Friday April 7, 2006


 

 

Newsletter -- Surrounding Our Kids with Clean Air

 

The American Legacy Foundation is a key sponsor of National Public Health Week 2006. We welcome this statement from the organization:

As we recognize National Public Health Week, it is important that the public health community, together with the nation as a whole, be reminded about the nation’s number one preventable cause of death and disease: tobacco use.

This past year, Americans have had a wake-up call in the form of losing well-known figures too early in their lives to lung cancer. In August, we lost Peter Jennings, in January, Lou Rawls lost his battle with lung cancer, and just last month, we learned of the untimely death of actress and singer, Dana Reeve, who lost her short battle with lung cancer.

Hopefully, these sad events will help encourage people to seek out more information about lung cancer, the importance of early detection, and the need for more research and resources to prevent and ultimately find a cure for this crippling disease.

Lung cancer accounts for 28 percent of all cancer deaths in the United States, and more Americans lose their lives to lung cancer annually than breast, prostate and colon cancers combined.

It is also important to know that smoking-related trachea, lung and bronchus cancers together claim the lives of more than 153,000 men and women annually in the U.S., and smoking is by far the most frequent cause of lung cancer, Quitting smoking does not eliminate the risk of getting the disease, but it does significantly reduce it.

We know that most smokers – 70 percent -- want to quit, but fewer than five percent succeed in quitting each year because nicotine is so powerfully addictive. We encourage smokers to talk with their doctors about screenings for lung cancer and about creating personalized plans to help them quit.

In recognition of National Public Health Week, the American Legacy Foundation® encourages all Americans to consider the importance of resources to help people quit smoking, of finding new ways to detect and treat tobacco related diseases, particularly lung cancer, and to empathize with the victims of tobacco addiction and exposure to secondhand smoke. Together, we can find solutions and help save lives.

CDC. The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General. 2004.

CDC. Annual smoking-attributable mortality, years of potential life lost, and productivity losses—United States, 1997-2001. MMWR 2005; 54: 626-628.

What’s Happening Today

  • NPHW Blue Ribbon Community: Designing Healthy Communities Forum, California Baptist University, Riverside, Calif.
  • NPHW Blue Ribbon Community: Highlands’ Garden Village Kid’s Health Fair
  • Senior Health Awareness Day, Englewood, N.J.
  • Macon County Health Department Annual Health Fair, Decatur, Ill.
  • Boys and Girls Club Community Health Fair, Meridian, Idaho
  • National Public Health Awareness Day, St. Louis, Mo.
  • La Buena Salud Health Fair, Caldwell, Idaho

Other events may be accessed at www.nphw.org/calendar/ . There is also a list of government agencies, disease organizations, health organizations and other resources available at www.nphw.org/pg_resources.htm .

See Pictures from the Kick-off Event

National Public Health Week in the News

Take Action Today!

Friday: ENVIRONMENTAL TOXINS: Surrounding Our Kids with Clean Air

  • Support funding for the National Children's Study, which was authorized in 2000 and is the first long-term study to examine the effects of environmental influences on the health and development of more than 100,000 children across the United States, following them from before birth until age 21. The President's 2007 Budget proposal eliminates all future funding for the study. Take Action: Contact your members of Congress: http://www.capwiz.com
  • Support S.1489/ H.R.4166, The Family Asthma Act Sponsored by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Representative Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), which awards grants for pilot projects to prevent and control asthma symptoms and to reduce asthma attacks. Take Action: Contact your members of Congress: http://www.capwiz.com
  • Support S.666/H.R.1376, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, introduced by Senator Mike DeWine (R-OH) and Representative Tom Davis (R-VA). The bill provides the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with the authority to regulate the tobacco industry, directing the FDA to eliminate the advertising and promotion of tobacco products to young people and provides penalties to tobacco companies that break the rules. Take Action: Contact yourmembers of Congress: http://www.capwiz.com

Resources

Children and Environmental Health:

During National Public Health Week 2006, the American Public Health Association (APHA) is focusing on a “Designing Healthy Communities: Raising Healthy Kids” campaign. The campaign focuses on helping communities assess the current status of the built environment, determine the impact it has on children’s health and identify areas for improvement. NPHW will showcase communities throughout the week that have implemented solutions to address challenges in their built environment.

Don't Forget to Submit Your NPHW Events to The Nation's Health for the June/July Issue by April 28th

  • As you hold your celebrations for National Public Health Week this month, be sure to keep The Nation's Health in mind. An upcoming issue of the newspaper will feature coverage of National Public Health Week events that were held across the country, and your activities could be among them. After your event is over, send us a short summary of your activity, when it was held, who was involved, what the goals were and what was accomplished.


Looking for NPHW 2006 Theme Ideas

Each year, the American Public Health Association (APHA) serves as the organizer of National Public Health Week (NPHW) and develops a campaign to educate the public, policymakers and practitioners before and during the week about an important public health issue. As partners in the week, we would like your ideas for a NPHW 2007 theme. Your recommendations for the NPHW 2007 topic should take into account current public health trends as well as the following criteria:

  • Significance (e.g., affects many people, is a serious threat to public health, is an increasing problem, or associated with major health disparities);
  • Timeliness;
  • Availability of effective policy and program interventions;
  • Ability to reach new audiences; and
  • Flexibility so that NPHW partners can tailor the theme to their priorities.

Recommendations and supporting information can be submitted electronically by e-mail to nphw@apha.org . The deadline for submission is August 8, 2005. In the future, we hope your organization will be interested in participating in other NPHW planning efforts.

This is an opportunity to directly influence the focus of public health education. Your organization is an important member of the public health community and we would greatly value your expertise and opinions.


April 16-22, 2006 is Environmental Education Week

National Environmental Education (EE) Week 2006 is the single largest organized environmental education event in U.S. history. It will increase the educational impact of Earth Day by creating a full week of educational preparation, learning, and activities in K-12 classrooms, nature centers, zoos, museums, and aquariums. Learn how to get involved in the week at http://www.eeweek.org/ .

APHA would especially like to thank our sponsors who helped make this week possible.