Physicians voted to adopt a variety of important public health policies this week during the 2014 AMA Annual Meeting. They include:
- Meningococcal vaccinations for school children. This new policy supports the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ guidelines requiring school children age 11 through 18 years to receive the meningococcal vaccination.
- Support for nutrition label revisions for added sugars. The AMA adopted a policy in support of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) new proposal to include added sugars on nutrition labels. If adopted, the FDA’s revised labels will denote the amount of a product’s naturally occurring sugar levels versus the amount of sugar that has been added.
- Protections for 911 callers seeking help for overdose victims. This new AMA policy supports policies and legislation that protect callers or witnesses seeking medical help for overdose victims. The policy also directs the association to support 911 “good Samaritan” policies through legislative or regulatory advocacy at the local, state and national level.
