Other Announcements

General

Fundamentals of Evaluation web-based course – registration now open!
This winter, learn to develop an evaluation plan in the Tobacco Technical Assistance Consortium’s (TTAC) Fundamentals of Evaluation web-based course for public health practitioners. This 12-week course guides participants through the evaluation process – from planning to reporting results. The course is instructor-led, and offers an interactive and engaging learning experience with visual aids, group discussion, self-assessments, and individual learning activities. This course is recommended for public health professionals planning, completing, or assisting with an evaluation; decision-makers responsible for selecting a professional evaluator; or anyone with a desire or need to gain a better understanding of the core concepts of evaluation and evaluation planning. The next course will be offered from January 22 – April 12, 2013. Click here for more information, or click here to register. Registration will close on January 11, 2013.

Public comment opportunity: Meaningful Use Stage 3 draft recommendations
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology’s (ONC) Health Information Technology Policy Committee (HITPC) has begun to develop Meaningful Use stage 3 recommendations. The Request for Comment (RFC) includes the following sections: Meaningful Use Objectives and Measures, Quality Measures, and Privacy and Security. All commenters are encouraged to provide opinions regarding feasibility, and more importantly, experiences with how something has been done in order to promote advancement, while also ensuring it is achievable.Instructions for submitting comments can be found in the Federal Register. Click here to submit a comment via regulations.gov. The deadline for comment submissions is January 14, 2013. Learning more about Meaningful Use: Federal law provides incentives to certain types of healthcare providers and hospitals for adopting electronic health record (EHR) technology and using it a meaningful way to capture and track health data, such as smoking status and tobacco cessation counseling. Click here for a quick introduction to Meaningful Use, or click here for examples from the field of how Meaningful Use is being implemented, FAQs, and links to other resources.

I'm Your Community Guide! Contest
The Public Health Foundation (PHF) has announced the launch of the 2013 I'm Your Community Guide! Contest. The contest provides an opportunity for organizations using evidence-based recommendations from the Guide to Community Preventive Services (Community Guide) to share how they are doing so for a chance to win recognition for their organizations accomplishments. State, tribal, local, and territorial health departments; community health coalitions; and others who have used the Community Guide in their organization and community to improve health and prevent disease are encouraged to enter. Learn more here.

HHS launches new BeTobaccoFree.gov website
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched BeTobaccoFree.gov, a comprehensive website providing one-stop access to the best and most recent tobacco-related information from across its agencies (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office on Smoking and Health, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute, the Office of the Assistant Secretary, and the Office of the Surgeon General). This resource includes general information on tobacco, federal and state laws and policies, health statistics, and evidence-based methods on how to quit smoking. The website is available on smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers. It also provides continuous real-time updates from HHS tobacco-related social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr, infographics, and podcasts. Click here to access the BeTobaccoFree.gov website for information on helping tobacco users quit and providing young people with information on avoiding or ending tobacco use.

Tobacco Portal website launch
Researchers at Georgia State University’s Institute of Public Health created the Tobacco Portal as a resource center that provides links to tobacco related data, reports, scientific information and publications. The Tobacco Portal provides a single location for publicly available tobacco information and categorizes resources that are useful for researchers and tobacco control experts. The Tobacco Portal features international, national and local level information on tobacco-related topics such as harm, prevalence, economics, marketing, legal issues, and tobacco control and cessation. Click here to access this resource.

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FDA Announcements

Call for nominations: FDA-CTP's Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee
The Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products is currently accepting nominations for new voting members of the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC). The TPSAC reviews and evaluates safety, dependence, and health issues relating to tobacco products and provides advisement to the Commissioner of Food and Drugs on the regulation of tobacco. The full notice and instructions for submitting nominations are available here. The deadline for nominations is December 4, 2012.

Spanish pledge widget to protect kids from tobacco
The Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products has launched a Spanish-language widget to protect kids from tobacco. Spanish-speaking tobacco product retailers are on the front lines of the effort to protect youth from tobacco. The pledge encourages everyone – from retailers to parents to community leaders – to pledge to take part in responsible tobacco retailing or support retailers who follow the law and do not sell tobacco products to minors. Click here to take the pledge to support responsible retailing. Click here to access the webpage in Spanish.

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