| - The American Cancer Society will celebrate the 29th Annual Great American Smokeout on November 17, 2005. In celebration of the Smokeout, the American Cancer Society - Guam Office, the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse and Continental Airlines are sponsoring a photo contest for high school youth. Learn more about the contest. |
| - The DMHSA/PEACE Trainers in Brief Cessation conducted their first training event among the PEACE Community Prevention Mentors and Prevention and Training Staff. |
| - Guam participated at the Pacific Global Health Conference, Honolulu, Hawaii, with presentations by Dr. Annette M. David from DMHSA, and Drs. Karen Cruz and Michael Ehlert from UOG. The Ayuda Foundation received an award for outstanding work in promoting health. |
– The Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, through Dr. Annette M. David, presented its SYNAR data at an oral session during the National Conference on Tobacco or Health, on 6 May, in Chicago. Mr. Peter Cruz of DMHSA also attended the conference to obtain updates in smoking cessation, which he will apply to the DMHSA cessation program, currently the only one offering regular cessation services for free to the Guam community. Mr. Michael Liberatore represented the UOG Tobacco Control Advisory Group. Together with Dr. David and other colleagues, they presented a poster on the use of input from community stakeholders to design a tobacco control research agenda for Guam. |
– DMHSA jointly sponsored a training workshop on Brief Cessation Interventions with the American Cancer Society and the Dept. of Public Health and Social Services. Trainers James Rarick, Cancer Information Services-Pacific Region Program Coordinator from Honolulu and Rebecca Smith from the Dept. of Public Health at Kauai facilitated the training, which was attended by members of the Governor’s PEACE Project, the WIC program, the DPHSS Nursing Program, Pacificare, UOG’s Student Wellness Center, the Drug and Alcohol Counselling and the Prevention and Training Branches of DMHSA, and the DPHSS Education Unit. |
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– At the invitation of Senators Lou Leon Guerrero and Joanne Brown, Dr. Annette M. David presented on “Tobacco Control in the Pacific Region: Working Towards a Tobacco Free Future for the Region” to members of the Health Committees of the Legislatures of American Samoa, CNMI, the Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Palau and Kiribati. Four policy recommendations and one advocacy recommendation, feasible given the current infrastructure and capacity within the Region, were made. These included: 1) Raising tobacco taxes and channeling the revenues to sustain tobacco control and prevention efforts; 2) Requiring effective, visible, relevant, rotating health warnings on all cigarette packs, including pictorial warnings; 3) Legislating smoke-free public places; 4) Expanding cessation services; and 5) Promoting tobacco-free lifestyles as the norm in society. Dr. David also stressed the importance of using the international Framework Convention on Tobacco Control as the region’s minimum standard for a comprehensive approach to reducing tobacco use, including the US Territories. |
– Guam joined the other WHO Member States and Territories in celebrating World No Tobacco Day (WNTD). For its efforts, DMHSA was awarded the WNTD Regional Award by Mr. Burke Fishburn, Regional Coordinator for WHO's Tobacco Free Initiative, on behalf of the Regional Director, Dr. Shigeru Omi. WHO cited DMHSA for its leadership in pursuing a comprehensive, evidence-based approach to reducing tobacco use on the island. |
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– Guam’s Youth for Youth Organization, the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, the Guam National Guard, the American Cancer Society and the Department of Public Health jointly celebrated Kick Butts Day with a triple event at Guam’s major malls. |
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– This youth-led, youth-directed conference celebrated its 15th year of promoting substance abuse prevention to young people on Guam.
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