Report of NMA Environmental Health Task Force to



|NMA Council on Medical Legislation & |2017 |

|Commission on Environmental Health Report | |

August, 2017

-Submitted by Mark Mitchell mmitchell@enviro-

Council on Medical Legislation Members: Drs. Mark Mitchell MD, MPH (CT) (chair) Anthony Ibe, MD (DC), Alice Coombs, MD (MA), Rose Green Thomas, MD, Suzanne Baker, MD, (TN), Marie Young, MD, Cynthia Paige, MD, (NJ), Sydney V. Ross-Davis, MD, (MO), William Richie, MD (TN), Walter Faggett MD (DC).

Responsibilities -- Council on Medical legislation

• Develop appropriate thrusts for NMA on legislative matters.

• Initiate and prepare NMA position papers and resolutions on legislative and regulatory matters for approval by the House of Delegates and the Board of Trustees.

• Coordinate positions papers with the NMA sections, Scientific Council, Board of Trustees and Local/State societies.

• Prepare testimony on legislative matters for NMA officers.

• Address public health issues including but not limited to hypertension, nutrition, cancer, occupation health, environment health, substance abuse and mental health. The council may form subcommittees to address specific matters.

2016-2017 Highlights

1. Opposing Repeal and Replace of Affordable Care Act-NMA is actively opposing the House and Senate bills to repeal and replace the ACA (Obamacare). NMA President, Dr. Richard Allen Williams, has written three letters opposing this legislation. CML has helped to frame and publicize these position papers.

2. Op-ed by Dr. Richard Allen Williams and Dr. Elena Rios-The Presidents of NMA and National Hispanic Medical Association wrote a joint op-ed on January 27, 2017 in The Hill, a national political daily in Washington, DC entitled “Climate Change Raises the Stakes for Affordable Health Care Coverage”.

3. March for Science-On April 22, 2017, 1.07 million people joined marches and rallies in more than 600 cities worldwide to oppose the denials of and attacks on science from the Trump administration, which has criticized evidence-based policy making and has moved to remove independent scientists from government positions and replace them with industry associated ones. NMA was a cosponsor of these marches, which also promoted diversity in science.

4. Science-to-Action Convening. Dr. Mark Mitchell attended this convening of state and federal government scientists and medical societies on January 23rd to plan to respond to the anti-science rhetoric from the newly elected administration in Washington, DC.

5. Sign-on Letters. NMA President Dr. Richard Allen Williams has signed NMA onto at least six sign-on letters opposing the loosening of standards to protect health of all Americans, especially people of color as proposed by the Administration and Congress.  Here is a link to policy letters that NMA has signed onto. 

6. Resolutions-CML and NMA Health Policy Committee convened a joint task force to develop a draft resolution on the Preservation of the Affordable Care Act and CML worked with the City of Philadelphia on developing a resolution on Flavored Tobacco Products. See Action Items below.

7. Commission on Environmental Health—Continues to be an active subcommittee. See below

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Commission on Environmental Health Members: Drs. Mark Mitchell (Co-chair), Jewel Crawford (Co-chair), Claude Tellis (Vice-Chair), Cedric Bright, Millicent Collins, Cheryl Holder, Lonnie Joe, Michael LeNoir, Barbara Nabrit-Stephens, Cynthia Paige, Katrina Rhodes, Myrtis Sullivan, Dyann Waugh, and Leonard Weather.

Recent activities of the Commission on Environmental Health include:

1. People’s Climate March-NMA participation in the 400,000-person People’s Climate March in DC on April 29th. It was led by our president-elect, Dr. Doris Browne and coordinated by Dr. Mark Mitchell.

2. Physicians Guide to Climate Change, Health and Equity-National Medical Association along with the Public Health Institute Center for Climate Change and Health has created a guide on the health effects of climate change for physicians to illuminate health disparities present in urban and low income areas. The Physician’s Guide to Climate Change, Health and Equity is intended to provide background information to physicians preparing themselves to speak to community groups, the media or to individual patients, on these effects. It is evident that climate change contributes to lengthening of the allergy season and an increased cardiovascular stress due to exposure to chronically high temperature in urban areas. This guide delves into the understanding of how the geographic and socioeconomic status can compound with the effects of climate change to uniquely stress on health of individuals in urban low income areas. The guide it is available here.

3. NMA Cosponsored a Congressional Briefing on Lead Poisoning along with Project TENDR-Targeting Environmental Neuro Developmental Risks. Dr. Mark Mitchell was one of the speakers to a packed room of Congressional staff in Washington, DC. Where they provided the latest science on health effects of lead.

4. NMA signed a Memorandum of Understanding to participate in the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health on November 7, 2016

5. The March 22, 2017 JAMA article on climate and health discussed NMA’s 2014 physician survey and our online , as well as discussing our partners Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health and Public Health Institute’s Center for Climate Change and Health

6. Op-ed by Dr. Khadijah Lang-Dr. Lang, President of Golden State Medical Association, published an op-ed in the Los Angeles Sentinel on March 16, 2017. It is entitled “To Safeguard Against Climate Change, Defend Obamacare”. It is here.

7. Op-ed by Dr. Myrtis Sullivan-Dr. Sullivan, President of the Cook County Physicians Association, had an op-ed entitled “Effect of Repeal of the Affordable Care Act on the Human Health Impact of Climate Change in Illinois” published in the March 22 issue of the Hyde Park Citizen.  It is here.

8. Op-ed by Dr. Claude Tellis-Dr. Tellis, Vice-Chair of NMA’s Commission on Environmental Health wrote a letter published in the Baton Rouge Advocate on September 14, 2016 entitled “Past Time to Address Climate Change”

9. Radio Spots by Dr. Michael LeNoir-Dr. LeNoir, Past-President of NMA produced a series of one-minute radio spots on climate and health that was broadcast on radio station KBLX in the San Francisco Bay area.  The spots can be listened to here.

10. Dr. Claude Tellis presented on climate change and his personal experience with the Baton Rouge, LA 1000 year flood of 2016 at a webinar for the internal launch of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health on November 28, 2016.

11. Here is the link to NMA related news articles, op-eds, and radio spots that have been published so far in 2017.

12. Dr. Mark Mitchell presented to 65 physicians on climate and health to NMA Region I in St. Thomas, USVI on May 27th, as well as to 180 physicians at the NMA Colloquium in Los Angeles on March 24, 2017. He also trained 40 NMA Region VI physicians on the climate and health talking points at their meeting on March 26th.

13. Dr. Mark Mitchell presented to 40 physicians at the R. Frank Jones Urological Society in Boston on May 14, 2017 on race and environmental effects on male reproduction, as well as on repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

Action Items

• Resolution on Flavored Tobacco Products

• Resolution on Preservation of the Affordable Care Act

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