Chair’s Column

Ann Mahony

The APHA ATOD 2009 Annual Meeting in Philadelphia was a success as evidenced by the program sessions, and the ATOD Leadership Reception and Awards Ceremony. The Section continues to view the Annual Meeting events as an opportunity to invite ATOD research and practice experts, at all points of their careers, to actively participate as Section members and to thank our Section sponsors for their support. The Section leaders’ knowledge, action, and passion were exemplified at the ATOD Awards Ceremony honoring Tom Babor, Linda Bosma and Mike Prelip as well as the Second ATOD Student Poster Showcase award winners Kate Hughes for her poster, "Screening for past alcohol drinking behavior among pregnant women" and to Katharine Dobson, for her poster, "Impact of Hawaii's smoke-free law on tourism." The ATOD Section Student Poster Award Showcase emphasizes its commitment to work force development and mentorship.  Our goal is to publically recognize students’ talent and pique their passion in the field of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs to move the public health agenda forward.    

The Section continues to build and connect its expertise across alcohol, tobacco and other drugs priorities within the public health chronic disease prevention and management framework. Although Congressional health reform may seem uncertain, a ground swell of health reform movement is under way at all levels - national, state, private and public – where policy-makers are assessing systems and their priorities. This theme is evident in an ongoing series of NIATx sponsored Webinars and NIDA’s recent Advisory Council meeting.  

The 2010 NIATx Webinars reinforce the critical role of primary care in the future of addiction treatment both in principle and in practice.  Link to view Webinars such as the Jan. 12 session with Thomas McLellan, Addiction Treatment in Health Reform, and the Feb. 9 session with Lorraine Chamberlain, Developing a Working Relationship with your local Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) at: https://www.niatx.net/action/Webinars.aspx. The theme of addiction prevention and treatment operating within the chronic prevention and treatment disease model is also a theme of the NIDA Advisory Council meeting.  View the presentation slides from the session entitled, “Mainstreaming Addictions in Medicine: Update on NIDA's SBIRT Efforts in General Medical Settings,” led by Wilson Compton.

On the tobacco front, I attended the American Legacy Foundation sponsored “Second Conference on Menthol Cigarettes,” which focused on presenting a broad public health perspective on menthol cigarettes. Presentations and workshops featured leading scientists and prevention experts to collectively discuss and debate the latest developments in our understanding of the toxicology, pharmacology, epidemiology and addiction potential of menthol cigarette use.  In addition, the conference updated and prioritized the scientific research agenda that identified the outstanding questions that must be answered.  Finally, for the first time, the gathering identified a prevention and cessation agenda for tobacco control practitioners which was not in place leading up to the meeting.  For additional information, please visit: http://dccps.nci.nih.gov/tcrb/research_topic-menthol.html. 

The ATOD mid-year meeting will take place in Washington, D.C., from April 11-13. On day one, ATOD program Chair Lawrence Brown will lead the development of the 2010 ATOD Section in preparation of the Annual Meeting in Denver. On Monday, April 12, at APHA headquarters, I will lead the discussion to forward our 2010 Section priorities and agenda and have organized briefings by APHA headquarters policy and operational leadership staff to the Section.  On day three all interested in meeting at Capitol Hill to Social Media  highlight the ATOD Section’s priorities are encouraged and welcome to participate. Contact me if you are interested in joining us, whether for the entire meeting, or any part of the three-day agenda at: agmpublichealth@gmail.com.