Posted 11/08/2006

    APHA delegates call for withdrawal of U.S. armed forces
                                            from Iraq

BOSTON -- The American Public Health Association on Wednesday called for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. armed forces from Iraq along with action on a list of other policies including sex education, obesity, trans fats and alcohol consumption.

The nation’s largest organization of public health professionals voted at its 134th annual meeting to:

• Oppose the war in Iraq: APHA called for the immediate initiation of the safe withdrawal of U.S. armed forces from Iraq accompanied by the deployment of U.N. peacekeeping troops in areas of high risk for inter-ethnic conflict or civil war.

The association urged reconstruction of vital health-supporting infrastructure in Iraq and ensuring safe access to this infrastructure by the Iraqi people while also guaranteeing that adequate resources are provided for the care and rehabilitation of injured U.S. military personnel and their families.

APHA has long supported using the funds saved by the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq to meet public health needs in the United States and in developing countries.

• Oppose abstinence-only sex education: APHA recognizes the importance of abstinence education, but only as part of a comprehensive sexuality education program. The association notes that while abstinence from sexual intercourse is theoretically fully protective against pregnancy and disease, in actual practice, abstinence often fails, leaving students unequipped to prevent unintended pregnancies and protect themselves from sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and other consequences.

APHA calls for repealing current federal funding for abstinence-only programs and replacing it with funding for a new federal program to promote comprehensive sexuality education, combining information about abstinence with age-appropriate sexuality education. Hallmarks of such a program include information about concepts of healthy sexuality; sexuality orientation and tolerance; risks of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancy; access to reproductive health care, such as birth control; and benefits and risks of condoms and other contraceptives. Such programs should be medically accurate and developmentally appropriate, sensitive to cultural diversity and social context and based on scientifically proven methods.

• Reverse the nation’s obesity epidemic: APHA supports the immediate mobilization of governmental, public and private agencies to coordinate actions to reverse the obesity epidemic, working toward achieving the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans as a means to begin reversing obesity rates.

APHA’s recommendations include:

• Identifying the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as the lead federal agency to organize a task force to address the nation’s high level of obesity;
• Funding the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to support a leadership infrastructure and state plan for nutrition and physical activity programs in all states;
• Conducting mass communications campaigns that promote healthy eating and exercise; and
• Enforcing laws, ordinances and policies at the federal, state and local levels that support healthy eating and exercise, such as those for federal nutrition assistance programs and school nutrition and physical education wellness policies.

“Obesity among adults and children has reached epidemic proportions in the United States,” said Patricia Mail, PhD, MPH, CHES, president of APHA. “We must focus more attention on promoting healthier diets and regular exercise to reverse this alarming trend.”

• Ban trans fats in restaurants: APHA urges federal, state and local governments to ban and monitor the use of trans fat laden partially hydrogenated oils in restaurants or require restaurants to have menu labeling that would prominently disclose all amounts of trans fat greater than 0.1 gram per serving. The association also calls for other trans fat restrictions such as limiting its use in schools and revoking the “generally recognized safe” status of trans fat containing partially hydrogenated oils.

“We now clearly recognize the health dangers of products containing trans fats,” said Dr, Georges Benjamin, executive director of APHA. “Restaurants and manufacturers and local and state governments should collaborate to move to restrict the use of trans fats.”

• Support global alcohol control: APHA urges the World Health Organization to adopt and implement a binding international treaty modeled after the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, a historic tobacco control treaty adopted in 2003, to help reduce the harmful consumption of alcoholic beverages.

The Association believes that an international Framework Convention on Alcohol Control (FCAC) could thwart the expansion of alcohol markets and strengthen national and local regulation of alcohol.

“The global burden of disease for alcohol is approaching that of tobacco,” said Benjamin. “A framework convention on alcohol would help strengthen the hand of countries in setting policies that protect human health.”

Founded in 1872, the APHA is the oldest, largest and most diverse organization of public health professionals in the world. The association aims to protect all Americans and their communities from preventable, serious health threats and strives to assure community-based health promotion and disease prevention activities and preventive health services are universally accessible in the United States.

APHA represents a broad array of health providers, educators, environmentalists, policy-makers and health officials at all levels working both within and outside governmental organizations and educational institutions.

More information is available at www.apha.org.