National Council Co-Sponsors New Hampshire Town Hall Meeting on Addiction and Recovery

National Public Radio Hosts Democratic Debate Dec. 4

Whole Health Campaign Brochure

Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease

Tell Us About Your Campaign Activities

---

National Council Co-Sponsors New Hampshire Town Hall Meeting on Addiction and Recovery

The National Council is co-sponsoring a Presidential Town Hall Meeting in New Hampshire on December 2. The Town Hall Meeting, “A Healthier and Safer New Hampshire,” is the first in the nation to focus on the important health care issues of addiction and recovery.  The Town Hall Meeting is being planned by Faces & Voices of Recovery in conjunction with a several Granite State partners from the prevention, treatment, recovery and family member communities.

The changed primary schedule has lessened the time most candidates are spending in New Hampshire, but the Town Hall Meeting will have representatives from many of the campaigns to answer questions about addiction and recovery. Faces & Voices has also brought in experts from HBO's Emmy award winning program “Addiction.” Other national sponsors include Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) and NAADAC, The Association for Addiction Professionals.

If you are interested in attending the Town Hall Meeting, click here for the details.

---

National Public Radio Hosts Democratic Debate Dec. 4

On Dec. 4, NPR and Iowa Public Radio will host a Democratic presidential candidates' debate.

What would you ask the White House contenders?

NPR is soliciting questions from the public. They’ll put some of your questions to the candidates, so tune in for answers from Des Moines on Dec. 4. To post a question or to learn more about the debates, click here. 

Please click here for example questions to ask the candidates. 

Note: NPR is working with the leading Republican candidates to schedule a debate for early 2008.

---

Whole Health Campaign Brochure

I am very pleased to be able to share with you the PDF of the Whole Health Campaign brochure discussed in earlier Election Updates. The Whole Health Campaign is a collaborative effort of a large number of mental health and addiction and recovery organizations to insert behavioral health issues into the national healthcare discussion underway as part of the presidential election process.

The purpose of the Whole Health Campaign and the brochure is to provide a common set of talking points for the mental health and addiction and recovery communities as we seek to raise the visibility of our specific concerns within the healthcare debate.  Our message is clear—behavioral health is integral to health.

Hard copies of the attached brochure are also being printed and can be ordered by emailing Allison Fort.

---

Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease

The National Council belongs to the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD), a coalition of more than 80 patients, providers, community organizations, business and labor groups, and health policy experts who have joined together to raise awareness of the policies and practices that save lives and reduce health costs through more effective prevention and management  of chronic disease.  PFCD is looking for people willing to join speakers' bureaus in targeted states -  Iowa, New Hampshire, Ohio, and South Carolina - and people who are willing to travel to speak in those states.  National Council members in Iowa and New Hampshire have volunteered to work with the PFCD speakers' bureau, and we look forward to reporting on their activities.

If you are interested in participating on the state level with PFCD, please contact Tammy Seltzer, Director of State Policy, at 301-984-6200, ext. 234, or TammyS@thenationalcouncil.org. As speakers or hosts are needed in other states, we will let you know.

---

Tell Us About your Campaign Activities

The National Council would like to hear what you've been doing to educate the presidential candidates or the voters about your work and the issues you care about.  Please contact Tammy Seltzer, Director of State Policy, at 301-984-6200, ext. 234, or TammyS@thenationalcouncil.org. If you've held an event, please send us photos with your written description.