Prevention Matters

Partnership recently awarded grants to several state and local organziations to improve preventive services.

With funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one-year grants were awarded to regional, state and local organizations to implement innovative strategies to increase chlamydia screening and follow-up care. The grants are also designed to encourage collaboration among local affiliates of the National Chlamydia Coalition (NCC). Comprised of 40 member organizations, the NCC was established to address the continued high burden of chlamydia infections, especially among women age 24 and younger.

Grants have been awarded to a variety of organizations, including county and state health departments, school-based health centers, a department of juvenile services, and a university, among others. The projects will address one or more barriers to chlamydia screening and will be designed to reach a variety of audiences. Lessons learned from the projects will be shared widely so that models can be replicated in other communities. For a complete list of grantees and project descriptions, click here.

Partnership also awarded six ACTTION State Grants 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 the uninsured and the behavioral health/substance abuse populations. For a complete list of grantees and project descriptions, click here.

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 ACTTION state grants is system and policy change in tobacco cessation, rather than the delivery of programs or direct services.

In a wide-ranging interview (“Michelle Obama: No longer a 'caricature”) published today in Politico, the First Lady “addressed a doctors’ report that the president is still smoking, saying he has found it difficult to quit amid the rigors of the presidency.”

“What the president struggles with is what every smoker struggles with, it’s a difficult habit to break. It’s understandable that he struggles with it. Do I want him to stop completely? Absolutely. And I will push him to do so, but it’s a process,” Michelle Obama said.

“I’ve never been a smoker so I can’t relate, but people who’ve smoked say like anything, you have dips and valleys, and to try to quit smoking in one of the most stressful times of the nation’s history is sort of like, you know, OK, he’s going to struggle a little bit. This may be the year he’ll struggle,” she said.

We know that quitting smoking is tough work. It takes persistence. That is why Partnership for Prevention and its ACTTION initiative are working to assure that health reform continues to include coverage and access to comprehensive smoking cessation services. But, no less important to successfully quitting, is having the kind of supportive family and workplace environment that is available to the President. I’m not worried about the President. With Michele in his corner he’ll get there.

Posted by:
Ripley Forbes
Director, Government Affairs, Partnership for Prevention