Docs Needed to Spread Tar Wars' Updated Smoke-Free Message

Children are back in school and ready to learn.

Are you ready to teach?

Family physicians and other health care professionals present the AAFP's Tar Wars tobacco-free education program to about 400,000 fourth- and fifth-grade students each year, and now the Academy has updated the program's curriculum for presenters and teachers just in time for back to school, according to Pamela Rodriguez, the AAFP's tobacco control manager.

The updated Tar Wars program guide includes a new one-page outline for presenters to follow. A section on the dangers of second-hand smoke has been added to the curriculum, as have the latest statistics about the costs of smoking and the amount of money tobacco products manufacturers spend on advertising. Finally, the updated guide displays posters from the 2008-09 national poster contest and provides guidelines for the 2009-10 contest.

In addition, informational PowerPoint presentations geared toward presenters also have been revised.

AAFP President Ted Epperly, M.D., of Boise, Idaho, is encouraging Academy members to present the Tar Wars program in their communities.

"I've been involved as a Tar Wars presenter for 15 years," said Epperly in an interview with AAFP News Now. "I've found going out to fourth- and fifth-grade classes to be a wonderful experience in regards to the receptiveness and the understanding kids get from the Tar Wars material.

"Smoking is the most preventable cause of health problems in the world. When we talk about using your time, effort and energy to perform primary prevention -- averting disease in the first place -- getting 10- and 11-year-old kids to not smoke is a beneficial use of time."

According to a June 2009 survey of Academy members, nearly 30 percent of respondents said they have participated in the Tar Wars program, which is a key component of one of the AAFP's top strategic priorities -- health of the public. Of those who said they had participated, 70.9 percent had presented the program. Other ways FPs said they participated were by acting as a state or regional program coordinator (13.4 percent) or as a state or national Tar Wars poster contest judge (18.9 percent).

But according to Epperly, there's another area of support where the need remains great -- the need for donations at the chapter and national levels.

Currently, Tar Wars is supported primarily by a grant from the AAFP Foundation, which, in part, is composed of member contributions. The program also receives some support from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, which has a collaborative partnership with Tar Wars. Other partners are the National Association of School Nurses, the AAFP's Americans in Motion initiative and the Academy's Ask and Act tobacco cessation program.

At the 2008 Congress of Delegates, delegates denied a one-time exception to AAFP's tobacco and smoking policy that would have allowed the AAFP Foundation to contact corporations with giving programs funded by tobacco monies to determine if they would be willing to provide a one-time major gift to the foundation to create an endowment to support AAFP programs in tobacco cessation, education, research and Tar Wars.

Delegates, however, did adopt a substitute measure that, in part, directs the Academy to support efforts to seek funding from private and corporate foundations "in a manner consistent with current policy to create a one-time endowment." The resolution further encouraged the AAFP to "inform its members of the acute, short-term need for bridging funds to continue Tar Wars until the tobacco control endowment is funded."

With the funding provided by the program's two supporters projected to cover less than 70 percent of the national program's overall costs in 2009-10, said Rodriguez, individual support is key to the ongoing success of the program. Yet according to the 2009 member survey, only 15 percent of respondents said they had provided financial support for Tar Wars at the chapter level, and just 2.4 percent had provided financial support at the national level.

"I recognize how busy all our members are," Epperly said. "If you don't have time to commit to presenting at a classroom in your area, please consider donating to the Tar Wars campaign. It's a great way to have your money go toward a worthwhile project."