KHI NEWS SERVICE
TOPEKA, March 29
The University of Kansas Medical Center Area Health Education Center (AHEC) and Clean Air Kansas City were presented awards at the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors annual meeting in Atlanta.
NACDD is a public health association that provides a national forum for chronic disease prevention and control efforts.
“The fact that Kansas brought home two awards out of six presented at this national conference speaks volumes about our state”s commitment to public health,” Roderick L. Bremby, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said in a prepared statement. “Both awards were earned for efforts to encourage Kansans to become tobacco-free, which are key to the governor”s Healthy Kansas initiative.”
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius launched the Healthy Kansas initiative in
2004 to encourage Kansans to take more responsibility for improving their health.
Kansans can learn more online at
www.healthykansas.org
.
The KU Area Health Education Center earned NACDD”s 2007 program delivery award for its collaboration with the KDHE Tobacco Use Prevention Program in implementing the “Treating Tobacco Use During Pregnancy and Beyond” Initiative, the goals of which were to educate health care providers on tobacco cessation, inform providers of Kansas Tobacco Quitline services (1-866-KAN-STOP or 1-866-526-7867) and provide incentives to address tobacco cessation within health care practices.
So far, about 500 providers have attended training sessions, according to KDHE, and more than 1,000 tobacco users have been referred to the Kansas Quitline. Mary Beth Warren, statewide director with the University of Kansas Medical Center, accepted the award in Atlanta.
The KDHE Tobacco Use Prevention Program provides resources and technical assistance to community coalitions aimed at decreasing tobacco use. For additional information see
www.kdheks.gov/tobacco
.
Clean Air Kansas City received NACDD”s 2007 public policy award. Last year, the coalition was instrumental in achieving comprehensive clean indoor air policies in eight cities, six in Kansas and two in Missouri.
In Kansas, those cities included Mission Woods, Leawood, Olathe, Overland Park, Roeland Park and Prairie Village.
Nicole Brown, Kansas co-chair for Clean Air Kansas City, accepted the award.
Clean Air Kansas City is a bi-state, grassroots coalition of more than 300 organizations and individuals in the Kansas City metropolitan area, which encompasses more than 40 municipalities.