As you can see below in the newsletter, Tomas and I attended a meeting with the Tobacco Control folks at the LA County Department of Public Health. At the state level, two bills related to tobacco were introduced last month. SB 38 bans the sale of flavored tobacco products in the entire state, and SB 39 imposes stricter age verification requirements for all types of tobacco products sold online. Last summer, the Board of Supervisors for LA County introduced an ordinance to ban the sale of flavored tobacco products in the entire county. As you can imagine, the tobacco companies are concerned and gearing up to fight these efforts. We've been asked to represent the health interests of children and adolescents, in light of the alarming increases in teenage vaping rates that have been reported in the last few months. The Town Hall meeting on March 21 is an opportunity to bring pediatricians, students, parents, school administrators and policy makers together to learn about the impact of nicotine addiction on adolescent brain development and to increase awareness about the need for support for families and schools.

 

We have also been busy moving forward on improving developmental services for children with First 5 LA. As you know, the Chapter has worked with First 5 LA over the past two years to increase awareness among pediatricians of screening for development during well-child visits and referring for additional services when delays are suspected. Our conversations with First 5 LA have led specifically to the screening and referrals for young children with suspected autism spectrum disorder. As many of you know first-hand, the wait lists and challenges that parents face when their child has a suspected diagnosis of autism can be extremely frustrating and difficult to navigate. Our Chapter and First 5 LA are planning to co-sponsor a Town Hall specifically on this issue at the end of May-stay tuned for more information. We are also involved in looking at these issues in San Bernardino and Riverside counties and will be attending a meeting next month with both of the First 5 entities from those counties.

 

Finally, our work with immigrant children continues. After the sobering news in December of two more children dying in detention centers at the border, many child advocates including those in the AAP have been advocating for inspections of the detention center to ensure that they are safe for children, as well as demanding an end to the practice of housing children in the detention centers altogether. Our Immigrant Health Committee continues to be active addressing these issues in our chapter.

 

Our first "Life After Residency" event continues to be shaping up and promises to be fun and exciting for our trainees and those looking to hiring them (details below). Time is running out. If your practice, clinic or hospital is looking for a locum tenens, part-time or full-time pediatrician for the summer-please contact Tomas ASAP if you are interested in having information at the event.

 

I am pleased to announce that our Chapter was one of six selected from around the country to participate in the AAP Chapter Quality Network (CQN) on its Improving Pediatric Immunization Care Learning Network. The other chapters that were selected were Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and California Chapter 4. It was great to be recognized for the strength of the quality improvement efforts in our chapter!

 

Please check out the rest of our newsletter for information on our Town Hall meetings and other CME opportunities, ways to get Maintenance of Certification (MOC) points, and statewide advocacy priorities that the AAP is working on behalf of children.

 

Thanks for all that you do on behalf of children in our communities!

 

Alice Kuo, MD, PhD, MBA, FAAP

Chapter President