In 2018, San Francisco Community Health Center launched its first tobacco control and prevention program. The goal of the Healthy Bay Area Futures Program is to reduce tobacco-related health disparities in the LGBTQ+ community through increased availability of tobacco cessation resources delivered by culturally competent providers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), smoking is the leading preventable cause of death. Over the past 10 years, the smoking rate of LGBTQ+ populations has dropped by nearly half – the biggest drop of any group. Big Tobacco doesn’t just sell cigarettes anymore – they’ve flooded the market with new tobacco products, such as e-cigarettes, to keep people addicted. Unfortunately, the overall tobacco use rate for LGBTQ+ populations is still high at 24%
Adapted from: http://tobaccofreeca.com/story-of-inequity/lgbtq
Program Goals
- Tobacco control and prevention
- Promote LGBTQ-specific tobacco cessation protocols
- Reduce the availability of flavored tobacco products in the Bay Area
- Create a Bay Area LGBTQ+ Tobacco Policy Coalition
Tobacco Control and Prevention: Key players
SF Community Heath Center is a CTCP grantee focusing on the LGBTQ+ priority population
Updates
Over the last six months, SFCHC’s Tobacco Control & Prevention Program has been working hard to establish itself in the SF Bay Area region as a champion for the queer community. Since the beginning of 2019, SFCHC TCP Staff have:
- Attended the 2019 CA Tobacco-free Colleges Conference in Los Angeles, CA from 1/8-1/9
- Completed the first 6-month progress report to the California Tobacco Control Program at the end of January
- Attended the UCSF Annual Tobacco Symposium titled “It’s About a Billion Lives” on 2/4/19
- Continually network with various Bay Area Jurisdictions to identify areas of potential collaboration
Upcoming Events:
- SFCHC TCP Staff is excited to organize a Midwest Academy Strategy Chart Session in collaboration with the American Lung Association and Santa Clara County Smoke-Free Communities on Thursday, 3/7/2019 from 10-2pm at The LGBTQ Youth Space in Downtown San Jose. The purpose of this meeting is to bring together stakeholders and constituents from the LGBTQ+ community and Santa Clara County at-large to strategize on how to pass a city-wide policy banning flavored tobacco products in San Jose.
- The SFCHC TCP Program is actively recruiting members for the Bay Area LGBTQ+ Tobacco Policy Coalition. Coalition membership is open to professionals living in the Bay Area and who identify as LGBTQ+ with a vested interest in tobacco control and prevention. Interested members should contact Chad or Mariah for more details.
