SFMMS Trustees to California Medical Association Call for Surgeon General's Report on Firearms Violence January 31, 2023 CMA 0 On January 27, 2023, SFMMS Trustees to the California Medical Association (CMA) Board of Trustees advanced a resolution directing CMA to work with the American Medical Association and others to call for a United States Surgeon General's report on firearms violence, with recommendations to reduce firearms violence in the United States. The resolution originated from San Mateo County Medical Association, and was co-authored by SFMMS Past-Presidents Drs. Michael Schrader and John Maa. The motion passed unanimously. Public health action is long overdue, as for decades the US Surgeon General has been unable to confront this politically charged topic due to a 25-year ban imposed by Congress. In fact, it wasn’t until 2021 that the CDC resumed research on gun violence. As noted in a perspective piece in the New England Journal of Medicine, a report from the United States Surgeon General “might stimulate new ways of thinking, shifts in societal norms, and development of new social programs related to firearms safety”. A study in July of 2022 by the Centers for Disease Control on social determinants in homicides and firearms injuries found that “Monitoring firearm injury in emergency department visits by county-level social vulnerability can help guide tailored prevention efforts that address inequities in social and structural conditions that contribute to risk for violence, including creating protective community environments, strengthening economic supports, and intervening to reduce harms and prevent future risk.” The ability for a Surgeon Generals’ report to create change is apparent, as evidenced by prior reports on smoking and health that ultimately helped drive the smoking rate in American down from 42% in 1964 to 12.5% in 2020. Comments are closed.
