Since its report to the Board in July 2002, the ACPM Prevention Practice Committee has focused on: (1) finalizing the role and functions of the Committee; (2) finalizing the revised guideline development process; (3) drafting guidelines on Weight Management, Hepatitis A Vaccination, Adult Immunizations and Childhood Immunizations; and (4) publishing guidelines on Preventing Handgun Injury. Current activities and upcoming plans in these areas are outlined below.

Dr. Katz and the Committee Working Group (Neal Kohatsu, Dorry Lane, Don Gemson, and ACPM staff Jud Richland and Mike Barry) examined ACPM’s existing guideline development process and explored areas of potential improvement. Subsequently, David Katz formulated a proposal for the revised composition, structure, products, and operations of the Prevention Practice Committee. The revised role and functions of this committee were reviewed and discussed with Mark Johnson and Christopher Armstrong, Chair and Vice Chair of the Policy Committee, respectively, to clearly delineate the role/function of each committee when developing policy. A description describing the functioning of the committee is attached (Attachment A).

Membership on the reconstituted Prevention Practice Committee will be contingent upon a formal approval process. The committee will consist of a chair plus 14 dedicated members, at least one of whom must be on the ACPM Board. Additionally, the committee membership will at all times include, if possible, a representative of the US Preventive Services Task Force and a representative of the Task Force on Community Preventive Services.

A description of the committee restructuring and an application for membership were circulated to the existing committee members with a request to submit a CV and indicate content areas of particular expertise if they were interested in remaining on the committee. Reappointment to the committee will be contingent upon approval by the chair. Committee membership will be for a 2-year period initially. An announcement was also circulated to the full College membership so that others interested in serving may apply.

The committee will be supported in its work by a pool of consultants, in addition to the standing committee. These should be College members able to assist the committee in drafting College position statements or reviews in their area of expertise. Consultant positions will be approved by the committee. As of this writing, forty applications have been received for either full committee membership or consultant positions_. The revised committee will convene via conference call later this fall.

As noted in the previous report, ACPM currently produces practice policy statements on preventive medicine topics that are intended for the clinician and public policy statements that assess the effectiveness and value of public health policies implemented at the local, state, or national level. Additionally, the College has begun to develop position statements, which are brief summaries of College viewpoints on important topics already the focus of an evidence review by one or more entities outside of ACPM. Generating position statements shifts ACPM’s focus on guideline development toward a less time-intensive process in order to increase the number of position statements ACPM produces. This will mean a reduction in the number of ACPM practice and public policy statements created de novo and a significant increase in the number of position statements that the College produces. ACPM and the American Journal of Preventive Medicine finalized a memorandum of understanding clarifying that ACPM position statements will not need to be peer reviewed by the Journal since they express the opinion, not evidence reviews, of the College. This understanding will expedite the development of guidelines.

During the fall David Katz collaborated with ACPM resident Ginie Chan, MD, MPH, from the University of South Carolina to draft a new ACPM position statement titled, Diet in the Prevention and Control of Obesity, Insulin Resistance, and Type II Diabetes. Dr. Chan was the second resident to take part in ACPM’s new Pfizer Practicum Rotation in Health Policy and Preventive Medicine. Due to the current restructuring of the Prevention Practice Committee, a final draft of the statement was circulated to the Policy Committee and to the Board of Regents. The statement was approved by both bodies. The statement will be submitted for publication to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine this fall.

Statements on Hepatitis A Vaccination, Adult Immunizations and Childhood Immunizations are currently being revised. Please see Attachment B for the status of remaining statements currently under development.

The American Journal of Preventive Medicine’s November 2002 issue includes the first ACPM position statement, Preventing Handgun Injury, developed by Christopher Armstrong, MD, MPH, FACPM. Accompanying the statement is a commentary from David Katz and Dorry Lane that introduces the reader to the concept of ACPM’s position statements and describes their purpose.