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March 2, 2006 Ron Schoenfeld, Ph.D. Office of the Surgeon General Department of Health and Human Services 5600 Fishers Lane Room 18-66 Rockville, MD 20852 Subject: Comments on Surgeon General’s Call to Action on Underage Drinking Prevention Dear Dr. Shoenfeld: In response to the Federal Register notice dated February 22, 2006, please accept the enclosed comments for consideration in the development of the Surgeon General’s forthcoming Call to Action on underage drinking prevention. With best regards. Sincerely, George A.Hacker Dictr Alcohol Policies Project encl. Tel: [phone] Suite 300 Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D.Fax: [phone] Connecticut Avenue, NW Executive Directorwww.cspinet.org Washington, DC 20009-5728 Comments and Recommendations of the Center for Science in the Public Interest on the Surgeon General’s National Call to Action on Underage Drinking Prevention The Surgeon General’s Call to Action on underage drinking prevention presents an historic opportunity for the nation’s top public health authority to spearhead a long-overdue, comprehensive and coordinated, public and private response to America’s number one youth drug problem: underage drinking. Consistent with previous Surgeon Generals’ statements on the prevention of smoking and drunk driving, the proposed Call to Action should incorporate guiding principles that rely on ...

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• Publié par: Lekos
• Nombre de lectures: 58
• Langue: English

Extrait

March 2, 2006

Ron Schoenfeld, Ph.D.

Office of the Surgeon General

Department of Health and Human Services

5600 Fishers Lane

Room 18-66

Rockville, MD

20852

Subject:

Comments on Surgeon General’s Call to Action on Underage Drinking Prevention

Dear Dr. Shoenfeld:

In response to the Federal Register notice dated February 22, 2006, please accept the enclosed comments

for consideration in the development of the Surgeon General’s forthcoming Call to Action on underage

drinking prevention.

With best regards.

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Alcohol Policies Project

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Tel:

[phone]

Fax:

[phone]

www.cspinet.org

Suite 300

1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20009-5728

Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D.

Executive Director

Comments and Recommendations of the Center for Science in the Public Interest

on the Surgeon General’s National Call to Action on Underage Drinking Prevention

The Surgeon General’s Call to Action on underage drinking prevention presents an historic opportunity

for the nation’s top public health authority to spearhead a long-overdue, comprehensive and coordinated,

public and private response to America’s number one youth drug problem: underage drinking.

Consistent with previous Surgeon Generals’ statements on the prevention of smoking and drunk driving,

the proposed Call to Action should incorporate guiding principles

that rely on evidence-based prevention

approaches that utilize both individual and population-oriented policy and programmatic strategies.

Only

that combination will promote real progress in national efforts to combat underage drinking.

We

strongly recommend that the Call to Action adopt the following principles:

Base recommended programs and policies on proven public health and prevention strategies.

In a

2003 report to Congress, the National Academies of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine (NAS/IOM)

identified a cohesive, comprehensive, science-based national strategy to combat underage drinking.

The

Call to Action should mirror and amplify that strategy.

In particular, it should echo the NAS/IOM’s call

for a federally-funded, adult-focused national media campaign as the centerpiece of a commitment to

reduce underage drinking.

Focus on high-leverage public policy strategies and on educational and clinical approaches aimed at

individual behavioral change.

A serious commitment to demand reduction, in particular, requires a

willingness to insist on improved monitoring and regulation of alcohol advertising and promotion directed

at young people.

It also requires articulation of the well-documented benefits of increasing excise taxes

on alcoholic beverages – especially on beer – at the federal and state levels.

Analogous strategies have

been central components of successful efforts to reduce initiation and use of tobacco among young

people.

Propose a comprehensive plan and a clear strategy (including federal initiatives) to prevent and

reduce underage drinking.

The Call to Action should outline a series of short- and longer-term actions

to be undertaken by various agencies within the federal government, state and local governments, law

enforcement agencies, schools and universities, and alcohol producers, wholesalers, and retailers.

The

Surgeon General’s Office should develop a vigorous plan to effectively promote and disseminate the Call

to Action to policy makers and the public.

We urge the Surgeon General, in developing the Call to Action, to continue the work of his

predecessors, C. Everett Koop, Antonia Novello, and David Satcher, who vocally supported strong

measures to reduce underage drinking.

Generals Koop and Novello called for restrictions on

advertising and marketing practices that reach underage youth.

Dr. Koop endorsed i

ncreases in excise

taxes on alcoholic beverages to save young lives; and Dr. Novello initiated a series of (DHHS) Inspector

General reports on underage drinking,

including a report calling for tighter restrictions on alcohol

advertising that appeals to young people.

General Satcher addressed the need to reduce youth

demand for alcohol and promoted the development and widespread dissemination of campaigns to

deglamorize underage drinking.

He recognized, as we believe the Call to Action should, that “until

we are able to curtail the demand by young people for alcohol, increased enforcement and legal

sanctions will represent only half the solution.”

CSPI

3/2/2006