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.

Christine M. Grant, Vice Chair of Partnership for Prevention's Board of Directors, is serving as chair of the American Bar Association Section of Science & Technology Law. Grant took office at the conclusion of the 2009 ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago.

The ABA Section of Science & Technology Law provides leadership on emerging issues at the intersection of law, science, and technology; to promote sound policy and public understanding on such issues; and to enhance the professional development of its members. The Section has over 13,000 members, with diverse backgrounds in areas such as e-commerce law, Internet law, computer law, communications law, and law relating to engineering, physics, biology, and medicine. It works through 26 substantive committees to explore topics such as e-commerce, information security, privacy, the Internet, digital evidence, animal law, rights and responsibilities of scientists, nanotechnology, homeland security and bio-technology and the law.

Grant is CEO of InfecDetect LLC in Princeton, N.J., a company focused on preventing infectious disease through rapid diagnostic tests, protective gear and food safety products. She is a former commissioner of New Jersey health and senior services, and has served five New Jersey governors. She is also a former senior executive at two global pharmaceutical companies, Merck & Co. and what was formerly Aventis Pasteur, now known as Sanofi Pasteur.