American College of Preventive Medicine
Prevention Practice Committee
Wednesday, October 1, 2003
Conference Call 

MEETING SUMMARY

Participants

David Katz (Chair), Mike Barry (Staff), Jennifer Bretsch (Staff), Michael Compton, Rebecca Ferrini, Steven Jonas (PPC Consultant), Clyde Schechter, Robert Silverstein (PPC Consultant).

I. Welcome and Introductions

David Katz called the Committee to order at 3:52 p.m. He welcomed the Committee members and led the introductions.

II. ACPM Position and Policy Statements

A.     Vaccine Shortages Position Statement

Dr. Katz summarized the development of the vaccine shortages position statement. He reminded the group that the AJPM editor suggested the topic to the Committee last spring and gave a deadline of September. The Committee voted to develop this paper in addition to the four priority position statement topics.

The resident author Dr. Seira Kurian, conducted a literature review, and assembled several content outlines and draft papers during the summer. Dr. Katz, Dr. Kevin Sherin (PPC liaison), Dr. Mark Johnson and Dr. Christopher Armstrong (Chair and Vice-Chair of ACPM’s Policy Committee), AJPM Editor Kevin Patrick, and ACPM staff provided feedback to help the author refine the content of the outlines before the writing stages. Several people provided guidance during the writing.  The full Prevention Practice Committee reviewed the paper in August.

Dr. Katz noted that Dr. Kurian had difficulty developing the paper and revising it several times without having clear guidance on what possible recommendations and position on vaccine shortages ACPM could take.  The challenge is that the PPC and ultimately the Board of Regents relies on the author to review the recent literature and propose some possible positions and recommendations.  The PPC and the authors could then arrive at a position and recommendations through the process of review, comment, and redrafting of the paper.

Dr. Katz noted that a final paper was not submitted to AJPM in September because the author and several reviewers felt that the paper could be strengthened with additional time and guidance. The author will continue to revise the paper by addressing the recent IOM report in the context of vaccine production, supply, distribution, and utilization issues. The PPC will vote again on the paper in November to determine if members are generally comfortable with the College’s position statement.

B.     Obesity/Diabetes Prevention Position Statement

Dr. Katz and Dr. Clyde Schechter summarized the status of this position statement, one of four priority topics. Dr. Schechter is the PPC liaison to the resident, Dr. Suchita Lorick who is drafting the statement on behalf of the College.

They noted that the statement would have a clinical practice focus and the emphasis would be on the primary prevention of type 2 diabetes in overweight and obese adults. Dr. Katz walked the committee through a preliminary outline provided by the author. The author is currently researching the literature. Drs. Schechter and Katz will advise Dr. Lorick on ways to focus the outline. The PPC will review a draft paper later this fall.

C.     Childhood Asthma Education Statements

Mike Barry described two new statements that are currently being drafted on asthma prevention measures in children. Several researchers from the University of California, San Francisco are developing the statements on behalf of the College. CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is supporting the work through a cooperative agreement with ACPM as part of the College’s environmental health activities.

The first statement is a practice policy statement tentatively titled "Asthma Prevention Measures in Children." The statement is intended to provide physicians and other providers with guidelines and recommendations for optimal asthma education and management in children, with an emphasis on effective prevention measures. The paper will assess the effectiveness of different prevention strategies based on recent and ongoing clinical trials worldwide.

The other paper is a patient education statement which will include a consumer-oriented explanation of asthma, summary of effective preventive measures, recommended guidelines for clinical management, and the expected goals of treatment. The statement will not be a complete self-management reference, but rather serve as a useful guide for parents and families in achieving optimal clinical and preventive asthma care for children. This will be developed following the development of the practice policy statement

Mike will circulate a rough draft of the practice policy statement to the PPC via email so that the committee can review it and offer some guidance on the overall direction the paper should take, as well as any specific ideas for ACPM recommendations, public policy considerations, etc. He noted that the authors are far along with the evidence review, but have not developed the conclusions, policy considerations, ACPM recommendations, etc. and they would like to have PPC input.

Mike also requested a volunteer from the committee to serve as a committee liaison to the UCSF authors on the development of these two papers.

III. Other Business 

Dr. Katz asked the committee if there are other topics the PPC should address with position statements in the near future. Dr. Silverstein suggested a paper on reducing and eliminating heart disease and heart attacks.

The meeting adjourned at 5:07 p.m.