Projects
Featured HASPI Projects
The purpose of this project, which is funded by the Yuba City Police Department, is to carry out the mission of the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration (NHTSA) to increase child passenger safety through increased knowledge and skill regarding proper installation and maintenance of child passenger safety restraints, also known as known as child car seats. The project works to increase the number of trained child passenger safety technicians in law enforcement and non-law enforcement agencies within Sutter County. Newly trained technicians will, in turn, provide child passenger safety check-up events directly to the public in their communities and provide education and access to low cost or no cost child safety restraints to families in need in Sutter County.
Secondly, to increase bicycle helmet usage among youth under 18 years of age by conducting bicycle rodeos at elementary schools in Sutter County.
In addition, provide education and information to youth and parents on graduated drivers license requirements and safe teen driving practices in partnership with Yuba City Police Department and California Highway Patrol.
For more information please contact Jas Dhaliwal at 530-751-3819 or haspijd@gmail.com
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Reaching Low Income Californians: Seminars for Health Professionals
This project, which is funded by the American Cancer Society, provides training seminars for public and private health care and education personnel to increase understanding of the culture of poverty in order to improve the effectiveness of health interventions with low income Californians. These trainings outline best practices for conveying health messages and motivation for behavior change such as smoking cessation to low income communities. Keys for reaching this population are discussed including how to address competing needs and self-esteem perceptions that frustrate healthy life habits among the poor, how to deal with risk-taking behaviors as a way of life, low literacy material development and the critical importance of taking a family approach to healthy living.
These interactive seminars are given throughout California and have focused recently on protecting families from exposure to secondhand smoke in the home and tobacco cessation techniques that meet the needs of the working poor.
GLOBAL BREATH
A project of the health and social policy institute-haspi
“Death by cigarette smoke should not be a condition of employment.”
Tom Rankin, President California Labor Federation
Overview
Since 2001, Global BREATH has experienced tremendous interest from countries worldwide. The project’s philosophy is that “reinventing” smoke-free workplace implementation procedures, materials, resources and training is unnecessary and costly. Thus, global technical assistance is provided by means of webinars and conference call trainings as well as face-to-face meetings and materials sharing. Global BREATH has responded to requests from governmental and non-governmental health organizations throughout the world. Global BREATH is an outgrowth of BREATH—The California Smoke-Free Bars, Workplaces and Communities Program, which worked to implement smoke-free bars, restaurants and cardrooms in California.
Global BREATH has collaborated with agencies such as Essential Action, the European Network on Tobacco Control and the Asian Pacific Association for the Control of Tobacco (APACT). Announcements of Global BREATH’s services and resources have appeared on GLOBALink, generating many requests for assistance from around the world. Global BREATH has provided technical assistance and materials regarding secondhand smoke and other tobacco control data via email and conference calls to 16 countries including Nigeria, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Great Britain, Sweden, India, Australia and Vietnam. In-person trainings have been conducted in Croatia, Norway, Korea, Canada and the states of New York, Texas, Ohio, Georgia, Montana, and New Mexico. Consultations and web or teleconference trainings have been provided to 34 other U.S. states. BREATH presentations have been made at each of the four World Tobacco Control Conferences held since 1998, to the European “Smoke-Free Workplace” Conference in Berlin Germany (2001) and to the Asia Pacific Association for the Control of Tobacco (APACT) Conference in South Korea (2004). In-person trainings have also been conducted for the Health Ministries of Norway and Finland.
In 2007, Global Breath presented at the Asian Pacific Association for the Control of Tobacco in Taipei, Taiwan and has been invited to conduct trainings in Armenia, India, Vietnam and Chezoslavakia. Delegations from 4 countries interested in smoke-free workplace policies have visited GB staff during the past three years including China and Ireland.
A Clear Need
We know that tobacco use is the second major cause of death in the world. It is currently responsible for the death of one in ten adults worldwide (about 5 million deaths each year). If current smoking patterns continue, it will cause some 11 million deaths each year by 2025. Half of the people that smoke today - about 650 million people - will die prematurely because of tobacco use.
For every 8 smokers that the tobacco industry kills, they take one nonsmoker with them as a direct result of involuntary exposure to secondhand smoke. The workplace has been identified as the most important source of exposure to first and secondhand smoke.
The economic costs of tobacco use are equally devastating. In addition to the high public health costs of treating tobacco-caused diseases, tobacco kills people at the height of their productivity, depriving families of breadwinners and nations of a healthy workforce. Tobacco users are also less productive while they are alive due to increased sickness.
Tobacco and poverty are inextricably linked. Many studies have shown that in the poorest households in some low-income countries as much as 10% of total household expenditure is on tobacco. This means that these families have less money to spend on basic items such as food, education and health care. In addition to its direct health effects, tobacco leads to malnutrition, increased health care costs and premature death. It also contributes to a higher illiteracy rate, since money that could have been used for education is spent on tobacco instead.
Experience has shown that there are many cost-effective tobacco control measures that can be used in different settings and that can have a significant impact on tobacco consumption. The most cost-effective strategies are population-wide public policies like strong policies addressing smoke-free environments in all workplaces, bans on direct and indirect tobacco advertising, tobacco tax and price increases, and large clear graphic health messages on tobacco packaging. All these measures are discussed on the provisions of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
Global BREATH receives requests for assistance in the form of trainings, strategy sessions, presentation of papers, keynote addresses and technical assistance from other states and countries.
A Great Opportunity
Global Breath has materials, contacts and knowledge of the international tobacco control movement. Global Breath staff are members of the World Health Council, GLOBALink, and have longstanding working relationships with staff at the World Health Organization (WHO).
Who to Contact
Need more information on Global Breath? Contact Dian Kiser. Email address : haspisds@gmail.com |
