National Working Group for ACTTION

August 27, 2010
Letter from Diane Canova

Dear Partners:

In late July, Partnership for Prevention’s ActionToQuit initiative was pleased to release its new guide, Save Lives and Money – Help People on Medicaid Quit Tobacco.  The guide, prepared in collaboration with the American Lung Association, was released at the National Conference of State Legislators meeting in Louisville, Kentucky.  You can access the guide here.

During the NCSL meeting, the Health Committee, at the initiation of Partnership for Prevention, hosted a special tobacco cessation briefing for state legislators and their staff members from across the country.  The briefing focused on the impact the Massachusetts Medicaid program experienced when it offered and promoted a comprehensive tobacco cessation benefit. Although states have achieved many tobacco control policy advances in smoke free air laws and increased tobacco taxes, policies related to cessation have often lagged behind.  The briefing on Massachusetts’ success combined with the release of the guide was intended to encourage other states to follow Massachusetts’ example.

July 27, 2010
Letter from Diane Canova

Dear Partners,

Partnership for Prevention and ActionToQuit were very pleased with the announcement in mid-July of new regulations under the Affordable Health Care Act requiring private health plans to cover evidence-based preventive services and to eliminate cost-sharing for preventive care.  Among the services to be covered are tobacco cessation interventions to for tobacco users.

July 1, 2010
Letter from Diane Canova

Dear Partners,

As you can see from the masthead at the top of this newsletter, we have given ourselves a facelift! We at Partnership for Prevention have for some months been considering a new look for our website and newsletter, so we enlisted the help of a design firm.  As a result, ActionToQuit – Advancing Tobacco Cessation Policy will be our new identity and the old “ACTTION” will be discontinued. If you visit the ActionToQuit website (www.actiontoquit.org) you’ll see the new logo. From now on we will be using the new logo and revised identity. This publication will be referred to as the ActionToQuit Monthly Newsletter and its recipients the ActionToQuit Network.

May 26, 2010
Letter from Diane Canova

Dear Partners,

An important feature of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (health reform) is the creation of the Prevention and Public Health Fund.  The fund is to be used for prevention, wellness, and public health activities, including a focus on reducing chronic disease rates. In mid-April, Partnership for Prevention joined with the American Cancer Society, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, and Legacy, in urging Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to give a “high and appropriate funding priority” to tobacco control in the use of the Fund.  The letter notes that “Given that tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death, a significant investment in proven tobacco prevention and cessation programs, which are primed and ready to go, is critical and would ensure a large return on investment.”

April 21, 2010
Letter from Diane Canova

Dear Partners,

In 2008, Partnership for Prevention convened the National Working Group for ACTTION (Access to Cessation Treatment of Tobacco In Our Nation) to address the need to increase the number of smokers who are offered assistance to quit.   Partnership is now very excited to be taking the efforts of ACTTION to the next level by awarding six grants to state projects that will develop and strengthen state-level alliances for tobacco cessation.  These projects will help implement the multi-sector Call for ACTTION.

March 25, 2010
Letter from Diane Canova

Dear Partners,

This month I would like to share with you some of the exciting news reported in the supplement to the latest issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.  The supplement is called “Increasing Tobacco Cessation in America: A Consumer Demand Perspective.”  This topic is very important to ACTTION and our partners.  As the editors say in their introduction, “The articles and commentaries in this supplement reflect the view that if we could increase consumer demand for evidence-based tobacco cessation products and services, many more people would attempt to quit, and would succeed in doing so.”

February 23, 2010
Letter from Diane Canova

Dear Partners:

This month I would like to invite your participation in the discussion over the use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes).  E-cigarettes are battery powered cigarette-shaped tubes that heat liquid nicotine into an inhalable vapor, advertised variously as devices to use where smoking is not permitted or alternatives to cigarettes. They are supposed to satisfy cravings for cigarettes without the harms of cigarettes.  Is this too good to be true?

January 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.

December 28, 2009
Letter from Diane Canova

Dear Partners,

I hope everyone takes some time this holiday season to reflect on the progress our nation has made in tobacco control in 2009. From national tobacco tax increases to smoking bans to the formation of the FDA tobacco regulation division, we’ve made great strides for the health of our states and communities, and we should all be proud of the part we played.

November 20, 2009
Letter from Diane Canova

Dear Partners,

Just over one year ago, we came together – leaders from public and private health, business and political sectors – to develop and issue the Call to ACTTION. Our goal was to:

·         Call attention to tobacco users’ lack of access to comprehensive tobacco cessation treatment

·         Promote the need for multi-sector action around the need to provide greater access to tobacco use treatment

·         Set a goal to ensure that every tobacco user has access to comprehensive treatment services by the year 2020 (if not sooner)