"Looking back at 2012 for Maniilaq Association's Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Programs, the year went fairly well. Both programs visited and met with all 12 of the Maniilaq Service Area local tribal council offices in each community and informed them the importance of becoming a 100 percent tobacco-free workplace and recognized the dangers of secondhand smoke to everyone.

Each tribal council was presented with a Thank You letter from the Alaska Federation of Natives and Maniilaq Association for sending a delegate to attend the 2011 Alaska Federation of Natives meeting and passing Resolution 11-51: Statewide smokefree workplaces to protect tribal citizens from secondhand smoke.

Each tribal council was also presented with a draft resolution for eliminating tobacco use in the workplace. The Resolution for the Control and Elimination of Tobacco in the Work Place and Enclosed Public Places recognizes that Alaska Native people have the highest rate of tobacco use in the State of Alaska and that tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death and disease and Alaska Native people suffer serious health consequences including heart disease and cancer. Another recognition is that exposure to secondhand smoke is another leading cause of preventable death, and causes disease in healthy nonsmokers, including heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease, and cancer."

Get the Story:
OPINION: Local tribal councils become tobacco-free in 2012 (The Arctic Sounder