Chair: Neal Kohatsu                                                                     Staff: Jessica Cafarella

Vice Chair: Linda Kinsinger

Since its report to the Board in October 2001, the ACPM Prevention Practice Committee has focused on: (1) recruiting and appointing a new Committee Chair; (2) updating the Committee membership list; (3) updating the Committee portion of the ACPM website; (4) finalizing the ACPM position statement, Preventing Handgun Injury; (5) finalizing the revision of the ACPM practice policy statement Adult Immunizations; and (6) updating and distributing the document Overview of Writing a Practice Policy or Public Policy Statement. Current activities and upcoming plans in these and other areas are outlined below.

In the fall of 2001, Prevention Practice Committee Chair Neal Kohatsu, MD, MPH, announced that he would be stepping down to concentrate on his responsibilities as Chair of ACPM’s Preventive Medicine 2003 meeting. Dr. Kohatsu’s leadership and dedication to the Committee will be sorely missed. ACPM is pleased to announce, however, that David Katz, MD, MPH, will be taking over for Dr. Kohatsu at the February 2002 meeting as Chair of the Prevention Practice Committee.

Linda Kinsinger, MD, MPH, Committee Vice Chair, also will be stepping down from her position. ACPM staff will work with Dr. Katz to appoint a replacement.

ACPM staff updated the Committee membership list based on the membership criteria approved at the October 2001 meeting. At its February 2002 meeting, the Committee will discuss expanding the membership of the Committee.

At its October 2001 meeting, the Committee discussed the Prevention Practice portion of the ACPM website. The Committee decided to update the site to include a list of Committee members (including name and affiliation), as well as information about the Committee, Committee meetings, and the Committee listserv. The Committee also agreed to link with information elsewhere on ACPM’s site describing practice policy statements, public policy statements, and position statements. ACPM staff have since made the appropriate changes, and the updated site can be found at http://www.acpm.org/pol_prevprac.htm.

ACPM’s first position statement, Preventing Handgun Injury, was developed by Christopher Armstrong, MD, MPH, FACPM and Joseph Sudbay, JD. A copy of the statement is attached to this report. The statement was reviewed by the Prevention Practice Committee and, subsequently, the Policy Committee.

The Prevention Practice Committee is requesting Board approval of the statement.

Ann Fingar, MD, MPH, and Byron Francis, MD, MPH, authored the updated practice policy statement, Adult Immunizations. The Prevention Practice Committee is requesting Board approval of the statement. A revision of the accompanying statement, Childhood Immunizations, is expected to be presented to the Board in Spring 2002.

ACPM staff updated and distributed a revised version of the document Overview of Writing a Practice Policy or Public Policy Statement, as recommended by the Committee at its October 2001 meeting. A copy of the updated document is attached to this report.

ACPM statements currently under development are as follows:

Topic                                                                        Author

Practice Policies
Vitamin A Supplementation                                            Nawaz, Katz
Counseling Children/Adolescents on Osteoporsis                Fleming, Almeida, Patrick
Screening for Chlamydia Trachomatis                              Hollblad-Fadiman, Goldman
Hepatitis A Vaccination                                                Kinsinger, Richards


Public Policies
Newborn Hearing Screening                                           Clark, Kravitz
PPD Screening of Screening of School Children                  Chang
Domestic Violence                                                        Seid
ECP as an OTC Medication                                            Howe, Hill, Doshi, Neely
Adolescent sexuality education in schools                        Masui

Position Statements
Handgun Injury                                                            Armstrong, Sudbay

Revisions
Adult Immunizations                                                      Fingar, Francis
Childhood Immunizations                                                Adetunji, Macklin, Kinsinger

At its February 2002 in-person meeting, the Committee will be discussing many topics, including the following:

• Recruiting New Committee Members

• Developing Criteria for Linking with On-Line Patient Education Material
• Creating a Process for Updating Practice Policy and Public Policy Statements
• Undertaking New Position Statements