Title: APHA Adopts Operational Policy to Host All Future Annual Meetings in Smoke-free Cities
Author:
Section/SPIG: Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs
Issue Date:
The APHA Governing Council adopted the following procedural measure on Nov. 9, 2004, with 82 percent support from members representing all Sections and Caucuses of the Association’s governing body.
“When selecting sites and negotiating contracts for Annual Meeting venues beyond those currently contracted, APHA will hold all its future meetings in smoke-free cities. An exception could be made by the Executive Board if there are specific circumstances that would severely limit APHA’s ability to find an appropriate venue for its Annual Meeting; and that APHA work with Affiliates to support local efforts to promote comprehensive smoke-free policies in host cities.”
This is a landmark change for APHA that will both positively impact the health of future meeting participants and send a clear signal that there are economic consequences for failing to pass comprehensive smoke-free ordinances. This policy indicates the leadership role that APHA is exerting in attempting to influence local and state clean indoor air policies since this is one of the largest health conferences held in the United States each year.
APHA members know that tobacco kills more than 440,000 Americans each year and is the leading preventable cause of premature death and disability; and, that, secondhand tobacco smoke is a class A carcinogen (i.e., unsafe at any level of exposure) responsible for the deaths of approximately 53,000 nonsmokers annually in the United States. Policies such as this are clear examples of public health professionals trying to improve the public’s health by using the scientific evidence base to reinforce their views with their economic might. Often tobacco companies or their intermediaries attempt to counter smoke-free ordinances by claiming that they are bad for business, despite all evidence to the contrary. This policy will put APHA at the forefront of organizations using their clout to tell state and local policy-makers that they strongly endorse comprehensive smoke-free policies, and that major cities risk losing future convention revenues by failing to enact comprehensive smoke-free ordinances that include all restaurants, bars and other public venues.
Many Section members played key roles in helping pass this procedural measure. Thanks to the Governing Councilors Cheryl Cherpitel, Laura Flinchbaugh, Traci Toomey and Bob Vollinger; then-Chair Diana Conti and Cheryl Ferguson of the New Mexico Affiliate for working diligently to get this policy passed by the Governing Council. Also Norman Giesbrecht, Jamie Chriqui, Fran Stillman, Ruth Malone and other ATOD Section members were very helpful, and Bronson Frick, Cynthia Hallett, and Maggie Hopkins from the Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR) provided valuable information to support this major policy change.
ATOD leaders have lots of work to do to make sure that many other organizations do everything possible to adopt similar policies to only hold their meetings in smoke-free cities. We know that money talks, and we must use our collective economic influence to help ensure that states and municipalities have as much incentive as possible to enact and enforce 100 percent smoke-free policies. We must also use these policies to counter rhetoric from the tobacco industry and their front groups that these comprehensive smoke-free policies are bad for business—-because they are not! Please share this language with your colleagues, and all the organizations of which you (or they) are members, and urge them to adopt similar, or stronger, policies. The specific procedural measure language can be found on the ATOD website at <http://www.hhd.org/apha/>.
Here’s the link to the existing APHA meetings through 2010 <www.apha.org/meetings/future_past.htm>. The new policy won’t take effect until after these meetings, several of which are in smoke-free cities. Next year in New Orleans may present a challenge on the smoke-free front, and public health professionals should continue advocacy efforts with local organizations over the intervening months. If you have contacts there, please reach out to people right away.
Our next challenge is to ensure that Washington, D.C., becomes smoke-free before APHA returns there in 2007. In fact, many tobacco control advocates are working to ensure that D.C. is smoke-free as soon as possible, and ideally before the World Conference on Tobacco OR Health, held jointly with the World Cancer Congress, comes to D.C. in July 2006. If you would like to help with these efforts, please contact: Smokefree DC at <www.smokefreedc.org>, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids at <www.tobaccofreekids.org> or the American Cancer Society at <www.cancer.org>. Public health professionals will also continue working with Philadelphia and Denver to ensure that these cities, or the states in which they are located, become smoke-free before APHA is scheduled to convene there in 2009 and 2010, respectively.
If you have any questions or comments on this new smoke-free cities policy, please feel free to contact Bob Vollinger or one of the other Section leaders who were involved.