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In This Issue February 2013
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Legacy Applauds Appointment of The Food and Drug Administration's New Director to Lead its Tobacco Regulatory Center
In recent years, public health has seen historic strides in tobacco control. Under the auspices of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the nation began in earnest to implement, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, that for the first time gave the federal government authority to regulate tobacco. As they say, "With great power, comes great responsibility." As the first head of the Center for Tobacco Products, our respected colleague, Dr. Lawrence Deyton, "Bopper," led this unprecedented charge with an unwavering commitment to better safeguard the public scourge of tobacco. As he leaves the agency to serve as Professor of Medicine and Health Policy at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, his legacy will be remembered for years to come.
The FDA's announcement that Mitchell Zeller, J.D., will assume the role of director of the Center for Tobacco Products on March 4, 2013, underscores the depth of commitment the FDA has to protecting the health of the nation and ending the tobacco epidemic. We applaud the decision to appoint Zeller, who is an accomplished lawyer, tobacco control strategist and advocate for public health. He was the former associate commissioner of the FDA under David Kessler and previously served as health policy expert with Pinney Associates as well as Executive Vice President here at Legacy during its formative years.
He helped lead The Strategic Dialogue on Tobacco Harm Reduction (the Dialogue) among public health experts. Their ambitious vision: a world in which virtually no one uses cigarettes. Dialogue participants concluded that realizing that vision would have a profound impact on reducing death and disease from tobacco use. Zeller's thought leadership and foresight on the regulation of tobacco and reducing smokers' health risks will be an invaluable asset to the FDA as it moves forward with its tremendously important mission.
Read the full statement here.
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Smokers Deserve Affordable Care, Including Prevention Screenings for Lung Cancer
Lung Cancer Alliance and Legacy join other public health advocates in opposing a provision in the Affordable Care Act that permits health insurance companies to charge premiums to smokers that are 50 percent higher than non-smokers.
"What is most upsetting about the increased premiums from a public health perspective is that we know that most smokers today want to quit, but the battle against this monstrous addiction is fierce," stated Cheryl Healton, DrPH, President and CEO of Legacy. "Adding insult to injury, evidence-based screenings for those with high lung cancer risk and current smokers are not yet covered under preventative health services by health care providers and insurance companies."
Lung cancer is the leading cancer killer in the United States. Over 160,000 people die each year from lung cancer-more than one quarter of all cancer deaths. In 2010, the National Cancer Institute's National Lung Screening Trial (NLST)-one of the largest clinical trials in NCI history-scientifically validated the power of low dose CT screening in detecting lung cancer at an early stage in a high risk population. Such early detection would reduce mortality from lung cancer even more than mammography does for breast cancer.
Read the full statement from Lung Cancer Alliance and Legacy here.
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EX - Marking a Spot to Help Smokers Quit
A recent study released by The Journal of Medical Internet Research reveals that approximately 90 percent of survey participants found BecomeAnEx.org - Legacy's free online-based quit smoking program - helpful in their quest to quit smoking. Despite substantial declines in smoking prevalence over the last 40 years, nearly one in five adults in the United States still smokes. 
Given the broad reach and substantial influence of the Web, Web-based cessation programs show extraordinary potential to help smokers quit. Programs can be built to run on multiple platforms including tablets and mobile devices, are easily accessible, and can help remove the logistical and financial barriers associated with purchasing nicotine replacement therapy products or attending in-person counseling sessions. While there is already some evidence that Web-based cessation programs are effective, this study examines the effectiveness of Legacy's Web-based quit smoking program in order to learn more about the how. To read the study in its entirety, go to http://www.jmir.org/2013/1/e14/. As part of the study, the more times quitters visited BecomeAnEX.org, the more likely they were to stay quit.
Interactive features like the online BecomeAnEX community and the separation exercises, which help smokers put space between smoking triggers and physically lighting up a cigarette, were also associated with longer quit attempts. To learn more about this online quit smoking initiative or if you or someone you know is looking to quit smoking, please visit BecomeAnEx.org.
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New CDC Report Sheds Light on a Hidden Epidemic: Tobacco Use and Mental Illness
This month, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a new report highlighting that adults with some form of mental illness have a smoking rate 70 percent higher than smokers facing no mental illness. The report in Vital Signs found that 36 percent of adults with a mental illness are cigarette smokers, compared with only 21 percent of adults who do not have a mental illness. To read more from the CDC report, click here.
Since its inception, Legacy has supported organizations that are addressing the need in this underserved population. In 2012, Legacy released A Hidden Epidemic: Tobacco Use and Mental Illness, a report that showcased successful programs helping smokers with mental illness, while providing guidance for how to solve many of the complex issues surrounding the topic. One of those challenges: tobacco control is not a top priority within the mental health treatment community. Less than a quarter of outpatients with psychiatric illnesses receive counseling from their physicians aimed at smoking cessation, and in hospitals, only one percent of psychiatric inpatient smokers were assessed for smoking.
Legacy commends the CDC for enhancing the available resources on this topic and bringing national awareness to the issue. To read more about solutions that Legacy's involvement to address smoking among people with mental illness, read A Hidden Epidemic: Tobacco Use and Mental Illness at: http://www.legacyforhealth.org/PDF/A_Hidden_Epidemic.pdf.
- Click here to watch the archived Warner Series Lecture from May 2012 on Tobacco Use and Mental Illness.
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Share the First Evidence-Based Quit Smoking Facebook App Today
An innovative team at the Schroeder Institute at Legacy recently built and launched a new quit smoking app called UbiQUITous - the first evidence-based Facebook app available to help smokers quit. The app is part of a three-year study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to help public health researchers better understand how a quitting smoking tool 'goes viral' through clusters of smokers online, and what conditions make a quitting smoking app most likely to spread between users.
- A tool to help smokers set a quit date
- Quit guides of information to make quitting easier
- Daily check-ins for personalized quitting advice and to keep smokers trying to quit on track
- A Crave Button to hit when smokers need a major distraction from killer cravings
- Badges and daily opportunities to share quitting success
- Support from family and friends from Facebook
Share the app today! For more information about the UbiQUITous app or the study, please contact the UbiQUITous Development Team at ubiquitous@legacyforhealth.org. |
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Friends of Legacy Hold Ripple Effect Event, Leading the Fight to End Addiction
On Tuesday, January 29, Legacy co-hosted a Ripple Effect discussion and dinner with Friend of Legacy, Bitsey Folger, a local community activist and tobacco control advocate. The discussion topic, Leading the Fight to End Addiction, was led by Dr. Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Addiction (NIDA) at the National Institutes of Health. The event engaged a new group of Washington, DC-based community leaders in the importance of stemming the tobacco epidemic, which kills 443,000 Americans each year. "Friends of Legacy" is made up of influential members of society who believe in Legacy's mission and support Legacy through annual contributions or fundraising efforts. For more information on the initiative, please go to www.legacyforhealth.org/friends.
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Funding the Future of Tobacco Control Advocates
Applications are being accepted for the Dr. Alma S. Adams Scholarship for Outreach and Health Communications. The Scholarship helps support efforts to reduce tobacco use among what Legacy identifies as populations who are disproportionately targeted by the tobacco industry, or who often lack the tools and resources to combat smoking in their communities.
Legacy created the scholarship in honor of Dr. Alma S. Adams, a professor of art at Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, North Carolina, and a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives since 1994. Throughout her legislative career, Adams spearheaded efforts to support families, particularly children's programs. She served as a founding member of Legacy's Board of Directors. The scholarship will award two $5,000 scholarships to individuals to pursue undergraduate or graduate studies at an accredited institution of higher education in the United States. The awards will be granted on a competitive basis for the following:
- A record of commitment to community service on behalf of an underserved community, preferably related to tobacco prevention and/or control; and
- The best use of the visual arts, media, creative writing or other creative endeavor to convey culturally appropriate health messages aimed at raising awareness of tobacco's harmful impact.
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Springing into Action: NYC Trivia Enthusiasts are Challenged to Support Legacy
The Legacy New York City Young Professionals will host its second annual Trivia Night and Silent Auction on March 14, 2013. Proceeds from the event will support Legacy's mission to build a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit.
The event will take place at Common Ground located at 206 Avenue A in the East Village, New York City from 7 - 10 p.m. Individual tickets are available for $30.00 and a team of six is $150.00. For more information or to purchase tickets please visit www.legacyforhealth.org/yp.
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