Can non-prosecutory enforcement of public health legislation reduce smoking amonq hiqh school students?

NOW that the national elections are in the background, we may expect to see Congressional decks being cleared for action in the 81st Congress. It is therefore in order to review the achievements of the 80th Congress in respect to health legislation. The magnitude of the federal government's role in the development and financing of programs in the field of health can readily be appreciated by the fact that Congress appropriated approximately $165,000,000 for public health activities during the current fiscal year. Contract authorizations will raise the amount to more than $275,000,000. Besides these appropriations, the federal government assumes the total cost for many of the medical and hospital needs of the veteran population. Among the appropriations voted by Congress for various health programs for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 1948, are the following:[see table in source pdf] LEGISLATION PASSED Heart Disease Program: Congress enacted the National Heart Act. This law provides for (1) increased cardiovascular research, (2) improvement and expansion of heart disease detection and diagnostic services, (3) training of personnel both in the fields of research and matters relating to the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of heart disease. For these purposes, Congress voted an appropriation of over $3,000,000 for the current fiscal year. This program, which is to be administered by the Public Health Service, is comparable with those already operating in the fields of cancer and mental health. The law establishes the National Heart Institute and a National Advisory Heart Council consisting of 12 non-federal members, of which Dr. Paul D. White of Boston has been appointed Chairman. Included within the appropriation is an authorization for grants-in-aid to states for community heart disease programs in the amount of $500,000. Dental Disease Program: Congress passed the National Dental Research Act to establish a program to increase research in problems of dental health and to increase training of personnel in matters related to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of dental diseases. For these purposes, the law authorizes an annual appropriation of $750,000.

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EnCLASS: an innovative project merging 2 international surveys (HBSC/ESPAD) among French students

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckz187 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

E Godeau ◽

V Ehlinger ◽

S Spilka

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

High School ◽

Substance Use ◽

Health Behavior ◽

Secondary School ◽

Health Behaviors ◽

Adolescent Health ◽

International Level ◽

School Students ◽

Health Promotion In Schools

Abstract Problem For two decades, France has taken part in two “competing” school-based, cross-national surveys exploring the health behaviors and well-being of adolescent (Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey, 11-13-15 year-olds) and their substance use (European School Project on Alcohol and other Drugs (ESPAD), 15-16 year-olds). Description of problem Since 2010, French data is provided at national level by grade rather than age. This allowed providing a continuous observation of health behaviors among adolescents, looking at the temporal spread of substance use and providing a better understanding of the role of school as a setting for adolescents’ health. But the difficulty of participating every 4 years in two big surveys remained. Effects of changes In 2018, France decided to conduct the 2 surveys in a unified and simultaneous way across middle- and high-school. This project is called ’National Survey in Middle- and High-school for Adolescents on Health and Substances’, EnCLASS, explicit acronym easy to pronounce and remember in French. If the main objective of “merging” these surveys is to improve the monitoring of health behaviours and substance use throughout adolescence, it also allows a significant gain regarding preparation, coordination and organization of the fieldwork, hence of overall costs, while ensuring perfect comparability of data at international level. Evolution of data visualization on substance use will be used to illustrate the challenges and improvements of such a process, based on data collected in 2018 among more than 20,000 representative secondary-school students. Lessons In addition to a greater facility of interpreting and reading findings, presenting data throughout secondary school grades improves its impact and use in a public health perspective and allowing identifying operational targets for prevention and health promotion in schools, as classes are their main settings. Key messages EnCLASS is unique in Europe, it ensures an excellent comparability of data at international level while providing an innovative national monitoring of adolescent health behavior, including drug use. Further, by its improved quality, perspective and relevance, EnCLASS can contribute to Public health policies analysis regarding school-students in France in a less expensive and better way.

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