Since its report to the Board in November 2002, the ACPM Prevention Practice Committee has focused on: (1) selecting and appointing new committee members and consultants; (2) updating the committee membership list and listserv; (3) drafting guidelines on Adolescent Sexuality Education in Schools; Varicella Vaccination; and Understanding Type II Diabetes: Preventing Complications; (4) publishing guidelines on Screening for Chlamydia Trachomatis; and (5) resolving issues with AJPM concerning publishing AJPM position statements. Current activities and upcoming plans in these areas are outlined below.

In the fall of 2002, Prevention Practice Committee Chair David Katz, MD, MPH, reviewed over forty applications for committee member or consultant positions. Fourteen committee members were selected, including one representative from the US Preventive Services Task Force and one representative from the Task Force for Community Preventive Services.

The Prevention Practice Committee will be supported in its work by a pool of consultants. These are College members selected to assist the committee with drafting ACPM position statements or policy guideline statements in their area of expertise. Eleven consultants were selected.

All committee members and consultants were notified of their appointment and each group convened via conference call to discuss committee procedures, operations, and products.

ACPM staff updated the committee membership list and created a consultant list based on the new appointments. Members of both groups were added to the committee listserv, the primary mechanism for committee communications.

Several draft guideline statements will soon be circulated to the Prevention Practice Committee for their review and comment. These include Adolescent Sexuality Education in Schools, authored by Rei Masui, MD, MPH, Sandra A. Almeida, MD, MPH, and Beverly J Bradley, PhD, RN, CHES; Varicella Vaccination, by Josette Boukhalil, MD, MPH, and Haq Nawaz, MD, MPH; and Understanding Type II Diabetes: Preventing Complications, by Stephen Benoit, MD, and Dan Zisook, MD.

The April 2003 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine will include Screening for Chlamydia Trachomatis, a practice policy statement developed by Katerina Hollblad-Fadiman, MD, MPH, and Samuel M. Goldman, MD, MPH. Counseling Children and Adolescents for Osteoporosis Prevention, authored by Regina Fleming, MD, MSPH, Sandra Almeida, MD, MPH, and Kevin Patrick, MD, MS will be circulated to the Board of Regents in March.

ACPM and AJPM have been discussing issues surrounding the possible publication of ACPM position statements in AJPM. Position statements are not in and of themselves evidence-based recommendations on preventive services; rather, they represent ACPM expert opinion on such topics as how best to apply the evidence-based recommendations of others.

AJPM had originally expressed a willingness to publish these statements. Upon reflection, AJPM has expressed reservations about publishing them. Because the statements are not peer-reviewed, AJPM is concerned they may detract from the quality of the Journal.