Prevention Programs

Two Arnold organizations that created their own substance abuse prevention programs were awarded grants by Anne Arundel County Department of Health's Prevention Services.The Parent-Teen Network, which plans activities for teen-agers and promotes community group and school networks to help prevent drug problems, received $2,500.Since October, the organization has sponsored six workshops in conjunction with the Adult Dare Education Program at Severna Park Elementary School.Camp Blaze was awarded a $5,000 grant for instituting a parent training program that provides sessions on leadership, nurturing and substance abuse prevention through seminars, parent/child interactions and role-playing.

A female condom program was highly effective in preventing HIV infections, according to a new economic analysis by researchers in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health . The analysis, published in the journal AIDS and Behavior , found the DC Females Condom program, a public-private partnership to provide and promote a type of female condom, prevent enough infections in one year to save more than $8 million in future medical care...

WASHINGTON -- Remember midnight basketball?Scornful Republicans who are taking over the House of Representatives do, and they are planning to reopen this year's angry debate over federal funding for crime-prevention measures in hopes of getting rid of midnight basketball and other so-called prevention programs.The House GOP's "Contract With America" calls for a $5 billion cut in prevention programs that were in cluded in this year's hard-won $30 billion crime bill.Republicans want to see fewer dollars for Democratic "social welfare programs" and more in flexible block grants "to the communities that have the highest crime rates," said Rep. Bill McCollum, a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee and one of three candidates running for House majority whip.

Harford County's Office of Drug Control Policy, based on the most recent state figures is successfully serving more clients than any similar local office in Maryland, the county government announced last week. As a result, Harford County Executive David R. Craig recently congratulated the staff of the Office of Drug Control Policy for its statewide recognition in substance abuse prevention programs. According to the county government, the State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Administration published its annual report for fiscal year 2010 (July 1, 2009-June 30, 3010)

For the past 15 years, juvenile offenders in Baltimore County have seen firsthand the devastation caused by alcohol- and drug-related accidents by touring Maryland Shock Trauma Center at the end of a five-week class. Those involved in the tours said they have helped wayward teens get back on track. But now, the Baltimore County Health Department is eliminating the tours, for reasons that are not quite clear. Ellen R. Clayton, the county's deputy health officer, said the program was "not necessarily proving effective."

In America in the '90s it's practically a given: In addition to reading, writing and arithmetic, schools are expected to teach children about drugs.But how effective are school-based drug education and prevention programs? Should you enroll your child in one?According to Harold E. Shinitzky, a psychologist with the Johns Hopkins Hospital, school-based programs are definitely worthwhile -- but only if parents and school administrators have made the right choices."You've probably heard this before: For every dollar spent on drug treatment you save $12 of cost to society," says Shinitzky.

A female condom program was highly effective in preventing HIV infections, according to a new economic analysis by researchers in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health . The analysis, published in the journal AIDS and Behavior , found the DC Females Condom program, a public-private partnership to provide and promote a type of female condom, prevent enough infections in one year to save more than $8 million in future medical care...

The county's war on drugs has moved to Parole.In a move to better coordinate treatment and prevention programs, the Health Departmentmoved the nine-member Office of Drug and Alcohol Programs next to Open Door, a heavily used outpatient program in Parole Plaza.David W. Almy, the county's new drug czar, and his staff left theArundel Center to work more closely with treatment counselors.County Executive Robert R. Neall decided in May to place the office, formerly an independent agency in the executive branch, under the Health Department's authority.

Money collected from substance-abuse offenders in court will be directed toward addicts who can't afford treatment, the Carroll County State's Attorney's Office says.Prosecutors routinely request donations at the conclusion of trials of those convicted of drug and alcohol abuse or drunken driving, said Jerry F. Barnes, Carroll state's attorney."The judges in Carroll County have been very cooperative in directing that donations be made to the substance-abuse fund," Barnes said.The money has been used for awareness and prevention programs.

Harford County's Office of Drug Control Policy, based on the most recent state figures is successfully serving more clients than any similar local office in Maryland, the county government announced last week. As a result, Harford County Executive David R. Craig recently congratulated the staff of the Office of Drug Control Policy for its statewide recognition in substance abuse prevention programs. According to the county government, the State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Administration published its annual report for fiscal year 2010 (July 1, 2009-June 30, 3010)

We agree with workplace researchers Kathleen M. McPhaul, Jane Lipscomb and Matthew London and George Myers of the Maryland Professional Employees Council (Readers respond, Feb. 22 and Feb. 23) that we must do all we can to prevent workplace violence wherever it occurs. This is why Maryland Occupational Safety and Health (MOSH), in conjunction with federal agencies, has been proactive in assessing risks at public agencies and assisting them in developing prevention programs. While we cannot discuss MOSH's ongoing investigation of the homicide that occurred on the grounds of the Cheltenham youth detention center, we are fully aware of the significant risk of job-related violence faced by health care and social service workers.

Even as the debate over health care reform reaches a fever pitch, significant questions about the future of public health and medicine in our nation remain unanswered. From public options to universal access, proposals and plans to help Americans live longer and healthier lives are seemingly all on the table, and yet amid all these ideas, an absolutely necessary part of our public health future - prevention - seems to be lost in the shuffle. The simple act of changing our lifestyle for the better can dramatically improve our quality of life and lessen our health care expenses, and it's a renewed emphasis on prevention programs that will bring true reform to our health care system.

A state delegate said yesterday he will introduce legislation that would require Maryland to increase funding for tobacco prevention programs by 2012 to ensure the state meets federal recommendations. Del. Samuel I. Rosenberg, a Baltimore Democrat, said he requested that legislation be drafted in response to an article in The Sun yesterday about a report from anti-tobacco groups showing that Maryland currently spends $18.4 million on tobacco prevention programs - about 60 percent of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommended minimum of $30.3 million.

Maryland currently spends about 60 percent of the minimum recommended by the federal government on tobacco prevention programs - less than a tenth of what tobacco companies spend on marketing in the state, according to a new analysis by anti-smoking groups. Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest the state spend $30.3 million on tobacco prevention, Maryland spends $18.4 million, according to the report from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Lung Association and American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

WASHINGTON -- More people in the United States are infected each year with the AIDS virus than previously thought, according to federal health officials, in a finding that could roil the debate over how much money should be spent on prevention efforts. While the new numbers are sobering, no one is yet sure whether more people have actually been infected in recent years or the figures are simply a better estimate than the old ones. Two more years of data are needed to answer that question.

According to a new report from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Maryland spends about 60 percent of what it should be spending on efforts to get teenagers to stay away from cigarettes. That makes us 15th among the states, which puts us in the top of the middle third of the pack -- an improved position from the last survey, but hardly the best we could do. If the incoming governor and General Assembly raised the cigarette tax a buck a pack, Maryland might at least push into the proud top 10. The latest report, released Wednesday, looked at whether states are adequately funding prevention and cessation programs, as they had promised to do in the late 1990s.

WASHINGTON -- The global AIDS epidemic is worsening faster than experts earlier believed, according to new figures released yesterday by the World Health Organization.WHO predicted in 1988 that there would be a cumulative total of 15 million to 20 million adults infected with human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS, by the year 2000. But in the last four years, substantial increases in infections in sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia have suggested that the 15 million to 20 million total may be reached by the mid- or late 1990s, the agency said in a report.

Many opponents of the crime bill that was denied an up-or-down vote in the House of Representatives last week ridicule it for its crime prevention titles, especially so-called "midnight basketball." But what's wrong with a program that would offer youths in poor, crime-ridden neighborhoods recreational facilities? Or after-school cultural activities? Or job training? Or drug counseling?Many Republicans who voted against the crime bill (on a procedural motion) in an effort to kill it, say they're for law 'n' order, but not for "pork," which they inaccurately label such prevention programs.

If a youth gets in serious trouble in Maryland, the state can confine him in a secure facility where he can basically learn how to become a better criminal. Despite promises to the contrary, the state still puts too little emphasis on trying to keep at-risk youths from getting in trouble in the first place. The General Assembly is trying to bring more structure to the state's prevention efforts, and the governor's office should make a real commitment to provide adequate funds. Last year, the Department of Juvenile Services received about 55,000 referrals for delinquents.

THE HIGHLY suspect prosecution of the former head of the Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention came to an end this week - with the dismissal of all charges against Stephen P. Amos. The interim U.S. attorney for Maryland, Allen F. Loucks, did what his predecessor, Thomas M. DiBiagio, should have done months ago. The case dragged on for more than two years with little to show for it but Mr. Amos' indictment. And now it appears that the crux of the government's case - that Mr. Amos misused federal funds for state crime prevention programs - was flawed.