UPdates

Please share these opportunities from our partners:

From the CDC: This July 4th, Gain Freedom From Tobacco Use
This 4th of July, CDC encourages smokers to declare their independence from cigarettes and live a fuller, healthier life.  And for those who don’t smoke, CDC applauds their independence and suggests that they take the opportunity to celebrate! Below is a list of the products and activities available. Please share this information with your partners. 

CDC Feature Article: This July 4th, Gain Freedom From Tobacco Use
This article:
Presents key information about the harms of tobacco use and the addictiveness of tobacco products

Shares the stories of two former smokers from CDC’s Tips From Former Smokers campaign: Tiffany, who quit smoking last year and says she feels a great sense of freedom and control over her life; and Mariano, who quit smoking in 2004 and says he now enjoys much greater quality of life. Provides helpful, free quitting resources
This feature article is now live on CDC.gov and CDC Tobacco Free social media profiles.

Information on OSH’s Smoking & Tobacco Use Web Site
Check out the July Media Calendar page on OSH’s Web site. There you can find a link to the CDC feature article as well as to quitting resources and social media tools.

Like, Follow, and Subscribe! Social Media Engagement
To take advantage of all the activities we have planned on our social media profiles, you may wish to proactively like and follow @CDCTobaccoFree on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to the Smoking & Tobacco Use playlist on YouTube. Doing so will enable you to receive and share status updates and profile updates as they are posted.

Be Smoke-Free—You Matter to Me! Facebook App
CDC’s new Be Smoke-Free—You Matter to Me! Facebook app can be used by friends and loved ones of smokers to remind them of all the activities and major life events they might miss out on if they continue to smoke—and more importantly, all the things they can look forward to if they quit. Friends and loved ones can send heartfelt messages to show smokers how much they care and to encourage and motivate them to try to quit.

CADCA's 2013 Mid-Year Training Institute

CADCA’s next upcoming event filled with intense training and a host of networking opportunities - the CADCA Mid-Year is much more than a conference. "Big Ideas for Social Change," is the theme for this year's CADCA Mid-Year Training Institute.

When: July 21-25, 2013  Where: Hilton Austin Hotel and the Austin Convention Center, Austin, TX

The tobacco-specific courses outlined for this year's Mid-Year Training Institute are:

"Culturally Appropriate Interventions for Implementing Comprehensive Prevention Strategies in Rural, Non-Reservation Tribal Areas" will highlight multiple strategies implemented throughout the Cherokee Nation in Northeastern Oklahoma to reduce tobacco, alcohol, other drug use, as well as other risky behaviors such as suicide and teen pregnancy.

The Elephant in the Room: Implementing Tobacco-Free Policies in Behavioral Health Care Settings" will cover the latest research, data, programs and policies that address tobacco prevention, use and cessation treatment plans within behavioral health (mental health and substance use disorders) facilities. In addition, participants will be given the opportunity to explore the interconnections among raising awareness, advocacy, community change, and policy. In this speaker panel format, participants will also investigate the best practices for integrating tobacco cessation services and tobacco-free worksite policies into behavioral health care facilities as part of mental health, alcohol and drug treatment programs.

For more information about registration and lodging, visit the CADCA Mid-Year website.

 

Update from the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products

Today, FDA authorized the marketing of two new tobacco products through the substantial equivalence (SE) pathway, and denied the marketing of four others. Additionally, the Agency announced the refusal to accept 20 Exemption from SE requests and the withdrawal of 136 SE reports by industry sponsors.

FDA’s responsibility is unprecedented. No new regulated tobacco products can come to market without FDA review. Every SE submission undergoes a rigorous scientific review to determine if the new product has the same characteristics as a predicate tobacco product identified by the manufacturer or if it has different characteristics, but the new product does not raise different questions of public health.

As part of FDA’s mission to reduce tobacco-related death and disease, the Agency is working to ensure that any new tobacco product brought to market through the SE pathway will not present more harm to public health than a valid predicate product.

For more information, read our press release or visit our Tobacco Product Marketing Orders webpage.

Announcing: The FDA Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) Meeting

August 15 and 16, 2013
The meeting on August 15, which will be a joint meeting with the FDA Risk Communication Advisory Committee, will focus on the results of FDA consumer research that may provide insight into how FDA can best share information with the public on harmful and potentially harmful constituents (HPHCs) in tobacco products. On August 16, TPSAC will discuss possible approaches for evaluating information on the risks and potential benefits of a proposed modified risk tobacco product to the population as a whole. For both meetings, interested persons may present data, information, or views, orally or in writing.

For more information, including how to get involved, visit our TPSAC webpage.

NACCHO Online Learning Collaborative: "Roots of Health Inequity"

The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) is offering a web-based course and learning collaborative called "Roots of Health Inequity," which discusses social justice in public health practice. Public health practitioners and educators are using Roots of Health Inequity to inspire passion among staff members and students. Watch this video to learn more about using Roots of Health Inequity to encourage self-reflection and action! Click here and visit rootsofhealthinequity.org to learn more about how to register and participate.

SmokefreeVET – A Text-Messaging Program to Help Veterans Stop Smoking"

SmokefreeVET, a new project announced by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and SmokeFree.gov, provides a mobile text messaging service for military veterans. The program is designed to provide encouragement, advice, and tips for smoking cessation. Users of SmokefreeVET receive 1-5 text messages a day over the course of a six to eight week program. The program is free of charge to veterans who receive health care through the VA. To learn more about the program or sign up, click here.