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May
27,
2004 NEW SMOKING
PREVENTION COMMITTEE AT IOM
A new Institute of Medicine
committee began work on a “blueprint
for the nation in the struggle to reduce tobacco use” on April
27. Although smoking rates have declined in the past 40 years, the habit
still holds sway over nearly a quarter of American adults. The IOM project, “Reducing
Tobacco Use: Strategies, Barriers, and Consequences” will look
at ways to chip away at that number and to better calculate the societal
and economic benefits of anti-smoking interventions and policies. During its 18-month tenure,
the committee will examine which interventions and treatments show
the most promise for reducing tobacco use among remaining
smokers and which policies or interventions have outlived their usefulness.
The committee’s final report will include recommendations to federal,
state and local governments as well as nonprofit societies and industry,
according to the project’s scope. The committee’s chair is Richard Bonnie, L.L.B., of the Institute
of Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. Bonnie’s
special research interests include health law and policy and regulation
of alcohol, tobacco and controlled substances. He heads the new project
after having served on several other IOM committees related to tobacco
use. Robert Wallace, M.S., M.D., of the University of Iowa College of
Public Health and Medicine, will serve as vice chair. Wallace is also
a senior adviser to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. The committee’s first
public meeting is May 24, 2004. For more information on the project,
its future meeting dates, and ways you can
provide feedback to the committee, go here. |
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