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Oregon Has Room To Improve
Its Tobacco Prevention Record
The largest survey o f state to­
bacco prevention measures ever con­
ducted gives Oregon a “ fair” rating
for its work in 1994
The Coalition on smoking OR
Health (American Cancer Society,
American Lung Association, Amer­
ican heart Association) has released
a “ Report Card” to rate the states on
individual achievements in saving
lives through tobacco prevention.
States were placed in one o f five
categories depending on what level
oftobacco prevention programs have
been enacted. Oregon was rated as
“ fair” . This puts Oregon in the mid-
dle category o f tobacco prevention.
Washington is rated above Oregon
in the “ promising” category. C alifor­
nia is the only state rated “ outstand­
ing” .
Oregon has a chance to improve
its “ fair” rating w ith several bills
currently before the legislature. The
American Cancer Society, Am eri­
can Heart Association, and Am eri­
can Lung Association support HB
3401, which would increase the O r­
egon tobacco excise tax 25 cents: SB
885, which would require retailers to
be licensed to sell tobacco products;
and SB 959, which would prohibit
smoking in work-places unless a sep
arately ventilated room is provided
Measures have been supportet
and passed into legislation by Re
publicans and Democrats alike, from
all regions o f the country, and always
with strong public support.
Tobacco prevention advocates
are calling for Oregon legislators to
take swift action this session. “ Ore­
gonians deserve the benefit o f im ­
proved tobacco legislation,” saic
Portland physician John Pachot, M .D
“ These bills are a good first step
toward reducing the tobacco death
to ll.”
Institute On Black Chemical Abuse Celebrates 20 Years
Protecting Our Babies
Dr. Henry Foster, nominee for U.S. Surgeon General, joined First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and
Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala on a visit to 9 child care centers in the
nation's capital to raise awareness about the importance of children needing at least 11 vaccinations
before their second birthday.
Oregon Birth Rate Low
Oregon’s birth rate hit a 57-year
low in 1993, according to recently
released statistics from the Health
Division. “ 1993 Oregon V ita l Statis­
tics Report, Volume 1” contains ref­
erence data on births, abortions and
teen pregnancy. The 4 1,566 resident
births represent a crude birth rate o f
13.7 per 1,000 population, and is
12.7 percent lower than the national
rate (15.7) for 1993.
“ The information in this report
shows that the profile o f women g iv­
ing birth in Oregon is changing,”
said Dr. Grant H igginson, acting state
health officer. “ This data provides an
analytical look at health and social
trends in our state. It also emphasizes
areas where we need to focus our
effo rts, inclu ding some specific
benchmark goals.” Some highlights:
The
num ber
of
lo w
b irth w e ig h t infants was 2,182.
T h is is 10 m ore than the previous
year, pushing the rate to 52.5 per
1,000 b irth s. T his is the second
consecutive increase a fte r a fo u r
year perio d o f s lig h t decreases.
L ow b irth w e ig h t is the m ajor pre-
d ic t o r o f in f a n t d e a th , lo w
b irth w e ig h t babies are also more
lik e ly to need extensive m edical
treatm ent, and some may have
life lo n g d is a b lin g c o n d itio n s .
Nearly one in five mothers (19%)
reported smoking during their preg­
nancy, a rate that has remained virtu ­
ally unchanged in the past two years.
Women who smoke while pregnant
have a greater chance o f having low
birthweight babies than non-smok­
ers.
Revolutionary Surgery For TMJ
What: First ever known sur­
gery to replace Teflon Proplast jaw
joints with living toe jo in ts from
patient’ s own body. Teflon joints
gained national attention as a reme­
dy for sever TMJ (temporomandib­
ular jo in t) disorders, but failed when
teflon fragmented and actually start­
ed eating away the remaining jaw
bone material. The join ts w ill be
replaced with the patient’s second
toes (the ones that “ stayed home” ),
which w ill provide living, fu lly
vascularizedjoints. The patient w ill
then have four toes on each foot,
which w ill have little impact on her
Free May & June
Programs Offered
By Portland
Adventist
The follow ing free programs
during May & June community.
They w ill be presented at Portland
Adventist Medical Center, 10123
SE Market Street unless another
location is listed. No preregistra­
tion is required, unless otherwise
indicated. For more information
call 256-4000 (toll free from most
areas in Portland/Vancouver).
daily activities.
Who: Patient - Irma Cantu-Tho­
mas, trauma nurse in Legacy Eman­
uel’s West W ing Intensive Care Unit,
has been on disability since January
because o f severe pain caused by
fragmented teflon joints. She has been
taking strong medications, and her
life has been severely impaired. Irma
and her husband. Pediatrician Paul
Thomas, have two children,
O f interest: This w ill be the first
time TMJ Teflon Proplast implant
destruction wi 11 be surgical ly repaired
w ith living, fu lly vascularizedjoints
from the patient’s own body. The
procedure using one o f a patient’s
second toes has been tested in Pitts­
burgh, PA, for other ja w recon­
struction, and was performed for
the first time in the Northwest M on­
day, A p ril 24, at Emanuel to re­
place a jo in t destroyed by a tumor
on the right side o f 72-year-old
George Kibe o f Portland. The sur­
gery performed by Dr. Bryce Potter
and Dr. Dierks went well, and now
Drs. Dierks and Buehler w ill use
the technique two fold. This could,
conceivably, be a lasting cure for
thousands o f Americans afflicted
by these defective teflon joints.
Sharon Kitzhaber Honored
For Work On Kids' Safety
Sharon Kitzhaber, wife ofG ovem or John Kitzhaber, has been select­
ed to receive a national award for leadership in the area o f childhood injury
prevention.
The “ Champions o f Safe Kids” award is going to Mrs. Kitzhaber for
her leadership establishing a Safe Kids Coalition in Oregon earlier this
year. Kitzhaber also serves as the C oalition’ s honorary chair.
The Safe Kids Campaign is a grassroots national effort dedicated to
preventing childhood injury - the leading kille r o f kids under 14. I he
campaign works with more than 160 coalitions around the country to save
childrens’ lives by raising awareness about injury prevention. U ntil this
year, Oregon was one o f only two state without a Safe Kids Coalition.
America Has Proclaimed May As MS Awareness Month
As a way to raise public educa­
tion about the leading neurological
disorder o f young adults, the M u lti­
ple Sclerosis Association o f Am eri­
ca has proclaimed May as MS Aware­
ness Month throughout the country.
Joining MSA A in this national aware­
ness campaign are various state gov­
ernors, officials from the National
Aeronautics and Space Administra­
tion (N A SA ), and high school stu­
dents across the U.S. who are partic­
ipating in the Association’ s Project:
Learn MS ‘95 scholarship competi­
tion.
Celebrating its 25th anniversa­
ry, the MS Association is a national
nonprofit health agency providing
direct patient care services to those
suffering from MS. Each year, vari-
(
ous state and local government o ffi­
cials award M SAA with a proclama­
tion o f awareness, which encourages
all residents to learn more about the
disease and offer volunteer assis­
tance to help those afflicted.
“ There are nearly 500,000 Amer­
icans with MS or related neurologi­
cal disorders,” Said M SAA Presi­
dent John Hodson. “ Each May we
make a special effort to alert the
public about the disease, and remind
people that a little volunteer help
goes a long way in the fight against
M S."
According to Hodson, MS pa­
tients can use volunteer support with
common chores such as shopping,
light household work, running er­
rands and transportation to appoint-
ments. He also noted that many pa­
tients appreciate personal phone calls
and home visitation.
In addition to proclamations o f
support, M SAA officials have devel­
oped a series o f special activities to
commemorate the month.
These include conferences, pa­
tient activities and a special one year
anniversary ceremony to mark the
historic M SAA/N ASA memorandum
o f understanding.
This memorandum promotes
the development o f MS symptom
re lie f through N ASA spinoff tech­
nology known as microclimate cool­
ing. To learn more about MS Aware­
ness Month, how to volunteer, or the
services o f M SAA, call 1-800-833-
4672.
In celebration o f its 20th anni­
versary, the Institute on Black Chem­
ical Abuse (IB C A ) has adopted the
umbrella name o f African Am eri­
can Family Services, effective May
2, 1995. The purpose o f the new
name is to better reflect the many
different services IBCA has been
providing for the past several years.
African American Family Services
encompasses four divisions: the In­
stitute on Black Chemical Abuse
(IB C A ), the A fric a n Am erican
Counseling Center (A A C C ), the
African American Resource Center
(AARC), and the Technical Assis­
tance Center (TA C ). IB C A was
founded in 1975 as the Minnesota
Institute on Black Chemical Abuse
to provide services to chemically
dependent individuals in a culturally
specific context.
“ We haven’t changed the focus
or programs that we offer,” explains
Executive Director Salimah Majeed.
“ We’ ve been expanding the services
that we provide for many years now,
but our name hasn’t reflected the
reality o f who we are as an organiza­
tion.
As we celebrate 20 years o f serv­
ing communities throughout the Unit­
ed States, we want to let people know
that while we’re retaining our chem-
ical dependency focus, we also treat
other issues, such as fam ily vio ­
lence and mental health.”
In its four divisions, AAFS pro­
vides the follow ing services: IB C A
offers treatment and prevention pro­
grams for chemical dependency;
AACC offers family and individual
counseling; AAR C features both a
physical resource center and com­
munity and prevention outreach pro­
grams; and TA C creates training
programs for service professionals
to assist in the delivery o f social
service programs to African Amer­
ican and other multi-cultural c li­
ents.
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Providence
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It's good for you
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Health Plan. It s a simple choice that provides convenient access to
the health care you need:
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• choice of your own doctor
• convenient access to services
• Providence hospitals:
Providence St. Vincent Medical Center
Providence Portland Medical Center
Providence Milwaukie Hospital
Providence Seaside Hospital
Providence Newberg Hospital
• other community hospitals: Tuality Community Hospital,
Tuality Forest Grove Hospital, Willamette Falls Hospital,
Southwest Washington Medical Center.
Call us today for more information. Because Providence Good
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