FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jabari Sullen
(334) 206-3825
The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) Youth Tobacco Prevention Program announces a funding opportunity for the upcoming fiscal year and is seeking applications from qualified organizations. The program works to restrict youth access to tobacco products and Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), or e-cigarettes, as well as protect Alabama’s youth from the tobacco marketing campaigns.
Application information for the three categories of funding can be found at alabamapublichealth.gov/tobacco/. Organizations wishing to apply for funding should e-mail [email protected] of their intent before close of business on September 6. A pre-application call will be held September 8. Deadline to submit a proposal is September 21. The grant period will begin October 1, 2017, and end September 30, 2018.
Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death and disease in the United States today. According to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, approximately 4,100 children in Alabama become new daily smokers each year, while 108,000 Alabama children under 18 years of age will ultimately die prematurely from smoking.
The ADPH Youth Tobacco Prevention Program works with organizations around the state to foster community environments that protect middle and high school-aged children in these ways:
“Alabama’s youth are being targeted by the tobacco marketing as ‘replacement smokers,’” said Jabari Sullen, interim youth tobacco prevention program director. “But if we could further increase tobacco taxes, fewer young people would take up the habit.”
The 2016 Alabama Youth Tobacco Survey showed that while smoking rates are going down for high school and middle school students locally and nationally, the rates of ENDS use has tripled among this population. ENDS are now the most commonly used tobacco product among youth, according to the 2016 Surgeon General’s Report, E-Cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults.