, with no change in prevalence. This indicates that the current rate of decline in tobacco use is relatively slow and more needs to be done to combat youth smoking. The new restrictions on tobacco product sales and marketing under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act are certainly great strides for tobacco control, but it is clear that we have a ways to go to substantially reduce youth smoking rates.

Partnership for Prevention recommends that youth tobacco prevention and control programs be fully funded to see a major reduction in the prevalence of youth smoking. Specifically, we should focus our efforts on 1) a nationwide public education campaign modeled on the highly successful Truth® campaign that dissuades thousands of young people from initiating tobacco use and encourages smoking cessation and 2) support for existing state and community-based tobacco control programs that reach people where they live, work, play and worship.

Brandi Robinson
Tobacco Control Program Associate

Expanding Coverage: Medicare Offers New Tobacco Cessation Counseling Benefit

2010-08-30T13:06:00.000-07:00

On August 25th, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced an expansion of Medicare coverage that is supported by many tobacco control advocates around the nation. This new expansion offers coverage of evidence-based tobacco cessation counseling, allowing many more smokers to get the treatment that they need.

Despite the fact that Medicare provides coverage for over 43 million beneficiaries, tobacco counseling was previously only offered to those individuals who were diagnosed with or showed symptoms of a tobacco-related disease. This new benefit provides coverage for tobacco cessation counseling to all smokers. As Secretary Kathleen Sebelius explains, “For too long, many tobacco users with Medicare coverage were denied access to evidence-based tobacco cessation counseling. Most Medicare beneficiaries want to quit their tobacco use. Now, older adults and other Medicare beneficiaries can get the help they need to successfully overcome tobacco dependence.”

Medicare beneficiaries will now be provided coverage for two individual tobacco cessation counseling attempts each year, with a total of eight counseling sessions per Medicare patient each year. This coverage has been expanded under the Affordable Care Act, which requires Medicare to cover a variety of preventive services, including tobacco cessation services. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will also provide more guidance in the upcoming months about a new Medicaid benefit offering pregnant women coverage for tobacco cessation treatment.

Tobacco-related diseases will cost Medicare an estimated 800 billion dollars between 1995 and 2015. With this new benefit, however, smokers will receive the help they need to quit and prevent these tobacco-related diseases, providing major health benefits for themselves and huge cost savings for Medicare.

Medicare’s coverage of tobacco cessation counseling eliminates a huge barrier to treatment that previously impeded many smokers who sought help in trying to quit. Such coverage fully supports Partnership for Prevention’s mission to provide comprehensive cessation treatments to all tobacco users. Partnership commends the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for its tobacco control efforts.

For more information please visit the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid website.

Katie Burggraf
Tobacco Control Team

Hand Cleaners Reduce Workdays Lost, Driving with Pets a Dangerous Distraction named “Best/Worst News for Prevention”

2010-08-30T08:48:00.000-07:00

Alcohol-based hand cleaners shown to reduce common infections and number of workdays lost was named the “Best News for Prevention” while the risky behavior of driving with pets was named the “Worst News for Prevention.”

BEST

Hand Cleansers Cut Absenteeism

Putting alcohol-based hand cleansers in work places slashed the incidence of several common infections and reduced the number of workdays lost, a randomized trial showed.

Access to the disinfectants was associated with odds ratios of 0.35 to 0.45 (P<0.05) for reported colds, fevers, and coughs in an unblinded trial with 129 participants, according to Nils-Olaf Hübner, MD, of the Institute of Hygiene and Environmental Medicine in Greifswald, Germany, and colleagues.

The researchers also found that putting disinfectants on employees' desks helped reduce absenteeism. The effect was modest overall, but workdays lost because of diarrhea were cut dramatically, they reported in the online open-access journal BMC Infectious Diseases.

WORST

Study: Driving under influence of pets a danger

Safety experts have a new pet peeve related to distracted driving. In addition to texting or talking on a cell phone while driving, lap dogs and other pets left unrestrained inside moving vehicles pose a major distraction that could be deadly, a new study released Wednesday warns motorists.

About two-thirds of dog owners surveyed by the AAA organization said they routinely drive while petting or playing with their dogs, sometimes even giving them food or water while maneuvering through traffic.

It has been a common sight for many years to see dogs hanging their heads out of open car windows with their ears flapping in the breeze. But in the cocoon that the automobile has become, more drivers are nonchalantly cradling their dogs atop their laps or perching the animals on their chests with the pet's front paws clutching the driver's neck or shoulders. It's risky behavior for the driver and dangerous for the pets, too.

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/.

Produce by “Prescription,” Hands-Free Headsets No Safer named “Best/Worst News for Prevention”

2010-08-24T07:24:00.000-07:00

Doctors in Massachusetts prescribing produce to their patients as a way to fight childhood overweight was named the “Best News for Prevention” while hands-free headsets are proven to be no safer than holding the cell phone while driving was named the “Worst News for Prevention.”

The “Best/Worst” awards are announced each week in “Prevention Matters,” the blog of Partnership for Prevention. "Best/Worst News for Prevention” polls are snapshots taken during a brief period of time that reflect the views of Partnership for Prevention staff. The polls are not designed or intended to reflect a statistically valid representation of the population and should not be used as such. More information is available at http://www.prevent.org/.

BEST

Eat an Apple (Doctor’s Orders)

The farm stand is becoming the new apothecary, dispensing apples — not to mention artichokes, asparagus and arugula — to fill a novel kind of prescription.

Doctors at three health centers in Massachusetts have begun advising patients to eat “prescription produce” from local farmers’ markets, in an effort to fight obesity in children of low-income families. Now they will give coupons amounting to $1 a day for each member of a patient’s family to promote healthy meals.

“A lot of these kids have a very limited range of fruits and vegetables that are acceptable and familiar to them. Potentially, they will try more,” said Dr. Suki Tepperberg, a family physician at Codman Square Health Center in Dorchester, one of the program sites. “The goal is to get them to increase their consumption of fruit and vegetables by one serving a day."

WORST

Hands-Free Headsets Aren't Safer for Drivers Than Holding Cell Phone

Ditch the phone if you drive. That's the bottom line of a new study that found using hands-free headsets while driving doesn't result in fewer accidents, echoing the results of many previous studies.

''When you are on the phone, you are only using part of your brain to drive," says researcher David Schwebel, PhD, vice-chair and professor of psychology at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, who presented the findings today at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association in San Diego.

''My advice is not to talk on the phone while you are driving, ever," he says.

Partnership Urges CMS to Clarify Tobacco Cessation Coverage for Pregnant Women on Medicaid

2010-08-19T13:32:00.000-07:00

Partnership for Prevention is proud to be one of six groups telling Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), “Medicaid should cover the full range of proven and effective treatment options so that pregnant women can find the particular service or combination of services that will best help them to quit using tobacco and not relapse.” Partnership made these comments in a letter yesterday to CMS on our views on the implementation of Section 4107 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

This section of the PPACA will be implemented October 1st of this year and will require state Medicaid programs to cover comprehensive tobacco cessation services, including “diagnostic, therapy, and counseling services and pharmacotherapy (including the coverage of prescription and non-prescription tobacco cessation agents approved by the Food and Drug Administration)”, for pregnant women. While this is certainly an improvement to the Social Security Act, Partnership urges CMS to clarify exactly what states must do to comply with Section 4107.

In its current state, the PPACA does not specify the type of counseling or the amount and duration of counseling sessions that pregnant women should receive. The Public Health Service’s Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence clinical practice guideline (PHS Guideline) found that proactive telephone counseling (quitlines, call-back counseling), individual counseling, and group counseling formats are all effective in reducing tobacco use. The PHS Guideline also confirmed that there is a strong dose-response relationship between the frequency and length of the counseling sessions and successful quit attempts. Furthermore, the PHS Guideline found that an effective strategy for producing high, long-term abstinence rates is “relatively intense cessation counseling (e.g., four or more sessions that are 10 minutes or more in length each)” and recommends that, if possible, clinicians should strive to meet with individuals four or more times.

Based on these guidelines, Partnership feels that the PPACA should require states to cover all three counseling formats: individual, group, and telephone-based. They should also cover a minimum of four counseling sessions per quit attempt and should be strongly encouraged to cover more sessions since accumulating evidence suggests that states cover a minimum of two quit attempts per year.

In terms of cessation medications, the current PHS Guideline does not make recommendations. In the event that a subsequent PHS Guideline does recommend use of cessation medications during pregnancy or if new evidence emerges that cessation medications can be used safely and effectively by pregnant women, Partnership encourages CMS to inform states that they must cover those medications in their Medicaid programs with no cost-sharing requirement.

Partnership for Prevention believes that effective implementation of this new policy will result in fewer health risks and save lives and money.

Decline in Hospital Staph Infections, Increased Rate of Early Onset of Puberty for Girls named “Best/Worst News for Prevention”

2010-08-16T11:49:00.000-07:00

Decline in Hospital Staph Infections, Increased Rate of Early Onset of Puberty for Girls named “Best/Worst News for Prevention”

The drop in dangerous hospital staph infections in the United States was named the “Best News for Prevention” while girls beginning puberty at ages 7 and 8 was named the “Worst News for Prevention.”

The “Best/Worst” awards are announced each week in “Prevention Matters,” the blog of Partnership for Prevention. "Best/Worst News for Prevention” polls are snapshots taken during a brief period of time that reflect the views of Partnership for Prevention staff. The polls are not designed or intended to reflect a statistically valid representation of the population and should not be used as such. More information is available at http://www.prevent.org/.

BEST

US sees drop in dangerous hospital staph illnesses

Aggressive, drug-resistant staph infections caught in hospitals or from medical treatment are becoming scarcer, another sign of progress in a prevention effort that has become a national public health priority.

The decline was seen in a federal study of methicillin-resistant staph, or MRSA. The bug often causes only a boil or skin infection. But researchers in the study focused on invasive cases that can become deadly, invading the bloodstream, flesh, lungs and bones.

Researchers found that in nine metro areas, cases of MRSA fell about 16 percent between 2005 and 2008. That translates to a drop from about 32 cases per 100,000 to 26 cases per 100,000 people.

The results suggest aggressive efforts to stop the germ from spreading are working, researchers said. Such efforts include better hand-washing by doctors and nurses, and testing for MRSA when patients are admitted to the hospital. "We're very encouraged by the results," said Dr. Alexander Kallen of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the study's lead author. But he added, "It's still too early to celebrate. A lot of work needs to be done about better ways to eliminate MRSA."

WORST

Many Girls Now Begin Puberty at Age 7, 8

The onset of puberty is continuing to drop among American girls, with many girls as young as 7 and 8 now showing the beginnings of breast development, new research shows. Among 7-year-olds, about 10.4 percent of white girls, 23.4 percent of black girls and almost 15 percent of Hispanic girls had started developing breasts, the team report in the September issue of Pediatrics. Among 8-year-olds, 18.3 percent of white girls, about 43 percent of black girls and just under 31 percent of Hispanic girls showed evidence of breast development.

Rising rates of childhood obesity -- long linked to earlier sexual development -- may be to blame, experts say.

Experts called the findings alarming. In terms of women's health, early puberty, including younger ages at menarche, or first menstrual cycle, is associated with a higher risk of breast cancer throughout the life span, Biro said. In addition, developing early is associated with psychological and social pressures that young girls may be ill-equipped to handle, including sexual advances from older boys and men, said Dr. Marcia Herman-Giddens, adjunct professor of public health at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Enlisting the Public to Help “Break the Chain of Tobacco Addiction”: A New Website for the FDA

2010-08-16T08:41:00.000-07:00

On June 22, 2010 new restrictions on tobacco product sales and marketing under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (Tobacco Control Act) finally went into effect. This act is specifically aimed at protecting children and youth from the dangers of using tobacco. These restrictions prohibit the sale of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco to people under the age of eighteen; prohibit the sale of cigarette packs with less than twenty cigarettes; prohibit the distribution of free samples of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco; and prohibit tobacco companies from sponsoring many events such as music concerts, athletic games, and other cultural or social gatherings. These are certainly great strides for tobacco control, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and tobacco prevention advocates still have a ways to go in order to continue to prevent tobacco use among America’s youth.

One major task is educating both retailers and the public about these new restrictions. The FDA has wasted no time and is tackling this issue with their new website: Break the Chain of Tobacco Addiction. The website features various ways for retailers, organizations, and the general public to “spread the word” about the new regulations. The site has flyers and posters available for download with slogans such as “Don’t Let Minors Buy Tobacco. It’s the Law. Break the chain of tobacco addiction. Keep tobacco out of the hands of America’s youth. It’s the right thing to do” and “Break the Chain of Tobacco Addiction: I follow the law. I don’t sell tobacco to minors.”

The FDA is also using their website to help people “Stay Informed” – visitors to the website can sign up for e-mail updates, an RSS feed, or become a follower on Twitter. There are also various links to information and materials to help people “Learn More” and there are a variety of “Guidances” for the help the tobacco industry comply with these new regulations. The FDA is encouraging organizations to feature its widget that scrolls content from the FDA’s website and the “Break the Chain” badge on their own sites.

To help spread the word about these important new regulations, visit the “Break the Chain” website at http://www.fda.gov/TobaccoProducts/ResourcesforYou/BreakTheChain/default.htm.

Katie Burggraf
Tobacco Control Team
Partnership for Prevention

Public Opinion is More Favorable of Cigarette Smoking in Bars, Least Favorable of it in Restaurants

2010-08-13T09:58:00.000-07:00

A recent USA Today/Gallup poll found that opinions on smoking in public places are drastically changing and not to the benefit of tobacco users. Since Gallup’s first poll in 1987 on restricting smoking in public places, respondents have become increasingly opposed to smoking in restaurants, hotels, and in workplaces. The percentage of those in support of banning smoking in restaurants and hotels has more than tripled since the first Gallop poll, and has more than doubled for the percentage of those in favor of workplace smoking bans.

The 2010 Gallup poll found that 59 percent of respondents believed that smoking should be banned in restaurants, an increase when compared to the 54 percent who wanted smoking restrictions in restaurants during the 2007 Gallup poll. Partnership for Prevention is pleased that smoking bans in public places are becoming more and more popular and the risks of secondhand smoke are also becoming increasingly evident. However, only 31 percent of poll respondents favored, in bars. In fact, 23 percent of respondents actually favored having no restrictions in bars and 43 percent believed that designated areas should be set aside for smokers in bars. In addition, while only 36 percent of participants felt that smokers should be accommodated in restaurants, the majority thought that smokers should be accommodated in workplaces and hotels/motels (52% and 58% respectively).

Why this change in opinion all of a sudden?

One possible reason is that the percentage of current cigarette smokers has declined from 30 percent in 1987 to the current prevalence of 22 percent. Gallup polls have consistently shown that nonsmokers are more likely to support smoking bans compared to smokers. Thus, this decline in smoking trends could offer some explanation as to why public smoking is being favored less and less.

Another possible reason is that the public is becoming increasingly aware of the dangers of secondhand smoke, especially after the US Surgeon General’s 2006 report, The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke. The percentage of people who perceive that exposure to secondhand smoke poses a serious threat to a nonsmoker’s health has also increased dramatically from 36 percent in 1994 to 55 percent in 2010.

These poll results suggest that we may be going further than the majority of Americans would prefer with some restrictions on public smoking, but more importantly that we may not be going far enough with other restrictions. Currently only half of all states in the U.S. have broad smoking bans that restrict smoking in public places.

The question remains however: How far should we go?

Certainly we need to protect nonsmokers from the dangers of secondhand smoke, but at what point do we have to stop ignoring public opinion? Perhaps the problem is not simply overriding the public’s opinion on smoking bans, but rather working towards educating the public and helping to change the public’s opinion on smoking restrictions in public places.

For more information please visit: http://www.gallup.com/poll/141809/americans-smoking-off-menu-restaurants.aspx

Katie Burggraf
Tobacco Control Team
Partnership for Prevention

Health Reform Benefits Women

2010-08-09T08:26:00.000-07:00

The good news is that 30 million women who are currently uninsured or underinsured will benefit from the recently passed Affordable Care Act (ACA). These women and their children will enjoy a full range of comprehensive benefits through private insurance, or the Medicare and Medicaid programs. A recently released study by the Commonwealth Fund, “Realizing Health Reform’s Potential: Women and the Affordable Care Act of 2010,” examined the ACA’s provisions to identify their impact on access to health services, as well as future cost implications. Provisions eliminating the pre-existing condition exclusion, requiring coverage for maternity and newborn care, providing insurance purchase subsidies, limiting out-of-pocket expenses and prohibiting higher premiums based on gender, all contribute to a significantly more positive future for women seeking health care.

The report also highlights the new preventive care benefits that will provide increased access to high value recommended services from the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) without cost-sharing. However, the report missed the mark by failing to mention tobacco cessation. Tobacco-related disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. causing over 170,000 deaths per year among women. In 2006, 18 percent of adults with private health insurance were current smokers, compared to 35 percent of Medicaid recipients and 34 percent of the uninsured population. All USPSTF recommendations are linked to a letter grade that reflects the level of certainty of the evidence supporting the preventive service. The ACA will make access to the “A” ranked smoking cessation treatments a reality for more women. And, their children will benefit from reduced exposure to secondhand smoke, thereby decreasing incidence of asthma and other related conditions. Under the federal Medicaid program, tobacco cessation services are a mandated benefit for pregnant women. A good start, but all Medicaid enrollees should have access to smoking cessation counseling and medications.

Preventive services not only help keep people healthy, they also save lives. 42,000 lives can be saved each year by helping more smokers quit.

Read the full report - Realizing Health Reform's Potential: Women and the Affordable Care Act of 2010.

Diane Canova
Vice President, Policy & Programs
Partnership for Prevention

Addressing Cigarette Use is Simply Not Enough When it Comes to Tobacco Control

2010-08-06T07:52:00.000-07:00

Cigarette smoking causes 443,000 deaths annually and is the predominant form of tobacco used in the United States. However, adults also use other tobacco products either singly or in combination. The need to address this issue in tobacco use led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to analyze data from the 2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), which is a state-based telephone survey of non-institutionalized adults who are eighteen years or older, and publish a report in today’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), “Any Tobacco Use in 13 States – Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.”

The CDC analyzed data on the use of tobacco products other than cigarettes that had been collected from thirteen states who agreed to an optional BRFSS module. The CDC looked at data for current cigarette use, any tobacco use (tobacco users who currently used cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, or other tobacco products), and current polytobacco users (tobacco users who currently used cigarettes and also another form of tobacco). These three different variables were also analyzed according to various risk factors such as gender, household income, education, age, ethnicity, etc.

Researchers found that simply focusing on cigarette use may not be the best solution when it comes to tobacco control. According to the study, in 2008 cigarette use ranged from 14.6% to 26.6%, any tobacco use ranged from 18.4% to 35.0%, and polytobacco use ranged from 1.0% to 3.7% among the thirteen states. Use of any tobacco product was more prevalent among persons who were a member of an unmarried couple, (36.3%), single adults (30.3%), and those who were widowed or divorced (29.1%) compared to married persons (21.2%). Polytobacco use was found to be more prevalent among men (4.4%), young adults between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four (5.7%), those who were single (4.8%), those who had a household income of less than $35,000 a year, adults with less than a high school education (3.6%), and those adults with only a high school diploma or GED (3.6%).

Results from this study show that while tobacco control efforts have focused mainly on decreasing the prevalence of cigarette smoking, the use of other tobacco products also needs to be addressed if we are to improve the health of our nation. When we consider any tobacco use, an additional 5% of the adult population in these thirteen states is added to the prevalence rate for tobacco use. Using multiple tobacco products can also have adverse health effects, lead to higher nicotine addiction, and make the tobacco user unable to quit using tobacco. For these reasons, and the fact that youth have higher polytobacco use than adults, prevention and health policy efforts need to be targeted towards all forms of tobacco and not just cigarette use.

Partnership for Prevention, a long standing advocate for evidence-based tobacco cessation policies, believes that tobacco control should be at the top of our health agenda and should involve proven strategies such as public awareness efforts, youth tobacco use prevention, tobacco tax increases, and smoke free air policies that address all forms of tobacco use.

Katie Burggraf
Tobacco Control Team
Partnership for Prevention

Smoking Cessation Leadership Center Interviews David Zauche (Part Two)

2010-08-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

ActiontoQuit is a tobacco cessation initiative sponsored by Partnership for Prevention. It urges all sectors - employers, insurers, health care systems, quitlines, and policymakers - to work together to ensure that all tobacco users have access to comprehensive cessation treatments.

Senior Program Officer for the Partnership for Prevention, David Zauche, recently spoke with the Smoking Cessation Leadership Center about current activities and future projects of ActionToQuit. We posted part one of the interview last Monday, August 2. Here is part two:

5. How does the [Save Lives and Money - Help People on Medicaid Quit Tobacco] guide address the passage of health reform for Medicaid and cessation coverage? For example: I understand the new health reform bill requires that all state Medicaid programs provide comprehensive tobacco cessation care to pregnant women. What are some of the recommendations in the guide for state Medicaid programs to implement these changes?

The passage of health reform will do much to advance tobacco cessation in the United States. Shortly, private health plans will be required to extend coverage of many clinical prevention services recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. This coverage will include tobacco cessation interventions. All state Medicaid plans will be required to provide tobacco cessation coverage for pregnant women, but to them only. Partnership for Prevention and other national partners believe that this is the right time for states to voluntarily extend tobacco cessation coverage to all Medicaid beneficiaries, not just pregnant women. The six states I mentioned have done this because it made sense from the health promotion and fiscal angles. When people quit smoking successfully, they realize many health benefits. But states can benefit too.

6. Action to Quit has many cessation resources and partnership activities listed on the website. Are there specific resources Partnership offers around implementing tobacco free policy changes which you can share with our audience?

Three guides, all available for free download on www.actiontoquit.org, come to mind. "Smoke-Free Policies - An Action Guide" is a resource for workplaces and community leaders that want to establish ordinances to protect the public from secondhand smoke. It translates the evidence-based recommendations in "The Community Guide" into implementation strategies. "Investing in a Tobacco-Free Future" is a tool kit for the workplace. It outlines the costs of smoking to businesses, the impact on worker productivity, and how to implement tobacco use treatment policies through a health plan. "Investing in Health - Proven Health Promotion Practices for Workplaces" charts a course for businesses to implement three inexpensive strategies to save lives from tobacco. They are: implementing tobacco-free policies, offering tobacco use treatment benefits, and providing access to a telephone quitline for tobacco users.

7. What other tools and resources can people anticipate in the future?

Partnership for Prevention recently extended funding to the Joint Commission to develop and test a global set of tobacco cessation quality standards which would be applicable to all hospitalized patients. If adopted, these measures will require hospitals to identify all patients who use tobacco and offer them counseling, medications and limited follow-up. Later in 2010, when the final standards are published, Partnership will create and disseminate an implementation guide for hospitals. Additionally, Partnership will produce case studies for each of our funded ActionToQuit grantee states. These will describe their journey in forming a state tobacco cessation alliance, holding a summit meeting, and creating a state action plan to advance cessation.

8. What recommendations do you have for those interested in creating their own partnership around cessation or improving one that already exists?

Two things have been proven in recent years:

• First, the highly successful tobacco tax and smoke-free state campaigns have proven that tobacco control advocates can come together and, through a strong synergistic effort, change policies and save lives. It's happened across the country.
• Second, we've learned just recently that a state can cover all its Medicaid subscribers for tobacco cessation treatment and see positive short term results. Massachusetts implemented a comprehensive tobacco cessation benefit in July of 2006 and has seen smoking rates for beneficiaries drop 26% in two and a half years. The state has also seen significant decreases in hospitalizations for heart attacks, emergency room visits for asthma symptoms, and adverse maternal birth complications.

The ActiontoQuit Network is a group of over 500 professionals who are committed to tobacco cessation.

For more information contact:
Brandi Robinson at brobinson@prevent.org, 202-384-1505 or
David Zauche at dzauche@prevent.org, 202-375-7807.

Partnership on the Road

2010-08-04T07:39:00.000-07:00

Partnership for Prevention recently exhibited at the 2010 National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) in Louisville, Kentucky. The conference was widely attended by legislators, legislative staffers, government officials, business representatives, union members, foundation representatives and others interested in public policy. Concurrent sessions focused on the economy, transportation, education, health care, human services, energy, environment and professional development for legislators and staff. Many state representatives and senators came to the Partnership exhibit booth to hear information about the organization and its policy and programmatic efforts. Save Lives and Money - Help People on Medicaid Quit Tobacco, a new resource from Partnership for Prevention /ActionToQuit and the American Lung Association, garnered the most attention from state legislators and other conference attendees. This resource underscored that Medicaid recipients smoke more than any other population segment and made the argument that, by covering all of them, individual states could save both lives and money. Only six states lead the way in providing the seven recommended medications and group and individual counseling for all Medicaid patients. Save Lives and Money can be downloaded on the ActionToQuit website’s “Resources” section at http://actiontoquit.org/resources/.

Partnership staff also engaged legislators and staffers through the distribution of hand sanitizer, especially Kentucky Senator Gerald A. Neal (D). Senator Neal was intrigued by Partnership’s hand sanitizer “give away” as a mechanism to promote good health and prevent disease. The Kentucky Senator was very interested in distributing hand sanitizer at a community health event that stressed the importance of the prevention. During the dialogue, Partnership identified various health agenda intersections and plans to follow up with his office to discuss community health prevention. In addition to the hand sanitizer, Partnership also distributed a CD of the organization’s top five publications to legislative staffers. Entitled “NCSL 2010”, the CD included the following publications: 2009 Annual Report, CDC Action Guide: Places for Physical Activity, CDC Action Guide: Social Support for Physical Activity, Healthy Workforce 2010 and Beyond, Investing In Health, and Smokefree Policies. Legislative staffers liked the idea of having the organization’s most popular publications on a compact disc. Many expressed that it would help streamline their efforts when needing to consult with a “prevention” authority.

Smoking Cessation Leadership Center Interviews David Zauche (Part One)

2010-08-02T11:54:00.000-07:00

ActiontoQuit is a tobacco cessation initiative sponsored by Partnership for Prevention. It urges all sectors - employers, insurers, health care systems, quitlines, and policymakers - to work together to ensure that all tobacco users have access to comprehensive cessation treatments.

Senior Program Officer for the Partnership for Prevention, David Zauche, recently spoke with the Smoking Cessation Leadership Center about current activities and future projects of ActionToQuit:

1. Could you tell us a about the ActionToQuit State Grant Program? Which States are recipients? What are the states striving to accomplish? How does the program play a part in Partnership’s mission?

ActionToQuit is Partnership for Prevention's tobacco cessation initiative. Partnership's mission is to be the nation's most trusted resource, educator and advocate for disease prevention and health promotion. To that end, ActionToQuit works through policy and system change to increase access to tobacco cessation treatments for all Americans. Our website is www.actiontoquit.org and we offer a free monthly tobacco cessation e-newsletter and listserv, both by subscription.

Partnership for Prevention awarded six ActionToQuit state grants in 2010 for the implementation of innovative strategies to advance to tobacco cessation, with funds used for the development of state alliances/summit meetings and the creation of strategic plans. The projects will involve various sectors that can impact access to tobacco cessation including employers, health care systems, insurers, quitlines, and policymakers. The state grant projects are:

• Colorado - Cessation Coverage/Treatment for Colorado's Uninsured

• Florida - Tobacco Cessation Summit & Action Plan

• Nevada - Increasing Cessation Access for All Nevadans

• New England - New England Partnership for Smoking Cessation Policy

• New York - New York State Access to Tobacco Use Treatment Strategic Planning Project

• Virginia - Virginia Partnership for Tobacco Use Cessation

A brief on each grantee's initiative has been posted to the ActionToQuit website here.

2. Your website offers some valuable resources for those interested in expanding access to tobacco cessation treatment. Could you tell us about the recent creation of Save Lives and Money - Help People on Medicaid Quit Tobacco? What was the history behind the creation of the guide?

Save Lives and Money - Help People on Medicaid Quit Tobacco is a new resource from Partnership and the American Lung Association. It's the second guide of its kind from these national partners, the first one dealing with state employee tobacco cessation coverage. This resource is important because of the high rates of tobacco use among the Medicaid population and the associated costs. The big idea is that because so much of Medicaid's funding goes toward tobacco-related diseases, an up-front investment in prevention (i.e. tobacco cessation) must be given serious consideration. In 2004, U.S. Medicaid expenditures for illnesses caused by tobacco totaled $30 billion, or 11% of the entire Medicaid budget. The point is that we must do more to help people on Medicaid quit tobacco - if we do we'll save both lives and money.

3. Why did you feel there is a need for such a resource?

ActionToQuit wants to spotlight the states that are doing the best job at providing Medicaid coverage for their tobacco users. The six states that lead the way by covering all treatments recommended by the U.S. Public Health Service are Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, and Pennsylvania. In particular, we applaud their efforts to cover all medications and counseling treatments since most smokers will need many attempts and (possibly) several different tools to quit successfully.

4. What audience is the guide intended for?Partnership for Prevention believes that all Medicaid plans should be required to cover all cessation treatments. To this end the new guide is intended for advocates that comprise state tobacco control coalitions, insurers/health plans, state Medicaid leaders, and policymakers. States have achieved many outstanding advances in smoke free air laws and increased tobacco taxes and these accomplishments are to be commended. However, tobacco control policies related to cessation have often lagged behind. One area in which much progress is needed involves the unnecessary barriers that exist which make it harder for people to make quit attempts. Insurers and policymakers should focus on removing these barriers, which include co-pays, duration limits, annual limits on quit attempts, and dollar limits. There are policy solutions for these problems.

5. How does the guide address the passage of health reform for Medicaid and cessation coverage?

...to be continued: read part two of the interview this Thursday, August 5, 2010

Partnership Co-Hosts Tobacco Cessation Briefing at NCSL’s Legislative Summit in Louisville, Kentucky--Briefing Video to Follow

2010-07-27T09:24:00.000-07:00

Key Partnership senior staff are on hand at the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) annual legislative summit being held this year in Louisville, Kentucky, July 25-July 28. Partnership’s Government Affairs team worked closely with the NCSL Health Committee to host a special tobacco cessation briefing for state legislators and their staff members from across the country. The briefing focused on the impact the Massachusetts Medicaid program experienced when it offered and promoted a comprehensive tobacco cessation benefit. Although data is still being analyzed, the preliminary results are very promising.

Richard T. Moore, Senate Chairman of the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Health Care Financing and incoming NCSL President told the audience that:

Within just one year, users of the smoking cessation benefit had dramatic reductions in hospitalizations for heart attacks, declines in emergency and clinic visits for asthma, and a significant decrease in acute birth complications.
In the first two and a half years of the benefit over 75,000 MassHealth members have tried to quit smoking. This represents 40 percent of smokers on MassHealth, a level unprecedented in the nation.
Researchers from the Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program found that up to 38 percent fewer MassHealth cessation benefit users were hospitalized for heart attacks in the first year after using the benefit and 17 percent fewer benefit users visited the emergency room for asthma symptoms in the first year after using the benefit.
Researchers also found that there were 17 percent fewer claims for adverse maternal birth complications since the benefit was implemented.

In addition, the briefing included an important presentation from the MassHealth Deputy Medical Director Roger L. Snow, MD, MPH. Dr. Snow reviewed the history of the MassHealth benefit and credited Senator Moore for having the vision to recognize that the availability and utilization of a comprehensive benefit could save lives and help control spending in the Medicaid program. At Senator Moore’s urging, the legislature directed MassHealth to expand upon the Mass Department of Public Health’s limited telephone consultation service and adopt a comprehensive cessation benefit.

A copy of Dr. Snow’s slides can be viewed here.

Please be sure to check back to the prevent.org web site next week to see a video of the entire NCSL briefing and discussion “Cessation Saves Lives.”

Ripley Forbes

Director, Government Affairs

Partnership for Prevention

New Partnership Guide Offers States Guidance on Helping Medicaid Recipients Quit Tobacco

2010-07-20T10:32:00.000-07:00

Partnership for Prevention’s ActionToQuit initiative has developed a comprehensive state-by-state analysis of Medicaid coverage of tobacco cessation. Prepared in collaboration with the American Lung Association, Saving Lives and Money – Helping People on Medicaid Quit Tobacco offers clear guidance to states on necessary steps to provide a comprehensive cessation benefit in accordance with recommendations of the United States Public Health Service (USPHS).

In 2004, the U.S. Medicaid expenditures for tobacco related illnesses totaled $22 billion, which was 11% of the overall Medicaid expenditure. States like New Hampshire and Montana, with smoking prevalence rates among the Medicaid population at 80% and 70% respectively, both attributed 15% of Medicaid costs to smoking. Their combined smoking attributable costs to Medicaid were $173 million. Although both Arizona and Washington’s prevalence rates were lower than 70% in 2004, both states attributed 18% of Medicaid costs to smoking, totaling $841 million. Since a large portion of Medicaid’s funding goes toward treating tobacco related diseases, an up-front investment in prevention, including tobacco cessation, must be a consideration.

As mapped out in Saving Lives and Money, six states currently cover all the treatments Medicaid recipients need to quit tobacco – Minnesota, Indiana, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon and Pennsylvania. Twenty-one states provide most, but not all, recommended cessation treatments to all of their Medicaid recipients; eighteen states provide only a few cessation treatments or have uneven coverage; and four states fail to cover any of the recommended medications or counseling for Medicaid recipients who want to quit.

The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requires that all Medicaid programs cover a comprehensive cessation benefit for pregnant women on Medicaid beginning this fall. The Act also provides a one percentage point increase in the federal Medicaid matching rate to states that cover all preventive services given an ‘A’ or ‘B’ by the USPHS (including tobacco cessation) with no cost-sharing. These are important steps in the right direction but, as Saving Lives and Money points out, there is still much to be done.

The guide will be introduced next week at an important session of the National Conference of State Legislatures’ (NCSL) Health Committee meeting in Louisville, Kentucky. At Partnership’s urging, this year the NCSL Health Committee is hearing a presentation on the remarkable success of the Massachusetts Medicaid program in promoting a comprehensive tobacco cessation benefit and achieving unprecedented success in reducing tobacco prevalence among the Medicaid population and reducing tobacco related health care costs.

Please visit the ActionToQuit website, Resources section to download the guide: http://actiontoquit.org/resources/

Brandi Robinson
Program Associate
Partnership for Prevention

Partnership for Prevention Featured on Sirius Radio

2010-07-15T13:29:00.000-07:00

Robert J. Gould, PhD, President and CEO and Jason M.M. Spangler, MD, MPH, Senior Program Officer were interviewed this morning by Dr. Nieca Goldberg, a cardiologist and women's health expert at NYU Medical Center, on her radio show, "Doctor Radio", carried by Sirius XM Radio. The broadcast garnered interest from the public, as several people called/emailed in with specific screening questions.

In addition to fielding questions, Dr. Gould and Dr. Spangler discussed Partnership’s mission and stressed the importance of prevention. Dr. Gould and Dr. Spangler highlighted the critical work Partnership is accomplishing in the areas of tobacco cessation and control, vaccines, and aspirin use. Dr. Goldberg is a member of Partnership’s Aspirin Task Force, an advisory group tasked with increasing aspirin counseling and aspirin use for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Gould and Dr. Spangler also touched on the new regulations that require insurance plans to provide United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) A and B recommended preventive services without cost sharing. These regulations will begin to remove barriers to access to preventive care.

The interview will be re-broadcast today at 5 pm Eastern, Friday July 16 at 5 am Eastern and Sunday July 18 at 5 am Eastern on Sirius channel 114 and XM channel 119.

If you don't have a Sirius or XM subscription, you can sign up for a 7-day free trial period by visiting this website: www.sirius.com/freetrial/register. We hope you will tune in.

Electronic Health Records

2010-07-15T08:26:00.000-07:00

In 2009, the Obama administration and Congress passed the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) to increase the use of Electronic Health Records (EHR’s). The law authorizes incentive payments through Medicare and Medicaid to clinicians and hospitals when they use EHR’s to achieve improvements in care delivery. On July 13, 2010 Secretary Sebelius announced the final rules to support meaningful use of EHR’s, officially launching a concentrated five-year national initiative to improve the health of Americans and reduce health care costs through their adoption and use.

Earlier this year Partnership for Prevention joined with its colleagues at Trust for America’s Health in submitting public comments on the HITECH rules, requesting that the clinical quality measures have a focus on preventive care, specifically those clinical preventive services that provide the highest value as recommended by the National Commission on Prevention Priorities (NCPP). These include influenza immunization rates, smoking cessation counseling, BMI screening and follow-up, cervical cancer and chlamydia screening, and aspirin therapy. We applauded the Department of Health and Human Services for including public health among its goals for implementation.

While the final rules do not include all the measures recommended, smoking status for patients 13 years old or older was included as a measured functionality. This is a victory for tobacco control advocates because recording smoking status may lead to an increase in the number of patients who receive smoking cessation treatment. The age threshold is important as counseling for adolescent smokers has been shown to be effective, approximately doubling long-term abstinence rates in the multiple studies. Additionally, this measure will be in accord with the 2008 Update to the Public Health Service Clinical Practice Guideline on Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence.

This is an exciting time in healthcare in America. Paper-based treatment, surveillance, and recordkeeping is yielding to same-time health communication. The 2009 law and the July 13 announcement of its rules will go a long way toward operationalizing these advances.

For more information:

http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2010pres/07/20100713a.html

http://healthcarereform.nejm.org/?p=3732

David Zauche
Senior Program Officer
Partnership for Prevention

Fish Oil Supplements Linked to Lower Risk of Breast Cancer, 40 Million Expired Swine Flu Vaccine Doses to Be Destroyed Named “Best, Worst Prevention Ideas of the Week”

2010-07-12T11:04:00.000-07:00

A new study by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle showing that postmenopausal women who take fish oil supplements may reduce their breast cancer risk was named the “Best Prevention Idea of the Week,” while the recent news from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that about 40 million doses of swine flu vaccine worth about $260 million will be destroyed because it's past the expiration date was named the “Worst Prevention Idea of the Week."

The “Best/Worst” awards are announced each week in “Prevention Matters,” the blog of Partnership for Prevention. Nominees are submitted by Partnership staff as well as the general public, and are voted on by the staff. Partnership for Prevention is a nonpartisan organization of business, nonprofit and government leaders who are working to make evidence-based disease prevention and health promotion a national priority. More information is available at http://www.prevent.org/.

BEST

Study Finds Fish Oil Supplements Linked to Lower Risk of Breast Cancer

Postmenopausal women who take fish oil supplements may reduce their breast cancer risk, a new study suggests.

The study focused on the potential health benefits of 15 different so-called "specialty" supplements to see if they affect breast cancer risk, said study senior author Emily White, an epidemiologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.

Fish oil supplements, made from fatty fish such as salmon, contain high levels of omega-3 fatty acids.

In the study, White and her colleagues asked more than 35,000 Washington state women who were between the ages of 50 and 76 and all past menopause to answer questions about their use of "non-vitamin, non-mineral supplements." All were participants in the Vitamins and Lifestyle (VITAL) cohort study, and none had a history of breast cancer.

After six years of follow up, 880 cases of breast cancer were identified.

WORST

40 Million Expired Swine Flu Vaccine Doses to Be Destroyed

About 40 million doses of swine flu vaccine worth about $260 million will be destroyed because it's past the expiration date, says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The amount of the outdated vaccine, which will be incinerated, is more than twice the usual surplus and likely sets a record, according to the Associated Press.

One government estimate suggests that about 30 million more swine flu vaccine doses could expire and have to be destroyed. If that's the case, it means that more than 43 percent of the total supply of swine flu vaccine for the U.S. public will have gone to waste, the AP reported.

Declines in Youth Smoking Trends are Coming to a Halt

2010-07-12T09:31:00.000-07:00

As Rob Gould, President and CEO of Partnership for Prevention, has stated, “the top priority for prevention spending should be tobacco control.” And what is the best way to focus our tobacco control efforts? The answer is youth. By focusing on youth we can prevent this addictive behavior before it starts.

The need to address youth smoking is pressing. CDC published a report in last week’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) titled, “Cigarette Use Among High School Students–United States, 1991-2009,” which brings to light to the slowing progress in youth smoking prevention.

The CDC studied cigarette smoking trends among high school students in the United States by analyzing data from the 1991-2009 Youth Risk Behavior Surveys (YRBS), which are conducted every two years among high school students in grades ninth through twelve. When looking at three different variables: ever smoked cigarettes (whether a student had ever smoked, even just one puff), current cigarette use (whether a student had smoked at least one day in the past thirty days), and current frequent cigarette use (whether a student had smoked at least twenty days or more during the past thirty days), researchers found that high school smoking rates dropped rapidly in the late 1990s. However, the rate of decline substantially slowed down after 2003 and has continued to only decline very gradually since then. When analyzing data from different racial and gender groups for current cigarette use, rates also declined rapidly in the late 1990s and then either continued to decline gradually or leveled off after 2003 for all subgroups except for black female students, for whom current cigarette use continued to decline after 1999 without slowing.

These slowing rates have led to our failure to meet the Healthy People 2010 national health objective to reduce the prevalence of current cigarette use among high school students to 16% or less. It is noteworthy that the 2009 YRBS survey was administered before the federal tax increase for cigarettes and before the Family Smoking Prevention Act went into effect, both of which aim to reduce youth smoking. However, much work needs to be done if we are to address these slowing declines in current cigarette smoking trends among high school students in the United States.

Partnership for Prevention agrees with the CDC’s recommendations for “reductions in advertising, promotions, and commercial availability of tobacco products… combined with expanded counter-advertising mass media campaigns and… other well-documented and effective strategies (e.g., higher prices for tobacco products through increases in excise taxes, tobacco free environments, programs that promote changes in social norms, and comprehensive communitywide and school-based tobacco-use prevention policies).”

Additionally, in a recent column in Kaiser Health News, “The Prevention Dilemma,” Rob Gould states that tobacco control should be the top priority for health reform funding and youth prevention placed at the top of the list. He argues for a “nationwide public education campaign modeled on the highly successful Truth® campaign that dissuades thousands of young people from initiating tobacco use and encourages smoking cessation.”

The MMWR brings disappointing news in terms of tobacco control, yet hopefully can be the driving force to focus our public health and policies and resources on preventing youth smoking and make this a healthier nation.

Katie Burggraf
Partnership for Prevention Intern

Public Transit Systems Contribute To Weight Loss, Adult Obesity Rates Rose in 28 States Named “Best, Worst Prevention Ideas of the Week”

2010-07-06T12:42:00.000-07:00

A new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine showing that the construction of a light-rail system (LRT) resulted in increased physical activity and subsequent weight loss was named the “Best Prevention Idea of the Week,” while the recent report from Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) that 28 US states saw obesity rates increase last year was named the “Worst Prevention Idea of the Week."

The “Best/Worst” awards are announced each week in “Prevention Matters,” the blog of Partnership for Prevention. Nominees are submitted by Partnership staff as well as the general public, and are voted on by the staff. Partnership for Prevention is a nonpartisan organization of business, nonprofit and government leaders who are working to make evidence-based disease prevention and health promotion a national priority. More information is available at http://www.prevent.org/.

BEST

New Study Finds Public Transit Systems Contribute To Weight Loss and Improved Health

Increasing the availability of public transit systems is one among a number of modifications to the built environment that offers opportunities for increasing physical activity and reducing the prevalence of obesity and its associated problems. In a study published in the August issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University and the RAND Corporation found that construction of a light-rail system (LRT) resulted in increased physical activity (walking) and subsequent weight loss by people served by the LRT. These findings suggest that improving neighborhood environments and increasing the public's use of LRT systems could improve health outcomes and potentially impact millions of individuals.

WORST

Adult Obesity Rates Rose in 28 States and Fell in Just One

28 US states saw obesity rates still rising last year, while the only place to experience a decline was the District of Columbia (D.C.), F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2010, according to a report from the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). In 38 US states more than 25% of the adult population is obese. 19 years ago the number of US states with an obesity rate of over 20% was zero.

The USA has had the highest adult obesity rate in the world for several years.

Health Care Reform Implementation: Defining Comprehensive Tobacco Cessation Services

2010-07-02T12:41:00.000-07:00

Partnership for Prevention co-signed a letter on July 2, 2010 to Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary off the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It addresses a critical area of health promotion, specifically the definition the federal government chooses to adopt for comprehensive tobacco cessation services. The letter urges Secretary Sebelius to utilize DHHS’s 2008 Public Health Service Guideline “Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence” as the trustworthy source document in crafting the definition because of the rigor and precision involved in its development.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requires group health plans and health insurance issuers offering group or individual coverage to cover USPSTF “A” & “B” rated preventive services with no cost sharing. Tobacco cessation, rated as the highest value preventive service, is, of course, included in this provision. However, it is not uncommon in the current health insurance marketplace for health insurance issuers to limit coverage or establish restrictive rules for tobacco users to access the needed treatment. In defining comprehensive tobacco cessation services, these restrictions must be disallowed and excluded.

The letter makes three recommendations to the Secretary:

Require health plans to cover all three types of counseling deemed effective by the PHS Guideline for tobacco cessation: individual (face-to-face), group and proactive telephone counseling.
Require health plans to cover all seven medications FDA-approved to treat tobacco addiction.
Comprehensive tobacco cessation treatments should be promoted to encourage tobacco users to quit.

The letter was co-signed by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, Legacy, and Partnership for Prevention. Click here to view the entire letter.

The Obesity Epidemic: State- and District-Level Policies Are Leaving Adolescents Behind

2010-06-30T06:26:00.000-07:00

As a nation we are concerned about childhood/adolescent obesity and overweight, yet state and district-level policies regarding physical education, physical activity, and nutrition are significantly lacking, especially at the middle and high school level. Students at the middle and high school level have the highest rates of obesity among all children and adolescents. Judging by these facts, you would think that more state- and district-level policies would be in place to help counter the growing obesity epidemic among this age-group. However, a recent publication by the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) titled “Obesity Prevention for Middle and High Schools: Are We Doing Enough?,” reviewed state-level and district-level policies regarding physical activity and nutrition and found a strong paradox: “while adolescents have the highest rates of obesity, are the least physically active, and consume more junk food and sugary beverages, both state- and district-level policies addressing these issues in the school environment are often more frequent and restrictive at the elementary level. In addition, in many areas, policies are simply not addressing critical components of school nutrition and physical activity at any level.”

The 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommends that children and adolescents obtain at least 30 minutes of the required 60 minutes per day of physical activity at school. Despite this guideline, NASBE’s survey found that only three states required time in minutes outside of physical education, only 20% of states had a required time and/or frequency for physical education at the high school level, and only 34% of states requiring physical education at the middle school level had a time frequency requirement. In addition, no states and only 8% of districts had a high school requirement for a percentage of class time to be spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and only 6% of states and 9% of districts had this requirement at a middle school level. Finally, 82% of states had a high school physical education requirement but 28% of these states had liberal exemption policies.

Regarding nutrition, only three states had policies which aimed at increasing access to fruits and vegetables at the middle and high school level and only three states had a policy restricting food marketing. In addition, only 22% of states required nutrition standards limiting fats, sugar, calories, and/or portion sizes in middle and high schools. 38% of states and 49% of districts had nutrition standard policies in high schools, 46% of states and 51% of districts had these standards in middle schools, and 50% of states had these standards in elementary schools. Finally, only three states and 2% of districts had policies at the middle and high school levels that prohibited all sodas (both regular and diet) and all other sugar-sweetened beverages and 30% of states only prohibited regular sugar-sweetened sodas.

All this data brings up one major question: Why aren’t states and districts pushing for more frequent and stronger policies regarding physical activity and nutrition? After all, we have a growing epidemic on our hands and children and adolescents are at the heart of it. Currently, an estimated 34% of adolescents are overweight or obese and this trend is only increasing. If widespread policies are not adopted soon these overweight children and adolescents will become overweight or obese adults, threatened by preventable chronic diseases since “overweight adolescents have a 70% chance of becoming overweight or obese adults.” While it is true that middle and high schools have many demands including increasing overall student achievement and decreasing drop-out rates, this does not mean that physical activity and nutrition should fall by the wayside. By placing physical activity and nutrition at the bottom of the priority list, schools may in fact be negatively affecting the overall success of their students since “overweight and obese students are more likely to have greater rates of absenteeism and experience more bullying and teasing, which may affect their academic performance and achievement.”

So, are we actually doing enough?

The answer is No. Policies and programs addressing middle and high schools need to be more frequent, more restrictive, and required rather than merely suggested. The promotion of physical activity and nutrition needs to be widespread at all school levels: elementary, middle, and high school. We may gasp at the obesity problem and encourage children and adolescents to exercise and eat healthfully, but if our policies do not match our message then we are failing the students we intend to serve.

Note: All direct quotes come from NASBE’s May 2010 publication, “Obesity Prevention for Middle and High Schools: Are We Doing Enough?” which can be found here.

Kathryn Burggraf
Tobacco Control Intern
Partnership for Prevention

Breastfeeding Boosts Babies’ Immune Systems, Cartoon Characters Selling Unhealthy Foods Named "Best, Worst Prevention Ideas of the Week"

2010-06-29T11:42:00.000-07:00

A new study showing that babies who were breast-fed had a lower risk of infections was named the “Best Prevention Idea of the Week,” while children finding foods tastier when their package displays a cartoon was named the “Worst Prevention Idea of the Week."

The “Best/Worst” awards are announced each week in “Prevention Matters,” the blog of Partnership for Prevention. Nominees are submitted by Partnership staff as well as the general public, and are voted on by the staff. Partnership for Prevention is a nonpartisan organization of business, nonprofit and government leaders who are working to make evidence-based disease prevention and health promotion a national priority. More information is available at http://www.prevent.org/.

BEST

Breast Milk Reduces Infections in Babies

Breast-feeding seems to provide an immune system boost to infants, helping to prevent respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses in babies, according to new research.

Babies who were breast-fed exclusively for 4 months, and then partially until they were 6 months old, had a reduced risk of respiratory and gastrointestinal infections compared to babies who had never been breast-fed, the Dutch team found. "Exclusive breast-feeding reduces respiratory and gastrointestinal infections in infancy," said the study's senior author, Dr. Henriette Moll, a professor of pediatrics at Erasmus Medical Center's Sophia's Children's Hospital in Rotterdam.

WORST

Cartoon Characters Sell Kids on Unhealthy Foods

Popular cartoon characters are influencing the taste preferences of very young children, and not in a positive way, a new study suggests. Researchers found that the branding of American food product packaging with characters such as Dora the Explorer drives preschoolers to choose higher-calorie, less healthful foods over more nutritious options.

"The bottom line is that when kids are presented with a choice of graham crackers, fruit snacks or carrots, and the only difference is that one package has a licensed character on it, they actually think that the food with the character tastes better," said study author Christina Roberto, a doctoral student working at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University in New Haven, Conn.

The findings, reported online June 21 in Pediatrics, reflect on the food preferences of 4- to 6-year-old boys and girls who found foods tastier when the packaging bore the likenesses of beloved TV and movie characters.

New Regulations Go Into Effect: The One Year Anniversary of the Tobacco Control Act

2010-06-22T10:52:00.000-07:00

A year ago today, June 22, 2009, President Obama signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (Tobacco Control Act), which places the regulation of tobacco products under the authority of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Under the provisions of this Act, the FDA established the Center for Tobacco Products whose main goals include preventing the initiation of tobacco use among America’s children and adolescents; aiding adults with tobacco cessation; supplying the public with necessary information on the ingredients of tobacco products and the potential harms of using tobacco products; and using the regulation of tobacco products to protect the public from the health burden of tobacco, which is currently the leading cause of preventable disease in the United States.

So what happens today, June 22, 2010?

Today, new restrictions on tobacco product sales and marketing go into effect. These include the banning of descriptors such as “light,” “mild,” and “low” in cigarette and smokeless tobacco labeling and advertisements; larger and more graphic warning labels on smokeless tobacco products and advertisements; and the implementation of the 1996 Rule on Youth Access and Marketing. This rule aims to prevent the use of tobacco related products among America’s youth through regulations that prohibit the sale of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco to minors under federal law; ban tobacco related sponsorships of athletic, social, and other cultural events; and prohibit the sale of cigarette packages with less than twenty cigarettes.

And what should we look for in the future?

In the future the FDA is looking to develop tobacco product standards, regulate the introduction of new tobacco products, and place larger and more graphic warning labels on cigarette packaging and advertisements. Until then, the FDA urges states and localities to continue implementing tobacco taxes, smoke-free laws, funding for tobacco prevention and cessation, and coverage for smoking cessation services – all of which have proven to be effective in controlling the use of tobacco.

As Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, President and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation explains, “Tobacco use is a contributing factor to dozens of diseases and conditions that impact American and accounts for $96 billion each year in health care costs. This groundbreaking legislation is a big investment in prevention that will help all Americans lead healthier lives.”

Read more about the Tobacco Control Act’s One Year Anniversary by clicking here.

Kathryn Burggraf
Tobacco Control Intern
Partnership for Prevention

Healthy Diet Helps to Decrease Colorectal Cancer Risk, Slight Increase in Tobacco Sales to Minors Named "Best, Worst Prevention Ideas of the Week"

2010-06-22T08:16:00.000-07:00

A new study showing that eating a diet filled with fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy foods is associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer was named the “Best Prevention Idea of the Week,” while the recent Synar report revealing the national weighted average rate of tobacco sales to minors increased, from 9.9 percent in FFY 2008, to 10.9 percent in FFY 2009 was named the “Worst Prevention Idea of the Week."

BEST

Healthy Diet May Cut Colorectal Cancer Risk

Eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy foods, and fish may reduce your risk of colorectal cancer, according to a new study. Although previous studies have produced conflicting findings about the effectiveness of such a diet, the new research found a benefit.

''We found that eating a largely plant-based diet with higher intakes of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, vegetable oils, and low-fat dairy in women and fish in men was associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer," says Paige Miller, PhD, a researcher at Pennsylvania State University.

Eating in this healthful way reduced the risk of colon cancer by 65% in women and by 62% in men, she says. ''Why fish was a part of the protective dietary pattern only in men and low-fat diary only in women is not known at this time," Miller tells WebMD.

WORST

Reverse in Trend – Tobacco Sales to Minors No Longer Declining

Although illegal sales of tobacco have decreased over the past 13 years, 2009 sees the first slight upward tick in sales to minors. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration recently announced that all the states and the District of Columbia have continued to meet their goals of curtailing sales of tobacco to underage youth (those under 18). However, in federal fiscal year 2009, for the first time ever, the data show a slight increase in the average national rate of tobacco sales to underage youth of about one percent. States goals, set under the Synar Amendment program – a federal and state partnership, are aimed at ending illegal tobacco sales to minors. The increase in the rate may be due to States reducing the number of enforcement inspections they conduct in the face of State budget cuts.

Kids Benefitting from Smoke-Free Laws, Serious Problems with Infection Control at Surgical Sites Named Best/Worst Prevention Ideas of the Week

2010-06-15T12:44:00.000-07:00

A study showing that children benefit from laws that regulate locations where smoking is allowed was named the “Best Prevention Idea of the Week,” while a study that found that loose infection practices are contributing to problems with infection control at same-day surgery centers was named the “Worst Prevention Idea of the Week."

BEST

Smoke-Free Laws Benefit Kids, Too

Kids benefit from laws that regulate locations where smoking is allowed, a new study shows.

Smoke-free-air laws have already been shown to reduce exposure to secondhand smoke among adults. Now a study shows that such laws benefit children and adolescents, too, as long as they don't live with a smoker.

Researchers analyzed data from the 1999-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and found that youngsters who live in a county with extensive smoke-free-air laws had a 39% lower prevalence of cotinine in their blood. Cotinine, an alkaloid found in tobacco, is a major metabolite of nicotine and a common biomarker of secondhand smoke exposure. It is detectable in blood for a minimum of several days after exposure to tobacco smoke.

WORST

Poor infection control at many surgery centers

A new federal study finds many same-day surgery centers — where patients get such things as foot operations and pain injections — have serious problems with infection control. Failure to wash hands, wear gloves and clean blood glucose meters were among the reported breaches. Clinics reused devices meant for one person or dipped into single-dose medicine vials for multiple patients. The findings, appearing in last Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association, suggest lax infection practices may pervade the nation's more than 5,000 outpatient centers, experts said.

Public Comments Urged on Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Proposed Tobacco Cessation Measure

2010-06-10T11:14:00.000-07:00

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed a new measure, which is still preliminary, that would expand coverage for evidence-based tobacco cessation counseling for all Medicare recipients. Current Medicare language limits reimbursement for tobacco cessation counseling to patients who have a tobacco-related disease.

The CMS has set a period of time for Public Comments on the proposed determination, after which they will issue a final decision. This period ends June 27, 2010. Partnership for Prevention urges you to offer your own public comment in support of tobacco cessation counseling for Medicare beneficiaries. It’s easy to do – just click on this link, then click on the orange “Comment” button at the top. Type in the box whatever you see fit to communicate about this matter.

As an example, here’s what I wrote in my message to the CMS this morning:

I am writing to express my strong support for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed decision to extend tobacco cessation counseling to all Medicare beneficiaries. It is Partnership for Prevention's position that this policy will help many tobacco users break free from a deadly behavior, people who otherwise would have been unable to do so. Undoubtedly, many lives will be extended and much money saved if this decision is enacted.

Not only is tobacco cessation counseling a Grade A rated recommendation by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, it is also received the highest ranking by Partnership for Prevention's National Commission on Prevention Priorities. In that review, physician tobacco cessation counseling was one of only three clinical preventive services to receive the highest score for cost and prevention effectiveness.

I urge the CMS to move forward with this critical public health measure when the public comment period has concluded. The entire Medicare community deserves to benefit from this service, not only those who have been diagnosed with a tobacco related illness. After all, that's what prevention is all about.

It is important that the CMS hears from constituents who support disease prevention, health promotion, and tobacco cessation. If enacted, this measure represents a lifesaving advance in our capacity to guarantee that all tobacco users have access to evidence-based tobacco cessation counseling. A significant public health benefit will be realized.

David Zauche
Senior Program Officer
Partnership for Prevention

Big tax benefits for small businesses

2010-06-09T06:59:00.000-07:00

There’s good news in the health reform law for small businesses that pay at least half the cost of their employees’ health insurance. Beginning this year, businesses with fewer than 25 employees and with average wages under $50,000 can claim a tax credit on their income tax return. Small non-profit organizations also qualify. As an example, an employer with 10 or fewer full-time employees and with average annual wages under $25,000 (not including what the owner makes), will receive a 35% tax credit on the amount the business pays for employees’ health insurance in 2010. An online calculator to estimate savings can be found at http://www.smallbusinessmajority.org/.

This tax credit will be available to small businesses until 2014; when the credit is scheduled to increase and be available from state-based insurance exchanges which will be operating by that time.

Having health insurance makes a difference. On average, people without health insurance are less likely to get preventive care such as immunizations or mammograms, more likely to miss work, and to have worse health outcomes when they do get sick than people with insurance.

Susan K. Maloney
Managing Senior Fellow
Partnership for Prevention

Possible Breast Cancer Vaccine, College Students Driving While Drunk Named Best/Worst Prevention Ideas of the Week

2010-06-08T12:16:00.000-07:00

The possibility of a preventive breast cancer vaccine becoming available for humans was named the “Best Prevention Idea of the Week,” while twenty percent of college students admitting to driving while drunk was named the “Worst Prevention Idea of the Week."

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Breast Cancer Vaccine Possible, Scientists Say

A study in mice suggests that a preventive breast cancer vaccine might be possible in humans, scientists say.

Women may begin taking part in the next stage of research as soon as next year, they added.

"We believe that this vaccine will someday be used to prevent breast cancer in adult women in the same way that vaccines have prevented many childhood diseases," principal investigator Vincent Tuohy, an immunologist in Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute, said in a news release. "If it works in humans the way it works in mice, this will be monumental. We could eliminate breast cancer."

WORST

1 in 5 College Students Admitted to Drunk Driving, Study Found

Drinking and driving among college students is still a major public health problem, new research reveals, with one in five admitting to driving while drunk and 40 percent acknowledging they have ridden with a drunk driver.

Equally worrisome, their tendency to drive under the influence soars when they hit the minimum legal drinking age of 21.

The findings were gleaned from a study co-authored by Amelia M. Arria, director of the Center on Young Adult Health and Development at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, that followed more than 1,250 first-year college students enrolled at a large mid-Atlantic university.

Use of HPV Vaccine Still Limited

2010-06-04T10:35:00.000-07:00

A recent analysis of surveillance data reported in the May issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that only about one third of adolescent girls ages 13-17 in a six-state sample have received more than one dose of the HPV vaccine.

Since the vaccine first received FDA approval in 2006, little research has been done to assess its use. For this analysis the researchers used data from the 2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and the 2000 U.S. census on 1,709 girls in Delaware, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, and West Virginia. It is not clear from the study findings why these six states were chosen. 70% of the girls in the study were white and 74% were insured.

The study also found that girls in states with higher poverty levels were less likely to be vaccinated, but those in counties with higher poverty levels were more likely to be vaccianted.

"Although seemingly contradictory, this indicates that while girls in poorer states had overall lower odds, girls living in any state experienced higher odds of vaccination if they lived in counties with higher poverty levels," said Sandi L. Pruitt, PhD, and Mario Schootman, PhD, of Washington University in St. Louis. "This may be partially explained by the limited resources of poor states," Pruitt said.

These findings show the need for interventions to increase vaccination among all eligible girls.

Christianne Johnson
Program Manager
Partnership for Prevention

Quicker Chlamydia Treatment, Medicaid Children Not Benefiting from Preventive Screening Services Named Best/Worst Prevention Ideas of the Week

2010-06-02T12:01:00.000-07:00

The use of electronic records significantly increasing how fast patients with Chlamydia are treated was named the “Best Prevention Idea of the Week,” while children on Medicaid not receiving all required preventive screening services was named the “Worst Prevention Idea of the Week."

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Chlamydia Treated Sooner When Docs Use E-Records

Switching to electronic medical records can significantly boost how quickly patients with the sexually transmitted disease chlamydia are treated, a new study shows.

Researchers found that an electronic medical record system more than doubled the percentage of patients treated within two weeks of diagnosis. The longer a sexually transmitted infection goes untreated, "the more risk there is of onward transmission and of clinical complications," the authors wrote. "Appropriate use of technology greatly improves our ability to treat patients rapidly, and we should strive to use all available methods for the good of our patients and the betterment of public health."

WORST

Medicaid Children Are Not Receiving All Required Preventive Screening Services

Indiana Charges Ahead on Cessation

2010-06-02T07:53:00.000-07:00

Partnership for Prevention is proud that the Indiana state Tobacco Prevention and Control agency took the lead to convene a summit of leaders from around the state representing business, insurers, health systems, policymakers and community educators. The summit participants agreed on a goal of reducing the adult prevalence rate to 8 percent by 2015. To make that possible, many strategies were identified to reduce Indiana’s high smoking rate (currently 23%) through increased access and utilization of tobacco cessation services.

The summit lives on in a new media campaign to promote cessation to tobacco users and their employers.

Diane Canova
Vice President, Policy & Programs
Partnership for Prevention

The Prevention Dilemma: DHHS Secretary Urged To Seize Opportunity to Impact Public Health

2010-05-26T10:34:00.000-07:00

Few would argue the importance of increasing funding for community prevention. That’s the reason prevention advocates were so delighted Congress established a Prevention and Public Health Fund to “provide for expanded and sustained national investment in prevention and public health programs to improve health and help restrain the rate of growth in private and public sector health care costs.” The fund makes available $500 million in new spending in FY2010; the fiscal year ending September 30. There is a tough decision ahead to spend a great deal of money in a short period of time.

There are many worthy ideas vying for DHHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ attention. She is the official charged by the new law in allocating the funds “for prevention, wellness and public health activities…”

How should the Secretary make the initial trust fund allocation given that so many deserving programs are asking for a slice from the pie?

In an Op Ed (“The Prevention Dilemma”) written for Kaiser Health News, Partnership for Prevention CEO, Dr. Robert Gould, answers the tough question.

“There will never be enough federal money to address every prevention need. What the secretary needs to decide is whether there is sufficient political courage to concentrate early prevention funding to deliver a knockout blow to the leading cause of premature death in the country? … The criteria for prioritizing this specific funding should be simple: what are the evidence-based programs that are primed and ready to go, that are proven to work, that we know will move us toward a healthier society and that we can be sure will deliver a large, measurable return on investment? By these criteria, the top priority for prevention spending should be tobacco control.”

Gould recommends DHHS focus their resources on three well tested, evidence-based components::

1) Nationwide public education campaign modeled on the highly successful Truth® campaign that dissuades thousands of young people from initiating tobacco use and encourages smoking cessation;

2) Fully funding quit lines that provide direct cessation services and significantly improve quit rates efficiently and effectively, especially among disadvantaged populations served by Medicaid; and

3) Support for existing state and community-based tobacco control programs that reach people where they live, work, play and worship.”

The Partnership leader believes the goal of this potentially historic investment is simple and most important, achievable.. Gould concludes:

“If community-based tobacco control programs could be brought to scale nationally, we have a genuine opportunity to drive smoking rates into single digits. The rapid and enduring payoff, in lives and money saved, is there for the taking. It’s a rare opportunity. I urge Secretary Sebelius to seize it.”

Sounds like good advice. Do you agree?

Ripley Forbes
Director, Government Affairs
Partnership for Prevention

Transportation Choices: It’s a Public Health Issue

2010-05-26T06:12:00.000-07:00

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute, (EESI) held a Congressional briefing on May 24, 2010 that highlighted the important health choice Congress will need to consider as it debates a pending, multiyear reauthorization of Federal transportation spending. The briefing featured a presentation by Jonathan Patz, MD, MPH, professor and director of Global Environmental Health, University of Wisconsin, who spoke of the direct impact on public health that results from climate change; specifically the role that transportation policy plays in healthy/unhealthy air and lifestyles. While its well known that air pollution can cause respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma, Patz told congressional staffers that poorly planned transportation policies have a morbidity and mortality rate significantly higher than the conventional associations with automobile and pedestrian accidents.

In addition to extensive health consequences resulting from air pollution, Patz argued that transportation decisions are significant factors contributing to the nation’s obesity epidemic due to community designs that foster inactivity and chronic disease. Chronic diseases, such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease and cancer, are an inevitable result of a unhealthy lifestyle. Patz noted that nearly half of all car trips are less than two miles long, and a significant number could be reduced through investments and incentives in alternative transportation methods; especially investments such as mass transit, community design and other policies that reduce reliance on private automobiles and increase walking and other forms of physical activity. Whats the bottom line? While organizations like the American Public Health Association have persuasively argued that “climate change is a public health issue” Dr. Patz's presentation included a powerful image (see below) illustrating how simple policies can hinder or enhance a physically active lifestyle.

Dr. Jonathan Patz's complete presentation is available on the Environmental and Energy Study Institute website.

Amy Himmelstein
Policy and Program Intern
Partnership for Prevention

Food Companies Commit to Reducing Calories, Teens Thought Smokeless Tobacco Products Were Candy Named Best/Worst Prevention Ideas of the Week

2010-05-25T09:15:00.000-07:00

Food companies committing to take 1.5 trillion calories out of their products by 2015 was named the “Best Prevention Idea of the Week,” while teens mistaking smokeless tobacco products for candy was named the “Worst Prevention Idea of the Week."

The “Best/Worst” awards are announced each week in “Prevention Matters,” the blog of Partnership for Prevention. Nominees are submitted by Partnership staff as well as the general public, and are voted on by the staff. Partnership for Prevention is a nonpartisan organization of business, nonprofit and government leaders who are working to make evidence-based disease prevention and health promotion a national priority. More information is available at http://www.prevent.org/.

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Food makers to trim 1.5 trillion calories

Several of the nation's largest food companies say they will take 1.5 trillion calories out of their products by 2015 in an effort to reduce childhood obesity.

The companies made the announcement through the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, a coalition of retailers, food and beverage manufacturers and industry trade associations. They pledged to reduce the calories as part of an agreement with a group of nonprofit organizations concerned with childhood obesity, first lady Michelle Obama said last Monday.

WORST

One out of Three Teens Mistook Smokeless Tobacco Products for Candy

According to a survey administered by the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth, one out of three teenagers younger than 18 mistakenly identified a new type of smokeless tobacco product as candy or gum. The survey of about 1,400 Virginia residents, including 728 younger than 18, asked them to identify package images for several types of new, smokeless tobacco products, as well as package images of mints and gums. About 39 percent of the respondents younger than 18 identified Camel Orbs, an oral tobacco product that dissolves in the mouth and delivers nicotine to the user, as mints or gum. Of the teenagers younger than 18 surveyed who do not currently use tobacco, 27 percent said they would try Camel Orbs based on packaging alone.

Tobacco Cessation and Mental Illness

2010-05-24T06:42:00.000-07:00

Why do people fighting against schizophrenia die so much earlier than the population at large? The answer may surprise you. And it’s related to tobacco cessation.

In a study published this month in the journal Addiction, researchers have determined that treatment for smoking dependence is as effective among people with severe mental illnesses as it is for the general population. Historically, the problem has been that many in the medical community have opted not to treat tobacco addiction in this population for fear of worsening their patients’ mental health. However, this study concluded that offering such treatments does not appear to cause deterioration in mental health. It also found that pharmaceutical and behavioral treatments doubled the probability of quitting among these patients, whose smoking rates are two to three times higher than average.

Professor Simon Gilbody from the University of York & Hull York Medical School, who co-authored the review, commented that “schizophrenia is a devastating condition which causes people to die 25 years earlier than the rest of the population. This is a huge health inequality, and it is largely due to smoking-related illness rather than schizophrenia itself.”

Dr Lindsay Banham, who led the review, added “what this review suggests is that quit-smoking treatments like nicotine replacement therapy may work just as well for people with disorders like schizophrenia. Smoking by those with severe mental illness has largely been ignored and people with schizophrenia are not consistently offered treatment or services. We found evidence that smoking cessation treatments are effective and safe. We hope our research leads to better services for this neglected population.”

David A. Zauche
Senior Program Officer
Partnership for Prevention

Medicaid Children Are Not Receiving All Required Preventive Screening Services

2010-05-21T13:38:00.000-07:00

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (IG) has just released a new report (OEI-05-08-00520) concluding that “Most children in nine selected States are not fully benefiting from Medicaid’s Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT) comprehensive screening services.”

For anyone concerned about the importance of expanding coverage for clinical preventive services under health reform, this report is a reminder that coverage alone isn’t enough to assure access.

The EPSDT program provides “a comprehensive and preventive child health program for children under the age of 21. Every State Medicaid program must offer the EPSDT benefit…In 2007, 31.5 million children were eligible for EPSDT…Services provided under the EPSDT benefit are intended to screen, diagnose, and treat children eligible for EPSDT services at early, regular intervals to avoid or minimize childhood illness. The EPSDT services cover four health-related areas: medical, vision, hearing, and dental. This study focused on medical, vision, and hearing screenings. Only medical screenings have components specifically required by the statute. Complete medical screenings under the EPSDT benefit must include the following five age-appropriate components: a comprehensive health and developmental history, a comprehensive unclothed physical examination, appropriate immunizations according to age and health history, appropriate laboratory tests, and health education.

States selected for the review included Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Texas, Vermont and West Virginia.

The IG found that two primary factors contributed to children not receiving required screenings.

First, children did not receive the correct number of each type of screening. Second, when children received medical screenings, the screenings were often incomplete. These two factors taken together indicate that very few children received the correct number of complete screenings required by law.

Seventy-six percent of children, or 2.7 million children, in the States selected for the review did not receive all of the required number of medical, vision, and hearing screenings. Forty-one percent of children did not receive any required medical screenings. In addition, more than half of children did not receive any required vision or hearing screenings.

Fifty-five percent of children in the nine States received a medical screening during the study period. Of these children, 59 percent lacked at least one component of a complete medical screening. The component that children were missing most often was appropriate laboratory tests.

Officials from all nine selected States identified strategies to improve participation in the EPSDT and the completeness of medical screenings. The disconnection between States’ efforts to improve the EPSDT program and the low number of children receiving required screenings is difficult to account for, but it indicates that additional efforts are required.

Based on these findings, the IG recommended that CMS: (1) require States to report vision and hearing screenings, (2) collaborate with States and providers to develop effective strategies to encourage beneficiary participation in EPSDT screenings, (3) collaborate with States and providers to develop education and incentives for providers to encourage complete medical screenings, and (4) identify and disseminate promising State practices for increasing children’s participation in EPSDT screenings and providers’ delivery of complete medical screenings.

New requirements under Health Reform will require expanded coverage of clinical prevention services under Medicare and new individual and group private plans. To realize the benefits of these services it is essential the Administration require that new coverage be accompanied by effective strategies and resources to encourage participation.

E Ripley Forbes
Director, Government Affairs
Partnership for Prevention

CDC Public Health Grand Rounds Cover Chlamydia

2010-05-21T10:38:00.000-07:00

On May 20th, Partnership for Prevention’s work on the National Chlamydia Coalition (NCC) was showcased as part of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) monthly Public Health Grand Rounds series. The session, entitled "Chlamydia Prevention: Challenges and Strategies for Reducing Disease Burden," featured presentations from active NCC members Dr. Gail Bolan, State STD Director for California and Dr. Gale Burstein, a pediatrician representing the Society of Adolescent Health and Medicine. Dr. Burstein’s presentation highlighted two of the NCC’s publications and outlined our activities aimed to increase chlamydia screening. The CDC’s Dr. Raul Romaguera’s presentation listed the NCC as one of four key partners working with the CDC to reduce chlamydia rates.

Alana Ward
Program Associate
Partnership for Prevention

Pediatricians Recommend All Kids be Screened for Alcohol Use

2010-05-21T08:07:00.000-07:00

A policy statement released by the Committee on Substance Abuse for the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that doctors screen all of their young patients, beginning in middle school, about their use of alcohol.

"A remarkable amount of brain development is still occurring for young people through their 20s," said report lead author Patricia Kokotailo of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. "This policy statement provides better evidence about how alcohol affects the brains of young people and why it is important to screen children."

The revised policy states that "pediatricians should be knowledgeable about substance abuse to be able to recognize risk factors for alcohol and other substance abuse among youth, screen for use, provide appropriate brief interventions, and refer to treatment."

Committee chair Janet Williams of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio said that most doctors don't routinely ask about youth alcohol use, and need to know how to provide prevention guidance and where to refer young drinkers to treatment.

Christianne Johnson
Program Manager
Partnership for Prevention

Overuse of Antibiotics Breeds Drug Resistance for Up to a Year

2010-05-20T09:29:00.000-07:00

According to British researchers, patients who are over-prescribed antibiotics may develop drug resistance that lasts up to a year. This makes them and the rest of the population more susceptible to problems if more serious treatment is needed.

The researchers analyzed 24 previous studies of antibiotic resistance and found that the more antibiotics prescribed for coughs, flu-like illnesses and urine infections, the more resistant to the antibiotics the bacteria become.

"The effect is greatest in the month immediately after treatment, but may last for up to a year, and this residual effect may be a driver for high levels of resistance in the community," said Alastair Hay, a consultant senior lecturer in primary health care at Bristol University, who led the research.

Experts say the over-prescription of antibiotics is a “vicious cycle” and the only way to turn it around is to prescribe the drugs only when it is absolutely necessary in the first place.

Chantal Morel and Elias Mossialos, specialists in economics and health policy from the London School of Economics, believe financial incentives should be used to encourage drug companies to invest in research to find, test and develop new antibiotics and that there is “a public health as well as economic justification for intervention.”

Brandi Robinson
Tobacco Control Program Associate
Partnership for Prevention

Prevention Leading to Fewer Heart Deaths, Inaccuracy of Translated Prescriptions Named Best/Worst Prevention Ideas of the Week

2010-05-18T09:03:00.000-07:00

The positive impact improved treatment and more effective preventive measures are having on the death rate from coronary heart disease was named the “Best Prevention Idea of the Week,” while prescription labels inaccurately translated into Spanish was named the “Worst Prevention Idea of the Week."

The “Best/Worst” awards are announced each week in “Prevention Matters,” the blog of Partnership for Prevention. Nominees are submitted by Partnership staff as well as the general public, and are voted on by the staff. Partnership for Prevention is a nonpartisan organization of business, nonprofit and government leaders who are working to make evidence-based disease prevention and health promotion a national priority. More information is available at http://www.prevent.org/.

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Prevention Gets Credit for Fewer Heart Deaths

Improved treatment, coupled with more effective preventive measures, may be having a positive impact on the death rate from coronary heart disease. Death rate data from the United States and Canada both indicate a drop in cardiovascular deaths. According to the American Heart Association, the annual death rate from coronary heart disease from 1996 to 2006 declined 36.4 percent and the actual death rate dropped 21.9 percent.

In Canada, according to a study in the May 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the death rate from coronary heart disease in the province of Ontario fell by 35 percent from 1994 to 2005.

"The overall good news is that coronary heart mortality continued to go down despite people growing older," said study author Dr. Harindra C. Wijeysundera, a cardiologist at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Schulich Heart Centre in Toronto.

WORST

Translated prescriptions often wrong

Pharmacies that print prescription labels translated into Spanish often issue inaccurate or confusing instructions that could be potentially hazardous to a patient's health, according to a report in the May issue of Pediatrics journal. Researchers looked at 76 medicine labels generated by 13 different computer programs that many pharmacies use to make translations and found an overall error rate of 50 percent.

"It's not surprising, and it's something I experience in practice every day," said Dr. Alejandro Clavier, who works at Esperanza Health Center in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood on the Southwest Side.