Eliminating Tobacco-Related Disparities Among Pacific Islanders Through Leadership and Capacity Building
Year: 2013
Type: article
Abstract: Tobacco remains a major risk factor for premature death and ill health among Pacific Islanders, and tobacco-related disparities persist. Eliminating these disparities requires a comprehensive approach to transform community norms about tobacco use through policy change, as contained in the World Health Organization international Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Three of the six U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands-the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, and the Marshall Islands-are Parties to the Framework; the remaining three territories-American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam-are excluded from the treaty by virtue of U.S. nonratification. Capacity building and leadership development are essential in achieving policy change and health equity within Pacific Islander communities. We describe promising practices from American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, and Palau and highlight some of the key lessons learned in supporting and sustaining the reduction in tobacco use among Pacific Islanders as the first step toward eliminating tobacco-related disparities in these populations.
Source: Health Promotion Practice
Authors: Annette M. David, Rod Lew, Annabel K. Lyman, Caleb Otto, Rebecca Robles, George J. Cruz
Language: English
Subfield: Physiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2151981384