Prevention Matters

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

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

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

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/.

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  

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/.

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