Mother’s Day Health E-Cards

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has over 100 E-Cards with healthy messages about smoking cessation, heart health, women’s health and many more. Send one to your mom for Mother’s Day to show her how much you care about her and her and wellbeing.

Consequences of Too Much Salt

Consumption of excessive sodium is a direct cause of hypertension, which affects nearly 1 in 3 Americans. CDC’s next Public Health Grand Rounds, entitled Sodium Reduction: Time for Choice, will be webcast live from CDC headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia on Thursday, April 21st at 1 p.m. (EDT) at www.cdc.gov/about/grand-rounds. Dr. Darwin Labarthe, Director of CDC’s Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Division, will lead a discussion with other experts on the consequences of too much sodium in the diet and the regulatory and technological context for the use of salt in our food supply. The session will also review current sodium control efforts such as the National Salt Reduction Initiative and food procurement policies, and separate fact from fiction to support actions needed to address this very real public health burden.

Controlling the amount of sodium is not as simple as removing salt shakers from tables. Much of the sodium in food comes from processing and restaurant use. A multi-pronged strategy is needed to address the health consequences of excessive sodium. Tune in to the CDC webcast to learn the facts and options for addressing this critical issue.

Partnership Gives Comments to U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Partnership for Prevention is pleased to submit these comments to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in regard to required textual warnings and accompanying graphics to be displayed on cigarette packages and in cigarette advertisements.

Partnership commends the FDA on the development of the new graphic health warnings. We urge the FDA to proceed with the implementation of the warnings without delay. The tobacco industry will inevitably work to impede and overturn the plans for the new health warnings on cigarette packages and advertisements, to take effect 15 months after issuance of this final rule. However, it is crucial that the FDA stay the course. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 46 million people (aged 18 years and older) in the United States currently smoke cigarettes. Each day in the U.S., approximately 3,450 young people between 12 and 17 years of age smoke their first cigarette, and an estimated 850 youth become daily cigarette smokers. These statistics make it clear that more needs to be done to reduce the initiation of tobacco use and the prompt enforcement of this Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act requirement will be a step in the right direction. These graphic health warnings will not only help young people to never start smoking, but also be beneficial in helping adults to quit.

Partnership for Prevention also strongly supports that 1-800-QUITNOW be required on all cigarette packages as a way to offer help to smokers who want to quit. A report released by the North American Quitline Consortium in 2010 showed that the total number of tobacco users accessing quitline services in FY 2009 was 515,000 (representing 1.2 percent of smokers), an increase of 129.7% over the FY 2005 level of 224,000. Quitlines are being used now more than ever so including the national access number on cigarette packages would be a simple and practical way to aid smokers who want to quit.

We thank you for the opportunity to comment on the cigarette warning labels and for your consideration of our views. Please contact David Zauche, Managing Senior Fellow & Senior Program Officer, at (202) 375-7807 or dzauche@prevent.org for further information or assistance.

CDC Issues Updated STD Treatment Guidelines

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued updated Sexually Transmitted Diseases Treatment Guidelines—2010. The guidelines appear in the December 17, 2010 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) Recommendations and Reports.

The Guidelines, which were previously issued in 2006, are based on newly available evidence and serve as a source of clinical guidance and advise health care providers on the most effective treatment regimens, screening procedures, and prevention and vaccination strategies for STDs. The new guidelines include expanded STD prevention recommendations, including HPV vaccination; revised guidance on the diagnostic evaluation and management of syphilis; revised gonorrhea treatment regimens; and other topics.

Over 19 million cases of STDs occur in the United States each year, with a disproportionate share among young people and racial and ethnic minority populations. The estimated annual direct medical costs of treating STDs and their sequelae are $16.4 billion. Left untreated, STDs can cause serious health problems ranging from infertility to increased risk of HIV infection. Partnership for Prevention is working through the National Chlamydia Coalition (NCC) to address the continued high burden of chlamydia infection, especially among women age 25 and under. For more information on the NCC, visit www.prevent.org/ncc.

The Guidelines are available at www.cdc.gov/std/treatment/2010/. For more information, contact 800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636) or e-mail cdcinfo@cdc.gov.


Susan K. Maloney, MHS
Managing Senior Fellow and Senior Program Officer

Great American Smokeout Event, Number of Uninsured Rises named “Best/Worst News for Prevention"

"Best and Worst News for Prevention” is based on a purposive sample consisting of expert staff members who each week choose to share their opinions on the best and worst news for prevention.

BEST

Smokers Urged to Join Thursday's Great American Smokeout

Get ready, get set, quit! Thursday marks the annual Great American Smokeout, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, which urges all smokers to lay off the habit for at least 24 hours. There have been dramatic changes in attitudes about smoking and a large decrease in smoking rates since the Smokeout was first held in 1977. The annual event includes local and nationwide events meant to encourage smokers to quit for at least one day in the hope that they may decide to permanently kick the habit. The Smokeout has helped focus attention on the dangers of tobacco use and contributed to a "cultural revolution" in tobacco control, says the American Cancer Society. Between 1978 and 2009, the percentage of adults who smoke in the United States fell from 34 percent to 21 percent, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).


WORST

Number of Uninsured Rises, Report Says

The number of uninsured adults in the United States continues to rise, with one in four adults under 65 reporting they were without health insurance at some point in the last year, according to a recent report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  About 50 million adults said they were uninsured for at least some time. The report is based on a survey conducted between January and March.


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/.

Tobacco Use among School Students Declines Over Past 10 Years, but Current Rates of Decline are Slow

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, during 2000-2009, the prevalence of current tobacco use among middle school students declined (15.1% to 8.2%), as did current cigarette use (11.0% to 5.2%) and cigarette smoking experimentation (29.8% to 15.0%). The August 27, 2010 report also showed similar trends for high school students, with current tobacco use declining from 34.5% to 23.9%; current cigarette use from 28.0% to 17.2%; and cigarette smoking experimentation from 39.4% to 30.1%.

These trends in tobacco use among youth were analyzed from data from the 2000-2009 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) which collects information on tobacco use and related behaviors and attitudes from middle school and high school students. The NYTS includes measures on prevalence of youth tobacco use, smoking cessation, tobacco-related knowledge and attitudes, access to tobacco, media and advertising, and secondhand smoke exposure and has been conducted approximately every 2 years since 2000.

Although tobacco use decreased over the past ten years for these groups, progress was stalled between 2006 and 2009, with no change in prevalence. This indicates that the current rate of decline in tobacco use is relatively slow and more needs to be done to combat youth smoking. The new restrictions on tobacco product sales and marketing under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act are certainly great strides for tobacco control, but it is clear that we have a ways to go to substantially reduce youth smoking rates.

Partnership for Prevention recommends that youth tobacco prevention and control programs be fully funded to see a major reduction in the prevalence of youth smoking. Specifically, we should focus our efforts on 1) a nationwide public education campaign modeled on the highly successful Truth® campaign that dissuades thousands of young people from initiating tobacco use and encourages smoking cessation and 2) support for existing state and community-based tobacco control programs that reach people where they live, work, play and worship.


Brandi Robinson
Tobacco Control Program Associate

CDC Public Health Grand Rounds Cover Chlamydia

On May 20th, Partnership for Prevention’s work on the National Chlamydia Coalition (NCC) was showcased as part of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) monthly Public Health Grand Rounds series. The session, entitled "Chlamydia Prevention: Challenges and Strategies for Reducing Disease Burden," featured presentations from active NCC members Dr. Gail Bolan, State STD Director for California and Dr. Gale Burstein, a pediatrician representing the Society of Adolescent Health and Medicine. Dr. Burstein’s presentation highlighted two of the NCC’s publications and outlined our activities aimed to increase chlamydia screening. The CDC’s Dr. Raul Romaguera’s presentation listed the NCC as one of four key partners working with the CDC to reduce chlamydia rates.

Alana Ward
Program Associate
Partnership for Prevention

Graphic Tobacco Warnings at Site of Purchase

Massachusetts is poised to become the first state in the nation to force retailers to prominently display graphic warnings about the perils of smoking right where cigarettes are sold - at tobacco sales racks and next to cash registers. Images of ominously darkened lungs, damaged brains, and diseased teeth could start appearing before the end of the year in more than 9,000 convenience stores, pharmacies, and gas stations, if a proposal by the state Department of Public Health is approved as expected. Other posters would direct smokers to where they can get help to stamp out their habit.

''If somebody is trying to quit smoking and they go back to the store and they're tempted - oh, just one pack - we hope this will help them make a different choice,'' said Lois Keithly, director of the Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program.

New York City implemented a similar campaign in December, where Anne Pearson serves as an attorney with the city's Bureau of Tobacco Control. ''There's a large body of evidence showing these graphic images are very effective,'' Pearson said. ''They can communicate information in a way that text just can't, and they can also communicate a message to people regardless of their level of literacy and regardless of the language they speak.''

The campaign is being underwritten by $316,000 in federal stimulus money from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which will allow the state to provide the materials to retailers without charge.

David Zauche
Managing Senior Fellow and Senior Program Officer
Partnership for Prevention

Common STD May Become Untreatable

Due to the improper use of antibiotics, Gonnorrhea may become untreatable in the near future. The World Health Organziation reported yesterday that there is now "widespread resistance" to first-line antibiotics, which are cheaper than other options, to fight the bacterium that causes Gonnorrhea.

Some countries, such as Australia and Japan are now also reporting treatment failures with a class of antibiotics that is the last line of defense against the disease. The WHO and CDC have developed an action plan to begin identifying other treatments.

Left untreated, gonorrhea can result in infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, and infections in newborn children. It also increases the likelihood of acquiring and transmitting HIV.

Christianne Johnson
Program Manager
Partnership for Prevention

CDC Identifies Key Transportation Policies to Build a Healthier Nation

There is growing awareness that transportation systems and policies can impact our health and indeed the quality of life in communities across America. Congress is currently hard at work developing a multi-year transportation authorization that will have a profound impact on air quality, traffic safety, the availability of walkable communities and affordable mass transit…the challenge is for this impact to be a positive one.

In a thoughtfully written 11 page report (“CDC Recommendations for Improving Health through Transportation Policy”) the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers federal, state and local policymakers a valuable framework to consider that will foster consideration of transportation policies and investments that have the greatest “positive impact on health.” The CDC recommendations have been under development since 2007 and have been informed by the work of the US Department of Transportation and key public health organizations like the American Public Health Association and the Convergence Partnership. CDC calls for adoption of “a balanced portfolio of transportation choices that supports health and reduces health care costs.” The goals of a balanced portfolio are straightforward and should enjoy broad support inside and outside of government.

• Reduce injuries associated with motor vehicle crashes
• Encourage healthy community design
• Promote safe and convenient opportunities for physical activity by supporting active transportation infrastructure
• Reduce human exposure to air pollution and adverse health impacts associated with these pollutants
• Ensure that all people have access to safe, healthy, convenient, and affordable transportation

The challenge for those of us committed to prevention is convincing transportation advocates that healthy transportation is in everyone’s interest. We need adoption of complete streets policies, expanded support for safe routes to school, greater attention to community design that promotes health and safety, support of public transportation that improves access for all people and a commitment to reduce human exposure to transportation-related air pollution.

Partnership for Prevention is working to support these efforts by partnering with the Transportation for America, APHA and other public health and prevention leaders to educate policymakers about the extensive body of research that supports the CDC recommendations.

Ripley Forbes
Director, Government Affairs
Partnership for Prevention

New Proof for Herd Immunity

“Herd immunity” is one of the most important concepts behind vaccination – the idea that once a certain percentage of the population is vaccinated against a particular illness, the entire population will be protected even if not everyone has been vaccinated. While the concept has often been demonstrated, it has been hard to prove, but an innovative study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association provides such proof.

In a study funded by the American and Canadian governments, scientists from several Canadian universities and St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Tennessee conducted their research in 49 remote Hutterite farming colonies in western Canada. The Hutterites have similar roots to the Amish and live in small, isolated communities, making them perfect subjects for this research.

In 25 of the colonies, all children ages 3 to 15 received seasonal flu shots. In 24 other colonies, the same age children received the hepatitis A vaccine instead. In the colonies without the flu vaccine, more than 10 percent of the population had seasonal flu during that year’s flu season; less than 5 percent of the population in the vaccinated colonies did. This translates to a 60 percent “protective effect” for the whole community and suggests that giving flu shots only to children would still protect the elderly, even if they were not directly vaccinated.

While CDC recommends directly vaccinating high-risk individuals, such as the elderly, and has moved to recommending universal vaccination for the recent H1N1 epidemic, this study provides important evidence for the existence of herd immunity and supports the practice of vaccinating children to prevent further spread of influenza in the population.

Rebecca Barson
Consultant, Partnership for Prevention

HPV Vaccine Added to Adult Immunization Schedule

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has updated its 2010 Recommended Adult Immunization Schedule to include either of the FDA-approved human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines for women ages 19 to 26 who have not been immunized previously against HPV. The updated recommendations appeared January 5 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

According to the schedule, either of two recommended HPV vaccines would optimally be given to girls between the ages of 11 and 12, but women up to age 26 may benefit from “catch-up” vaccination. Both HPV vaccines are most effective when given before a woman becomes sexually active.

A Dickens of a Health Report

The summary of the latest data from the CDC's National Health Interview Survey could have been written by Charles Dickens - "it was the best of times and it was the worst of times."

In the first six months of 2009, the number of people working out was up by 4 percent over the same period in 2008. That six-month period also saw the highest portion of Americans getting seasonal flu vaccines, being tested for HIV, and quitting smoking since the data started being collected in 1997.

At the same time, however, more Americans than ever reported being obese, having Type 2 diabetes, asthma, or drinking too much. A record 7.2 percent of people in the U.S. "failed to obtain needed medical care" during that period, and the rate of uninsured people inched up to 15.1 percent. Meanwhile, U.S. spending on health care nearly doubled from $1.13 trillion in 1997 to an estimated $2.3 trillion in 2008.

Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation Results "Shocking," Says CDC Expert

The success of a recent Massachusetts program hat provides virtually free access to tobacco cessation treatments has left CDC officials shocked and encouraged lawmakers to look at expanding the approach nationwide.

When the program was launched two years ago, about 38 percent of poor Massachusetts residents smoked. By 2008, the smoking rate for poor residents had dropped to about 28 percent, a decrease of about 30,000 people in two and a half years, or one in six smokers. There are also indications that the drop has lowered rates of hospitalization for heart attacks and emergency room visits for asthma attacks, she said.

Senators Richard J. Durbin of Illinois and Bernard Sanders of Vermont have introduced an amendment that would provide similar new Medicaid coverage for tobacco addiction as nationwide, and the Senate could vote on it by the weekend. If the amendment fails, Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa said he would try another avenue: seeking an expansion through a conference committee that will ultimately reconcile the House and Senate bills.

"We should be able to find an opening," Mr. Harkin said in an interview. "This is one demonstrable way we can actually bend the cost curve and keep people healthy."

Terry F. Pechacek, associate director for science for the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health, told the New York Times that he found the numbers “shocking,” since smoking rates around the nation have barely budged since 2004. He said the U.S. smoking rate has only decreased from 20.9 percent in 2004 to 20.6 percent in 2008, while smoking-related illnesses cost the Medicaid system more than $22 billion a year - or about 11 percent of overall Medicaid expenditures.

Pechacek says if the federal health care overhaul includes smoking-cessation coverage, publicizing it will be as crucial to its success as the cessation tools themselves.

"Even in the some of the states that offer wider coverage,” he said, “there’s been minimal promotion. People have to know about a benefit for it to have an effect.”

Email Scam Asks for H1N1 Profile at CDC.gov

The CDC has received reports of email phishing scams referencing state sponsored vaccination programs, but the agency says no such program has been implemented requiring registration on CDC.gov. The email tells users they must create a personal H1N1 (swine flu) vaccination profile on the CDC.gov website. The message then says anyone age 18 or older must have his/her personal vaccination profile on CDC.gov. Users that click on the email risk having malicious code installed on their computer.

World AIDS Day 2009

On World AIDS Day. MMWR offers the following statistics to illustrate the scope of the issue:

• An estimated 16.5 million women worldwide were HIV positive at the end of 2008
• Approximately 4 million people in low- and middle-income countries were getting antiretroviral therapy at the end of 2008
• Worldwide, women and girls account for almost 60% of new infections; in the US, HIV infections disproportionately affect blacks, Hispanics, and men who have sex with men
• In the US, an estimated 1.1 million people were HIV positive in 2006

Only 1/4 of Older Americans Get Recommended Preventive Services

Only about 1 in 4 Americans aged 50–64 regularly take advantage of preventive services such as screenings and immunizations, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in collaboration with AARP and the American Medical Association (AMA).

The report, “Promoting Preventive Services for Adults 50–64: Community and Clinical Partnerships,” focuses on opportunities to improve the health of the growing number of adults in the 50–64 age bracket to broaden the use of potentially lifesaving preventive services.

The report identifies recommended preventive services such as influenza vaccine, cholesterol screening, breast and cervical cancer screening, as well as preventive screenings for behaviors that could negatively impact health such as binge drinking.

Not Teenagers, Not Mutants, Not Ninjas; Just Little Disease-Spreading Turtles

Nearly 25 years ago, the FDA banned the sale of turtles with a carapace length of less than four inches to reduce turtle-associated Salmonella transmission, especially among young children who love to pick up handle the tiny pets. The ban apparently has been flouted, because turtles are still available on pet store shelves and have been linked to disease outbreaks.

During a 2007 outbreak, youngsters who handled a small turtle were at a 41-fold increased risk of contracting Salmonella, compared with controls (95% CI 6.9 to unbounded), the CDC's Julie R. Harris, PhD, and colleagues reported online in Pediatrics.

"Small turtles continue to be sold and pose a health risk, especially to children," the researchers said. "And many people remain unaware of the link between Salmonella infection and reptile contact."

U.S. Schools Cutting Back on "Less Nutritious" Food

U.S. schools have cut back on certain "less nutritious" foods and drinks, the CDC reports. The CDC today released new survey data on the percentage of students in public secondary schools who cannot buy candy, salty snacks, fruit drinks that aren't 100% juice, sports drinks, and soda at school.
The percentage of students who couldn't buy candy or salty snacks increased in the 40 states that participated in the survey, from 46% in 2002 to 64% in 2008. The percentage of secondary school students who couldn't buy soft drinks at school rose in all 34 states that tracked that from 2006 to 2008, while 23 of those states have also nixed sales of sports drinks to students.

Mississippi and Tennessee -- home to some of the nation's highest rates of adult obesity -- made the biggest gains in the percentage of secondary school students who can't buy candy, salty snacks, and soft drinks at school.

CDC Offers Text Message Update Service for H1N1 Info

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has launched a three-month text messaging campaign pilot to share important, timely health information on the H1N1 virus directly to users.
To subscribe to the pilot, text HEALTH to 87000. Once you sign up for this pilot, you will be asked a few questions and begin receiving short health tips from CDC. Subscribers can expect to receive about three health messages a week during the three-month pilot. Standard text messaging rates will apply. You can opt out at any time by simply replying HEALTH QUIT.