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CMA Foundation recruiting Climate Change Champions

As part of a two-year, statewide initiative focused on increasing health provider knowledge about climate change, the California Medical Association (CMA) Foundation is recruiting physicians and other providers to be Climate Change Champions. This initiative will expand the diversity of voices speaking about the impacts of climate change on health. By mobilizing health provider champions, the project aims to increase public understanding that climate change is an important public health issue and to build public support for climate change solutions. The CMA Foundation and the Network of Ethnic Physician Organizations ...

Survey: smoking rates remain high in many areas of California

UCLA’s latest California Health Interview Survey shows high smoking rates in several large pockets across the state, despite an overall decrease in smoking. Aside from a brief uptick in smoking from 2009 to 2011, the number of smokers in California declined steadily from 15.3 percent in 2003 to 10.8 percent in 2014 — a figure that translates to about 3.4 million smokers currently. However, smoking remains rampant in many portions of the state. Areas with the highest percent of teen and adult smokers included Lake County (26 percent), Yuba County (21 ...

Two flu deaths confirmed by CDPH

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) last week confirmed the season's first two flu-related deaths in California—one an infant less than six months old. The deaths serve as another somber reminder that influenza can cause serious illness or death. Influenza viruses circulate at their peak levels from December to April, according to CDPH, which is urging people to get vaccinated before the flu spreads widely. “As California’s public health officer, I am saddened when the flu turns into loss of life,” said State Public Health Officer Karen Smith, M.D. “It ...

American Lung Association launches campaign to raise cancer awareness for women

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month, a time to bring more awareness to the disease. The American Lung Association (ALA) is launching a $10 million campaign to raise lung cancer awareness among women. Every five minutes, a woman in the U.S. is told she has lung cancer. And this year, lung cancer will kill more Americans than any other cancer. Increased attention on this disease is desperately needed, as only 1 percent of women cite lung cancer as a health risk. Lung cancer is, however, a leading cause of cancer deaths, ...

Poll: Majority of California voters back e-cigarette regulations

An overwhelming majority of California voters believe e-cigarettes contribute to nicotine addiction in youth and should be regulated, according to the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California (USC). University researchers partnered with the Field Institute to implement five questions on a recent Field Poll regarding proposed regulatory efforts. The Field Poll revealed that 74 percent of voters are in favor of regulating and licensing e-cigarettes similar to combustible cigarettes. The Field Poll also showed that more than two-thirds of respondents—71 percent—consider e-cigarette products a factor in nicotine ...

U.S. Supreme Court will not hear challenge to New York vaccine law

The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear a challenge to a New York state law that mandates all children be vaccinated before they can attend public school. This decision leaves in place a federal appeals court ruling that said the New York Law does not violate the constitution. That decision also upheld a trial court ruling that found that children with religious exemptions could still be prohibited from attending school if there is a vaccine-preventable disease outbreak. While this ruling only affects the states within the second circuit appellate court, ...

CMA delegates urge the state to restore public health funding

On Friday, October 16th, the California Medical Association (CMA) House of Delegates meeting in Anaheim voted unanimously to urge the State of California to restore public health funding. The resolution (Resolution 112-15) calls on CMA to work with state health and legislative officials, through the state budget process, to develop a plan to repair California’s public health infrastructure and funding for vital prevention services that have been eliminated or drastically reduced since 2007-08. It is estimated that over $226.7 million per year has been lost in California Department of Public ...

CMA passes resolution urging U.S. Chamber of Commerce to cease tobacco advocacy efforts

The California Medical Association (CMA) reinforced its long-established stance against tobacco use today, with the CMA House of Delegates voting in favor of a resolution (Res. 107-15) that strongly objects to pro-tobacco efforts by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in other parts of the world. With the resolution’s passage, CMA calls on the Chamber to immediately halt all advocacy efforts on behalf of tobacco companies and urges all conscientious companies that are members of the Chamber to either take similar action or quit their membership to protest such anti-health efforts. “As ...

State Public Health Officer Warns of Invasive Mosquitoes Detected in California

SACRAMENTO – California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Director and State Public Health Officer Dr. Karen Smith is warning Californians to protect themselves from two invasive mosquito species recently found in California. Both species can transmit infectious diseases, such as dengue fever, chikungunya and yellow fever. This warning comes as two more counties are added to the list of counties where Aedes aegypti (the yellow fever mosquito) and Aedes albopictus (the Asian tiger mosquito) have been detected. “It is important to know these species of mosquitoes because they are not ...

CMA publishes 2015 Legislative Wrap-Up

It is difficult to imagine, but the 2015 legislative year was even more challenging than 2014, which included the diversion of staff resources to defeat the trial lawyers’ Proposition 46. From the hard-fought victory of Senate Bill 277—a bill that eliminates the personal belief exemption for schoolchildren—to the full court press in the final day of the legislative session to eliminate Assembly Bill 533—a bill that would have allowed a massive transfer of negotiating power to health plans at the expense of physicians—the California Medical Association (CMA) worked through ...