MTSU’s Center for Health and Human Services is forming a partnership with the Tennessee Department of Health in a statewide tobacco-advocacy initiative to promote tobacco-usage control.

“This project builds on several years of center experience working on tobacco prevention with youth and the disparate population,” said Dr. Martha Jo Edwards, center director and holder of MTSU’s Adams Chair of Excellence in Health Care Services.

With a three-year grant from the Tennessee Department of Health, the center will help Tennessee’s Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Program build a grass-roots network of community advocates for tobacco-usage control policies at the local, regional and state levels.

Annual trainings will be offered in each of the three grand divisions of the state. The 2011 trainings have been scheduled for Oct. 17 in Chattanooga, Oct. 20 in Jackson and Oct. 27 in Cookeville.

The initiative also will launch an information campaign to educate the public about the dangers of secondhand smoke, promote the Tennessee Tobacco Quitline and foster support for tobacco control policies. These efforts and the ongoing work of individuals and organizations interested in tobacco-usage control and the health of the people of Tennessee are critical for ensuring fewer lives are harmed by tobacco use, officials said.

“The tobacco-advocacy initiative is another opportunity for us to build and strengthen community collaborations across the state to improve the health of Tennesseans,” said project manager Cindy Rhea.

For more information, contact Rhea at 615-904-8342 or crhea@mtsu.edu.

— Gina K. Logue (Gina.Logue@mtsu.edu)