IHPR’s Dr. Ramirez Named to Prestigious ‘Council of Experts’ on Cancer Prevention
Aug 27th
Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez
Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday, has been named to a prestigious Council of Experts to help achieve the goals of the National Call to Action on Cancer Prevention and Survivorship.
The National Call to Action (NCTA) was unveiled in 2008 by cyclist and cancer prevention activist Lance Armstrong and four former U.S. Surgeon Generals—Drs. Antonia C. Novello, Joycelyn Elders, David Satcher and Richard H. Carmona—to outline a battle plan in the new war on cancer. The NCTA also serves as a roadmap for cancer survivors, health care professionals, policymakers, employers, educators, insurers, and scientists to identify the best strategies for cancer prevention and survivorship and make both cancer prevention and survivorship a national priority.
The NCTA Council of Experts will provide strategic guidance to the NCTA Community, a collective of individuals and organizations who share the mission of advancing the NCTA by conducting projects focused on improving the health and well-being of the whole person at all stages along the cancer continuum.
“I very honored and excited to join this Council of Experts,” said Dr. Ramirez, who also is co-director of the Cancer Prevention and Population Science research program at the Cancer Therapy and Research Center (CTRC), the UT Health Science Center’s National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center. “I believe this council will be able to make great strides in preventing cancer and increasing access to screening, diagnosis, treatment and survivorship resources throughout the cancer continuum.”
Read more about the council here.
Surgeon General Releases Plan to Reduce Childhood Obesity
Feb 4th
U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin has released a report, the Surgeon General’s Vision for a Healthy and Fit Nation, which recommends ways to improve nutrition and physical activity, include school wellness policies, reduce junk food marketing to children and support walking and biking infrastructure.
Surgeon General Regina Benjamin
Yet the report hasn’t gotten the same media hype as when First Lady Michelle Obama made it her personal goal to fight against childhood obesity (earlier this week, the first lady met with lawmakers on the issue).
But the surgeon general’s report has merit, says a Washington Post blogger:
…[the report] talks about personal responsibility, about communities working together, about grassroots efforts. It places the onus for weight loss squarely on the shoulders of individuals. Here’s an excerpt:
As a society, we have to begin to change our habits one healthy choice at a time. Change starts with the individual choices we as Americans make each day for ourselves and those around us. Balancing good nutrition and physical activity while managing daily stressors is always a challenge, but one that can be achieved. Finding time to shop for and prepare healthy meals after work and between family activities requires planning. Stress and a lack of available healthy and affordable foods are some of the reasons why many people turn to fast food as a regular source for meals. Eating excess calories contributes to obesity, but so does watching too much television and sitting for hours in front of a computer.
These is not what many people want to hear — or expect to hear in these paternalistic days.
But to Benjamin, whose suitability for the job I joined many others in questioning when she was nominated, I say hear! hear! and Attagirl! and all kinds of other supportive stuff. For too many years, people have been encouraged to believe that their weight and that of their children was out of their control, subject to all kinds of insidious forces. Benjamin acknowledges that much of the world’s deck is stacked against those who would maintain a healthy weight — but she doesn’t allow that to stand as an excuse. Step up and join the fight, she urges.
To check out the rest of this Post blog, go here. Read the full report here.
Surgeon General: More Minority Doctors Needed
Dec 4th
The new U.S. Surgeon General has called for stepped-up efforts in increasing the number of minority physicians, according to an Associated Press report.
Dr. Regina Benjamin (pictured) noted that the proportion of U.S. physicians who are minorities is only 6 percent – the same proportion as a century ago.
“There’s something wrong with that,” said Benjamin, 53, speaking at a conference on health disparities on Dec. 3, 2009, at a hotel in downtown Atlanta.
The numbers come from a 2004 estimate of the percentage of U.S. physicians that are black or Hispanic. Blacks and Hispanics account for roughly 28 percent of the U.S. population, according to 2008 figures from the U.S. Census Bureau.
In her speech, Benjamin told health leaders in the audience to encourage young minorities to pursue careers in medicine or other ambitions.