Tobacco prevention, control are focus of Friday's Public Health Grand Rounds

May 17, 2004

CHAPEL HILL — Efforts to prevent and control tobacco use will be the topic of a 2 p.m. Friday (May 21) program sponsored by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Public Health in partnership with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death nationwide, causing more than 440,000 deaths annually and resulting in more than $75 billion in direct medical costs annually, statistics indicate.”Tobacco Prevention and Control: Using Evidence-Based Strategies to Save Lives and Resources,” an hour-long webcast and satellite broadcast, is part of the Public Health Grand Rounds series. Questions may be submitted at interactive satellite conference sites, by fax or online.

More than 300 sites in 47 states have registered to view the program via satellite. Registration and other details can be found at www.publichealthgrandrounds.unc.edu.

The program will explore current trends in building sustainable evidence-based efforts concerning tobacco control and prevention, including how the “Guide to Community Preventive Services” (known as the “Community Guide”) provides public health professionals with successful strategies.

The “Community Guide,” compiled by a task force appointed by the CDC director, summarizes what is known about the effectiveness, economic efficiency and feasibility of specific interventions in preventing disease and promoting community health.

“Given the population burden of tobacco use, the need for evidence-based findings on what population-based strategies work to reduce tobacco use is acute,” said Dr. Jonathan Fielding, chairman of the “Community Guide” task force and a Grand Rounds panelist.

“The ‘Community Guide’ fulfills the need among practitioners of public health to have, at their fingertips, the best information on what programs and policies work – to help them make better decisions,” he added. “This presentation will demonstrate ‘Community Guide’ findings related to increases in the unit price of tobacco and current efforts to enact clean indoor air laws, as well as others.”

Fielding also is a professor of health services and pediatrics at the University of California at Los Angeles’ schools of public health and medicine, and the director of public health and a health officer for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.

Friday’s program also will focus on the efforts of the Onondaga County Health Department and its community partners in Syracuse, N.Y., to prevent and control tobacco use.

“The role of public health as evidence-based policy advocate could not be better illustrated than in New York’s decision to base policy, programs and funding for tobacco control efforts on ‘Community Guide’ recommendations,” said Dr. Hugh Tilson, a panelist and professor of health policy and epidemiology in the School of Public Health.

Other panelists will be:

Dr. Bill Roper, dean of UNC’s School of Medicine and chief executive officer of UNC Health Care.

Dr. David E. Nelson, senior scientific adviser on health communications with the CDC National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion’s Office on Smoking and Health.

Dr. Barbara Rimer, Alumni distinguished professor of health behavior and health education in the School of Public Health and deputy director for population sciences in the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Public Health Grand Rounds is a program of the N.C. Institute for Public Health. The institute links the School of Public Health with public health practitioners, directing training programs and conferences and providing consulting services to local health departments and health organizations.

Other Public Health Grand Rounds topics have included bioterrorism, asthma, autism, genetics, breast cancer screening, disaster preparedness, the West Nile virus, SARS, obesity, urban sprawl and food safety. Past editions of the program may be viewed at www.publichealthgrandrounds.unc.edu.

N.C. Institute for Public Health contacts: Beverly Holt, (919) 966-6274 or bev_holt@unc.edu and Lisa Morris, (919) 843-9261 or lamorris@email.unc.edu UNC School of Public Health contact: Lisa Katz, (919) 966-7467 or lisa_katz@unc.edu