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From The Nation's Health, October 2000
APHA supports vaccine tax credit, clean
air, other issues
APHA took action on a host of public
health issues in recent weeks, supporting a vaccine tax credit proposal,
healthy air, vision rehabilitation, television alternatives and regulation
of cigarette health claims.
Eclipse regulation
APHA signed
on to letters to the Food and Drug Administration and Federal Trade
Commission in August calling for actions related to the marketing, sale
and distribution of Eclipse cigarettes.
Eclipse, distributed by the
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, is mistakenly being touted as less risky
than regular cigarettes, according to the letters.
"These claims
have not been subject to proper scientific review, and there is a grave
likelihood that consumers will rely, to their detriment, on these claims,"
said the letter to FDA, written by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "It
is essential that the FDA act now to prevent the promotion and
distribution of this product, at least until such time as (R.J. Reynolds
Tobacco Company) health claims can be adequately reviewed by FDA and
evidence can be presented as to the scientific merit of their claims."
The letter to FTC asked the agency to review advertising claims of
Eclipse and to seek an injunction against its marketing if the claims are
misleading.
Both letters cited data from the Society for Research
on Nicotine and Tobacco that shows there are insufficient and conflicting
scientific data on health claims related to Eclipse.
Other signers
of the letter included the American Medical Association, Partnership for
Prevention, Society for Public Health Education, National Association of
Local Boards of Health and the African-American Tobacco Education Network.
For more information, visit <http://www.tobaccofree%20kids.org/>.
Vaccine tax credit
APHA signed on to a letter to members of
Congress in August supporting a tax credit for companies that research and
develop preventive vaccines and microbicides for deadly
diseases.
The letter, from the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and
the AIDS Vaccine Advisory Coalition, supported the credit as a way to spur
investment in research on vaccines and microbicides for diseases such as
HIV, malaria and tuberculosis. The credit was originally introduced as
part of the Vaccines for the New Millennium Act introduced in the Senate
this year by Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and in the House by Rep. Nancy
Pelosi, D-Calif.
"While the National Institutes of Health and other
governmental agencies have made considerable progress in their efforts to
develop vaccines, private industry can bring unique resources and
abilities to this effort," said the letter, which was co-signed by more
than two dozen health organizations.
Clean Air Act
APHA joined Environmental Defense, Physicians
for Social Responsibility, the Clean Air Council and other environmental
and public health groups in submitting a friend of the court brief to the
Supreme Court in support of updated ozone and particulate matter
standards.
The standards, issued by the Environmental Protection
Agency in 1997, are being challenged by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce,
American Trucking Associations, the National Association of Manufacturers
and other industry groups. The groups are challenging EPA's ability to set
clean air standards, saying cost considerations should be a factor.
In the brief, submitted to the court Sept. 11, APHA and the other
groups argue that Congress has effectively ratified EPA's interpretation
that the Clean Air Act prohibits on cost when setting National Ambient Air
Quality Standards.
APHA and the others said that the statutory
arguments used by American Trucking Associations, the National Association
of Manufacturers and others are convoluted, implausible and without merit.
"For decades, the Clean Air Act has been based on the cost in illness
and death, not the cost to polluters," said Don Hoppert, APHA's director
of federal affairs.
The brief is available on the Environmental
Defense Web site at <http://www.edf.%20org/>. More
information is also through the Clean Air Network at <www.cleanair.
net/SmogSoot/NAAQS
supremecourt.htm>.
TV-Turnoff Week
APHA gave its endorsement in August to the
seventh TV-Turnoff Week, an annual event that encourages Americans to
forgo watching their televisions for a week.
TV-Turnoff Week, to be held April 2329, 2001, is
coordinated by the TV-Turnoff Network, a non-profit group that encourages
children and adults to watch less television and live healthier lives.
Last year, more than 6 million people and 61 endorsing groups - including
APHA - took part in TV-Turnoff Week.
The event encourages
organizers to plan activities as TV alternatives, such as fairs, games,
recitals, hikes, sporting events, readings and parties.
Studies
have linked excessive TV watching to increased obesity and violence.
Watching TV 10 or more hours a week also affects academic achievement,
according to the TV-Turnoff Network.
For more information, visit
<http://www.tvturnoff.org/>
or call (202) 518-5556.
Vision rehabilitation
APHA was one of 70 co-sponsors of
National Vision Rehabilitation Day Sept. 20. The event, organized by
Lighthouse International, creates public awareness of vision impairment,
its prevention and treatment and the importance of vision rehabilitation.
For more information, call (212) 821-9555, or visit the Web site
at <http://www.lighthouse.org/>.
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