June 2005
June 10, 2005
Preventive Medicine Residencies Funding Strategy
ACPM staff continues their lobbying efforts on Capitol
Hill to look for sources of funding to PM residency
programs. Staff met with Robert Kadlec, a PM physician
who is the Chief of Staff for Senator Richard Burr
(R-NC) as an ongoing effort to gain bipartisan support
for a bill that was originally sponsored within the HeLP
America Act from Senator Harkin’s (D-IA) office. One
possible strategy discussed was to look for PM funding
through public health preparedness appropriations.
June 13, 2005
Anti-tobacco Coalitions
ACPM staff attended a coalition meeting for Partners for
Effective Tobacco Policy, which is sponsored by the
American Cancer Society. During the meeting, the 35+
organizations present were updated on the latest tobacco
updates, from the FDA to the Federal Trade Commission,
to the latest happenings with the Department of
Justice’s case against the cigarette industry.
June 13, 2005
Health
Programs Funding
ACPM staff attended a Coalition for Health Funding
meeting with Kerry Weems, Deputy Chief of Staff for DHHS
Secretary Michael Leavitt. At the meeting were members
of 25+ other organizations who were there to discuss
federal funding of a variety of health programs for
fiscal year 2007, but particularly Title VII Health
Professions programs. According to Weems, the budget
constraints along with the lack of outcomes research on
the effectiveness of Title VII programs meeting the
health needs of underserved populations is the reason
why Title VII continually gets cut. Weems also said
that OMB plans to increase the budget to the National
Health Service Corps and Community Health Centers for
2007.
June 22, 2005
NANA
Coalition Meeting on VERB and School Foods Policy
ACPM staff
attended a NANA Coalition meeting hosted by the United
Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association. At the meeting,
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
presented 2nd year results from the VERB
campaign. VERB is a social marketing campaign aimed to
increase physical activity among youth between the ages
of 9-13 years old. Results showed that the program was
effective in reaching the target demographics and that
it increased overall physical activity among these
youth. Focus then shifted towards appropriations for
the CDC’s Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity
and VERB. Funding has been historically provided from
the House of Representatives. However, this year
funding decreased substantially from 58.8 million in
FY05 to 11.2 million for FY06.
The coalition then talked about various
topics related to school foods policy, such as: foods
sold inside school and between meals, ways to improve
school meal quality, progress on funding for the fruit
and vegetable snack program and increasing nutrition
education. The NIH is working with an expert panel to
develop national standards for foods sold outside of
school meals. The NANA Coalition and the USDA are also
working together to propose dietary guidelines and
regulations for school meal quality.
June 29, 2005
Toxicogenomics and the Public Interest
ACPM staff
attended a briefing hosted by Environmental Defense
titled “Ushering in the New Toxicology: Toxicogenomics
and the Public Interest." Dr. John M. Balbus, MD, MPH
discussed the implications surrounding the use of
toxicogenomics to detect changes in gene and protein
expression that occur in response to environmental
toxins. Environmental groups and researchers have
experienced scientific and political complexities over
the past several years that threaten to delay the use of
toxicogenomics. Dr. Balbus encouraged those in the
public-interest community to educate themselves and
others so that they may help guide the application of
this powerful new science.
