An update to the Counter Tools mission
We recently updated our mission statement to the following: We empower communities to become healthier places for all. Our mission for the past ten years has guided us to support [...]
Protecting Local Authority to Adopt Local Solutions
Laws and policies adopted at the local level are tailored to their communities, improving health outcomes and reducing inequities. Local laws also complement state or federal policies and provide greater coverage [...]
How innovative technology aided public health during COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic invited technology innovation in order to help keep the public updated, and inform scientists, leaders, and public health departments as information changed rapidly and more people were [...]
Addressing the Off-Campus Tobacco Retail Environment to Enhance Tobacco Free Colleges
Colleges and universities across the country have had success in using policy to protect students from exposure to secondhand smoke on campus. However, these policies do not address the tobacco [...]
CDC awards $300 million in funding to community health workers across the U.S.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced the awardees for more than $300 million in funding to support community health worker (CHW) services. CHWs are frontline public [...]
LGBTQ+ health disparities and targeting by Big Tobacco and Alcohol
For years, the tobacco industry has come under fire for targeting their marketing to specific groups, such as youth and people of color. We don’t often talk enough about members [...]
Ensuring affordable healthy food – USDA adds 25% increase to SNAP benefits
A new edition of the Thrifty Food Plan adds a significant increase to SNAP benefits for low-income families. This is the first time in decades that the focus was not [...]
Evictions are a public health crisis that needs to be addressed
Update August 26: The U.S. Supreme Court has blocked the recent order extending the federal eviction moratorium The CDC issued a new eviction moratorium order to prevent further spread of [...]
Making our work more accessible and inclusive in our strive towards equity
For people with disabilities, barriers can make it difficult to function in day to day life. We recognize that being more inclusive is strongly tied to our stance on equity, [...]
A call for UNC – and all of us – to learn from our mistakes
As a nonprofit organization that was born out of the Gillings School of Public Health at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, our team has strong Tar Heel roots. [...]
New Minority Health SVI data available from the CDC and OMH
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health (DHHS OMH) have launched a new Minority Health Social Vulnerability [...]
The Mobilization of Reality Check and Other Youth Groups: Fighting Tobacco Industry Lies
Our team was excited to participate again this year in Reality Check’s action and advocacy to combat the tobacco industry’s targeting of youth. This year a multi-week virtual event was [...]
Healthy POS Webinar Series: Alcohol at the POS – Places, Promotions, and Problems
We hosted a webinar in our "Healthy POS Webinar Series" on Thursday, June 17 at 11am EST. Our guest speaker was Dr. Pamela Trangenstein, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Health [...]
A Moment of victory: FDA moves to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars
The Biden Administration’s announcement yesterday that the FDA will take action to prohibit menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars is a long-awaited victory that will advance health equity and protect health [...]
97 Organizations Call on Human Rights Committee to Address Menthol
This week, Counter Tools along with 96 other organizations submitted a report to the Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), an international human rights body [...]
Letter to Labor-HHS to fund CDC’s Social Determinants of Health program
As Congress works to draft the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) appropriations legislation for FY 2022, the 191 undersigned organizations request that the Centers for [...]
Strategies for achieving health equity in COVID-19 vaccinations
April is National Minority Health Month and the theme this year from the National Institute of Minority Health (NIMH) is Vaccine Ready. We know that COVID-19 affects communities of color [...]
Announcing the 2021 Geographic Surveillance Learning Collaborative
The Geographic Health Equity Alliance and Counter Tools are excited to announce the second annual Geographic Surveillance Learning Collaborative for National Comprehensive Cancer Control and National Tobacco Control Programs. In this learning collaborative, teams from six participating states will each [...]
Addressing Health Disparities Through Alcohol Outlet Density
There are many ways the COVID-19 pandemic has changed our daily lives. One of many interesting public health observations is the impact of the pandemic on alcohol consumption. Thanks in [...]
Counter Tobacco Podcast: Equitable Enforcement in Commercial Tobacco Control Policy
In this episode, we talk with Natasha Phelps, a Lead Senior Staff Attorney at the Public Health Law Center, about the recent statement on “Decriminalizing Commercial Tobacco: Addressing Systemic Racism [...]
