State Preemption: An Emerging Threat to Local Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Taxation

2021 ◽  
pp. e1-e10
Author(s):  
Eric Crosbie ◽  
Jennifer L. Pomeranz ◽  
Kathrine E. Wright ◽  
Samantha Hoeper ◽  
Laura Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Web Sites ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
The United States ◽  
Sugar Sweetened Beverage ◽  
The Public ◽  
Sweetened Beverage ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
News Sources ◽  
Beverage Industry

We sought to examine the strategies promoting and countering state preemption of local sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) taxes in the United States. Using Crosbie and Schmidt’s tobacco preemption framework, we analyzed key tactics used by the SSB industry to achieve state preemption of local taxes identified in news sources, industry Web sites, government reports, and public documents. Starting in 2017, 4 states rejected and 4 passed laws preempting local SSB taxes. The beverage industry attempted to secure state preemption through front groups and trade associations, lobbying key policymakers, inserting preemptive language into other legislation, and issuing legal threats and challenges. The public health community’s response is in the early stages of engaging in media advocacy, educating policymakers, mobilizing national collaboration, and expanding legal networks. State preemption of local SSB taxes is in the early stages but will likely scale up as local tax proposals increase. The public health community has a substantial role in proactively working to prevent preemption concurrent with health policy activity and using additional strategies successfully used in tobacco control to stop preemption diffusion. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print February 18, 2021: e1–e10. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.306062 )

Not so sweet refrain: sugar-sweetened beverage taxes, industry opposition and harnessing the lessons learned from tobacco control legal challenges

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 509-535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita George
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Tobacco Control ◽  
Due Process ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Sugar Sweetened Beverage ◽  
Sweetened Beverage ◽  
Sugary Drinks ◽  
Beverage Industry ◽  
Food And Beverage Industry ◽  
Food And Beverage

AbstractAs a growing number of countries implement, or announce plans to introduce, a sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) tax, this paper explores the public health rationale for such a tax and provides an overview of the international normative and policy instruments supporting the introduction of fiscal measures on sugary drinks. After examining parallels between the legal arguments raised by the food and beverage industry in opposition to SSB taxes and those raised by the tobacco industry in response to tobacco control measures, this paper draws four key lessons that will assist countries to design effective and robust SSB tax measures and counter food and beverage industry opposition: regulatory distinctions in tax coverage should be based on bona fide, evidence-based reasoning; evidence-based measures need to be tailored to a country’s public health objectives as part of a comprehensive strategy to address unhealthy diet consumption; procedural requirements and due process should be observed in the drafting and implementation of the measure; and regulatory space exists within domestic constitutions, laws and international trade and investment agreements recognising the sovereign right of states to regulate in the interests of public health.

scholarly journals Agreements Between Public Health Organizations and Food and Beverage Companies: Approaches to Improving Evaluation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean L. Wiecha ◽  
Mary K. Muth
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
Third Party ◽  
The Public ◽  
Beverage Industry ◽  
Food And Beverage Industry ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Food And Beverage ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Access To Data

Efforts in the United States and abroad to address the chronic disease epidemic have led to the emergence of voluntary industry agreements as a substitute for regulatory approaches to improve the healthfulness of foods and beverages. Because of the lack of access to data and limited budgets, evaluations of these agreements have often been limited to process evaluation with less focus on outcomes and impact. Increasing scientific scope and rigor in evaluating voluntary food and beverage industry agreements would improve potential public health benefits and understanding of the effects of these agreements. We describe how evaluators can provide formative, process, and outcome assessment and discuss challenges and opportunities for impact assessment. We explain how logic models, industry profiles, quasi-experimental designs, mixed-methods approaches, and third-party data can improve the effectiveness of agreement design and evaluation. These methods could result in more comprehensive and rigorous evaluation of voluntary industry agreements, thus providing data to bolster the public health impacts of future agreements. However, improved access to data and larger evaluation budgets will be needed to support improvements in evaluation.

scholarly journals How sugar-sweetened beverage tax revenues are being used in the United States

2021 ◽  
pp. 101388
Author(s):  
James Krieger ◽  
Kiran Magee ◽  
Tayler Hennings ◽  
John Schoof ◽  
Kristine A. Madsen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Sugar Sweetened Beverage ◽  
Sweetened Beverage ◽  
Tax Revenues

Adapting to Teaching During a Pandemic: Pedagogical Adjustments for the Next Semester of Teaching During COVID-19 and Future Online Learning

2021 ◽  
pp. 237337992098726
Author(s):  
Siobhan Hickling ◽  
Alexandra Bhatti ◽  
Gina Arena ◽  
James Kite ◽  
Justin Denny ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Great Majority ◽  
The United States ◽  
Teaching Philosophies ◽  
The Public ◽  
Video Meeting ◽  
Health Teaching

COVID-19 has altered public health higher education and its impact on pedagogy will be felt long into the future. In response to social distancing measures, teaching academics implemented a number of changes to curricula. It is important to better understand and begin to evaluate these changes, as well as set a course for future changes to public health curricula both during and after the pandemic to best enable transformative learning. Teaching academics have an understanding of academic hierarchies and student perceptions and are well placed to provide insights into current and future changes to pedagogy in response to the pandemic. A survey was developed to examine changes that academics had made to their teaching in response to COVID-19. Responses were received from 63 public health teaching academics from five universities in Australia, the United States, and Canada. Public health teaching academics rapidly implemented a number of changes to their teaching, including alterations that enabled online teaching. The great majority of changes to teaching were related to tools or techniques, such as synchronous tutorials delivered in a video meeting room. There remains further work for the public health pedagogy community in reevaluating teaching aims and teaching philosophies in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. This could include examination of the weighting of different topics, including communicable diseases, in curricula. A series of questions to assist academics reformulating their curricula is provided. Public health teaching evolved rapidly to meet the challenges of COVID-19; however, ongoing adaptation is necessary to further enhance pedagogy.

scholarly journals Effectiveness of Face Coverings in Mitigating the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 3666
Author(s):  
Olukayode James Ayodeji ◽  
Seshadri Ramkumar
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
District Of Columbia ◽  
Preventive Measure ◽  
The United States ◽  
Protective Measure ◽  
Sharp Change ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Health Challenges ◽  
Effective Preventive Measure

The COVID-19 pandemic has been one of the biggest public health challenges of the 21st century. Many prevalent measures have been taken to prevent its spread and protect the public. However, the use of face coverings as an effective preventive measure remains contentious. The goal of the current study is to evaluate the effectiveness of face coverings as a protective measure. We examined the effectiveness of face coverings between 1 April and 31 December 2020. This was accomplished by analyzing trends of daily new COVID-19 cases, cumulative confirmed cases, and cases per 100,000 people in different U.S. states, including the District of Columbia. The results indicated a sharp change in trends after face covering mandates. For the 32 states with face covering mandates, 63% and 66% exhibited a downward trend in confirmed cases within 21 and 28 days of implementation, respectively. We estimated that face covering mandates in the 32 states prevented approximately 78,571 and 109,703 cases within 21- and 28-day periods post face covering mandate, respectively. A statistically significant (p = 0.001) negative correlation (−0.54) was observed between the rate of cases and days since the adoption of a face covering mandate. We concluded that the use of face coverings can provide necessary protection if they are properly used.

Will Routine Annual Influenza Prevention and Control Systems Serve the United States Well in a Pandemic?

2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (S2) ◽  
pp. S160-S165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeanne S. Ringel ◽  
Melinda Moore ◽  
John Zambrano ◽  
Nicole Lurie
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Prevention And Control ◽  
The United States ◽  
Qualitative Assessment ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Pandemic Preparedness ◽  
The Public ◽  
Influenza Prevention ◽  
And Control

ABSTRACTObjective: To assess the extent to which the systems in place for prevention and control of routine annual influenza could provide the information and experience needed to manage a pandemic.Methods: The authors conducted a qualitative assessment based on key informant interviews and the review of relevant documents.Results: Although there are a number of systems in place that would likely serve the United States well in a pandemic, much of the information and experience needed to manage a pandemic optimally is not available.Conclusions: Systems in place for routine annual influenza prevention and control are necessary but not sufficient for managing a pandemic, nor are they used to their full potential for pandemic preparedness. Pandemic preparedness can be strengthened by building more explicitly upon routine influenza activities and the public health system’s response to the unique challenges that arise each influenza season (eg, vaccine supply issues, higher than normal rates of influenza-related deaths). (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2009;3(Suppl 2):S160–S165)

Programs of the Cancer Control Program—U. S. Public Health Service

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1967 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 527-528
Author(s):  
Charles J. A. Schulte
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Cervical Cancer ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Public Health Service ◽  
Environmental Control ◽  
Cancer Control ◽  
Control Program ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Public ◽  
Cancer Control Program

ON JANUARY 1, 1967, the Cancer Control Program will become part of the National Center for Chronic Disease Control within the Public Health Service's new Bureau of Disease Prevention and Environmental Control. Our primary mission is to stimulate and encourage the application of currently available techniques of cancer prevention, cancer detection, and cancer control to the community at the grass roots level. If this will be the case after the reorganization remains to be seen. Figure 1 shows the new organization of the Public Health Service. By way of illustration, I think it would be well to briefly outline a few of our activities. An area of heavy emphasis has been the use of the Papanicolaou smears for cervical cancer control. These programs have been responsible for developing certified cytotechnology training schools, supporting and training large numbers of cytotechnicians. In addition, we are supporting some 90 hospital-based cervical cancer screening projects across the country. A program to encourage the general practitioner to screen his private patients in the office is jointly sponsored by the American Academy of General Practice and the Cancer Control Program. The very grave problem in the United States of smoking and carcinoma of the lung is the major responsibility of tile National Clearinghouse for Smoking and Health, a part of the Division of Chronic Diseases which developed out of the Cancer Control Program. We are engaged in a number of developmental projects, such as the flexible fiber optic proctosigmoidoscope. We hope to be able to produce a proctosigmoidoscope that will reach the splenic flexure.

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