National Working Group for ACTTION

January 26, 2010

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. 

Partnership will award these grants, which will be in the range of $20,000 to $40,000, to five to eight States. Potential applicants might include state health departments, state tobacco control agencies, state tobacco control coalitions, state quitlines, or non-profit organizations (such as the American Lung Association, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, etc.). An information telephone conference will be offered for prospective applicants on Wednesday January 27 from 3:00 to 4:00pm eastern standard time. The deadline for grant proposal submissions is February 24, 2010.

Proposed projects might include one or more of these strategies:

·         Outreach to employers, insurers, benefits managers, and health plan administrators to ensure  employee access to comprehensive cessation treatments

·         Improvement of cessation benefits in publicly-funded health plans 

·         Outreach to health systems and providers to encourage identification of tobacco users and utilization of all approved cessation medications and therapies

·         Public education efforts to highlight the benefits of cessation and urge smokers to seek treatment

Funding for this program was generously provided by Pfizer Inc. and the Pfizer Foundation to help Partnership for Prevention further engage states in promoting the Call for ACTTION recommendations established in November 2008. The goal of the Call for ACTTION is to ensure that every tobacco user has access to comprehensive treatment services by the year 2020. With Pfizer’s assistance, Partnership will implement this grant program for states that wish to push forward the National Working Group’s recommendations at the local level.  

The Request for Proposals is available at the ACTTION website (www.acttiontoquit.org) or through this link:

http://acttiontoquit.org/uploads/documents/ACTTION_State_Grant_Program_application_guidelines_and_requirements_01-14-10_final.pdf

Your Call to Action: Consider collaborating with your state health department and other partners to apply for an ACTTION state grant.