Welcome to the September 2007 ATOD Section Newsletter! Can you believe it’s already fall and that the 2007 Annual Meeting is only a few short weeks away — or less — by the time you receive this edition of our newsletter? Are we having fun yet? You know that summer’s over and fall is just around the corner by a few key signs: the calendar says it’s September even if the thermometer still reads over 90 degrees; it’s getting dark too early to get in all your favorite outdoor activities after work; you’re still shaking the sand from your shoes from your last trek to the beach; students are back in school, whether they’re excited about it or not; your schedule is over-booked, even more than it was before, with too many meetings and conferences; traffic is back to its chaotic and unpredictable mess; baseball season is drawing to a close, for most of your favorite teams (But not the Red Sox — Let’s Go Red Sox Nation!); Congress is back in D.C., but they still haven’t passed the appropriations bills; you’re starting to think about who you want to meet or reconnect with at the APHA Annual meeting …and you’re thinking about the hottest SMOKE-FREE restaurant (remember, all the restaurants and bars in D.C. are now completely smoke-free since your last visit to the nation’s capital!) to host the annual alcohol policy dinner, or your next intimate gathering of friends. Anyway, sorry to remind you that summer’s over, and you’re back to the usual routine. I just hope you’re enjoying that, whatever it is for you!
First things first! Some of you already know that Diana Conti, our former ATOD Section Chair, is a candidate for APHA treasurer. Diana is the most-deserving recipient of the Section Leadership Award this year and has been serving as the Chair of the APHA Intersectional Council (ISC). She’s worked tirelessly on behalf of the ATOD Section for many years and all APHA members through her critical role in the ISC. Diana is an exceptionally effective financial manager with more than 25 years experience as an executive director of non-profit organizations, a proven track record of fund raising ability and managing non-profit businesses, and extensive leadership experience on numerous non-profit boards. The ATOD Section is proudly and whole-heartedly supporting Diana in her bid for election as the new APHA treasurer. Now we need all of our Section members to help Diana with her campaign efforts. If you know anyone who has a vote in the Governing Council elections for Association officers, please take the time to contact those people -- whether they are Governing Councilors in other Sections, Affiliate Members from their respective State Affiliates, Executive Board members, or anyone who holds sway over these people -- and express your unreserved support for Diana’s candidacy. Please join me in expressing our unqualified support for Diana in this position, and if you’d like additional info to be able to make the case more persuasively with our APHA colleagues, please contact her directly at dianac@parca.org. I know Diana will be glad to have your support and your assistance with her campaign efforts!
If you’ve been following the news, you’ve probably heard that Congress is in the process of approving the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) renewal legislation with strong bi-partisan support and that the current version includes a 61 cent per pack hike in the federal tobacco excise tax (see this Washington Post article). President Bush has threatened a veto, and by the time you read this, you’ll probably know the outcome of that.
Please see the APHA statement by Dr. Benjamin on SCHIP urging President Bush to reconsider his veto of this important legislation.
For more information regarding the benefits to each State resulting from Congress partially funding SCHIP through a 61-cent federal cigarette tax increase, please see the following fact sheet from the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.
Promoting Healthy Lifestyles: Policy, Program, and Personal Recommendations for Reducing Cancer Risk, the 2006-2007 Annual Report of the President’s Cancer Panel, was released in August. This is a ground-breaking report from this esteemed group that has focused their meetings for the last year on behavioral health issues, including two meetings on tobacco use and the risks from environmental tobacco smoke. The group made numerous very important recommendations about vital steps that could be taken to reduce the death and disease causes by tobacco use and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. If you’re at all interested in tobacco control and related policy issues, I strongly urge you to read the panel’s report, which can be found on the web at: http://deainfo.nci.nih.gov/ADVISORY/pcp/pcp07rpt/pcp07rpt.pdf.
CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health convened a panel of experts in comprehensive statewide tobacco control programs on Dec. 6, 2006 to update CDC’s Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs (1999) by reviewing funding models and approaches to estimating state-specific budget recommendations. The Expert Panel provided technical consultation on the best evidence available to determine updated cost parameters (and metrics to calculate them) for major components of a comprehensive tobacco control program and reviewed data relevant to potential changes in the 1999 funding recommendations, including state experience and findings on program effectiveness. Information on the meeting, in which I participated, can be found at: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/tobacco_control_programs/stateandcommunity/sustainingstates/BestPracticesMeeting.htm
CDC expects to release the updated Best Practices report at the National Conference on Tobacco or Health to be held in Minneapolis on Oct. 24-26. (Please see a related article in this edition of the ATOD Newsletter for more information on this exciting conference — one of the main events in our field!)
As a teaser, please stay tuned for a future announcement about our new ATOD Section Web site. We were recently notified that APHA has finally begun to give sections access to the new Web sites that have been in the works for a very long time. Although content has not yet been shifted over to our new site, I wanted everyone to have access to the new URL. We really are excited about the possibilities for our new Section Web site and hope you’ll be willing to share ideas for content that will make this site as useful as possible for all of you. Feel free to check back at this site in a few weeks as we begin to add content. If you have questions about the Web site or want to offer suggestions for useful content, please contact Mark Parascandola, one of our Section Councilors who is championing this effort, at paramark@mail.nih.gov or (301) 496-8584. Thanks, Mark!
As always, I’m happy to invite you to get more involved in our Section! Feel free to contact any of our Section leaders listed toward the end of the newsletter, depending on your particular interests or expertise, or any of the individuals listed in the following articles—we’d all be glad to hear from you and get your help on our respective initiatives. If you have a topic that’s particularly important to you and that you think should be on the radar screen of the ATOD Section but isn’t yet, feel free to call me at (301) 496-0275. I’ll be glad to hear from you and discuss how we can advance the issues by working together.
Finally, I want to personally invite you to participate in our many ATOD events at the Annual Meeting. We’re planning important Section Council meetings on Saturday and Sunday November 3 and 4 so feel free to check back and get details so you can drop in on these meetings if you have ideas or input to share with your Section Leaders or if you’re ready to become more involved. We’d be glad to have you join us! And be sure you block time now on your busy calendars to attend our two great social events this year — and please bring along a friend or two or three who’d like to join the ATOD Section. We’ll have our Meet the ATOD Section Leadership Reception on Monday, Nov. 5 with a couple of exciting special guests and our regular, outstanding Section Business Meeting and Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, Nov. 6, coordinated by the incomparable Andre Stanley. Both events will be held in the Renaissance Hotel across the street from the Washington Convention Center so be sure to check our ATOD Section Program for all the details including times and room numbers. We hope to post this info, and the Section Program on our new Web site prior to the Annual Meeting so be sure to check back often to get the latest details.
I promise if you join us at the Meet the Leadership Reception and the Awards Ceremony, you’ll be very glad you did! We have great festivities, outstanding speakers and award recipients, the latest ATOD news and highlights, scintillating company and networking opportunities with important colleagues, AND outstanding food and beverages all planned just for your entertainment, edification and enjoyment! Let me start the thank you’s now rather than waiting until I see you—to all of the Section Leaders who’ve helped plan these events and raise the funds needed to make sure that all our Section activities are a big success this year, to all the numerous organizations who have provided much needed support for which we are most deeply grateful, and a special thank you to Cynthia Hallett and Deborah McLellan who have been instrumental in making these events the success that I know they will be. And to Linda Bosma, our new Program Committee Chair, who has already done an outstanding job this year! Please check for yourself, and let me know what you think, then offer your gratitude to all your colleagues who’ve done so much work already, before the meeting even starts.
I can’t wait to personally welcome all of you here to Washington, D.C. between Nov. 3 and 7, so let’s make sure we make this an APHA meeting to remember for many years to come — it won’t be complete without YOU!
Take it Easy & Enjoy Life!
Bob Vollinger