HHS awards $10M to support public health efforts for reducing tobacco use and obesity

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced awards of $10 million to 10 national non-profit organizations to support public health efforts to reduce tobacco use and reduce obesity through increased physical activity and improved nutrition.

“Communities Putting Prevention to Work will transform the environments where Americans live, work, learn, and play to promote health and prevent heart attack, cancer, diabetes, and stroke”

These competitive awards are part of the HHS Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) initiative, a comprehensive prevention and wellness initiative funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

"Communities Putting Prevention to Work will transform the environments where Americans live, work, learn, and play to promote health and prevent heart attack, cancer, diabetes, and stroke," said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. "As our nation's health care system evolves, preventing disease will improve Americans' quality of life."

These 10 national organizations will provide expert guidance to community leaders, help sustain prevention efforts when Recovery Act funding ends, and foster a national movement toward prevention by implementing key practices across their networks and systems.

The selected national organizations will help communities implement prevention policies that will enable residents to live longer, healthier lives. Examples of these strategies include: incentives to food retailers to locate and offer healthier options in underserved areas; healthier choices in child care, schools, and the workplace; subsidized memberships to recreational facilities; safe routes to school; and evidence-based strategies that discourage tobacco use and increase utilization of cessation programs.

"In the United States, seven of 10 deaths result from chronic disease, with tobacco, obesity, poor nutrition and lack of physical activity as the key risk factors for disease," said HHS Assistant Secretary for Health Howard K. Koh, M.D., M.P.H. "We are proud to partner with these national organizations that have proven their expertise and will advance progress in helping Americans achieve and enjoy better health."

Of the 10 organizations receiving $1 million grants, seven organizations will receive funding for obesity prevention, and three will receive funding for tobacco prevention and cessation. Representatives from the selected organizations participated in a roundtable discussion today with Secretary Sebelius and Dr. Koh to share highlights of each organization's expertise and identify opportunities for cross-collaboration.

The awardees are:

• American Academy of Pediatrics
• American Heart Association
• American Lung Association
• Association of American Indian Physicians
• BlazeSports America
• Community Food Security Coalition
• National Association of Latino Elected Officials
• National Recreation and Parks Association
• Sesame Workshop
• Society for Public Health Education

CPPW reflects HHS' broader commitment to helping prevent disease before it starts. The program has five distinct initiatives: a community initiative, a states and territories change initiative, a states chronic disease self management initiative, the national organizations initiative, and a supporting media campaign.

In addition to these new grant awards to national organizations, HHS will soon launch a National Prevention Media Campaign that will deliver hard-hitting advertisements to complement and support the work of CPPW. A contract for $28 million was recently awarded to the Academy for Educational Development (AED). This new media contract will also develop consumer materials for First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign aimed at preventing childhood obesity.

The following grants have already been awarded under CPPW:

• Community Initiative: $372 million in prevention and wellness grants to 44 communities around the nation.
• States and Territories Policy and Environmental Change Initiative: more than $119 million to states and U.S. territories to support public health efforts to reduce obesity, increase physical activity, improve nutrition, and decrease smoking.
• States Chronic Disease Self Management Initiative: $27 million will allow states to provide self-management programs to older adults with chronic diseases, build statewide delivery systems, and develop the workforce that delivers these programs.

To view a fact sheet on Communities Putting Prevention to Work Leveraging National Organizations, visit http://www.hhs.gov/ophs/funding/cppwfactsheet.html.

To learn more about Communities Putting Prevention to Work, visit http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/cppw/factsheet.html and http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/recovery.

http://www.hhs.gov/news