$4.5M National Anti-Tobacco Campaign Focusing on Blacks To Begin Second Phase This Summer
The American Legacy Foundation, which three years ago granted $4.5 million to six organizations seeking to curb tobacco use in the black community, now is preparing to launch the second phase of its national smoking cessation campaign, the Louisiana Weekly reports. The six organizations, called the African American Partners for a Tobacco-Free Society, are the National Newspaper Publishers Association; the NAACP; the National Urban League; the National Conference of Black Mayors; the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation; and the National Association of Neighborhoods. Efforts under the first phase of the Priority Populations Initiative focused on youth smoking, secondhand smoke and cessation techniques and included educational forums, public service announcements and a media campaign. Helen Lettlow, assistant vice president of the Priority Population Department at the American Legacy Foundation, said, "By this collective group of partners, we were able to raise public awareness. We were able to showcase and spotlight the importance and the impact of tobacco use in the black community." Phase two of the campaign -- which will begin in July and also run for three years -- will focus primarily on smoking among substance users and will support rehabilitation programs, reducing secondhand smoke in the home and integrating smoking cessation campaigns with other health initiatives, such as diabetes and cardiovascular health education (Trice Edney, Louisiana Weekly, 4/9).
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