Post from Dr. Scout and Network for LGBT Equity

Network Changes: Saying Goodbye to Gustavo & Taking a Staff Break

As I’ve mentioned before, we’ve now hit the funding gap between the current and the next health disparity network awards. As of tomorrow, the Network will no longer be staffed until we hear (hopefully!) that we’ve been chosen as one of the next round of disparity networks. We expect this news to come in one to two months. Until then, Scout, the stalwart Steering Committee, and Daniella will be checking in every so often to keep the dust from gathering. This Network started with the efforts of amazing volunteers, so this is just a bit of going back to our roots. Good news is we think we’ve submitted a very strong proposal for the next round of funding so are optimistic we’ll be restaffed in a month or two.

Sadder news for us is our project manager, the amazing Gustavo Torrez, has decided he’s heading off for firmer ground. I don’t think there’s a person who’s interacted with the Network who could fail to realize just what a gem Gustavo is. He’s been in tobacco control since he was 12 years old! He’s long been a fearless youth advocate, is a force of nature when he presents, and can make hugely complicated events like our summit come off so smoothly we almost forget how hard we worked before he came on board. We shall miss Gustavo dearly, but we have faith he will stay one of the leaders to watch in tobacco control.

Changes aren’t always easy, but hold tight, the Network is much more than a few staff, plus we’re planning some great new things come Fall.

Kenneth Warner Lecture Series

Reposted at http://www.tobaccodeathray.blogspot.com,
The Passion and Power of Young People in the Ongoing Fight Against Tobacco Webinar

On Wednesday, July 24th, Legacy and the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CTFK) will host a special youth-led panel discussion, as part of the Kenneth E. Warner Series Lecture, which will highlight the power and passion of youth engagement in tobacco control. Young leaders will discuss the challenges and successes of the movement and, with the upcoming release of the 50th Anniversary of the Surgeon General's report, its significance in the future of tobacco control for years to come.   The live webcast will be archived for your convenience.   Moderator: Ritney Castine, Associate Director of Youth advocacy, CTFK (Former Legacy Youth Board Liaison)    Panelists: Chad Bullock, Founding Director of Forget Tobacco Kaitlyn Reilly, Communications Consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton Anna Santayana, Grassroots Marketing Coordinator for Legacy (Former crew marketer for the truth®tour) Lee Storrow, Managing Director of the NC Alliance for Health and Member of the City Council for North Carolina Chapel Hill (Former Legacy Youth Board Liaison) ·         Gustavo Torrez, Program Manager for the Network for LGBT Health Equity

For more information, please contact Laura Cruzada at lcruzada@legacyforhealth.org or 202-341-0324.

SAVE THE DATE: Wednesday July 24, 2013 from 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM EDT

Resources shared by Gustavo Torrez  of Fenway Health posted at http://www.tobaccodeathray.blogspot.com,

I wanted to share one resource of a report compiled by Dathan Johnson at the Arkansas Department of Public Health, Tobacco Prevention & Cessation Program:
http://www.lgbttobacco.org/files/ArkansasLGBTSurvey.pdf

In addition, we created a sharing our lessons document around treatment for LGBT + communities:
http://www.lgbttobacco.org/files/HIV%20SOL%20Final.pdf

I am sure we will get more resources from the field but here are a couple to start off with along with a link back to our resource library with similar resources:
http://www.google.com/cse?cx=007089905494273129946%3Ah28wxiuzz7w&cof=FORID%3A0&q=SOL+hiv+tobacco+treatment&sa.x=0&sa.y=0#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=HIV

Mpowered Best and Promising Practices for LGBT Tobacco Control

The Network had the pleasure of presenting our MPOWERED: Best and Promising Practices for LGBT Tobacco Control document through a CDC wide Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) hosted Seminar in Atlanta recently.

As many of you know the Network released its MPOWERED Document at the National LGBT Health Equity Summit in coordination of the National Conference on tobacco or health this past August. As the first document of its kind to culminate LGBT best and promising practices in this way we have received and outpour of requests for the document and to-date have disseminated almost 900 copies, not to mention the online downloads. The document brought a value to the field at such a critical moment in tobacco control. While slow, there is still progress in LGBT tobacco control efforts nationally. With tailored programs addressing LGBT communities, and programs searching to include the population this vital resource helps folks to effectively engage the community.  Because of its popularity along with support of our friends within CDC we had the privilege to showcase the document with CDC Staff.

Through the presentation we aimed to increase more efforts CDC wide on LGBT inclusion within all aspects of CDC. With a wide range of folks from CDC in attendance we had the ability to truly elaborate on the MPOWERED model and our process to create the document. Walking away I feel really great that the information presented will be utilized and will help to increase more awareness of LGBT communities and strategies to include the community in their work.

Written by Gustavo Torrez, The Network for LGBT Health Equity, MPOWERED

Reposted at http://www.tobaccodeathray.blogspot.com,

States Spend Less Than 2 cents of Tobacco $ on Reduction

States will collect a record $25.7 billion in revenue from the 1998 state tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes this year, but will spend just 1.8 percent of it—less than two cents of every dollar—on programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit, according to a new report released by a coalition of public health organizations, including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Total state funding for tobacco prevention amounts to just 12.4 percent of the $3.7 billion that the CDC recommends for all the states combined. Only two states, Alaska and North Dakota, currently fund tobacco prevention programs at the CDC-recommended level. 

 As the nation implements health care reform, the report titled “Broken Promises to Our Children,” warns that states are missing the opportunity to reduce tobacco-related health care costs which total $96 billion every year in the United States.

 Written by Gustavo Torrez, Program Manager, The Network for LGBT Health Equity. EMPOWERED: Taking on CDC . Reposted at http://www.tobaccodeathray.blogspot.com