B37

Eleven Department of Health and Human Services agencies (eg NIH, FDA, CDC, etc) were included in a social network analysis to determine the extent to which they were communicating and coordinating to address tobacco use - which is the leading cause of preventable death in the US.

Result

Individuals within the DHHS tobacco network showed a high level of awareness of the tobacco work being carried out by other network members across DHHS (density = 0.30), but much less actual contact between agencies (0.17). Some agencies, such as the FDA, had no or almost no contact with other agencies, and there was considerable between-agency contact variability. CDC was the most central agency.

Conclusion

Considerable trans-DHHS awareness of tobacco control efforts exists, but does not

always translate into agencies working together in a coordinated fashion to address tobacco use.

Citation Information: Cancer Prev Res 2008;1(7 Suppl):B37.

Seventh AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research-- Nov 16-19, 2008; Washington, DC

American Association for Cancer Research
2008