National Networks for Tobacco Control Meeting

by Emilia Dunham, Network Program Associate

I had the joy of attending the annual National Networks for Tobacco Control meeting in Atlanta, GA.

In the morning, the six Networks funded by the Center for Disease Control. These Networks are similar to the LGBT Network in that they all focus on a special population in tobacco control. As each Network presented on its goals, activities and directions, I found that one of the major themes that emerged was that of the strong collaboration echoed over and over by each Network. Below are the six Networks and some of the major collaborations as well as unique projects of each Network.

National Latino Tobacco Control Network NLTCN

Break Free Alliance (low Socio-Economic Status)

National African American Tobacco Prevention Network (NAATPN)

Asian Pacific Partners for Empowerment, Advocacy and Leadership (APPEAL)  PROMISE (Promising practices that are Replicable, Obtainable, Measurable, Innovative, Sustainable and Empowering) Network APPEAL

Network for LGBT Tobacco Control.)

Collaborations:

• National Latino Tobacco Control Network is partnering with Break Free Alliance (low SES tobacco control) on smoke-free prisons (large population of Hispanic/Latinos) as prisoners are hard to reach and have extremely high smoking rates (98%) who continue smoking after release
• NLTCN is partnering with Network for LGBT Tobacco Control on addressing LGBT hate crimes in Puerto Rico, incorporating LGBT issues in BRFSS and sharing Steering Committees members to advocate for both communities
• NLTCN is writing a Promising Practices on Faith and advocacy, and is planning to work with NAATPN.
• NAATPN has worked with national partners to host a National Conference on Menthol
• Break Free Alliance, with assistance of NLTCN is developing papers and informational materials translated into Spanish
• Break Free Alliance is working on a Resource Library with help of other Networks
• Fundraising Event of APPEAL joined by Network members celebrating 15 strong years
• APPEAL is working with partners on case studies of communities to be applied to similar communities
• All National Networks are working on website and social media. The National Network website will be having new attractive features like videos, links and newsletters

Unique Concerns/Projects of the National Latino Tobacco Control Network (NLTCN)

• Working with Texas which is the only state in the U.S. with a high Hispanic/Latino population with no Clean Indoor Act
• Need to raise awareness at federal level
• Translating tobacco control documents
• Low education of community means social media is difficult, so they focus on novellas/brochures

Unique Concerns/Projects of Break Free Alliance

• Position papers on tobacco taxes and their impact on Populations of Low Socioeconomic Status (SES) in that funds collected from taxes go back to Low SES community
• Addressing smoking in homeless community by completing an assessment of national community action agencies and the National Healthcare for the Homeless Council

Unique Concerns/Projects of the National African American Tobacco Prevention Network (NAATPN)

• Nominated the first African American to the North American Quit-line Consortium Board of Directors
• Data collection on race/ethnicity on quitlines is sparse, challenging policy advocacy campaigns
• Legacy Scholars are working with historically black colleges and churches to determine current smoke-free policies and whether they need assistance.
• Speaking on radio and television shows, both mainstream and those with majority Black audiences

Unique Concerns/Projects of the National Native Commercial Tobacco Abuse Prevention Network (NNCTAPN)

• Work with both Inter-tribal Councils, and tobacco control programs
• Tribes have their own culture making outreach a struggle
• Tobacco is a sacred medicine, so they differentiate with commercial tobacco
• Many tobacco control policies exclude Native American reservations and owned businesses (casinos)
• Have done tobacco control trainings among Native American communities and organizations
• Implementing system approach health centers to second-hand smoke among Native Americans

Unique Concerns/Projects of  Asian Pacific Partners for Empowerment, Advocacy and Leadership (APPEAL)  PROMISE (Promising practices that are Replicable, Obtainable, Measurable, Innovative, Sustainable and Empowering) Network APPEAL

• On a Legislative level, APPEAL advocates for Guam’s tobacco tax
• Working with Asian Human Services benefits for smoking employees
• There are separations between various ethnicities, which necessitates innovative facilitation
• Cultural forms of tobacco use is outside of traditional tobacco control policy

Of course you know the Network for LGBT Tobacco Control. From our policy work, state cultural competency technical assistance, resource library connections and unique social media campaigns, we are further positioning ourselves for our work in the future. To learn more, you’ll have check out more of our blog for more specifics!