Archive
Goods Movement/Freight Transportation Conference Presentations
It’s great when conferences at least post the powerpoint presentations! Thanks, Clean Air Council and everyone involved! I am using some of these sources for a paper I am writing!
Funding Cut for Washington State Tobacco Program that Saved $5 per $1 Spent
In the December 2011 edition of the American Journal of Public Health a 10 year study of Washington state’s comprehensive tobacco control intervention found that for $1 spent by the state, they saved $5 in hospitalization and treatment costs. Wonderful! What an incredible investment! 5:1 return!
Here is a graph illustrating when their program went into effect and the decline in % Adults who smoke in Washington state (compared to the national rate).
The program consisted of indoor smoking bans, tax increases on tobacco products, media campaigns, a tobacco quit line, and community and school programs, among other components. This state-based program was meant to serve as a model for other states. Well, it looks like they did a great job. In terms of public health programs and cost savings of $1:$5 is excellent. So what happened? Washington Governor Christine Gregoire and the state legislature cut nearly all the programs funding for fiscal year 2012. Wait, What?!
Why would you de-fund a state program that is saving the state millions of dollars? Instead of writing in a little spending on tobacco control, they are essentially writing in five times the spending in state health care costs. The only explanation I can think of is that the state is so hard up for cash in the short-term that they are willing to kick those unfettered health costs down the road (and basically allowing for increased human suffering over the coming years). And/Or, given the current attitudes towards decreasing the roles of government, it may be that some folks view government-run tobacco control as outside the appropriate scope of government. Since tobacco does cost governments so much money in terms of care, it seems to me that they do and should have the authority to control the impact that tobacco has on the monetary bottom line. The health protection aspect is another story, one that gets at the heart of the arguments about the role of government.
Clearly, there is a lot of work that needs to be done in terms of high-quality research that demonstrates the cost-savings and health-savings afforded by public health programs like tobacco control programs. There is also work that must be done to frame the issue as one that governments should and very much need to be involved in.
Smoke-Free Philly Video Contest
Attention Undergraduate & Graduate Students!
Enter the Smoke-Free Philly Video Contest for a chance to win $1000 while raising awareness about tobacco policy & control in Philly!
$1000, $500 and $250 will be awarded to videos ranked first, second and third. The winning video will also be featured on a local broadcasting outlet.
Entry Deadline – October 26th, 2011
For more info:
http://cleanair.org/program/indoor_air_pollution/tobacco_smoke_pollution/smoke_free_philly_video_contest
Greenfest Philly – Saturday, September 10th, 2011
6th Annual Greenfest Philly
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Headhouse Square
Philadelphia, PA
Greenfest Philly educates the public about steps they can take to be more sustainable in their daily lives. The festival showcases 100s of exhibitors, providing a wealth of information and useful green products. By providing these educational opportunities and resources, Greenfest Philly wishes to impart that being green is something we can all do.
Greenfest Philly has been held the first weekend after Labor Day for the past 5 years. Urban Green Partnership, which created and grew Greenfest Philly, has passed the torch on to Clean Air Council to organize this exciting festival. This year we will be holding the event at historic Head House Square along 2nd St. between South St. and Pine St.
We hope you will join the Council on Saturday September 10th from 11am-5pm for music, food, fun and more!
—-Greenfest Philly is also looking for sponsors and exhibitors! If you are interested, please contact Martin Hage (mhage AT cleanair.org) at Clean Air Council.
p.s. I am DJing this event.
Mid-Atlantic Goods Movement Conference
The Mid-Atlantic region is long overdue for a conference that brings together various stakeholders to discuss the impact of goods movement on public health. Conference topics include goods movement industry trends in the Northeast, impacts on nearby communities, and collaboration to develop cost-effective solutions to reduce air pollution from goods movement. Bringing together health professionals and policy makers will allow these leaders to work together to develop and implement region-specific policies and solutions.
http://www.cleanair.org/calendar/healthy_people_global_goods_conference
Friday, September 23rd, 2011
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
For more information, please contact Katie Edwards at 215-567-4004, ext. 102 or kedwards (at) cleanair.org.
U.S. FDA Reveals New Cigarette Warning Label Images
FDA CIGARETTE HEALTH WARNINGS – LINK
The FDA has released the first warning images to be placed on tobacco products. This move follows suit with other countries around the world who have adopted imagery to discourage tobacco usage.
Environmental Disaster Showdown: Gulf Oil vs. Air Pollution
Gary Polakovic, a former environmental writer for the Los Angeles Times, recently published a very worthy commentary comparing the Gulf oil disaster to air pollution. You can read it here. Basically, he is making the point that people are (rightly) upset about the gulf disaster, but are not as concerned as they should be about air pollution; a more widespread and long-term problem. Air pollution is an environmental disaster far worse than the Gulf oil disaster. Even when BP has stopped the oil from leaking, we are still polluting the air.
Here are just a few statistics that Gary uses to illustrate his point:
“Worst-case estimates place the total oil spilled in the gulf at about 126 million gallons over two months. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates the country disgorges that much hydrocarbon pollution to the air in 10 days.”
I wanted to echo Gary’s sentiment because this issue is at the core of my work everyday at the Clean Air Council. The U.S. and the world need to recognize just how much damage we are doing to our own health (increasing rates of pollution related diseases: asthma, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, etc), the health of our children and grandchildren, and the extent to which we are jeopardizing the future of the human race.
*The World Health Organization estimates that 20 million people die prematurely due to air pollution. – Article on air pollution increasing in developing countries.
National Health Center Week
Community health centers are one of the many new frontiers of public health and health care. “With continued growth at fifteen percent annually, Health Centers will serve 44 million patients by 2020, and all medically disenfranchised patients by 2026.”* That’s why it’s great to see that there is a whole week dedicated to these health care outlets.
This week is National Health Center Week (August 8th-14th, 2010). It is dedicated to recognizing community health centers and their mission to provide high quality health care to those most in need. The non-profit I work for, Clean Air Council, is proud to partner with Greater Philadelphia Health Action (GPHA) to provide free information on environmental asthma management, indoor and outdoor air pollution, tobacco cessation, waste and recycling programs, public transportation programs, etc.
For more information on community health centers visit the National Association of Community Health Centers.
* Shin P, Markus A, and Rosenbaum S. Measuring Health Centers against Standard Indicators of High Quality Performance: Early Results from a Multi-Site Demonstration Project. Interim Report. Prepared for the United Health Foundation, August 2006.
School-based obesity intervention also increased math performance
University of Miami researchers implemented a 2-year multidimensional obesity intervention that included food service personnel, teachers, parents, community-based nutrition educators, and the children. They found that in the children who receive school-provided lunches that more students who received the intervention stayed within the healthy body mass index (p=.02) AND improved their math performance (p<.001) in comparison to student who did not receive the intervention.
While the researchers could not identify exactly why the academic scores improved, their results suggest that improving nutrition may be an investment with returns in many areas. It seems that the First Lady and her efforts to reduce and prevent obesity may do more than just improve the health of our nation. It may also represent a much needed adjustment to the education system as well!
The body-mind connection will not be denied!
Quitting smoking is easier than many think: Pharm. companies want you to think otherwise
Researchers at the School of Public Health, University of Sydney, after a review of 511 studies, found that most people who have quit tobacco have done so without the help of pharmaceuticals, and most people say that it was easier than they thought it would be. The researchers suggest that public education efforts that reflect these findings may help support quitting efforts.
They also propose that the companies who produce cessation-aiding drugs have contributed to the growing perception that quitting is extremely difficult, or impossible. Let’s take this commercial for instance.
In this ad the company likens quitting smoking to standing on the edge of a 20+ story building, the wind is blowing, and to quit smoking you have to, I guess, jump? That IS scary! The smoker takes a step out, and thankfully a nicotine patch is there to catch him, acting like as stepping stone. Watch the ad.
Yes, quitting smoking can be difficult (I know, I have done it, and did so cold turkey), but is it really as terrifying as standing on the edge of a skyscraper and in order to quit you have to jump off!? Certainly not! Not to mention that even WITH those steps it would still be really frightening!
—follow-up: I wanted to just also mention that while this article is somewhat berating of the nicotine patch companies maybe it is a little harsh. Quitting smoking is very hard, and for some people it might seem nearly impossible. If the availability of the patch helps people to quit or at least gets people to consider quitting, then that’s great! Smoking is the cause of the most preventable deaths. Anything we can do to help people stop should be encouraged. However, my point still remains. No company or industry should be making quitting smoking seem harder than it actually is.
Share this Blog
