National Working Group for ACTTION

Jan 26, 2010
Letter from Diane Canova

Dear Partners,

 

Improvements in health care come in many forms and require efforts from many sources.  Cessation of tobacco use is a proven way to improve health right now and for years to come.  We know that comprehensive tobacco cessation treatment is effective.  That is why many of you came together a year ago to issue the Call for ACTTION.  Now, as issues related to health care are much in the public view, it is vitally important to continue building a strong commitment to the goal of the Call for ACTTION and to the measures that will make its achievement a reality.

Jan 26, 2010
Partnership for Prevention Announces the ACTTION State Grant Program Request for Proposals

This month Partnership for Prevention announced its newest effort in the fight against tobacco addiction. Called the ACTTION State Grant Program, the initiative will provide funds to select States to increase access to proven cessation strategies for all tobacco users. Grantees will be required to develop state alliances/summit meetings and create strategic plans. Specifically, key sector leaders in funded states representing health care systems, employers/purchasers, insurers/health plans, quitlines, and tobacco control advocates will convene to set a course of action for change. As a result, utilization of these treatments will increase and tobacco use will decline.

Jan 26, 2010
Indiana Leads First State ACTTION Summit

In early December, the first state ACTTION summit was held in Indianapolis.  Led by Dr. Judy Monroe, Indiana Health Commissioner and Karla Sneegas, Executive Director of Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation, the Indiana Cessation Summit drew 79 attendees from around the state.  The group identified a list of strategies to increase cessation in Indiana with an emphasis on those which were low and no cost.  The areas of focus were business and industry, policy change, electronic and internet solutions, health care provider education, quitline promotion, and patient and community education.

ACTTION interviewed Karla Sneegas (KS) after the summit to learn about the process involved in planning a successful summit and staying the course afterwards.

Jan 26, 2010
Cessation Services in the States

The most extensive tobacco control programs in the United States, including cessation services, are provided or regulated by the states. Several recent reports offer a snapshot view of the progress that states are making in directly providing cessation services, paying for them, or assuring that other payers cover them.   The results fall far short of what is needed to reach the goal set by the Call to ACTTION—expand access to comprehensive tobacco cessation treatment to 50% of smokers by 2015, and 100% by 2020.

Jan 26, 2010
FDA Seeks Comments on Misleading Labeling

The Food and Drug Administration is seeking input from the public on a provision in the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act addressing the advertising of tobacco products.  The provision bans the terms light, mild, or low in the labeling or advertising of tobacco products and extends to the use of “similar descriptors.”  To aid the agency in spelling out the meaning of this term “similar descriptors” and developing regulations in anticipation of the June effective date of this important advertising provision, it is asking interested parties to share information, research, and ideas on tobacco product marketing descriptors that may be considered similar to the prohibited terms already listed in the law.

There are no key dates for this briefing.